"Using Technology to Build Community and Tell Our Stories"
How can we - as individuals and as a church family - use today's technology to connect with each other and with our community? (A workshop shared during Caldwell Presbyterian Church's Fall Retreat - 28 October 2023)
In this workshop participants will:
Listen to, watch, discuss and analyze several different examples of oral history projects.
Discuss and practice techniques for conducting effective oral history interviews.
Learn to use free smartphone applications to record and share audio interviews online.
Discuss options for exporting and sharing completed audio oral history interview projects online with family, friends, and the public.
Whose voices do you love?Â
What questions do you want to ask those people?Â
How will you preserve those voices and answers forever?Â
What stories need to be shared?
USS Arizona Impressions (AudioBoo by 5 year old Rachel)
Wes' StoryCorps interviews with his mom and his dad. (published with the StoryCorps app)
Zoom Call with a Childhood Best Friend
Veteran Interview with Dad
Interview with Mom
My Mom on "Milbloggers"
Why Caldwell?
How have you experienced God's abundance?
What do you want to celebrate?
Tell me about your journey of faith.
How have you seen God at work lately?
What do you believe about Jesus?
If you are:
in Scouting or just interested in a wonderful community service project, check out Alex Fryer's Eagle Project from October 2015.
a teacher, check out Wes' "Family Oral History Project" lesson series.
involved in church ministry, check out the chapter on "Audio Recording" from Wes' book, "Pocket Share Jesus: Become a Digital Witness for Christ."
interested in "YouTube shared" oral history interviews, check out this playlist.
An "audio story" is a recorded audio interview, which may or may not be accompanied by a photo / image. Audio stories can be edited or unedited, and may be normalized.
Script example (from "Family Oral History" unit)
Recommended Recording Apps:
The free Storycorps app (iOS & Android)
Voice Memos (iOS - built-in)
Voice Record Pro (iOS)
(Android app link coming!)
Vocaroo or Twisted Wave Online (be sure to DOWNLOAD and SAVE elsewhere!)
Audacity (download / install required)
More "Audio Story" examples are available on the main Storychasers.org "Examples page" and in this YouTube playlist.
A variety of different options are available for SHARING your audio interviews.
Free and Easier
Use Google Drive (8 min video tutorial)
YouTube (export Voice Record Pro as a video - 11 min tutorial)
Other Cloud hosting like DropBox
More Techy
Amazon S3 (where Wes archives all his podcasts & @edtechSR podcasts)
Self-hosting (with a company like Liquid Web)
A variety of apps and software programs are available to EDIT audio you record for an oral history interview. These include:
Twisted Wave Online (free, web-based, reference manual available)
Spotify for Podcasters (formerly "Anchor" - web-based and app-based for iOS / Android)
Audacity (free / open source - Requires laptop/desktop computer)
Conduct an audio interview a family member.
Post the recording in at least TWO online locations.
Share the LINK to the recording with others via Facebook and email.
Watch and share Wes Fryer's 2013 TEDxOU presentation, "Becoming Your Family's Digital Witness." (19 minutes)
Read the "Audio Recording" chapter of Wes Fryer's book, "Pocket Share Jesus: Be a Digital Witness for Christ."
Consider recording and sharing a family video message for a loved one for a birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. (
Check out other kinds of digital storytelling examples!
2016: Family Poem for Father's Day
2007: Birthday Card to Dad with VoiceThread
This workshop is presented by Wesley Fryer, author of "Pocket Share Jesus: Be a Digital Witness for Christ." To learn more about Wes you can read aboutt his theology, read his bio, and check out his adult Sunday School class lessons. Wes' Christian blog is "Pocket Share Jesus." More links to connect and learn with Wes are available.
Check out Wes' audio podcasts including:
Wes and Shelly Share (started Jan 2023)
The EdTech Situation Room (started Jan 2016)
Moving at the Speed of Creativity (started 2005)
Class with Dr. Fryer (started Apr 2019)
Middle School Voices (started Jul 2016)
Stories of Faith (started August 2008)
Wes is also an active creator on YouTube and TikTok.
These workshop materials are licensed by Dr. Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Only License. This means you can reuse and remix any of these resources for FREE with attribution. (More details are available.)
