Composition Tools

In Brianna's comment from last week she asked about the tools and software needed to create a digital story so I thought I would include information on this for this week's post. The Digital Storytelling link which I provided last week has an FAQ section that addresses this issue and can be found at http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/tools.html. This page gives a list of audio, image, and video editors (if you intend to include video) and lists them according to cost and ease-of-use. Software requirements for Microsoft OS X and Windows XP are provided. Some of the image editors can get quite pricey. Needed harware includes a microphone and mixer or a USB microphone (which can range from $90 to $170 or more depending on brand specifications). You would also need a digital camera or scanner and a digital video camera (again, only if you plan to include video in your digital story). Depending on a school's budget and the tools they may already have in place, this could be a great investment. Would you, as a TL, argue to spend the money to make digital storytelling capability part of your library?