digital storytelling thesis

• Open access
• Published: 03 December 2014

The effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms: a comprehensive study

• Najat Smeda 1 ,
• Eva Dakich 2 &
• Nalin Sharda 1  

Smart Learning Environments volume  1 , Article number:  6 ( 2014 ) Cite this article

137k Accesses

112 Citations

14 Altmetric

Metrics details

In recent years the use of new technologies in educational systems has increased worldwide as digital cameras, personal computers, scanners, and easy-to-use software have become available to educators to harness the digital world. The impact of new technologies in educational contexts has been mostly positive as new technologies have given educators the opportunity to enhance their knowledge, skills, and therefore enhance the standard of education. Researchers have found that student engagement, achievement and motivation are enhanced through integration of such technologies. However, education systems still face many challenges: one of these challenges is how to enhance student engagement to provide better educational outcomes. It has become increasingly important to use innovative pedagogical models to engage learners. Digital storytelling is one of the innovative pedagogical approaches that can engage students in deep and meaningful learning. This research project aimed to create a constructivist learning environment with digital storytelling. The research investigated the pedagogical aspects of digital storytelling and the impact of digital storytelling on student learning when teachers and students use digital stories.

A multi-site case study was conducted in one Australian school at primary and secondary levels. In selected classrooms, students and teachers had the opportunity to engage in innovative learning experiences based on digital storytelling. In order to enhance the reliability and validity of the research, multiple methods of data collection and analysis were used. Data was collected with qualitative and quantitative methods. An evaluation rubric was used to collect quantitative data, while interviews and observation were used to collect qualitative data. Data collection was guided by a mixed methods research design in order to evaluate if and how digital storytelling enhances teaching and learning outcomes.

The findings from this study suggest that digital storytelling is a powerful tool to integrate instructional messages with learning activities to create more engaging and exciting learning environments. It is a meaningful approach for creating a constructivist learning environment based on novel principles of teaching and learning. Thus, this approach has the potential to enhance student engagement and provide better educational outcomes for learners.

Introduction

From ancient times to the present, storytelling has served as a popular education tool, utilised to pass knowledge from one generation to another. Over the past few years drastic changes have been experienced in the processes used for creating stories, the variety of media used to convey the message, and the target audience. Storytelling, in general, is a powerful pedagogical approach that can be used to enhance learning outcomes for general, scientific and technical education (Sharda [ 2007 ]). Stories have been told as a way of passing on traditions, heritage and history to future generations. Even today people continue to tell stories through new digital media tools. A digital story can be viewed as a merger between traditional storytelling and the use of multimedia technology (Normann [ 2011 ]). Technological advances, such as digital cameras, editing software and authoring tools, have increased the use of technology in the classroom to help students in constructing their own knowledge and ideas to present and share them more effectively (Standley [ 2003 ]).

As confirmed by Armstrong , computers, digital cameras, editing software, and other technologies are becoming more readily accessible in the classrooms, and provide learners and teachers with the tools to create digital stories more easily than ever before (Armstrong [ 2003 ]). Furthermore, digital storytelling helps students to develop their creativity to solve important problems in innovative ways (Ohler [ 2008 ]). It is an effective pedagogical tool that enhances learners’ motivation, and provides learners with a learning environment conducive for story construction through collaboration, reflection and interpersonal communication. Students can use multimedia software tools as well as other technology skills to create digital stories based on given educational issues.

Digital storytelling is used as an embodiment of multimedia production for education purposes. Therefore, this is becoming a part of our lives, and is on the threshold of becoming an important part of teaching and learning as well. All of this is being facilitated by ready access to hardware, such as digital cameras and scanners, in conjunction with easy to use software. Many educational institutions have already been exploring the application of digital storytelling for the past few years (Robin [ 2008 ]).

The power of storytelling as a pedagogical tool has been recognised since the beginning of humanity, and in more recent times, for e-Learning (Neal [ 2001 ]). Digital storytelling has become a modern incarnation of the traditional art of oral storytelling; it allows almost anyone to use off-the-shelf hardware and software to weave personal stories with the help of still/moving images, music, and sound, combined with the author’s creativity and innovation.

This research project aimed to explore the impact of digital storytelling on student engagement and learning outcomes. It focuses on exploring the potential of digital storytelling as an innovative teaching and learning approach, and investigates the impact of digital storytelling on student learning. The research involved a case study of an Australian P-12 school. It explored the use of digital storytelling within the primary and secondary curriculum. In selected classrooms students and teachers had the opportunity to engage in innovative learning experiences based on digital storytelling.

The outcomes of this research project aim to help teachers and learners tap into the power of digital storytelling and partake in more engaged teaching and learning.

Background and literature review

In recent years, our lives have become more involved with technological tools. Developing technology resulted in new generations being more technology savvy than their parents and, even more so, their grandparents. Consequently, researchers have argued that “the impact of the digital technologies and especially the Internet in the 21st century post-secondary classroom is unquestionable and dramatic” (Tamim et al. [ 2011 ]).

According to Prensky, today’s students are the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital technology (Prensky [ 2001 ]). During their daily lives these students have been routinely exposed to computers, electronic games, digital music players, video cameras and mobile phones. They are immersed in instant messaging, emails, web browsing, blogs, wiki tools, portable music, social networking and video sites (Prensky [ 2001 ]; Lea & Jones [ 2011 ]; Sternberg et al. [ 2007 ]). These technologies allow them to communicate instantly and access any information from virtually any place by pushing a few buttons (Autry & Berge [ 2011 ]).

It is likely that the rise of some changes in educational practice, such as distance education, online learning and blended learning, has been the response to the integration of computers and the Internet to the new generation’s lives (Tamim et al. [ 2011 ]). Today’s school environment includes technology, and teachers use it on a daily basis; the basic school infrastructure includes computers, printers, scanners, digital cameras and the Internet, and the majority of teachers have access to word processing, calculations, multimedia and communication software (Hsu [ 2013 ]). According to Pitler, “Applied effectively technology not only increases students’ learning, understanding, and achievement, but also augments their motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning, and develops critical thinking and problem-solving strategies” (Pitler [ 2006 ]). Therefore, attention should be given to the subject of technology integration (Sadik [ 2008 ]).

Storytelling

Throughout the history of human and social development, storytelling has been used as a tool for the transmission and sharing of knowledge and values, because it is a natural and yet powerful technique to communicate and exchange knowledge and experiences. Its application in the classroom is also not new; and in relation to the use of storytelling in the classroom Behmer stated, “Storytelling is a process where students personalise what they learn and construct their own meaning and knowledge from the stories they hear and tell” (Behmer [ 2005 ]).

Over the last two decades, however, much has changed in how stories can be planned and created; and, as a result, how multimedia can be used to facilitate the dissemination of stories. With the increased use of computers to tell stories, by using a variety of hardware and software systems, there has been a significant improvement in the way stories can be created and presented (Van Gils [ 2005 ]). According to Normann, “People have always told stories. It has been part of our tradition and heritage since the time we gathered around the fire to share our stories. Today people still tell stories, but now we have new media tools with which to share them. A digital story can hence be seen as a merger between the old storytelling tradition and the use of new technology” (Normann [ 2011 ]). To some extent, traditional storytelling and the application of computer technology in education have followed different paths to date (Banaszewski [ 2005 ]). Thus, there is a need to further increase the convergence of storytelling and the use of computers in the classroom. It has been argued that technology is more useful when it is used as part of a broader educational improvement agenda (Pitler [ 2006 ]).

Fortuitously, with the increase in computer power and associated cost reduction, computers and related technologies can play a significant role in making storytelling a more widely used pedagogical tool, given that “Digital storytelling provides students with a strong foundation in what are being called ‘21 st Century Skills’” (Miller [ 2009 ]). While the essential technology is currently accessible in the classroom, storytelling has not been fully recognised as a valuable tool for developing students’ learning skills and achieving 21st century learning outcomes.

• Digital storytelling

Digital storytelling emerged at the Center for Digital Storytelling in California in the late 1980s as a method employed by community theatre workers to enable the recording, production, and dissemination of stories (Lambert [ 2009 ]). Normann defines digital storytelling as “a short story, only 2–3 minutes long, where the storyteller uses his own voice to tell his own story. The personal element is emphasised, and can be linked to other people, a place, an interest or to anything that will give the story a personal touch” (Normann [ 2011 ]). This has developed in a number of ways, shaped by advances in personal computing and recording technology, and by its use in a range of academic and non-academic contexts (Normann [ 2011 ]; Clarke & Adam [ 2012 ]).

Digital storytelling is defined by The Digital Storytelling Association, as a “modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling” (The Digital Storytelling Association [ 2011 ]). Although there is not a single digital storytelling definition, the majority emphasise the use of multimedia tools including graphics, audio, video, and animation to tell a story. Benmayor’s digital storytelling definition is: “a short multimedia story that combines voice, image, and music” (Benmayor [ 2008 ]). According to Kajder, Bull & Albaugh, a group of still images, combined with a narrated soundtrack, constitutes a digital story as long as they relate a story. Focusing on its presentation on screen, Alan Davis offers another definition of digital story as “a form of short narrative, usually a personal narrative told in the first person, presented as a short movie for display on a television or computer monitor or projected onto a screen” (Kajder et al. [ 2005 ]).

Meadows offers a more technology-focused definition, where digital storytelling makes use of low-cost digital cameras, non-linear authoring tools and computers to create short multimedia stories to accomplish social endeavours of storytelling. It is a technology application which takes advantage of user-contributed content and assists teachers in utilising technology in their classrooms (Meadows [ 2003 ]).

Digital storytelling: a constructivist approach to learning

In recent decades, various learning paradigms have been used to enhance teaching and learning practice; each one of these learning theories, such as behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism, has its own perspective on learning methods. Before explaining the main concepts underpinning each of these theories, first let us consider what a learning theory is. According to Hill, a learning theory is the attempt to explain how people (and animals) learn, and a paradigm to understand what is fundamentally involved in the learning process (Hill [ 2002 ]).

The Behaviourism school founded by Thorndike, Pavlov and Skinner, was based on the assumption that learning changes behaviour, and resultant responses outside the environment (Thorndike [ 1913 ]; Pavlov [ 1927 ]; Skinner [ 1974 ]). Behaviour patterns include the use of direction signs and learning practice. A change in behaviour is based on corresponding changes in observable aspects of learning and the learning process. The key elements of behavioural patterns are motivation, answers, and the connection between them. One of the most important features is the incentive present for learning within a learning environment (Jung [ 2008 ]).

Compared with behaviourism, which explores students’ behaviour, cognitive theories inquire into the processes driving the behaviour. It places greater emphasis on the environment to facilitate the learning process (Jung [ 2008 ]). Cognitivism focuses on the construction, organization and arrangement of educational content to facilitate optimal management of information, and how to remember, store, and retrieve information. In addition, learning is seen as a dynamic process, which is created by the learners themselves (Anderson [ 2008 ]).

Constructivism is one of the most influential educational approaches developed in recent times. It overlaps the cognitive learning school in many ways; however, it is characterised by its emphasis on learning through the use of authentic contexts, and a focus on the importance of the social dimension of learning. Wilson defines it as “a place where learners may work together and support each other as they use a variety of tools and information resources in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities” (Wilson [ 1996 ]).

In addition, according to Anderson the constructivist has more than a simple perspective on learning, recognising that people explain the learnt information and the world around them, based on their personal vision (Anderson [ 2008 ]). Jonassen argues that learning environments should offer constructive, active, intentional, collaborative, complex, conversational, contextualised and reflective learning (Jonassen et al. [ 1999 ]). To sum up, the most important learning characteristics of constructivism are that learners can build on their own interpretation of the world, depending on experience and interaction, and that will generate a new understanding through the collection of knowledge from various sources (Duffy et al. [ 2012 ]).

On the other hand, the education theories developed in the 20th century consider teaching and learning as more than mere interaction or transmission of knowledge (Daniels [ 2001 ]; Dewey [ 2007 ]; Vygotsky et al. [ 1978 ]; Wells [ 1999 ]). These theories consider teaching as a specific paradigm of teacher–student interaction, where the desired role of the adult is a collaborator and/or co-constructor.

Bouman defines learning as the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study, or by being taught. He classifies learning under different headings: the two main ones are student-led and teacher-led learning. Student-led learning is a process of learning information where students ask questions of one another, while they assist each other as peers in discussing the method used to acquire the answers to those questions; students are also allowed to work with one another in a student-centred environment. Teacher-led learning is currently the most popular form of teaching students. This method involves the teacher holding all the information and sharing it with the students over time. The most recent works in the literature favour student-led over teacher-led learning since it leads to longer retention. This hinges on the fact that when students take a more active role in their learning process, this results in a more meaningful connection to the information (Bouman [ 2012 ]).

The learner’s active position is strongly emphasised as it is indispensable for the development of lifelong learning skills (Verenikina [ 2008 ]). The zone of proximal development (ZPD), developed by Vygotsky (Wells [ 1999 ]), is defined as the distance between what a student can do with or without help (Vygotsky et al. [ 1978 ]). The main focus in the ZPD is to ensure that students are actively engaged in learning that will make them self-directed, lifelong learners in the long run. In this sense, teaching becomes a co-construction of knowledge between learner and teacher. It also facilitates further transformation of that knowledge into individual student knowledge (Verenikina [ 2008 ]; Dakich [ 2014 ]).

Digital storytelling can thus facilitate a constructivist approach for teaching and learning. It can be a helpful educational tool, as it provides a vehicle for combining digital media with innovative teaching and learning practices. Apart from building on learners’ technology skills, digital storytelling encourages additional educational outcomes (Dakich [ 2008 ]). It enhances learners’ motivation, and helps teachers in building constructivist learning environments that encourage creative problem solving based on collaboration and peer-to-peer communication. In addition, digital storytelling can be used to facilitate integrated approaches to curriculum development, and engage learners in higher order thinking and deep learning (Dakich [ 2008 ]).

Consequently, as the literature review has revealed, digital storytelling is a powerful model for creating constructivist e-Learning environments. Digital storytelling has the potential to engage learners in integrated approaches to learning with digital media. Furthermore, digital storytelling enhances learners’ motivation, and helps teachers in building constructivist learning environments. To facilitate the harnessing of these pedagogical benefits we need an overarching framework for creating digital stories. This framework should be cognisant of the needs and capabilities of learners at their various stages of learning (i.e. catering for learners from primary school to university level, and even professional e-Learning content creators).

This research presented a new e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) framework to be able to use digital storytelling as a pedagogical model for constructivist learning (Additional file 1 : Appendix A). This framework was developed for application of digital storytelling at various stages of learning. The e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) framework also articulates how storytelling can be used at different levels of education. The eLDiSt framework is designed primarily as a tool to help story creators in producing engaging digital stories, the framework is based on thirteen storytelling aspects and five levels, and each aspect advances in complexity as the learner’s level advances from level one to five. It considers the needs and abilities of learners at different stages of learning, including learners from primary school to university, and even professional e-Learning content creators. With the help of this eLDiSt framework, digital storytelling can be used as an efficient and effective learning tool at various levels of education. Different aspects identified in this framework enable teachers as well as students to fully grasp the elements required for an engaging and educative digital story.

Therefore, the mission of this research is to create a methodology for building constructivist learning environments based on digital storytelling, the outcomes of this research project aim to help teachers and learners tap into the power of digital storytelling and partake in more engaged teaching and learning.

This research project investigated impact of digital storytelling on student engagement and outcomes. It focused on exploring the potential of digital storytelling as an innovative teaching and learning approach and its potential to enhance student engagement and student outcomes. This research involves a multi-site case study of an Australian P-12 school, and explores the use of digital storytelling within the primary and secondary curriculum. In the selected classrooms students and teachers had the opportunity to engage in innovative learning experiences based on digital storytelling. In order to enhance the reliability and validity of the research, both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. A rubric was used to collect quantitative data, while interviews and observation were used to collect qualitative data. Data collection and analysis of the feedback provided by teachers was based on mixed methods research to thoroughly evaluate the benefits of digital storytelling vis-à-vis teaching and learning.

Research questions

The rationale for this project is to explore the pedagogical benefits of digital storytelling. Therefore, the overall research question is: How can digital storytelling enhance the student engagement and provide better educational outcomes for learners? This question can be divided into the following sub-questions:

How can digital storytelling be used to enhance student engagement?

How can digital storytelling be used to improve educational outcomes?

What are teacher perceptions about student learning through digital storytelling?

Significance of the study

Since the main aim of this research is to investigate the impact of digital storytelling on student learning, the outcomes of this research will enable both teachers and students to tap into the power of digital storytelling, leading to more engaged teaching and learning. This study contributes to new understandings of how to create authentic and constructivist learning contexts that can be used in a range of educational settings. The research focuses on how to implement digital storytelling in the classroom, describing the digital story workshop, and explaining teacher roles and student tasks; i.e. this research gives a clear picture of how to integrate digital storytelling into schools. Therefore, it is expected that the new knowledge generated by this research will inform educational policy and practice.

Methodology

A case study design that uses multiple case studies was chosen for this research (Mello [ 2001 ]). Case study research is a qualitative approach in which the researcher explores a case or multiple cases over time, involving multiple sources of information, for example, observations, interviews, documents and reports (Yin [ 2009 ]; Creswell et al. [ 2007 ]). The research methodology is designed to utilise both quantitative and qualitative methods. As previously mentioned, this research aims to explore the pedagogical benefits of digital storytelling; therefore, this research will focus on the level of the student engagement and the associated educational outcomes using digital storytelling. In order to achieve a complete understanding of these phenomena, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected.

Classroom observations

To record both qualitative and quantitative observations an observation tool was created (Additional file 1 : Appendix B). This observation tool was adapted from WestEd ([ 2002 ]) to fit the purpose of this study. This tool contains three different forms:

Pre-observation form (qualitative)

Timed observation form (quantitative)

Field notes form (qualitative)

The pre-observation and field notes forms were used to collect qualitative data. The pre-observation form was used to collect information about the class being observed, objectives of the story, and materials used. Whereas the field notes form was used immediately after the class, to write up research notes.

The timed observation form was used to collect quantitative data about the use of new technologies. The timed interval observation sheet is divided into several components, analysed for the percentage of time each variable observed in the classroom. To collect data, the observer checks the presence of various attributes of technology integration observed during three-minute intervals. The check marks for the noted intervals are then tallied for an overall distribution of observed events (Sadik [ 2008 ]). This observation was conducted to examine the quality of student engagement in authentic learning tasks using digital storytelling, and specifically focuses on: class collaboration, knowledge gain, student roles, teacher roles, student engagement, technology integration and modes of learning.

Evaluation rubric

In addition to classroom observations, a scoring rubric was used by teachers to assess the quality of the digital stories created by the students. This stage had two different aims: to assess the level of student engagement, and document the educational outcomes achieved through digital storytelling. The level of engagement is a quantity that can be measured with the help of a scoring rubric. According to Sadik, it is appropriate to use an assessment instrument, such as a scoring rubric, to evaluate ICT-based learning projects (Sadik [ 2008 ]). Therefore, the role of digital storytelling was assessed by means of an evaluation rubric. An evaluation rubric created by the University of Houston ([ 2011 ]) was chosen as a guide to create the rubric for this research (Additional file 1 : Appendix C). The evaluation rubric included nine criteria; these are: Purpose, Plot, Pacing of Narrative, Dramatic Question, Story Content, Grammar and Language Usage, Technological Competence, Emotional Content and Economy of Content. Four levels of descriptors were given for each category, with scores of 4, 3, 2, or 1 possible, depending on the level of success in that area.

Teacher interviews

Once the level of engagement was measured, we needed to ascertain the educational outcomes associated with digital storytelling. To perform this step qualitative data was collected through teacher interviews. After conducting interviews, the interview data were analysed to identify the benefits related to the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical approach, and the teacher’s opinion about integrating new technologies in their curricula and classroom.

Therefore, three different methods were utilised for data collection: observation, teacher evaluation rubric, and interview. Timed observation and field notes were used as the observation method, while a scoring rubric instrument was used for teacher assessment. Finally, an interview protocol was used for interviewing the participating teachers. The overall conclusions will be extracted by integrating the findings of each method (Creswell [ 2008 ]).

Participant groups

This study involved five teachers from prioritised curriculum areas (Science, Art, English, Library and Social Studies) to integrate digital storytelling into the primary and secondary school curriculum during third and fourth terms in 2012.

Table  1 lists the details of each setting including the subject area in which the digital storytelling was implemented, the number of students, and days spent observing the project development, including viewing the digital story.

Implementation of digital storytelling in classrooms

Since the main aim of this research was to investigate the impact of digital storytelling on student learning when teachers and students use digital stories, and evaluate if and how digital storytelling could enhance student engagement and improve educational outcomes; the next section will focus on how digital storytelling is implemented in the classroom, describing the digital story workshop, and explaining the teachers’ roles and students’ tasks (Smeda et al. [ 2012 ]).

As mentioned by Sadik, the use of technology is only effective if the teachers have the expertise to customise the use of technology for story creation. The benefits can only be received if teachers have the ability to use it in the classroom effectively (Sadik [ 2008 ]). Therefore, the researcher started by giving an orientation seminar, followed by workshops to teachers during the first two weeks to support and engage them in the project.

The following steps were used to help teachers easily integrate digital storytelling in their classroom. It is not the only way to implement digital storytelling; however, it can provide clear strategies on how to integrate digital storytelling when teachers and their students do not have any previous training in digital storytelling (Ohler [ 2008 ]; Sadik [ 2008 ]; Miller [ 2009 ]; Kajder et al. [ 2005 ]; [ University of Houston 2011 ]; Smeda et al. [ 2012 ]; Robin [ 2006 ]; Sharda [ 2005 ]; Lasica [ 2006 ]).

Teachers’ workshop

Two workshops were conducted for the teachers with the following main objectives:

Introduce Digital Storytelling (Workshop 1):

Objective: Describe the concept of digital storytelling

Facilitator: Researcher

Description: The workshop started with a conversation about teachers’ experiences with digital sound, video, and storytelling. An overview of possible strategies for using digital storytelling as a medium for engaging students and improving learning outcomes. The potential power of digital storytelling as a teaching and learning tool was then explored within the constructivist paradigm.

Introduce Moviemaker software (Workshop 2):

Objective: Describe how to create a digital story with the Moviemaker software

Description: In this workshop Moviemaker software was introduced to the teacher with an explanation of how to create a digital story using this software; various features and options available in Moviemaker were demonstrated.

Students and teacher roles

Students at different levels have different skills and knowledge, so they need different levels of help. For example, primary school students who have basic skills and knowledge need more direction and guidance to create a digital story. Obviously, students in different grades might need different levels of assistance and scaffolding. Therefore, students worked under the supervision of their teachers, and depending on each individual student, teachers provided help in constructing and creating the story. It is expected that the level of teacher support and the extent of scaffolding may vary across levels; teachers were prepared to provide this support through a series workshops ([ Smeda et al. 2012 ]).

Using the following lessons, teacher and student worked together to create the digital stories step-by-step:

Lesson 1: brainstorm

The objective of this lesson is to brainstorm the story. Typical expected duration is 1 to 3 days. In this lesson, teachers divide students into groups and allocate topics for them to discuss between themselves, share their ideas with each other and brainstorm the story in different ways. The students jot down ideas and write the initial narrative for the story for a particular topic the teacher had given them.

Lesson 2: storyboard

The purpose of this lesson is to create the storyboard. The estimated duration is 2 to 4 days. In this lesson, teachers help their students in writing the storyboard to organise the story sequences. They also help students clarify the main ideas of the story. Students, on the other hand, create the storyboard and select the right element(s) for it. They may also start by writing a draft of their storyboard. This assists in planning the visual materials in the right order, and thinking about how to match images or videos with the voiceover and music.

Lesson 3: search the material

This lesson is directed towards collecting the material required to create the digital story over a period of 2 to 4 days. Teachers demonstrate to their students how to look for images from different sources such as books, magazines, and the internet. They also explain copyright and digital rights issues related to the materials used. Furthermore, teachers show the students how to use the digital camera, if required. It is the students’ responsibility to choose elements which match their digital story such as photos, videos, and music.

Lesson 4: creating the digital story

The objective is to use Moviemaker software for creating a digital story. Due to the amount of work associated, the duration of this lesson is 5 to 10 days, the longest among digital story creation steps. For teachers, this lesson is designed to help students create the digital story and explain how to import pictures and videos into the Moviemaker software. Moreover, teachers help the students who want to record their voices and use them within the story. The students created the digital story based on the storyboard by importing the elements to Moviemaker software and recording their voice to add to the narrative and test if it works effectively with the digital story. They can also add special effects and adjust the length of each visual element. This is achieved by choosing and adding some special effects, such as music and transitions, to make the story more attractive, adjusting the length of each visual element to make sure it matches the narration, and this is done over the entire digital story.

Lesson 5: editing and feedback

This lesson is aimed at editing and finalising the digital story, after the student has created its first version. The duration of this lesson is 1 to 3 days. In this lesson teachers provide some feedback to incorporate further improvements before the final draft of the digital story. Students revise and edit the drafts based on teachers’ comments and feedback. Then they discuss the final drafts with the teacher and other students. The final form of the story is prepared based on these comments and feedback.

Lesson 6: presentation and evaluation

The final step of digital story creation is about presenting and evaluating the finalised digital stories over 1 or 2 days. Teachers attend the student presentation and evaluate them based on story elements, story creation and presentation. The sole responsibility of the students in this lesson is to present the digital story to teachers, classmates, and parents.

Results and discussion

Individual case studies using mixed methods constitute the body of this research. Data for this study was collected through observations, the evaluation rubric, and teacher interviews. Five separate case reports were prepared. The case reports aim to answer the research questions; and a cross-case matrix was developed for each research question. The intent of the study was not comparative, due to the fact that it was conducted in a single school and all five practice case studies were conducted at different educational levels such as Years 3–4 in primary school, and Year 11 in secondary school. In addition, the approach assumed in the implementation of this research was dependent on teachers. Therefore, in one-class students worked autonomously, while in others they worked in groups.

Considering all the above parameters, the main focus of the research was not to perform a comparative analysis, but rather to evaluate the effects of digital storytelling on education. The intent was to capture the benefits of using digital storytelling to explore student engagement and outcomes, as well as teacher experience with digital storytelling.

Therefore, in this section will focus on the main conclusion derived from the discussion of main findings related to student’s engagements and learning outcomes, as well as the teacher perceptions about digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool.

Enhancing engagement

The findings of this research indicate that levels of student engagement fluctuate between moderate and high. In other words, students were always engaged in the classroom. The use of software and conducting searches for digital media took these levels to very high, and were the highest for student presentations. In all cases students liked using technology, searching the internet, and watching other digital stories. There were some differences in implementation. For instance, Year 7 students had very low engagement levels when they had to complete their storyboards. Year 9 students had a constant, high level of engagement as they occasionally presented their completed works. Some Year 11 students’ lack of interest in school curriculum presented as an engagement problem. However, the use of digital media managed to increase their engagement level. This finding is supported by Dupain and Maguire who argued that educators continuously need methods to engage students’ interest with teaching material. With the aid of the latest developments in technology, classrooms welcome digital storytelling as a means of teaching, and students are motivated to conceive an academic concept and transmit their own (Dupain & Maguire [ 2005 ]).

The above findings are also in agreement with the current literature which encourages this new teaching approach, that is, digital storytelling permits students to utilise technology in an effective manner. Provision of appropriate resources and editing tools paves the way for student motivation and maximises its positive effect (Sadik [ 2008 ]; Morris [ 2011 ]). This encourages students to put more effort into their stories and to create quality products.

Yet another result confirming the above findings is reported by Gils, this research showed that pupils are more engaged with the practical environment. Digital storytelling makes practice and training more engaging, diverse, and customised to their needs and challenges, which makes it more realistic. In this sense, it encourages students to focus on using English to communicate with classmates. Digital storytelling has the advantage of engaging three different senses: hands, eyes and ears. It also increases students’ technical literacy (Van Gils [ 2005 ]).

On the other hand, the findings of this research indicate students had a hard time getting engaged in the class when they had to finish their storyboard; some students were not interested in any school activity including digital storytelling. Therefore, they had a low engagement level. However, when these students started recording their own videos, engagement levels increased significantly.

Consequently, it is possible to use digital storytelling to integrate instructional messages with learning activities to create more engaging and exciting learning environments. This teaching approach enhances emotional interest and cognitive attention, and reflects consistent and reliable transfer of knowledge in line with modern learning theories. Considering Barrett’s findings, it can be concluded that digital storytelling combines student engagement and effective integration of technology into instruction, which are student-centred learning strategies (Barrett [ 2006 ]).

Fostering collaboration

The findings of this research indicated that students work collaboratively and engage with digital content. They did more work while directly using applications and digital resources, such as the internet and/or libraries, instead of conventional printed media, such as books. This research also observed collaboration between groups where different groups helped each other with technical or grammar issues. This increased their levels of communication.

The above findings are in agreement with Standley who found that the creation of digital stories encourages collaboration between students, which in turn leads to the utilisation of various cognitive capabilities. Moreover, when working in a group, individuals pay more attention to content (Standley [ 2003 ]).

In addition, other researchers have found similar findings to those in this research. According to them, the digital learning experience can promote collaborative studying and encourages students to share resources online. Students’ skills are also enhanced by using databases and internet sources. Furthermore, digital content ensures that different groups are helping each other, as networked digital content connects the whole class; students who participate in digital storytelling projects have better communication, organisational skills, and more confidence in terms of asking questions and expressing opinions (Robin [ 2006 ]; VanderArk and Schneider. [ 2012 ]; Hung et al. [ 2012 ]).

The fact that students helped one another in problem solution and concept development reinforces the idea that cooperation and collaboration levels are increased with digital storytelling, in other words students have a higher engagement level when they are working in groups to create a story.

In conclusion, this research demonstrates that digital storytelling can increase students’ collaboration and communication skills.

Transforming learning

This research affirms that digital storytelling is suitable for a constructive approach to learning; because students work on their own story after receiving basic instructions from the teacher. Students have their own individual approach based on their interactions and experiences and generate novel outputs by using different sources in their creation of the digital story. These findings are in line with those reported by other researchers, such as Garrard who observed that digital storytelling supports constructivist learning and concluded that digital storytelling is a good method of teaching with positive impacts (Garrard [ 2011 ]).

In addition, the findings of research conducted by Normann concur with this research. He concluded that digital storytelling is a perfect way of learning new things and to implement constructive approaches to education, he reported that the method of conducting lessons impacted the students’ approach to learning activities (Normann [ 2011 ]).

The constructivist approach has several perspectives on learning since it recognises that human beings use their own personal vision in explaining the acquired information (Duffy et al. [ 2012 ]). This was supported by teachers in our study who concluded that digital storytelling permits students to learn by doing, and providing a flexible learning environment enables students to use their own ideas.

In addition, the findings of this research confirm that facilitating or scaffolding the learning process is the teacher’s main role. At the beginning, tasks, software and digital storytelling are explained by the teacher, which requires a teacher-led mode. Following this step, students have the necessary knowledge from which to start working autonomously, with some teacher supported learning.

Robin, who has a similar outlook on digital storytelling, found that a story created by the teacher will help students to enhance their abilities. The teacher thus builds the framework for discussing storytelling topics and makes conceptual and/or abstract subjects more comprehensible. Building on experience and knowledge with teacher support, students create their own story using iMovie and/or Moviemaker. Thus students improve their skill set with teacher support in project development (Robin [ 2008 ]).

This has significant congruence with Miller’s findings, i.e. students imitate interactions with their teacher and use these interactions to help others, thus building their interpersonal skills and confidence (Miller [ 2009 ]).

Building digital literacy

This research indicates that the utilisation of digital storytelling in education increases skills. Teachers witnessed that digital storytelling via technology integration assisted students, and helped them overcome their problems. As supported by Ohler, who viewed digital storytelling as a concept supporting creativity, students could solve crucial problems in unprecedented ways. Furthermore, teachers viewed digital storytelling as a valuable tool to increase research skills. A myriad of skills, such as spelling, writing, teamwork or collaborating with students and teachers, can be improved. Needless to say, the uptake of technology improves technical skills (Ohler [ 2008 ]). Sadik arrived at a different conclusion in his research, where classroom observations and interviews showed that the use of technology is only effective if teachers have the expertise to customise content for story creation (Sadik [ 2008 ]).

In addition, the findings of teacher interviews indicate that digital storytelling is an effective tool to help students improve their technical skills and information literacy. Students have the opportunity to choose the skill they want to work on and improve. This may include individual skills, such as spelling and writing, as well as interpersonal skills such as working in a team, or collaborating with students and teachers. Miller also found that in every class engaged in digital storytelling, one student acted like a tutor. This student not only worked on the project, but also provided technical support to peers in terms of developing their stories. In this sense, students are empowered to use their strongest skills, and improve them. Their research skills are also honed during video searches, scanning images and selecting audio content for the story (Miller [ 2009 ]).

Also, the findings indicated that teachers believe that the use of stories in education is very beneficial for countries receiving immigrants, such as Australia, because a digital story incorporates multiple aspects of the curriculum, and all teachers should use this medium at some stage. One teacher commented that in their school, where they work with many students from non-English-speaking countries, students welcome the opportunity to express themselves through visual media, rather than more words; it facilitates communication for new students and builds their confidence. Similar finding were reported by Benmayor who stated that digital storytelling can help learners to transfer their knowledge, skills and culture, thereby evolving their thinking process and helping them gain confidence. Accordingly, digital storytelling can be classified as an asset based pedagogy (Benmayor [ 2008 ]).

Additionally, the findings of teacher interviews indicated that, with digital storytelling, not only students but the teachers also got the opportunity to improve their technological skills. This included the use of electronic devices such as personal computers, cameras and recorders. Miller reported similar findings. She stated that digital storytelling is the best application for teachers to encourage students to increase their use and knowledge of technology and technical skills. Furthermore, in order to create these stories, not only the students but also the teachers are obliged to increase their technical proficiency in using personal computers, digital cameras, recorders, etc. This helped teachers keep up with the latest technology (Miller [ 2009 ]).

Personalising learning experience

The findings of this research show that digital storytelling can cater for greater diversity by personalising student’s experience. It can help them improve their confidence, and contribute to enhanced social and psychological skills. It can also be used to support students with special needs such as ESL a and VCAL b students.

These findings are in line with other research outcomes reported in literature. Van Gils found that personalised education is one of the main advantages of digital storytelling. He argued that learners can present their experiences, reflections and evaluate their achievements while creating digital stories (Van Gils [ 2005 ]). According to Ohler, digital storytelling helped students to become active participants rather than passive consumers of information (Ohler [ 2008 ]).

Academic efforts that focus on the benefits of digital storytelling are supported by government agencies. Several governing and regulatory authorities have been working on improving the education system in terms of motivation, learning outcomes and professional integration. For instance, the Australian Curriculum in Victoria (AusVELS) was specifically designed to ensure that curriculum content and achievement standards established high expectations of all students (AusVELS [ 2013 ]). According to AusVELS students are expected to enrich their learning experience, not only in a single aspect of the curriculum, but in all areas. It is known that students in Australian classrooms have varying needs based on individual’s learning histories, abilities, cultural and educational backgrounds. In recognition of this fact, the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is developing additional curriculum to promote learning outcomes for students with disabilities, and/or to assist students from different linguistic and learning backgrounds (ACARA [ 2013 ]).

This fact is also recognised by the UNESCO program for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It considers storytelling to be one of the modules which can be used to equip students with professional learning and teaching skills. This helps students achieve a wide range of knowledge, skills and values, which is the objective of Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO [ 2010 ]). The use of storytelling in Australian schools is bound to have a lasting impact, since it is defined by UNESCO as “a key teaching strategy for achieving the objectives of education for sustainable futures” (p.1).

Consequently, suffice to say that digital storytelling has, inter alia, the benefit of increasing student motivation, especially for those students who have difficulties with reading and writing, allowing personalisation of the learning experience, acquiring experience with in-depth and comprehensible reading and becoming more proficient at technical aspects of language. Digital storytelling can be used to develop personalised learning experiences for students, thereby responding to diverse individual needs.

Impact of digital storytelling on student outcomes

As the latest report for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) indicated that the use of technology in education can increase various skills of learners, the findings of this research also suggested that digital storytelling can enhance several learning skills including writing, designs, library and research, technology and communication.

In addition, digital storytelling can help students with tasks they previously found very difficult including spelling, sentence formation and building, and forming the whole body of a text; this integration of technology assisted students to overcome their writing problems.

However, age and ability to learn technological subjects have some impact on the outcomes. When compared with primary school students, secondary school students have the ability to learn more and faster. They use the internet and computers more than primary school students. This was apparent during the study, especially where primary school students worked exclusively on their stories in the class, secondary school students worked on their stories, both inside and outside the class.

Furthermore, teachers observed that students were learning without realising. Provided that students are clearly informed about the task that is required of them, digital storytelling is useful as an all-round skill development tool; the use of digital storytelling can therefore reinforce various complementary skills.

The findings of the cross-case analysis based on the rubric data are presented in the following sections.

Overall mean level of student scores

Figure  1 shows the mean of overall scores received by students for digital story quality for all cases. The overall scores were very close, despite the differences in age, subject, knowledge, technology use, etc. Nevertheless, the students in primary school (i.e. ESL and Years 3/4), received the lowest scores while those in secondary school had much better results. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, primary school students did not have prior exposure to Moviemaker software while more secondary school students had used it before.

Overall scores for digital story quality for the five case studies.

Furthermore, age and ability to learn technological subjects have sme impact. When compared with primary school students, secondary school students have the ability to learn faster and learn more. They use the internet and computer more regularly than primary school students. This was apparent during the study where the primary school students worked on their stories only in the class. On the other hand, secondary school students worked more regularly on their stories, both inside and outside the class.

It is observed that the subject does not impact student performance. However, the approach taken by the teacher proved to have significant impact. This was observed in two cases. In Years 3–4, the teacher observed that students were struggling with their writing and opted to introduce software so that the students had a clear idea about what was required of them. This additional step increased student performances.

In Year 7, the teacher asked the students to present their work when it was finished. Consequently, almost every fortnight there was a story presentation in class and this contributed to their engagement and better performance. Year 11, Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students were a special case. There were two groups, one of which was working very well, while the other group was not interested in school work. Although digital storytelling created some interest in the second group, especially during video shoots and presentation, it was not easy to engage them with the overall task. They did not work on the story creation, required constant help from the teacher and received a very low mark.

Overall performance based on evaluation criteria

Figure  2 shows the mean score obtained for the selected criteria for the five case studies. This shows that primary school students performed well in story aspects such as purpose, plot, pacing of narrative, dramatic question, story characters, and emotional content. This is because they planned their storyboard well. The key to their success was that they spent more time in writing and editing their story with some help from the teacher, before actually starting the creation process. However, they did not perform as well in technological components, emotional content and economy of the story. Nor did they perform as well in the “Dramatic Question” and “Grammar and Language Usage” since their knowledge of English was limited.

Mean Score for criteria for the five case studies.

On the other hand, secondary school students were a complete contrast. They performed not so well in the story aspects since they did not want to spend much time writing and storyboarding. This affected their scores in “Plot” and “Pacing of Narrative”. Their competency in technology helped them receive high marks in technological components such as “Technological Competence”, “Emotional Content” and “Economy of content”. This can be traced back to their age group and knowledge in technology use.

Teacher perceptions about student learning through digital storytelling

Teachers had a positive attitude towards the use of digital storytelling as a teaching tool in their classrooms, as both students and teachers had the opportunity to improve their technological skills, which included the use of various electronic devices, as previously mentioned.

Teachers indicated that digital storytelling increased and enhanced the use of technology in the classroom, which helped students improve their technical skills and information literacy; digital storytelling can also be applied to subjects such as English and History, and in almost all the sciences including mathematics, social studies and humanities.

Furthermore, teachers confirmed that the use of digital stories in education is beneficial for countries receiving immigrants, such as Australia. The ability for expression through visual media, rather than words, facilitates communication for new students and builds their confidence. In addition, teachers fulfilled the role of facilitator, consultant, and could scaffold the learning process more effectively when they used digital storytelling in class.

Since the main aim of this research was to investigate the impact of digital storytelling on student learning, the outcomes of this research will enable both teachers and students to tap into the power of digital storytelling and more engaged teaching and learning. This study contributes to new understandings of how to create authentic and constructivist learning contexts that can be used in a range of educational settings. The research focused on how to implement digital storytelling in the classroom, describing the digital story workshop, and explaining teacher roles and student tasks; therefore, this research gives a clear picture of how to integrate digital storytelling into schools. Consequently, the new knowledge generated by this research can inform future educational policy.

Furthermore, a number of story development models have been created in the past to help educators achieve better learning outcomes with digital storytelling; however, none of these models provide a holistic pedagogical framework for engaging students with digital storytelling during various stages of learning. This research presented a new e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) framework for using digital storytelling as a pedagogical model for constructivist learning.

In addition, even though the findings of this research are important and have the potential to inform policy, practice and theory, generalisations could not be derived due to the following reasons. The research only included participants from one school (even though there were two levels: primary and secondary) and limitations related to the participant sample used, since unequal numbers of students from primary and secondary schools took part in this research. In future research this limitation could be overcome by using multiple sites instead of one school, and the same participant sample, if possible. Another issue is related to the limited access to technology in the school; the students faced some technical problems while creating their digital stories, also there was some shortage of computers in the labs.

The results of this research indicate that digital storytelling can provide support to students with special needs, such as ESL and VCAL students. In addition, digital storytelling can help students to improve their confidence, and can contribute to better social and psychological skills.

a English as Second Language.

b Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.

Additional files

ACARA, The Australian Curriculum , 2013. 30/12/2013; Available from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

T Anderson, The theory and practice of online learning (Athabasca University Press, 2008) T Anderson, The theory and practice of online learning (Athabasca University Press, 2008)

Armstrong S: The power of storytelling in education. In Snapshots Edited by: Armstrong S. 2003, 11–20.

Google Scholar  

AusVELS, The Australian Curriculum in Victoria , 2013. 30/12/2013; Available from http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/ AusVELS, The Australian Curriculum in Victoria, 2013. 30/12/2013; Available from http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/

Autry AJ, Berge Z: Digital natives and digital immigrants: getting to know each other. Ind Commercial Train 2011, 43 (7):460–466. 10.1108/00197851111171890

Article   Google Scholar  

T Banaszewski, Digital storytelling: Supporting digital literacy in grades 4–12 (Citeseer, 2005) T Banaszewski, Digital storytelling: Supporting digital literacy in grades 4–12 (Citeseer, 2005)

Barrett H: Researching and evaluating digital storytelling as a deep learning tool. Soc Inf Technol Teacher Educ Int Conf 2006, 2006 (1):647–654.

Behmer S: Literature Review Digital storytelling: Examining the process with middle school students . 2005.

Benmayor R: Digital storytelling as a signature pedagogy for the new humanities. Arts Humanit High Educ 2008, 7 (2):188–204. 10.1177/1474022208088648

K Bouman, Retention of Learning: Student-led Classrooms or Traditional Classrooms? (Southwest Minnesota State University, 2012) K Bouman, Retention of Learning: Student-led Classrooms or Traditional Classrooms? (Southwest Minnesota State University, 2012)

Clarke R, Adam A: Digital storytelling in Australia Academic perspectives and reflections. Arts Humanit High Educ 2012, 11 (1–2):157–176. 10.1177/1474022210374223

Creswell JW, Plano WE, Clark V, Morales A, et al .: Qualitative research designs selection and implementation. CounsPsychol 2007, 35 (2):236–264.

JW Creswell, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Sage Publications, Incorporated, 2008) JW Creswell, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Sage Publications, Incorporated, 2008)

E Dakich, Towards the social practice of digital pedagogies, in Rethinking education with ICT: New directions for effective practices , ed. by G.N.E.D. Yelland (Sense Publishers, 2008), pp. 13–30 E Dakich, Towards the social practice of digital pedagogies, in Rethinking education with ICT: New directions for effective practices, ed. by G.N.E.D. Yelland (Sense Publishers, 2008), pp. 13–30

E Dakich, “Theoretical and Epistemological Foundations of Integrating Digital Technologies in Education in the Second Half of the 20th Century”, in Reflections on the History of Computers in Education (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2014), pp. 150–163 E Dakich, “Theoretical and Epistemological Foundations of Integrating Digital Technologies in Education in the Second Half of the 20th Century”, in Reflections on the History of Computers in Education (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2014), pp. 150–163

H Daniels, Vygotsky and pedagogy (Psychology Press, 2001) H Daniels, Vygotsky and pedagogy (Psychology Press, 2001)

J Dewey, Experience and education (Simon and Schuster, 2007) J Dewey, Experience and education (Simon and Schuster, 2007)

TM Duffy, J Lowyck, DH Jonassen, Designing environments for constructive learning (Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2012) TM Duffy, J Lowyck, DH Jonassen, Designing environments for constructive learning (Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2012)

Dupain M, Maguire L: Digital story book projects 101: How to create and implement digital storytelling into your curriculum . 2005.

D Garrard, A case study to evaluate the effectiveness of digital storytelling as a narrative writing tool . Masters thesis (University of Limerick, 2011) D Garrard, A case study to evaluate the effectiveness of digital storytelling as a narrative writing tool. Masters thesis (University of Limerick, 2011)

Hill WF: Learning: A survey of psychological interpretation . Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA; 2002.

P-S Hsu, Examining changes of preservice teachers’ beliefs about technology integration during student teaching. J Technol Teacher Educ 21 (1), (2013) P-S Hsu, Examining changes of preservice teachers’ beliefs about technology integration during student teaching. J Technol Teacher Educ 21(1), (2013)

Hung CM, Hwang GJ, Huang I: A Project-based digital storytelling approach for improving students’ learning motivation, problem-solving competence and learning achievement. Educ Technol Soc 2012, 15 (4):368–379.

Jonassen DH, Peck KL, Wilson BG: Learning with technology: a constructivist perspective . Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ; 1999.

Jung EJ: Comparison of Major Learning Paradigms . 2008.

Kajder S, Bull G, Albaugh S: Constructing digital stories, in learning & leading with technology . 2005.

Lambert J: Where it all started: The center for digital storytelling in California . 2009.

Book   Google Scholar  

Lasica JD: Digital Storytelling: A Tutorial in 10 Easy Steps . 2006.

MR Lea, S Jones, Digital literacies in higher education: exploring textual and technological practice. Stud High Educ 36 (4), 377–393 (2011) MR Lea, S Jones, Digital literacies in higher education: exploring textual and technological practice. Stud High Educ 36(4), 377-393 (2011)

Meadows D: Digital storytelling: research-based practice in new media. Vis Commun 2003, 2 (2):189–193. 10.1177/1470357203002002004

Mello R: The power of storytelling: how oral narrative influences children’s relationships in classrooms. Int J Educ Arts 2001, 2 (1):1–14.

E Miller, Digital Storytelling, in Department of Curriculum and Instruction (University of Northern Iowa, 2009) E Miller, Digital Storytelling, in Department of Curriculum and Instruction (University of Northern Iowa, 2009)

RJ Morris, Responses of listener-viewers in digital storytelling: Collaborations in the intermediate classroom and the middle school library . PhD thesis (University of Pittsburgh, 2011) RJ Morris, Responses of listener-viewers in digital storytelling: Collaborations in the intermediate classroom and the middle school library. PhD thesis (University of Pittsburgh, 2011)

Neal L: Storytelling at a distance. eLearn Mag 2001, 5: 4. 10.1145/566970.566979

A Normann, Digital Storytelling in Second Language Learning, in Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2011), p. 125 A Normann, Digital Storytelling in Second Language Learning, in Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2011), p. 125

Ohler J: Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity . Corwin Pr, Thousand Oaks, CA; 2008.

Pavlov IP: Conditioned reflexes . 1927.

Pitler H: Viewing technology through three lenses. Principal-Arlington 2006, 85 (5):38–42.

Prensky M: Digital natives, digital immigrants part 2: do they really think differently? On the Horizon 2001, 9 (6):1–6. 10.1108/10748120110424843

Robin B: The educational uses of digital storytelling. Soc Inf Technol Teacher Educ Int Conf 2006, 2006: 709–716.

Robin BR: Digital storytelling: a powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Into Pract 2008, 47 (3):220–228. 10.1080/00405840802153916

Sadik A: Digital storytelling: a meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educ Technol Res Dev 2008, 56 (4):487–506. 10.1007/s11423-008-9091-8

Sharda N: Movement oriented design: a new paradigm for multimedia design. Int J Lateral Comput 2005, 1 (1):7–14.

Sharda N: Applying movement oriented design to create educational stories. Int J Learn 2007, 13 (12):177–184.

Skinner BF: About behaviourism . Jonathan Cape, London; 1974.

Smeda N, Dakich E, Sharda N: Digital Storytelling with Web 2.0 Tools for Collaborative Learning. Collaborative Learning 2012, 145–163. 10.4018/978-1-4666-0300-4.ch008

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Standley M: Digital Storytelling: Using new technology and the power of stories to help our students learn-and teach . 2003.

Sternberg BJ, Kaplan KA, Borck JE: Enhancing adolescent literacy achievement through integration of technology in the classroom. Reading Res Q 2007, 42 (3):416–420. 10.1598/RRQ.42.3.6

Tamim RM, Lowerison G, Schmid RF, Bernard RM, Abrami PC: A multi-year investigation of the relationship between pedagogy, computer use and course effectiveness in postsecondary education. J Comput High Educ 2011, 23 (1):1–14. 10.1007/s12528-010-9041-4

The Digital Storytelling Association: The center for digital storytelling . 2011.

Thorndike E: Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning . Teachers College Press, New York; 1913.

UNESCO. Teacher and Learning for a Sustainable Future , 2010. 27/12/2013, Available from http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_d/mod21.html

University of Houston: The educational uses of digital storytelling . 2011.

Van Gils F: Potential applications of digital storytelling in education. in the proceedings of 3rd Twente Student Conference on IT, Enschede June . 2005.

T VanderArk, C Schneider, How digital learning contributes to deeper learning. (2012). 30/12/2013; Available from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD6152a.pdf

I Verenikina, Scaffolding and learning: Its role in nurturing new learners, in Learning and the learner: exploring learning for new times , ed. by P in Kell, W Vialle, D Konza, G Vogl (University of Wollongong, 2008), p. 236 I Verenikina, Scaffolding and learning: Its role in nurturing new learners, in Learning and the learner: exploring learning for new times, ed. by P in Kell, W Vialle, D Konza, G Vogl (University of Wollongong, 2008), p. 236

LS Vygotsky, Mind In Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,2008) LS Vygotsky, Mind In Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,2008)

G Wells, Dialogic inquiry: Towards a socio-cultural practice and theory of education (Cambridge University Press, 1999) G Wells, Dialogic inquiry: Towards a socio-cultural practice and theory of education (Cambridge University Press, 1999)

WestEd: Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology (PT3), Integration of Technology Observation Instrument grant . 2002.

Wilson BG: Constructivist learning environments: Case studies in instructional design . Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs NJ; 1996.

RK Yin, Case study research: Design and methods , 5th edn. (Sage Publications, Incorporated, 2009) RK Yin, Case study research: Design and methods, 5th edn. (Sage Publications, Incorporated, 2009)

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the support we received from East Preston Islamic School; we would like to thank all the students and teachers who participate in this research. Also we would like to acknowledge the support and help provided by Prof. Neil Diamond and Dr. Ewa Sztendur for their statistical support in analysing the data.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, 8001, Australia

Najat Smeda & Nalin Sharda

Faculty of Education, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Najat Smeda .

Additional information

Competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

NS is a lecturer at Al-Jabel Al-Gharbi University, Libya.Najat received her PhD from the College of Engineering and Science at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia , her research project titled “Creating a Constructivist Learning Environment with Digital Storytelling”. She received her Master’s degree from University of Twente, Netherlands in technology applications in education and training. She finished her Bachelor’s degree from University of Al-Jabel Al-Gharbi, Libya and she worked as an academic teaching member at University of Al-Jabel Al-Gharbi, Libya for more than 8 years. ED is a Senior Lecturer and Program Leader of Secondary Teacher Education at the Faculty of Education, La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. ED was a recipient of the Australian Postgraduate Award and has published widely about the pedagogical and social transformations occurring in the digital age. These included a co-edited book, book chapters, journal articles, monographs and refereed conference papers focusing on 21 st century learning and digital inclusion. Eva worked as a researcher and consultant on large Australian research projects, such as the National Evaluation of The Smith Family’s Tech Packs Project (2009-2010), as well as on the Evaluation of the Victorian Technology Enriched Curriculum Project, TECP (2011-2013), a Closing the Gap initiative. She is committed to transdisciplinary research and supervision of doctoral candidates, and works internationally with colleagues from a variety of scholarly disciplines. She is a member of several international associations promoting new learning and eCitizenship. NSh gained B.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Presently he teaches and leads research in innovative applications of computer technologies at the College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Australia. NSh publications include the Multimedia Information Networking textbook, and around 120 papers and handbook chapters. Nalin has invented Movement Oriented Design (MOD) paradigm for the creation of effective multimedia content based experience, and applied it to e-Learning and other applications. NSh has led e-Tourism projects for the Australian Sustainable Tourism CRC, and is currently guiding research in the innovative applications of ICT systems to sustainable living. NSh has been invited to present lectures and seminars in the Distinguished Lecturer series of the European Union’s Prolearn program, and by the IEEE Education Society. He has presented over fifty seminars, lectures, and Key Note addresses in Austria, Australia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, and USA. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Electronic supplementary material

40561_2014_6_moesm1_esm.docx.

Additional file 1: Appendix A: The e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) Framework. Appendix B: Classroom observation protocol. Appendix C: The scoring rubric instrument. (DOCX 62 KB)

Authors’ original submitted files for images

Below are the links to the authors’ original submitted files for images.

Authors’ original file for figure 1

Authors’ original file for figure 2, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Smeda, N., Dakich, E. & Sharda, N. The effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms: a comprehensive study. Smart Learn. Environ. 1 , 6 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-014-0006-3

Download citation

Received : 21 May 2014

Accepted : 10 October 2014

Published : 03 December 2014

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-014-0006-3

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Student engagement
• Student-centered learning
• Constructivist learning

Digital Storytelling in Enhancing Student Behavioral and Cognitive Engagement in an EFL Classroom

Tira Rostia Wardini, - (2019) Digital Storytelling in Enhancing Student Behavioral and Cognitive Engagement in an EFL Classroom. S1 thesis, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia.

Baca Full Text klik disini

Digital storytelling is considered as one of pedagogical tools that promotes student engagement in the classroom. This research is aimed to examine the process of creating digital storytelling in enhancing student behavioral and cognitive engagement in EFL classroom. To achieve the aim, this research employed qualitative case study with 36 students as the participants in tenth grade and the data gained from classroom observation, interview, and document analysis. The findings reveal that the students enhanced their behavioral and cognitive engagement throughout the process of creating digital storytelling project, namely introduction to example of digital storytelling project, brainstorming the ideas of digital story, drafting and making storyboard, and presenting digital story. Upon the process, the active behavioral engagement was demonstrated, where the students actively shared ideas, responded to teacher’s question, participated in discussion, followed the instruction, and completed digital storytelling project. However, this research also found out that the students demonstrating the passive behavioral engagement. They appeared to have listened to the instruction, but not asking or responding to teacher’s question and disinterested to the assignment. The student cognitive engagement was enhanced along the creation of digital storytelling process. It could be seen when the students actively used their prior knowledge and made the connection between their prior knowledge and the new information to create more structural knowledge and understand more complex knowledge in developing their digital story. This research has the implication to help the teacher engaged the students in the comfortable learning environment and promote 21st century learning.

Actions (login required)

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Journal Proposal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

A systematic review of digital storytelling in improving speaking skills.

1. Introduction

1.1. digital storytelling, 1.2. digital storytelling in improving speaking skill, 2. aim of current systematic review, 3.1. phase i: identification phase, 3.2. phase 2: screening phase, 3.3. phase 3: eligibility phase, 3.4. phase 4: exclusion phase, 5. discussion, 6. limitation, 7. conclusions, 8. implication and recommendation, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

• Alkamel, M.; Chouthaiwale, S. The use of ICT tools in English language teaching and learning: A literature review. J. Engl. Lang. Lit. (JOELL) 2020 , 5 , 29–33. [ Google Scholar ]
• Jessica, C.; Yunus, M.M. Digital storytelling production as a learning tool in improving ESL learners’ verbal proficiency. Asian EFL J. 2018 , 20 , 131–141. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gurrieri, L.; Drenten, J. Visual storytelling and vulnerable health care consumers: Normalising practices and social support through Instagram. J. Serv. Mark. 2018 , 33 , 702–720. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sintonen, S.; Kumpulainen, K.; Vartiainen, J. Young Children’s Imaginative Play and Dynamic Literacy Practices in the Digital Age. In Mobile Technologies in Children’s Language and Literacy ; Oakley, G., Ed.; Emerald Publishing Limited: Bingley, UK, 2018; pp. 15–28. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mirza, H.S. Improving University Students’ English Proficiency with Digital Storytelling. Int. Online J. Educ. Teach. 2020 , 7 , 84–94. [ Google Scholar ]
• Okumus, A. The perceptions and preferences of 8th grade students in digital storytelling in English. Int. Online J. Educ. Teach. 2020 , 7 , 585–604. [ Google Scholar ]
• Thuruvan, P.; Yunus, M.M. The speech act of request in the ESL Classroom. 3L Lang. Linguist. Lit. 2018 , 23 , 4–10. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Anderson, J.; Chung, Y.C.; Macleroy, V. Creative and critical approaches to language learning and digital technology: Findings from a multilingual digital storytelling project. Lang. Educ. 2018 , 32 , 195–211. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Shelton, C.; Archambault, L.M.; Hale, A.E. Bringing digital storytelling in the elementary classroom: Video production for preservice teachers. J. Digit. Learn. Teach. Educ. 2017 , 33 , 58–68. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Tahriri, A.; Tous, M.D.; MovahedFar, S. The impact of digital storytelling on EFL learners’ oracy skills and motivation. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Engl. Lit. 2017 , 4 , 144–153. [ Google Scholar ]
• Robin, B.R.; McNeil, S.G. Digital storytelling. Int. Encycl. Media Lit. 2019 , 47 , 1–8. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wahyuni, W.; Sujoko, S.; Sarosa, T. Improving students’ speaking skill through Project-Based Learning (Digital Storytelling). Engl. Educ. 2017 , 6 , 161–168. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ Green Version ]
• Rahimi, M. Digital storytelling in language classes. In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Modern Education Delivery ; Khosrow Pour, M., Ed.; IGI Global: Hershey, PA, USA, 2019; pp. 276–290. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tatli, Z.; Uğur, N.; Çakiroğlu, Ü. Peer assessment through digital storytelling: Experiences of pre-service IT teachers. Int. J. Inf. Learn. Technol. 2018 , 35 , 217–228. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Chambers, G.J.; Yunus, M.M. Enhancing learners’ sentence constructions via Wheel of Grammar. Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. Humanit. 2017 , 25 , 1641–1650. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kogila, M.; Ibrahim, A.B.; Zulkifli, C.Z. A powerful of digital storytelling to support education and key elements from various experts. Int. J. Acad. Res. Progress. Educ. Dev. 2020 , 9 , 408–420. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kallinikou, E.; Nicolaidou, I. Digital storytelling to enhance adults’ speaking skills in learning foreign languages: A case study. Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2019 , 3 , 59. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ Green Version ]
• Al Khateeb, A.A. Socially orientated digital storytelling among Saudi EFL learners: An analysis of its impact and content. Interact. Technol. Smart Educ. 2019 , 16 , 130–142. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rosenberg, D. Early modern information overload. J. List Ideas 2013 , 64 , 1–9. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Poshka, A.; Poposka, M. Incorporating digital storytelling in an EFL classroom and its effects on students’ language proficiency, motivation, and self-reflection. Univ. Eur. Orient. Merid. 2017 , 3 , 1–9. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang, C.C.; Niemi, H.; Cheng, C.L.; Cheng, Y.Y. Validation of learning progression in scientific imagination using data from Taiwanese and Finnish elementary school students. Think. Ski. Creat. 2017 , 24 , 73–85. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ Green Version ]
• Rahimi, M.; Yadollahi, S. Effects of offline vs. online digital storytelling on the development of EFL learners’ literacy skills. Cogent Educ. 2017 , 4 , 128–131. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Chien, C.H.; Yunus, M.M.; Mohamad, M. Who we are in enhancing rural students’ English as a second language (ESL)? Learn. Asian EFL J. 2017 , 2 , 5–17. [ Google Scholar ]
• Liu, M.C.; Huang, Y.M.; Xu, Y.H. Effects of individual versus group work on learner autonomy and emotion in digital storytelling. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 2018 , 66 , 1009–1028. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Stanley, N. Digital storytelling. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching ; Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2018; Volume 6, pp. 1–7. [ Google Scholar ]
• Melwani, M.; Tay, L.Y.; Lim, C.P. Digital storytelling as a pedagogy to develop literacy and twenty-first century competencies in a Singapore primary school: Teachers as designers. Mob. Technol. Child. Lang. Lit. 2018 , 6 , 67–81. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sourdot, L.A.; Smith, C.; Anderson, G.; Whitworth, J. The TWUFCL experiment: Authentic engagement with technology for teacher candidates and education professionals. In Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, Austin, TX, USA, 5 March 2017; pp. 2470–2473. [ Google Scholar ]
• Del-Moral-Pérez, M.E.; Villalustre-Martínez, L.; Neira-Piñeiro, M.D.R. Teachers’ perception about the contribution of collaborative creation of digital storytelling to the communicative and digital competence in primary education schoolchildren. Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn. 2019 , 32 , 342–365. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Fu, J.S.; Yang, S.H.; Yeh, H.C. Exploring the impacts of digital storytelling on English as a foreign language learners’ speaking competence. J. Res. Technol. Educ. 2021 , 9 , 1–16. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Chan, B.S.; Churchill, D.; Chiu, T.K. Literacy learning in higher education through digital storytelling approach. J. Int. Educ. Res. 2017 , 13 , 1–16. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Glava, A.; Arvanitis, P.; Panagiotis, P.; Georgios, Y. Digital Storytelling in Language Education. Master’s Thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2017. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chiang, F.; Chiu, C.; Su, Z. Using digital storytelling to enhance elementary school students’ creative thinking. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Materials for Science and Engineering (ICAMSE), Tainan, Taiwan, 12–13 November 2016; pp. 505–508. [ Google Scholar ]
• De Jager, A.; Fogarty, A.; Tewson, A.; Lenette, C.; Boydell, K.M. Digital storytelling in research: A systematic review. Qual. Rep. 2017 , 22 , 2548–2582. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rodraguez, C.L.; Massa Guijarro, B. Digital Storytelling in Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Rev. Eur. Stud. 2021 , 13 , 1–13. [ Google Scholar ]
• Jamissen, G.; Hardy, P.; Nordkvelle, Y.; Pleasants, H. Digital Storytelling in Higher Education ; Palgrave Macmillan: London, UK, 2017; pp. 978–982. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kim, D.; Li, M. Digital storytelling: Facilitating learning and identity development. J. Comput. Educ. 2021 , 8 , 33–61. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Schrum, K.; Dalbec, B.; Boyce, M.; Collini, S. Digital storytelling: Communicating academic research beyond the academy. Innov. Teach. Learn. Conf. Proc. 2017 , 9 , 1–5. [ Google Scholar ]
• Schultz, J.; Shiflett, B. The story workshop method of teaching writing and reading, integrating writing, reading, speaking, listening, thinking, group games, verbal-written and visualisation incorporating the three major ways of learning/technological problem-solving. In Proceedings of the 6th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, Valencia, Spain, 5–7 March 2012; pp. 2378–2383. [ Google Scholar ]
• Liu, K.P.; Tai, D.S.J.; Liu, C.C. Enhancing language learning through creation: The effect of digital storytelling on student learning motivation and performance in a school English course. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 2018 , 66 , 913–935. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Nam, C.W. The effects of digital storytelling on student achievement, social presence, and attitude in online collaborative learning environments. Interact. Learn. Environ. 2017 , 25 , 412–427. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rositasari, I. The Use of Digital Storytelling to Improve Students’ Speaking Skills in Retelling Story. Ph.D. Thesis, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2017. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nassim, S. Digital storytelling: An active learning tool for improving students’ language skills. PUPIL Int. J. Teach. Educ. Learn. 2018 , 2 , 14–29. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Yoga, H.R. The Effect of Using Toontastic 3D on Students’ Speaking Skills at Eighth Grade of Mts. Hifzhil Qur’an Medan in 2020/2021. Ph.D. Thesis, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia, 2020. [ Google Scholar ]
• Precintha Rubini, A.; James, P.P.; Yong, K.L.; Yunus, M.M. Hear me out! Digital storytelling to enhance speaking skills. Int. J. Acad. Res. Bus. Soc. Sci. 2019 , 9 , 190–202. [ Google Scholar ]
• Arroba Muñoz, J.M. Authentic Digital Storytelling in the English Speaking Skill. LEARN J. Lang. Educ. Acquis. Res. Network 2018 , 14 , 317–343. [ Google Scholar ]
• Yang, Y.T.C.; Chen, Y.C.; Hung, H.T. Digital storytelling as an interdisciplinary project to improve students’ English speaking and creative thinking. Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn. 2020 , 1 , 1–23. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Hayam, S. Pedagogic Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in Improving Speaking Skills of Saudi EFL Learners ; Northern Border University: Arar, Saudi Arabia, 2019; pp. 127–138. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nicoli, N.; Henriksen, K.; Komodromos, M.; Tsagalas, D. Investigating digital storytelling for the creation of positively engaging digital content. EuroMed J. Bus. 2021 , 6 , 1–17. [ Google Scholar ]
• Elenein, A.H.A.A. The effect of utilizing digital storytelling on developing oral communication skills for 5th grade students at Rafah Primary Schools. Int. J. Lang. Lit. Stud. 2019 , 1 , 1–17. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Abdelmageed, M.; El-Naggar, Z. Digital storytelling enhances students’ speaking skills at Zewail university of science and technology in Egypt. In Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, Washington, DC, USA, 26 March 2018; pp. 278–287. [ Google Scholar ]
• Arif, F.K.M.; Zubir, N.Z.; Mohamad, M.; Yunus, M.M. Benefits and challenges of using game-based formative assessment among undergraduate students. Humanit. Soc. Sci. Rev. 2019 , 4 , 203–213. [ Google Scholar ]
• Yunus, M.M.; Hashim, H.; Embi, M.A.; Lubis, M.A. The utilization of ICT in the teaching and learning of English: ‘Tell Me More’. Proc. Soc. Behav. Sci. 2010 , 9 , 685–691. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ Green Version ]
• Boulahrouz, M. Field trips and education for sustainable development. A proposal for youth participation using digital storytelling. Edmetic 2021 , 10 , 184–201. [ Google Scholar ]
• del Moral Pérez, M.E.; López Bouzas, N. Different abilities as represented in animated films aimed at children: An inclusive gaze. Edmetic 2021 , 10 , 20–39. [ Google Scholar ]

Click here to enlarge figure

Share and Cite

Nair, V.; Yunus, M.M. A Systematic Review of Digital Storytelling in Improving Speaking Skills. Sustainability 2021 , 13 , 9829. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179829

Nair V, Yunus MM. A Systematic Review of Digital Storytelling in Improving Speaking Skills. Sustainability . 2021; 13(17):9829. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179829

Nair, Viknesh, and Melor Md Yunus. 2021. "A Systematic Review of Digital Storytelling in Improving Speaking Skills" Sustainability 13, no. 17: 9829. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179829

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, further information, mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals

Title: Digital Storytelling: Supporting Digital Literacy in Grades 4 - 12

Associated Organization(s)

Collections, supplementary to, permanent link, date issued, resource type, resource subtype, rights statement.

Advertisement

Utilizing digital storytelling as a tool for teaching literature through constructivist learning theory

• Original Paper
• Published: 05 July 2022
• Volume 2 , article number  109 , ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Nikolaos Karantalis 1 &
• Dimitrios Koukopoulos 1  

4282 Accesses

2 Citations

Explore all metrics

Utilization of new technologies (ICT) and digital media has been a priority in recent years in the design and the implementation of educational programs around the world. The new educational reality, imposed by the pandemic, relies heavily on the replacement of in-person learning with distance learning, which is based on the use of digital tools and new technologies. The fact that distance learning has been massively and rapidly imposed due to the circumstances resulting from the pandemic and has been transformed from a supplementary to the main means of the educational procedure, has also highlighted the need for its tools to be linked to learning theories and to be extended to non-formal forms of education. Digital storytelling, in particular, that during the last years has been used as a means to all levels of formal and non-formal education, can be proved equally useful and productive in distance learning as well. This article presents a lesson plan for the literature course created in a secondary school in Greece. During the teaching, it was explored whether digital storytelling can provide a quality educational tool in which you can find a field for modern constructive–collaborative learning theories, in both formal and non-formal forms of education.

Similar content being viewed by others

The Scholarship of Integration and Digital Storytelling as “Bildung” in Higher Education

Supporting Student Learning Toward Twenty-First-Century Skills Through Digital Storytelling

Narrative Learning and Transformative Practices in Higher Distance Education

Explore related subjects.

• Artificial Intelligence

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

The twenty-first century has been described as “digital” and this is largely due to the impact that digital media have on every aspect of human action. Especially, in education, the use of digital media is the subsequence of the integration of the new technologies in the educational process, which has been observed since the 1990s. Recent studies show that the new technologies can make a significant contribution to the educational process and that especially computers are an integral part of it (Monroy García et al. 2020 ; Zhurakovskaya et al. 2020 ). Their importance was better understood during COVID-19 pandemic, when the argument that they contribute significantly to the transfer of the teaching–learning process outside the classroom is proved to be correct. This is evidenced by the interest shown by all countries in equipping schools and students with the appropriate tools (tablets, laptops, etc.) and educating teachers and students to be able to use conferencing platforms (Cisco Webex, Zoom, Microsoft teams, etc.) in synchronous and asynchronous distance education (Farnel et al. 2021 ; Katić et al. 2021 ). In this new reality, the interest in exploiting the possibilities offered by the new technologies and digital media became more intense along with the need to connect them with modern learning theories. The massive implementation of distance education has made this need even more vital.

Digital storytelling is a tool that in recent years has been extensively studied and used in the educational process in many ways (Chubko et al. 2020 ; Kogila et al. 2020 ; Hammond et al. 2021 ). This is basically a narrative that came up by the use of digital media. More specifically, digital storytelling is defined as

a short story, only 2–3 min long, where the storyteller uses one’s own voice to tell one’s own story. The personal element is emphasized, and can be linked with other people, a place, an interest or anything that will give the story a personal touch. (Normann 2011 ).

The creative, exploratory and collaborative character of digital storytelling fits perfectly with modern learning theories and can be used in a creative way not only in the classroom environment at school but in distance education as well. The principles of constructivism are the core of the modern educational systems which aim to promote active-exploratory learning through the student's interaction with their social environment and cooperation with others around them. According to Wilson, a constructively structured classroom can be defined as the place where students work together and support each other using a variety of media and information sources so that under the teacher’s guidance they can achieve their learning goals and solve problems (Wilson 1996 ).

The use of ICT is often proposed as a tool for the teaching of literature, as shown in the case of the new curricula for the Lyceum that will be implemented in Greece from 2022 (I.E.P, http://iep.edu.gr/el/nea-programmata-spoudon-arxiki-selida) . There are many possibilities of digital storytelling that can be utilized in the course of literature. Narrative is a key part of literature and its teaching through digital narration can contribute significantly to the students’ understanding of narrative techniques. At the same time, it becomes an effective tool to promote creativity and narrative skills of the person who makes it, while at the same time it becomes artistic representations with personal and group identity (Lambert and Hessler 2018 ). Additionally, it assists learners in writing creatively and more effectively by visualization of their writing, which results in an additional level of perception and authentic personal learning that enhances the writing process and effective learning experience (Moradi and Chen 2019 ).

However, there are few cases where a detailed reference is made to the role that digital storytelling can play in the teaching of literature. This finding is common to other researchers in the field of teaching literature, where it is found that

very little research, however, has been conducted on the use of Digital Story (DS) in teaching and learning literature, particularly within the context of Higher Education (Horne 2021 ).

Furthermore, the case study of the digital narrative used in the teaching of literature is mainly concerned with younger ages. Respectively, in secondary education, lesson plans and case studies are minimal.

This article presents those elements of the digital storytelling that make it qualitative educational tool, in which modern constructivist–collaborative learning theories, related with formal and non-formal forms of education, can be applied based on an implemented lesson plan for the literature course taught to high school students in a public school in Greece.

Constructivism

The term constructivism comes from the Latin word “construere” which means to build together and the corresponding learning theory has greatly influenced research and teaching. Constructivism is a relatively modern pedagogical theory in which students are encouraged to interpret and construct their own important representations and understandings of the outside world based on their own experiences and acquire knowledge through communication and transaction with others (Honebein 1996 ). Students form or construct much of what they learn through experience (Cashman et al. 2008 ). Learners come to learning situations with knowledge gained from previous experience, and that prior knowledge influences what new or modified knowledge they will construct from new learning experiences (Phillips 1995 ). Personal experience and its role in the cognitive process is based on the power of subjective experiences. The student attempts to interpret the world around them based on personal filters: experiences, goals and beliefs (Solomon 1994 ). The theory of constructivism is dominated by two theories, cognitive constructivism and social constructivism. Cognitive constructivism is based on the ideas of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (Piaget 1953 ), while social constructivism is based on the research of the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (Vygotsky 1978 ).The Piaget School believes that people cannot immediately understand and use the information given to them, but they create their own knowledge through experience. Experience is used to create the spiritual models of the world, which are further processed with new situations that offer new experiences. The creation of knowledge takes place mainly in the human mind in interaction with the sources of knowledge. Piaget's theory includes assimilation and accommodation, which are processes children go through as a search for balance or “equilibration” (Wadsworth 2004 ). His theory on equilibration, assimilation and accommodation all have do with the children's ability to construct cognitively or individually their new knowledge within their stages and resolve conflicts (Piaget 1953 ). Recognizing that this process occurs within each individual student at a different rate helps the teacher facilitate constructivist learning (Powell and Kalina 2009 ). Vygotsky emphasizes the importance of social and cultural factors in the creation of knowledge, in the process of learning and in the development of the individual. It is a modern approach, according to which each individual's thought is built on the basis of social interaction. Social interaction plays an important role in student learning. It is through social interaction that students learn from each other, as well as adults (Blake 2008 ). According to Vygotsky, although mental functions play an important role in the child's developmental process, the core of development is the social factors that insert or surround the individual. (Vygotsky 1978 ).

Digital storytelling and constructivism

Digital narrative (Digital Storytelling, digital narrative) is a relatively recent term that in the last three decades is becoming more and more popular in many different fields, from the field of literature to the field of advertising and the field of electronics. Although many trace the beginnings of digital storytelling in the early stages of the evolution of digital media (Bryan 2017 ), the term was first introduced at the Digital Media Center founded in San Francisco in 1994 by D. Atchley, J. Lambert and N. Mullen. According to Armstrong, digital storytelling is a process that involves traditional storytelling with the technologies and media of the digital age, such as video, audio and personal storytelling (Armstrong 2003 ). Coventry considers digital stories to be multimedia short film narratives that combine text, images, and audio files (Coventry 2008 ). According to Barret, digital history is 2–4 min digital video clip, where most of the time there is a first-person narrative, enriched with images and music that give an emotional tone (Barrett 2006 ). The definitions converge on the fact that the traditional way of storytelling is redefined and presented with the help of digital media. As traditional storytelling used voice and written language, the new way of storytelling proposed by digital storytelling required the means it uses to be identified. Thus, there are three categories of elements that a digital narrative includes:

image (includes images, video clips, image and video switching).

sound (includes recorded narration of the story with adjustment of tone and rhythm by the narrator, pauses, etc.)

music investment (music, music effects, etc.)

Robin divides the types of digital storytelling into three categories: personal storytelling, digital storytelling that examines historical events, and finally storytelling that instructs or educates (Robin 2005 ). The first of these three species is the one that includes the largest number of subcategories. The distinction can be made based on the purpose of digital storytelling, i.e., if it is a simple storytelling (personal story, folk storytelling, etc.), an informative storytelling (e.g., object construction instructions, biography, etc.) or digital persuasion narratives, such as commercials (Robin 2006 ). In any case, anyone who wants to create a digital narrative should be more or less familiar with the tools it uses (audio and video recording and editing programs, use of the material from the internet, knowledge of web.02 and web.03, etc.). Furthermore, the rapid development of digital storytelling requires the adaptation of aspiring "digital narrators" to the new ways it proposes.

One of the basic principles of constructivism is that knowledge is built on the foundations of a previous experience. This means that students are involved in a learning process based on the knowledge they had gained from previous experience and that the new knowledge that will be acquired is largely due to previous experience (Phillips 1995 ). Students, through the process of assimilation, adapt the information they receive to what they already know. Digital storytelling requires students to have sufficient knowledge of the media used to create it (operation of cameras for capturing, saving, and editing photos and videos, subtitling and voice-over through programs such as windows movie maker, adobe spark, etc.). However, students adapt this knowledge to the requirements of digital storytelling, discovering the new perspectives it can offer using it in a new way. The degree of familiarity with the media also determines the result of the students' work. Of course, the same stands for the content and the goals that have been set from the beginning. Any questions or difficulties are not dealt with a passive approach, but with the mobilization and the active participation of the students. This is a basic principle of constructivism that applies in the case of digital storytelling. As the means used are constantly changing, following technological developments, the students need to adapt to them. They must constantly experiment, ask questions, criticize, exchange views and innovate. Only in this way will the learning objectives be realized, not only in the final form of the project, but also in the whole course of the educational process.

A basic condition for the above principles to be effective is the existence of an appropriate educational environment, which will serve the principle of active learning. Utilizing the possibilities of digital storytelling, this becomes possible as students work in a familiar environment (school computer room, home computer), which with the plethora of media appeared (computers, cameras, internet, video cameras, etc.) and with the creative opportunities appeared (digital storytelling programs, synchronous and asynchronous conferencing platforms) helps them to actively acquire knowledge. At the same time, digital storytelling utilizes the possibilities of working in groups and through its emphasis on collaborative projects/works and discussions, personal contribution and research. The collaborative teaching method is a basic principle of constructivism, as collaborative and cooperative learning experiences allow students to construct a shared understanding by negotiating appropriate meaning and solutions to learning tasks (Jonassen et al. 1995 ).

Current study

The purpose of the research is related with the intention of the teacher to identify the extent to which it is possible to use women as a literary character of folk songs didactically through digital narration and whether this will help to bring students closer to two seemingly diametrically opposed ways: narrative, a traditional and a modern one, working on the basis of constructivist learning theories.

The research was based on a lesson plan for the literature course taught to high school students in a public school in Greece. This project meets the requirements of both living and distance education and involves students in non-formal forms of education. The reason for the lesson plan is the teaching of the unit "The Genders in Literature" in the first grade of Lyceum. More specifically, students undertake to create a digital narrative centered on a woman as she is presented in specific traditional folk songs. The main purpose of the educational script is to help students to approach the literary tradition of folk songs and consequently the basic motifs of folk tales through the modern tools of digital narration. In addition to specific cognitive and pedagogical goals set by this educational scenario, emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with the technological—digital tools of digital storytelling and work based on constructivist learning theory.

Directly related to the main purpose of the research are the individual goals that they set. Specifically, the research aims to detect the margins of the utilization of digital narration in the teaching of literature through a didactic intervention defined in time. Also, aims to record the change of the students' attitude toward the subject and how much progress the class has made in order to evolve at the same time. Τhe research was conducted on a group of 16 students of the AD Daily General Lyceum in a public school where the teacher worked during the period September–December, school period 2020–2021. The class consists of 12 girls and 4 boys, with relative heterogeneity in performance, age 15–17, and parental consent was given.

Can female literary characters of folk song acquire a new way of expression through digital narration?

Can students' work be based on the constructivist learning model?

What differences do students see between the two types of storytelling (traditional and digital)?

Based on previous experience, a new plan, that will meet the requirements of both living and distance education and will involve students more in non-formal forms of education, is proposed. There have been many notable studies in recent years regarding the use of digital storytelling in modern education (Smeda et al. 2012 ; Lazareva and Cruz-Martinez 2020 ; Olson and Maurath 2020 ). The course plan follows these innovative ideas, but it focuses on the following basic principles for teaching it. Specifically:

Digital storytelling is just as important in the teaching of this course as traditional storytelling. In other words, it is not taught neither as a separate course nor as a secondary teaching tool.

students are given more freedom in choosing the topic and the tools they will use to implement it.

it can be implemented in both life and distance education.

it is addressed to students of the last grades of secondary education when most of the digital storytelling proposals at school concern children aged 4–12 years.

uses modern digital storytelling tools, most of which enhance collaborative learning online.

Methodology

The methodology is based on quantitative research. The collection of quantitative information allows us to conduct statistical analysis that aggregates the data (e.g., averages, percentages) showing corresponding data relationships. This quantitative research includes questionnaires (pre and post), related to the research questions posed above.

The teaching method follows the constructivist method of teaching, mainly because the teaching of folk tales in a modern way (through digital narration), is best served through modern teaching methods, such as group collaboration. More specifically, the search, evaluation and processing of material from the internet give students the opportunity to work together to create a project that is unique. In fact, the program that has been selected for the creation of the digital narration is Windows movie maker, ( http://www.winmoviemaker.com ), which offers the possibility to the members of the group to take initiatives, to get acquainted with the exploratory learning, to act on their own, to exercise their critical and synthetic ability. According to the above, this didactic scenario includes several of the work techniques that may exist in the framework of the method of collaborative teaching (brainstorming, class discussion, group work). In short, it follows the four stages: theme, planning, implementation, presentation and evaluation.

Lesson plan

Initial stage—preparation stage.

Prior to the start of the workshop, the traditional interpretive-analytical teaching method aims to recall the theory of narration in the students' memory and to connect it with specific folk songs related to the topic. More specifically, the topic refers to how the genders and especially the women are presented in the Greek folk songs . The goal is the students to understand that digital storytelling also belongs to the great circle of storytelling, which is an integral part of human culture. The teacher, in this phase can read folk songs to the students, show short videos with testimonies of elderly people and short digital narratives related to the topic. This is necessary for the students' digital narratives to meet the requirements of the specific teaching unit.

Even at this stage, the degree of students' familiarity with the tools of digital storytelling and the collaborative way of working must be investigated so as the interventions, that will help in the easier course of the research work, will be made soon. Finally, the teacher checks if the equipment of the computer lab has the necessary image, audio, and video editing programs. If the class is working in distance education, the teacher examines whether the students have these programs on the home computers.

Above all, however, a questionnaire is given at this stage, which aims to investigate the relationship of students with the basic terms that compose research questions, namely literature, digital storytelling, and work with the constructivist method. The answers will be compared with those given by the students at the end of the lesson to draw useful conclusions (Table 1 ).

Main stage: digital story laboratory

1st two-hour meeting of the working groups.

Initially, at this stage the teacher detects the students’ familiarization with the tools of digital storytelling. It aims at the students’ contact with the ways of searching, archiving, and utilizing digital material from the internet.

Specifically, the teacher presents:

the available programs for the creation of digital narration, such as windows movie maker, adobe creative cloud express ( http://www.adobe.com/express ), plotagon,( http://www.plotagon.com ) etc.

how to create a storyboard (either on paper or by using the available programs such as storyboardthat.com ( http://www.storyboardthat.com ), or canva.com ( http://www.canva.com ).

how to search and/or save images, with emphasis on copyright legislation.

the basic tools that can be used to create digital storytelling ( http://wevideo.com , http://storybird.com , windows movie maker).

The students start working on creating the story—board utilizing various programs available on the Internet ( http://www.canva.com , http://storyboardthat.com ). Even when working in the classroom there is the possibility of printing the drafts, the students should be encouraged to use one of the many programs available online to provide them the ability to collaborate remotely.

2nd working group meeting (2 h)

Based on the storyboard they have created students should now proceed with the collection of the material that will help them to tell their story digitally. They search for material online, respecting the legislation regarding copyrights and intellectual property rights. Alternatively, they can use material gathered from interviews, from photographing places (e.g., folklore museums), from family and municipal archives, etc. At the same time, they process the material using the available programs, such as pixlr ( http://pixlr.com ).

At this stage, the students present the material and receive advice and instructions from the teacher before proceeding with its processing into a complete digital narrative.

3rd two-hour meeting of the working groups

In this phase of the workshop, the students deal with the final composition of the digital narration. The choice of tool they will use should enable both collaboration and distance. There are many platforms on the internet with many tools. Indicative websites such as wevideo.com ( http://www.wevideo.com ), http://storybird.com enable students to collaboratively create digital history. Then, the groups promote the digital story, evaluate digital stories based on specific criteria (Table 2 ) and discuss them.

At the end of the course, students are given a final questionnaire in order to investigate the progress that has been made (Table 3 ).

The initial question was regarding the degree of students' satisfaction with the traditional way of teaching literature. The vast majority of students answered that they are not at all satisfied with this way of teaching, a fact which by itself almost indicates the need for involvement of new ways in teaching literature that will intrigue their interest (Fig.  1 ).

How satisfied are you with the way the Literature course is taught?

Contributing to this was the fact that they had not linked the subject of literature to the tools of ICT and of course found it quite difficult to tell folk tales in a digital way (Fig.  2 ).

Investigation of students' experience from the relationship between literature and ICT

The questions asked about the students' relationship with the internet showed that in over 90% of the students surf the internet a lot. There was also a large percentage who answered that they download videos and pictures from the computer very often or too much (75%). This means that there is a great deal of familiarity with the basic material extraction space for creating digital storytelling. However, the answers to the following questions are not in line with the previous ones. Thus, students who know how to process very good videos and images are only 25%, well 25% while mediocre 45% and a little 05%. Of course, the existence of 25% helped to have at least one student in each group who knew very well how to process digital material and thus helped the others. Regarding the rules of safe navigation, the students answered with a percentage of 60% mediocre and only 15% very good or good. This means that a percentage of about 25% knew little or nothing about safe navigation and the rules of intellectual property protection rights (Fig.  3 ).

Familiarity with working on the internet

The fact that most of the students did not even know the term digital storytelling [Graph 3] and of course they were not familiar with its tools caused concern (Fig.  4 ).

Degree of familiarity with the term digital narration

The questions that were asked about the material that they finally used showed from the answers they gave that they managed to collect it and use it relatively easily and in a way in accordance with the goals that had been set. This was expected to some extent, as the students already had a fairly good internet familiarity and simply needed guidance on the criteria for choosing the material, copyright and use of the movie maker (Fig.  5 ).

Material processing

In the questions concerning the digital narrative with which the students had never come in contact before, it seems that they have sufficiently understood the possibilities it offers in the educational process and in particular in teaching literature. Almost half of the students think that digital storytelling makes the literature lesson more interesting, while there is no student who says anything. Not only the process of narrating a folk song digitally does not seem difficult to them, but it seems rather interesting to the extent that even if it is disconnected from the closely educational process, it arouses their interest (Fig.  6 ).

What is their opinion on the use of digital storytelling in this course of literature?

Particularly encouraging were the answers to the question on whether this teaching method helped them to become better acquainted with the tools of digital storytelling. In other words, we see that one of the main goals of the script was to acquaint the students with digital storytelling, given the fact that they had almost no contact with it and now, as shown below, over 70% are more or less familiar with digital storytelling (Fig.  7 ).

Do you think that after this research work you are better acquainted with the tools of digital storytelling?

They also overwhelmingly realized that folk tales could find a modern and more familiar way of being expressed with the modern teaching methods (Fig.  8 ).

Do you think that folk tales can be rendered through digital storytelling?

Finally, the students seem to be more pleased to work through the research constructivist teaching model in relation to the traditional interpretive approach of literary teaching (Fig.  9 ).

How happy are you with the way you worked as a team?

The table below shows how this lesson plan utilized digital storytelling to achieve some of the key objectives of constructivist learning theory, as set by Honebein ( 1996 ). Through the presentation of this work in a way that will utilize many forms of presentation (audio, video, text), the student understands in practice the basic principles of constructive learning theory (Table 4 ).

The completion of the educational scenario in the classroom in combination with the two questionnaires, that were completed at the beginning and at the end of it, gave the students the opportunity to answer to a large extent the research questions asked from the beginning, but also to draw useful conclusions about the relationship of digital storytelling and folk tales in the modern educational environment. Initially, it seemed that the students' dissatisfaction with the way of teaching modern Greek literature is very high, which made it difficult for the teacher to try to convince the group of students who participated in the research that there are alternative ways of approaching the literary text. Furthermore, the majority of the students had moderate or almost no knowledge of the term folk narratives, a fact that required their acquaintance with the theoretical part of the term.

At the same time, the findings of the questionnaire given in the preliminary steps confirmed the fact that the students have not yet become familiar with ICT in the subject of Literature. This is largely due to the relationship they should have with the tools used by digital storytelling (internet, audio and video editing programs, etc.), when they seem to be quite familiar with their use in extracurricular activities.

It is characteristic the fact that they had only a small experience from the use of ICT in literature. They had watched a video related to the literary text being taught only a few times, and respectively they had not combined the teaching of the course in the field of informatics nor in the distance education. This should be directly related to the fact that in an exam-oriented and technocratic school, teaching literature is a boring process for students that do not have any interest in it. Thus, the effort to get in touch with folk narratives and to use them in a modern and creative way through digital narration was very demanding in advance although, according to their answers, there was a desire but also the impression that it is possible.

One more conclusion that is drawn from the questionnaire given to the students at the beginning is the relationship they have with digital media. Most of them use the internet, know how to process images and sound, while as it can be seen in the course of the educational scenario, they have a good theoretical relationship with the tools used in ICT. This fact shows that with a targeted guide, students do not really find it difficult to narrate a folk song digitally. Overall, in terms of the answers given to the questionnaire at the beginning of the research, we could say that the effort to answer the research question of whether popular narratives can acquire a new way of being expressed through digital narration is becoming particularly demanding. As mentioned earlier, this is due to the fact that the educational reality and the conditions that characterize it do not help in the emergence of popular narratives and that the application of ICT is done with slow and non-targeted steps. However, research shows that there is a possibility for the approach of the two narratives in the context of the educational act.

In particular, in the questions concerning digital storytelling, the students seem to have sufficiently understood the possibilities that it may have in the teaching of popular storytelling. The 50% of the students believe that digital storytelling makes the subject of literature more interesting, while no one answers at all. Additionally, it does not seem difficult for them to digitally narrate a folk song, but an interesting process. More than 70% of students believe, but also prove with their work, that they are familiar with digital storytelling. This fact shows that they are able to take advantage of the opportunities it provides beyond the narrow educational framework. The answers to whether they are familiar with the term "folk tales" were similar, with the answer "very much" prevailing. The combination of the above two answers leads us to the conclusion that the research question on whether popular narratives can be expressed digitally has a positive answer. This is evidenced by the answer given by the students themselves, since, as shown in graph 16, they overwhelmingly argue in favor of this. The fact that they feel happy with the way they worked shows that the constructivist learning model can work constructively in lessons such as leveraging digital storytelling in the field of literature.

Conclusions

Digital storytelling in this workshop enables students to use in a creative way tools that are familiar with (internet search engines, audio and video processors, social media). Thus, the teaching of folk poetry texts acquires greater interest for students, bridges the age gap, gives initiative to students and strengthens their creative imagination.

The implementation of the workshop can also help significantly in the digital literacy of students as they are called to work mainly on the computer. Digital storytelling becomes the cohesive link between the “old” and the “new” way of storytelling, giving students the keys to interpretation of other digital storytelling very familiar to them, such as comics, video games, etc.

The conditions of the pandemic made the teaching effort difficult. However, the lesson plan can also be applied to distance education. This, we intended to be a key contribution of this research to the teaching of literature with the help of digital storytelling.

Data availability

Upon request from the authors.

Code availability

Abbreviations.

Information and Communication Technology

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (Center for Disease Control)

Armstrong S (2003) The power of storytelling in education. In: Armstrong S (ed) Snapshots! Educational insights from the Thornburg Center. The Thornburg Center, Lake Barrington, pp 11–20

Google Scholar  

Barrett H (2006) Researching and evaluating digital storytelling as a deep learning tool. In: Society for information technology and teacher education international conference, vo. 2006, No. 1, pp 647–654

Blake B et al (2008) Developmental psychology: Incorporating piaget’s and vygotsky’s in classrooms. J Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Edu 1:59–67

Bryan A (2017) The new digital storytelling: creating narratives with new media, revised and updated edition, 2nd edn. Praeger Publishers, Westport

Cashman S et al (2008) The power and the promise: working with communities to analyze data, interpret findings, and get to outcomes. Am J Public Health 98(8):1407–1417. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.113571

Chubko N, Morris JE, McKinnon DH et al (2020) Digital storytelling as a disciplinary literacy enhancement tool for EFL students. Educ Technol Res Dev 68:3587–3604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09833-x

Article   Google Scholar  

Coventry M (2008) Cross-currents of pedagogy and technology: a forum on digital storytelling and cultural critique—introduction. Arts Human High Educ 7(2):165–170

European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Farnell T, Skledar Matijević A, Šćukanec Schmidt N (2021) The impact of COVID-19 on higher education : a review of emerging evidence: analytical report. Publications Office. https://doi.org/10.2766/069216

Hammond SP, Cooper NJ, Jordan P (2021) Mental health, identity and informal education opportunities for adolescents with experience of living in state care: a role for digital storytelling. Camb J Educ. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2021.191905

Honebein PC (1996) Seven goals for the design of constructivist learning environments. In: Wilson BG (ed) Constructivist learning environments: case studies in instructional design. Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs

Horne F (2021) The digital story as a reading response to the literary text revisiting Camus’ the outsider in the French foreign language classroom. Blended learning and the global south virtual exchanges in higher education: n. pag. Crossref. Web

Jonassen DH, Davidson M, Collins C, Campbell J, Haag BB (1995) Constructivism and computer-mediated communication in distance education. Am J Distance Educ 9(2):7–26

Katić S, Ferraro FV, Ambra FI, Iavarone ML (2021) Distance Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comparison between European countries. Educ Sci 11(10):595. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100595

Kogila M, Ibrahim AB, Zulkifli CZ (2020) A powerful of digital storytelling to support education and key elements from various experts. Int J Acad Res Prog Educ Dev 9(2):408–420

Lambert J, Hessler HB (2018) Digital storytelling: Capturing lives, creating community, 5th revised and updated. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351266369

Lazareva A, Cruz-Martinez G (2020) Digital storytelling project as a way to engage students in twenty-first century skills learning. Int Stud Perspect 22(4):383–406. https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekaa017

Monroy García FA, Llamas-Salguero F, Fernández-Sánchez MR, Carrión del Campo JL (2020) Digital technologies at the pre-university and university levels. Sustainability 12(24):10426. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410426

Moradi H, Chen H (2019) Digital storytelling in language education. Behav Sci 9:147. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs9120147

Normann A (2011) Digital storytelling in second language learning. Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, p 125

Olson M, Maurath K (2020) Evaluating the learning experience. In: Trust T (ed) Teaching with digital tools and apps. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/digitaltoolsap

Phillips DC (1995) The good, the bad, and the ugly: The many faces of constructivism. Educ Res 24(7):5–12

Piaget J (1953) The origins of intelligence in children. Basic Books, New York

Powell KC, Kalina C (2009) Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for an effective classroom. Education 3–13(130):241–250

Robin BR (2005) http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/introductiontroduction.htm . 1 Abril 2007

Robin BR (2006) The educational uses of digital storytelling. http://www.coe.uh.edu/digitalstorytelling/evaluation.htm

Smeda N, Dakich E, Sharda N (2012) Transforming pedagogies through digital storytelling: framework and methodology. In: 2nd Annual international conference on education and e-learning (EeL 2012) Bali, Indonesia

Solomon J (1994) The rise and fall of constructivism. Stud Sci Educ 23:1–19

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

Wadsworth B (2004) Piaget’s theory of cognitive and affective development: Foundations of constructivism. London: Longman Publishing

Wilson BG (1996) Constructivist learning environments: case studies in instructional design. Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs

Zhurakovskaya V, Sichinava A, Simakova T, Olicheva O, Rykov S, Valeeva J, Kulachinskaya A, Ilyashenko S (2020) Innovations in education—the development of a new pedagogical technology of a combinational type, focused on the development of personality of students. J Open Innova Technol Market Complex 6(4):1–15

Download references

This research received no external funding.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of History and Archaeology, University of Patras, Old Music School, Agios Ioannis Riganas District, 30100, Agrinio, Greece

Nikolaos Karantalis & Dimitrios Koukopoulos

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nikolaos Karantalis .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Karantalis, N., Koukopoulos, D. Utilizing digital storytelling as a tool for teaching literature through constructivist learning theory. SN Soc Sci 2 , 109 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00412-w

Download citation

Received : 09 November 2021

Accepted : 16 June 2022

Published : 05 July 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00412-w

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Digital storytelling
• In-person learning
• Distance learning
• Informal forms of education
• Constructivist learning theories
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research