Holy Cross, Siolim: Trail blazing at 75

When Holy Cross Convent Siolim turned 75 years old it tuned on into an ancient learning approach and combined it with sophisticated modern technology – the digital story. The digital story is a media artifact. It is personal narrative that enables new approaches to reflection and engagement from our story teller students. It is made from digital images and sounds. Selected students of the school participated in a hands on and minds on Digital Story Telling Workshop from August 18 to 23, 2008 facilitated by Gocreat.

Our little story tellers spend six enthusiastic fun filled and intensely serious afternoons and have produced for us their little stories. “My favorite place” was the theme and the students were free to craft the story just as they wished. The digital stories they made invite us to enter their intimate world ranging from their living room at home, to the bounty that Mother Nature has given Siolim the springs and rivulets and one of the presiding deity of Siolim – Sateri. You will see that our little citizens indeed have their heads, minds and values in the right place. At the end of the workshop we are optimistic about all that is central to life and love, to humanity and its survival. No words can be a substitute to experiencing the films of these young people.

From Gocreat we want you all little citizens to know that we are deeply touched first by your stories and so also by all that you put into making your stories. We want to thank you for giving us this opportunity to be in your presence while you were at your most sincere and fun filled best. We wish you all good things and sure some day you will all be artists in your own unique ways.

We would also like to than Sr. Principal, for taking the risk and allowing us to work with you all and tolerating all the noise and disturbance during the six afternoons we spent with you, often overshooting the time allotted to us. We were also deeply encouraged by the enthusiasm show by your teachers who were around to help us and who were so keen to learn DST themselves. Martin was all things to all persons and helped with everything from setting computers and making sure that we have nice snacks and tea to keep us going. And all the other teachers and students who kept peeping in and enjoying the fun…you too made it fun to be around.

Digital Story Telling is a blend of the ancient art of story telling and modern computer and digital technology. We all know that whether we should use computers in education is no longer an issue. The question that confounds us is how to do it? Perhaps on its 75th birthday, Holy Cross High School has introduced yet another innovation in Goa, just as it had 75 years ago been one of the pioneers in women’s education in Goa.

From all of us at Gocreat….and keep the fun going….

- A note by Alito Siqueira

GoCreat DST workshop at Holy Cross School

Over the next week, GoCreat will be helping out in conducting a digital storytelling workshop in Holy Cross High School, Siolim, Goa. This workshop, is organised as part of the Goa-Nara Neighbourhood project (see: http://siolimdiaries.blogspot.com).

This workshop marks another outreach for GoCreat. So far we have worked in the 5-day format (6 work-hour days). The school environment comes with its own special needs and considerations and we will address them in following posts.

My First Day at School

In this digital story, Chelsea who completed her third birthday in Jan 2008, recounts her first day at school in the nursery class. The conflicting emotions she is going through are interesting. Is her first day also her last? Or did she enjoy herself?
Created by Gasper D'souza

Second GoCreat DST Workshop: July 18 - 22

On July 18th, 2008, GoCreat began its second workshop with the students of the Department of Sociology, Goa University.
In all 8 students are participating in the 5 day workshop. What makes this special for us, is that as part of our small endeavour to create community media centers in Goa, the students created their own blog and will be encouraged to start regular blogging.
While the proceedings from the present workshop will be blogged live and hopefully, the students will continue blogging even after the end of the workshop thus creating a micro-community online. A good spin-off from the GoCreat DST workshop, we would think.
Let's see how this one pans out!

GoCreat's First Digital Story Screenings

Day 4 and 5 were intense with each participant working at a feverish pace, learning the ropes, and producing their very own stories.

Over the past 5 days at the workshop, they polished their scripts, visualised possibilities, created storyboards and finally put it all together today (May 30) as their first Digital stories.

GoCreat was privileged to have 5 distinguished persons join us at the end of the workshop to preview and comment on the work. We had Jonnathan Josenhans (Film animation), Apurva Kulkarni (Artist, Art historian and critique), Rahul Srivastave (Writer and free lance researcher), Anita Haladi (Economics lecturer, film buff and organiser of training for students in film) and Isabel Vaz (English lecturer, Director of drama and film and as she called herself a ‘story teller’). We had an enlightening discussion on the possibilities and limitations of the DST.

For the facilitators Gasper and Alito it was an encouraging and learning experience. As one of the participants put it: "We gained so much... a voice... a craft... and a path."

A more detailed evaluation of the workshop and its process will follow.

But now, without ado, here are the films...

Sanvad (Dialogue) | Milan
(Marathi | Playing time: 4.11)


Dreamland | Nileema
(English | Playing time: 2:17)


My Hobby | Joseph
(English | Playing time: 2:28)


Lost in the Market | Preeti
(English | Playing time: 1:46)


So Often | Pamela
(English | Playing time: 8:29)

A story in 60 minutes

Today was a day of intense hands on work on the computers. Participants were introduced to Microsoft's Photo Story software. Through this very user-friendly software, they learnt how to sequence images, add voice-over, apply motion - pan and zoom and use inter-slide transitions.




Next was an exciting exercise. Participants were given a set of 20 images and 5 soundtracks (of various moods) for background music. Each had to select any 6 images of their choice and, using voiceovers, transitions, movements and other techniques learnt earlier, had to make a short story.



It was interesting to see the different stories than came from the same set of 20 images!

Fun by Joseph


Lonely by Nileema


Hope by Pamela


Musings by Milan


Confusion by Preeti


The above videos are first-time efforts by participants as an exercise in digital story telling and were completed in one hour. More to come as the workshop progresses.

GoCreat Workshop on DST

Today, May 26, GoCreat begins a 5-day workshop on Digital Storytelling (see brochure). We have 5 very enthusiastic participants with varying backgrounds, all raring to go! Among us we have, a journalist, an artist, two MA students of Sociology and one 14-year old student of std 9.



Alito started the participants off with an introduction to the concept of DST and the film "Mom Not Mom" was screened (watch the film on the Digital Storytelling Center website).



The participants then expressed their feelings after viewing the film using crayon on paper. And boy, did we get variety!


- Pamela


- Joseph


- Milan


- Nileema


- Preeti


- Alito


- Gasper

Next everyone got hands on experience in basic photo editing using the free Google software - Picasa.

By the end of the day, participants put together their first draft story in about 250 words. They then evaluated their own stories using the Seven Principles of Storytelling. This is the story they will be working on, over the next 5 days, converting it into a DST.



The current DST workshop is a followup of our experiences working with the Siolim Diaries project viewed at: siolimdiaries.blogspot.com.