Storytelling

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IST 5883 Storytelling as Instructional Method Home

"The value and power of storytelling is universal across cultures (MacDonald, 1997), across disciplines (Brown & Duguid, 2000; Sanchez & Blayer, 2002) and over time; there is evidence that preliterate cultures relied on storytelling to educate their members and that these oral re-tellings were exceptionally accurate (Egan, 1989). In the 20th century telling stories in the form of entertainment is something we know and understand from our earliest memories and experiences - we grow up learning from stories as a form of instruction, within our families, in our religious training, and as a part of our social community.  Campbell and Moyers (1988) view stories as cultural mythology that shape our view of what is real as a part of a collective consciousness as well as our individual experience – stories help to form us. Others see stories as forms of discourse that give meaning to our interactions (Barthes, 1993) - stories reveal something about us" (McGee, 2008. p. 3). 
See the links to the left for more information.

Need more information? Email P. McGee.
This course is designed for educators, trainers, instructional designers, and knowledge workers to examine the shapes and forms of storytelling in their field of practice, be it K-12 education, higher education, or the workplace.Evidence indicates that storytelling is a form of instructional design that is effective, powerful, and potentially transformative. All disciplines and fields use and study forms of storytelling; the knowledge and skills developed in this course will contribute to a professional repertoire that can be used in any learning environment.

Course questions:
  • What is storytelling? What makes a good story?
  • How can storytelling and making support learning?
  • What storytelling frameworks can be used as models?
  • What processes are most effective in designing and utilizing digital storytelling within instructional contexts?
  • How can digital storytelling be assessed and evaluated, both as a learner's product and as an instructional method?
The URL for this course is http://sites.google.com/site/storytellingcourse

Creative Commons License
Designed by Dr. Patricia McGee and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.Last updated October, 2009.
This is a mirror course site; current course materials and activities occur within UTSA's Blackboard course management system and only available to registered students.