Digital Storytelling

This Canadian Life

This Canadian Life was an assignment completed by students in Helen Lepp Friesen’s Digital Storytelling, RHET 2160, in the winter of 2022. The objective of this project was to create a 5-8-minute participatory digital story on a person/topic of the students’ choice that would illustrate an everyday Canadian life. As part of the assignment, the students completed the online course on Human Ethics, completed the University Human Ethics Research Board checklist, asked participants to contribute to their project, and then digitally composed their story. In the process of composing a digital story with the collected interview data and video footage, students discovered the power of telling someone’s story, learned about the importance of active listening, and made important decisions about editing and generating digital content. The projects are saved as Unlisted YouTube links.

Here are a few examples of student submissions to the This Canadian Life project:

David MacDougall

Title: No Budget, No Problem: Tommy Pham - Creative Locals #1 (5:09)

Marli Cohen

Title: There is no Time like the Present: My Mother’s Story (6:32)

Ana Ilagan

Title: Being and Belonging: What is life like in Canada for young immigrants (5:29)

Ashley Hantscher

Title: Ted Cullen: The King of Insulation (9:17)

Nick Ginter

Title: A Journey with Crohn’s (6:30)

Update: September 14, 2022