Digital Storytelling (DST) is a student-centred approach to learning that puts students in the driver's seat, helping them to develop creativity, critical thinking, decision-making, and digital skills (Quah & Ng, 2022). Social studies can be viewed by students as a subject that either lives in historical times or requires memorization of irrelevant information and DST can be an effective tool to change how students think about the subject.
This section provides a few examples of ways that using DST in the social studies classroom can meet the needs of 21st century learners.
Using DST to incorporate multiple means of engagement, represention or expression can help students understand more complex concepts and topics.
Watch the video below to learn more about UDL.
Students can collaborate to create a story, complete story circles, or revise and learn from others.
Watch the video below to learn more about how collaboration promotes creativity.
Teachers can use DST to introduce a challenge for PBL or as a way for students to communicate their learning.
Watch the video below to learn more about PBL.
Image Source: http://technologyandclassrooms.weebly.com/evaluate.html
DST enables higher-order thinking related to Bloom's Taxonomy (Kirikci et al., 2020; Quah & Ng, 2020). They can invite students to consider the complexity and nuance of complex issues, increasing opportunities for higher-order thinking.
As you can see in the image on the left, using Digital Storytelling to create content based on new understandings may enable the redefinition of learning using technology.
The process of creating a digital story is inherently interdisciplinary. Students must use literacy skills, including writing, speaking, reading and listening skills throughout the process, as well as digital literacy skills to find and properly cite or create media, and content knowledge for the subject area (Quah & Ng, 2020; Rohloff, 2022).
There is also a trend toward connections between storytelling and the maker movement, for example, by making scenes or props for stories and integrating applied design and engineering subjects. Within different curricular areas, DST also helps develop organizational skills, technology skills, presentation skills, interview skills, and interpersonal skills, among others, helping prepare students for college or the workforce (Rohloff, 2021). They highlight how preparing students to use digital technology “is not just another option, it is a necessity” and how even digital natives need these opportunities as educators cannot assume that students are more technologically literate than their parents.
The example below is a digital story that can be used to teach students about social studies concepts related to global inequalities, which also integrates literacy and/or ADST:
Educators can teach narrative story structure as they would through normal story-writing activities, including a three-act structure, hero’s journey or seven-point story structure.
The Center for Digital Storytelling states there are seven interrelated elements to consider when creating meaningful and desired stories:
the point of view
the dramatic question
the emotional content
the gift of voice
the economy or length of the story
the soundtrack
the pacing
Moreover, DST has been described as having five stages (Kirikci et al., 2020) :
writing the story
voicing and recording the story
collecting media
creating
sharing
However, as students could make their stories about a concept in any content area, Quah and Ng (2020) state that this process begins with selecting and researching a topic.
In the video to the left, produced by the Smithsonian, professors from Montgomery College share their experiences learning a digital storytelling internship. They emphasize process over technology tools, and creating safe spaces for their community of learners. They use a collaborative process for students to create individual stories.
See the resources that they have created, available for teachers to use, as well as student examples.
References
Ertmer, P.A. & Newby, T. (2018). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective. In R. E. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism
Kirikci, A. C., Cigerci, F. M., & Arikan, I. (2020). Use of digital storytelling in the 4th grade social studies course. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 12(5)https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2020.05.008
Quah, C. Y., & Ng, K. H. (2022). A systematic literature review on digital storytelling authoring tool in education: January 2010 to January 2020. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 38(9), 851-867.
Rohloff, L. M. (2021). Obstacles K-12 Teachers Face with Using Digital Storytelling in Their Classrooms (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin--Stout).
Smithsonian Education. (2022, February 28). Digital Storytelling to Foster Student Engagement | Cultivating Learning [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/live/Q8B9IhWgoC0?si=zMdcDCd8PvweUMBk
Subhani, K. (2015). Photos as Witness: Teaching visual literacy for research and social action. English Journal 105(2), 34-40.
WGU. (2021, May 27). Connectivism Learning Theory. Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/connectivism-learning-theory2105.html
Yearta, L., & Kelly, K. (2021). Digital storytelling to enhance social studies content knowledge, explore multiple perspectives, and advocate for social justice. In L. Haas & J. Tussey (Eds.), Connecting Disciplinary Literacy and Digital Storytelling in K-12 Education (pp. 235-256). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-5770-9.ch012