Digital Stories with Individuals in Supported Living

I was commissioned to work with Drive Cymru  on their Big Lottery People and Places project.  The project was designed to support staff and supported individuals with digital inclusion and promote an active participation with technology.  This was carried out through workshops and activities over 3 years.   

My role - To co-design activities and workshops that would enable Drive Cymru to meet its objectives for the project.

Activities included digital storytelling workshops both with staff and supported people, using green screen to have fun creating composite images, workshops learning about how to use digital technologies  and film-making.  Part of the project was to decide what tools to use, the tool used to create digital stories had to be easy to use and one that could be sustained going forward.  Canva was already in use by Drive and we adapted it to create the digital stories.  The application was intuitive and could be used by many supported people with learning difficulties. We made short films about some of the activities taking place at Drive and devised a short drama about being in supported living.  In year two we created composite moving images using green screens and a tablet.  The ipads were already in use at Drive and this was a fun way to engage supported people with their favourite songs and shows.  They could sing along with their favourite artist. In year one and two we ended with a celebratory event showing all of the digital stories and films made by staff and supported people.  We created our own awards!  In year one this included a collaboration with artist Cindy Ward who works with metals and recycled materials to create something new.  In year two we created a 3D medal with an individual in supported living at Drive and printed it using a 3D printer.