The experience of Digital Storytelling is one I will take with me for the rest of my academic and student profession. I was able to learn and create narratives across multiple platforms; this practice enabled me to gain the knowledge of different types of narratives along with the best practices to implement them. When we began the class, our first task was to create anon fictional narrative that we will host on Twitter. In this project I was able to experiment with shortened language, emoticons, as well as the integration of images that would help the story. In this instance the shortened form of language created a constraint for me; my audience had a hard time understanding the language which interfered with the way they were able to interact with my story. With this noted, in the second fiction YouTube project I was able to create an inviting video which enabled my audience to laugh, share experiences, and invited them to find their way within the story. I told this story with the hopes that I could both entertain and inform students of how best to survive any college experience. I found it to be the hardest practice when creating the actual video, I had never really created a professional production and this project changed my relationship with the care and consideration I now know I have to take when factoring in for the creation of a video.
By the third project, my relationship with telling narratives on various medias had once again evolved. Creating a podcast was by far no easy task, I found myself struggling with the actual recording of the production. I could not get myself to assert the right type of voice that enabled me to bring the message of the podcast across. I was however able to find my strength in leading in the area of the collaborative aspect of the project. This fortified my relationship with this project and the medium because I was able to assert myself in the relationship of what I was essentially preaching. In the fourth project, there were many constraints thus seeing that I had never worked with HTML in such a long time however I was able to quickly remember and learn basics again to master the project I believe. I was able to create a story that was interactive and helped my audience to interact with the story and the characters. I utilized options of digital storytelling such as rabbit holes to enable my audience to follow the story and in the end make the story more successful. The last and final Twine project was a coming together of all the best practices which I learned through each media platform. I was able to take this last project and integrate the best storytelling aspects, along with interactive medias. This was the best experience within the class for me because I was able to assert the voice I learned to build across the other projects. I found the affordance of Twine itself to be incredibly easy after tackling the HTML project. My relationship across each medium became more and more fortified. I became accustomed with the idea that each medium had a different preexisting standard and I would have to conform to it. It was a great experience and I would enjoy part-taking in a creative process such as this again.
Patty has lived in Chicago all her life but she has always wanted to see the world. One sunny afternoon Patty overhears three geese talking about migrating south and she gets an idea. Patty decides she’s going to migrate to New York City and see what makes the city so special. Patty arrives in New York City and lands at the Statue of liberty where she meets her first friend, a rooster named Francois, who tells her all about the Statue of Liberty and what it has to offer. Francois then sends patty on her way to see the other sites the city has to offer where she meets more New York natives to assist her. Join Patty on her adventure around New York City as she meets new friends who teach her about some of the most notable landmarks in New York!
This fun and interactive fiction is the perfect classroom tool for educators or parents aiming to teach students grades K-5 about the history of New York City. The story is animated and and colorful which is appealing to young users but encompasses facts and history to appeal to parents and teachers. The featured map allows users to track Patty’s journey as well as see an aerial view of the city, like patty would see.
This work of fiction was created by student authors, Mariah Rajah, Samantha Pezzolanti, Jodieann Stephenson and Pamela Drake. All four team members are currently Professional & Technical Writing majors at New York City College of Technology (CUNY) and thus project was created for their Digital Storytelling course.
This project was challenging in the sense that I have never worked much with HTML before. However, when I learned that it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was I was able to create a project which I am quite proud of. At the beginning of the project when the concept was first introduced I found myself lost because I knew nothing much of HTML besides what I had practiced with back when Myspace.com was a thing. Since then, most of my websites I had not played around too much with the codes of backgrounds or anything or the sort. I just used preexisting, premade ones which worked out just fine for me until this project. With Professor Ellis, challenging us to create and use less premade functions I became quite frustrated until I found myself catching on what codes do what. By this step I was able to create and produce not only an immersive story but also a story that is participatory in my eyes. With time and more development I believe that these web pages can become a great component of my portfolio.
Title: The Real Estate of Fear (Episode 2) “Fearing Leadership”
To: Professor Ellis
From: Mariah Rajah
Date: March, 13th 2016
Re: Project 3 Memo – leading without fear
Dear Professor Ellis,
For this project, I have presented to you and my classmates the topic of how fear influences the life choices we make. These choices either enable us to deal with that said fear or completely ignore them. For this podcast, I will be focusing on the fear of leadership in a professional aspect. Being that this project has to encompass a non-fictional storyline I believe that this would be a good topic to focus on. I have feared leadership even though over the years I have grown into assuming the position time and time again. The fear is still very much alive in me but every time I assume the role I have learned how to become a better leader.
My take on episode in the collaborative podcast as mentioned will focus on how to deal with fear of leading. I will focus on three defining aspects which are as follows:
What makes a good leader?
This section of the podcast will list characteristics of some of my most  influential leaders and how this defines what it means to a good leader (Barack Obama, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey)
These individuals exert the ability to inspire, exude confidence, find solutions for unmanageable problems, connect with people on a personal level, and take responsibility for mishaps with grace and dignity.
My Fears of Leading
When I was growing up I have been afraid to speak up. I was afraid that me taking a stand would place me in the role of a leader and that was a scary place to be. I was afraid of being a leader because it meant that I would have to point people in what I thought was the right direction and  I would have to assume a role in which I knew little to nothing about.  Being a leader above all meant that I would have to take the responsibility for every ones’ actions and I would have to be the face of blame if it all failed.
These were things I feared and to this day I still fear even though I have placed myself in leadership roles time and time again. It has not gotten easier to lead a group of people but each time I do it I realize that maybe I am better at it than I feared. That me taking this role and exercising these fears help me to become a stronger leader. That by knowing I am responsible that I will take better precautions and approach the role with care and the utmost respect.
Understanding Leaders fail too.
My biggest fear, and I believe all people when assuming a leadership role fear what is most inevitable: dropping the ball. In this portion of the podcast I will explore through interview how others have dealt with coping or fleeing from leadership roles because they did not want to feel the overwhelming guilt of letting everyone down. I will also explore my own thoughts on this area and explain how I have managed to deal with it.
5 ways to assume a leadership role and how to get the best possible experience out of this role.
This section will include researched material of what is the best way to approach a leadership role which will play off my own examples and experiences. This concluding section of the podcast will also elaborate on how I have managed to deal with fear of leading, what I have learned, and how I have become a better leader by facing my fears and accepting that I am a good leader.
In executing theses three very important sections, I believe that the podcast will be able to effectively approach the subject of how to face fear in a leadership role whether in a professional or academic setting. Learning to be a good leader comes from practice and this podcast has the potential to help others assume that role and learn that their voice as a leader matters.
Re: Project 3 Collab. Memo “The Real Estate of Fear”
Date: 03/14/2016
Dear Professor Ellis,
After much deliberation and brainstorming we have come to the conclusion that this third project should be based on the overall arching theme of fear and how it plays a part in determining aspects of our professional lives. Since this project will be be both collaborative and non-fictional based we have all chosen issues which we have faced in our personal lives that we believe many professionals also face.
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Jodieann Stephenson has chosen to take on the fear of public speaking and how it has affected her in such a way that she has gone out of her way to create a “persona” in able to cope with her speaking fear. She has even chosen a career of writing which will allow her to say what she physically cannot. Her Podcast will be an insightful and eye opening podcast about public speaking, anxiety, and coping mechanisms.
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Samantha Pezzolanti has chosen to take the root of understanding the fear of change and how it keeps it sometimes keeps us grounded in one place because we fear the unknown of what comes with change. She explores this through her own life experiences and will illustrate ways in which to face this fear in many ways like she has. This podcast will allow for professionals to have another perspective on change and the way it can be seen as opportunity and not a rabbit hole.
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Mariah Rajah has taken on the task of understanding and illustration the fear of leadership. In her own life she has been afraid to assume the role of a leader due to the fears of failing in the eyes of other and dropping the ball in that role. Her podcast will give examples of what she believes to be a good leader and will share her story of how she has even moved past her fear by assuming the role of a leader time after time. This podcast will be an overall look into leadership and the fears individuals can approach the role in such a way that they understand its responsibilities enough not to fear it.
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Lastly, Pamela Drake will paint a picture of how individuals fear criticism, the way in which it affects an individual, as well as ways in which learning to make it constructive instead of destructive. Her exploration into the fear of criticism allows for her to relate to Ms. Stephenson’s podcast due to the fact that many of those who fear speaking fear being criticized for their voice.  This podcast will reveal the ways in which a professional can understand the differences in critic and how the separate fear from it.
The podcast we hope to create will focus on these fears we speculate many professionals fear. We hope to produce an episode in which our audience can learn, engage, and realize that all fears are essentially inevitable but they do play a larger role in our lives that we may recognize. All in all we hope that this podcast will meet all requirements for the project effectively and our stories will be able to connect with not just an Openlab audience but a larger one.
Reflection:
This project has been by far the most challenging for me due to its nature of voice recording. It was a work in progress while being a work in progress. I had to record myself so many times I memorized my script. The constant back and forth changing, reworking of words and adapting the script to the way I talk was a new challenge for me. I found myself saying things many different ways but none of them quite fit the overall tone of the podcast. This meant that I took hours to record minutes worth of words. I also had the challenge of addressing such a wide audience. I wanted to just address professionals in both an academic or office setting but I believe I totally missed that target and created a rabbit hole for a larger audience to enter into. If I have the change to redo this assignment I would try to make my script more specific as to narrow in on my intended target audience. On another note, collaboration was used in my interviewing portion of the podcast, and not to mention the creative concept of the podcast. My classmates and I were able to come to an agreement of a topic and we built separate podcasts that reflect that very topic. I thought this was a great way to keep some type of consensus yet to venture out and create in our ways.
This is an archive of my fictional digital story entitled Rock Bottom: PTW Survival Guide. The film is to help not only Professional and Technical Major students here at City Tech but also other college students. In order to achieve this, I tried to execute a script that was both relatable and entertaining. I hope you enjoy.
Reflection:
The experience of creating this YouTube digital story was insightful a few distinct ways. First to start off with, I have made videos before but never have I produced one in the sense that every decision I made before, during, and after shooting this video was carefully thought of. When I wrote the script for Rock Bottom: PTW Survival Guide, I wanted my language to be able to reach students in the major but also to be understandable and relatable to all college students. I wanted the video to be shareable and I believe I was able to capture that in the humor I created with the storyline and to some effect showcase my knowledge on participating structures. Although, I probably could have executed some of the scenes better I believe that the overall production was quite effective. The choice to make short scenes on Snapchat incorporated my learned knowledge of how attention structures work. I also incorporated and to my knowledge effectively showcased character arc as well as a strong plot, and good overall story structure in the allotted time for this project. Reflecting now, I can say my biggest takeaway from this project is how each detail affects the over process and progress of developing and producing a story. In this case, the script effected the filming, and the events to arise from filming changed the overall outcome of the move. This process has taught me that when producing a story, the structural components that come before are just as important as the execution of the movie itself. As I continue to create digital stories I hope to take these learned aspects and cultivate them even more.
Analytics :
Before having to delete my YouTube channel for specific reasons my video received 11 views and 2 likes. My overall engagement increased over 100% and I was able to gain 3 new subscribers.
Note all characters, concepts and ideas are solely of my creation.Â
This was a very interesting experience for me being that I have had no interaction with Twitter other than reading tweets from other social media sites. This digital storytelling experience allowed me to tweet a story which I think I could write about. Looking back on my story, I think I was able to capture and retell the story as well as I could have taking into the consideration the affordances and constraints of Twitter. I believe that my story was successful in the sense that I was able to capture and engage an audience into participating within my story and having them actively take part in my tale. I was also successful in the aspect of not only telling a story but having very descriptive pictures to go along with it. In other ways I failed, for instance the use of emojis or emoticons did not come off as well as they would have due to my own lack of realization that they would not translate well on other media sources that were not Apple products. Also, the abbreviated language which I used made parts of the story hard to comprehend and understand which I believe took away from parts of it that were really important to the overall story. All in all this digital storytelling experience has taught me two things, that I must at all times be aware of the language I am using whether verbal or pictorial and how that language will translate over various mediums. With that said I think I will practice more digital storytelling on twitter as to become more familiar with the media platform and to practice how to effectively tweet.
Analytics:
Being that this was my debut on Twitter, I was able to post about 20 Tweets and engage 4 people, and also encounter about 3 spam pages who liked my tweets. I managed to post about 10 images which is the most amount of images I have posted on any social site in one sitting. My analytics for this project are rather low because I was only able to engage with the people who were a part of it although I tried using hashtags and such.
