The Benefits of Using Digital Storytelling in the K-12 Classroom
By Patricia Ort
Introduction
The research reviewed was undertaken within the past five years and focused on the use of digital storytelling as a strategy for meeting a variety of educational needs and objectives in the kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) public school setting. These objectives included helping students develop 21st Century skills, assisting students in meeting curriculum goals in writing, and helping challenged learners to improve language arts, reading, and social skills, as well as increasing student engagement and confidence.
Digital Storytelling Supports 21st Century Skills
Pressure to prepare students for 21st Century jobs has given birth to a wide variety of efforts focused solely on equipping teachers to make 21st Century skills part of the curriculum. Jakes (2006) described 21st Century skills in terms of four categories: digital age literacies, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity. Jakes concluded that students involved in the digital storytelling process address 18 of the 20 expectations associated with 21st Century skills. The value of digital storytelling in achieving technology integration, improving student performance, and in differentiating instruction was underscored by Czarnecki’s (2009) study of K-12 students in Scott County Public Schools in Georgetown, Kentucky. Czarnecki found digital storytelling helped students develop a combination of conceptual and technology skills that could prepare them for a future job market that is seen as increasingly technology-oriented. Using the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) standards, the researcher examined how digital storytelling supported goals in student creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, problem solving and decision-making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts. Czarnecki suggested that Scott County schools’ implementation of digital storytelling underscored the important role librarians could play in helping students meet the educational standards their schools were following. The writings of researchers like Jakes and Czarnecki emphasized the changing roles, and even definitions, of teachers and librarians.
Robin’s (2008) discussion of 21st century literacies further emphasized the shift in education toward using new technologies and social media. Robin reported on the correlation between Web 2.0, social media, and digital storytelling, and the growing social phenomenon of communities created on the Internet. The author compared digital storytelling’s use of user-contributed content, and social relationships in the form of collaborative teams, to the way people collaborate with videos, photos, blog posts, and groups of people, to create their own content on the World Wide Web. Robin concluded digital storytelling increased the effectiveness of using technology as a classroom tool, encouraged user-contributed content in projects, enhanced student comprehension, and engaged students in course content. Sadick (2008) concluded that integrating digital storytelling into the classroom resulted in students using deeper thinking skills, personalizing their experience, and clarifying their knowledge as they communicated their stories to each other. The researcher also concluded that involvement in digital storytelling led students to acquire new media and Information Technology (IT) skills they had formerly lacked. Sadik sought to learn the extent to which digital storytelling could be used to engage students in authentic learning. The author also investigated whether digital storytelling was effective, and to what degree, in helping teachers integrate technology into the classroom.
Digital Storytelling Assists Students in Meeting Curriculum Goals in Writing
In an age of texting and instant messaging, there have been increasing concerns about student competencies in writing in an academic setting. A number of researchers have concluded digital storytelling is an effective tool for helping students to develop writing skills. Ohler (2006) concluded experiences that focus on the story first, and the digital medium later, could enhance critical thinking, expository writing, and media literacy skills. Ohler noted that students engaging in technologies to tell a story sometimes became so involved in the medium, that they sacrificed the story. His advice to educators was to avoid this problem by including the use of story mapping and oral storytelling prior to the creation of a computerized presentation. Such practical insight will make sense to any teacher who has attempted a project, whether digital or otherwise, only to find they sacrificed the learning in the process. Fries-Gaither (2010) also saw digital storytelling as a means of teaching writing skills to K-12 students. The researcher speculated that blending words, images, and music in digital stories made the writing experience more powerful, and supported the development of thinking and comprehension strategies. Fries-Gaither described digital storytelling in the context of the writing process and suggested ways in which digital storytelling could be used in history and science classes. Fries-Gaither stated that one way digital storytelling helped meet the goals of a K-12 curriculum was by involving students in personal narrative, which was a common assignment among these students. Such practical insight and suggestions based on research can help teachers in supporting their use of digital storytelling in the classroom in the face of administrators and parents who may not be fully aware of its benefits.
Sylvester and Greenidge (2009) examined the efficacy of using digital storytelling with both capable writers and students who have a learning disability that interferes with their ability to write effectively. They reviewed the seven elements of digital storytelling and provided examples of student writing and storyboarding. The researchers found that digital storytelling could help struggling writers become more competent. As K-12 teachers shift to a Response to Intervention model across the country, finding a tool that can improve student achievement across ability levels can assist teachers in being inclusive while still meeting student needs. Kulla-Abbot and Polman (2008) focused on students developing their own writing voice through the use of digital storytelling. They also considered whether using digital storytelling in their writing experience at school would motivate students to transfer the same skills to writing done in their personal lives. Students had been observed using one set of knowledge at school because they knew the teachers expected it, but reverting to a personal set of skills and knowledge outside of the academic setting. Digital storytelling’s ability to help students internalize and personalize what they learn at school made a strong argument for using digital storytelling in the classroom. The researchers also found that students involved in digital storytelling were more engaged in the narrative process when technology was used to create the stories.
Digital Storytelling Helps Challenged Learners
Educating children in a rapidly changing society where new skills and technologies are being created all the time is especially challenging when instructing the struggling student. Michalski, Hodges and Banister (2005) examined the effect of incorporating digital storytelling into a special education language arts classroom. They documented the practice of a middle school special education teacher who adapted digital storytelling used in the regular classroom. The researchers reported the students were able to successfully complete two Power Point presentations. Students’ vocabulary skills improved, their writing became more organized, and their sentences were lengthier, well structured, and grammatically correct. Such results should encourage schools to use digital storytelling as an instructional method with all of their students. More (2008) explored the use of digital storytelling in helping disabled children improve their social skills, adding his voice to the argument that digital storytelling can meet the educational needs of a wide variety of students, including those often viewed as the most difficult to help. Creating social stories was found to help students in gaining the attention of their peers, increasing engagement with peers, and decreasing disruptive behaviors. Implementation of digital media was found to lead to increased motivation and engagement. The researcher also reported use of digital media with disabled children fostered a positive attitude among the students.
An improvement in student attitude was also among the findings of Malin (2010). Malin’s interest involved increasing engagement among previously non-engaged readers. Student responses to questionnaires and interview questions were used to explore the use of a digital video reading aid designed to help struggling high school level readers. Student’s responses revealed the majority of non-engaged readers felt better prepared to participate in class, and almost all of the students reported a positive interest in the discussion portion of the lessons. The researchers concluded that video read-alouds were useful in offering students support in becoming independent in reading and comprehending text. Although More was most interested in improving student’s social skills, both More and Malin reported increased motivation and student engagement.
In a review of digital storytelling research, Gregory, Steelman and Caverly (2009) found digital storytelling to be effective in developmental writing classes. They reported the use of digital storytelling supported skills in critical thinking, oral and written communication, and technology. The researchers also found digital storytelling encompassed multiple types of literacy, including digital, multicultural, technology, visual, and informational literacy. The writings of researchers like Michalski, Hodges and Banister agreed with Gregory, Steelman and Caverly in identifying digital storytelling as an effective tool for helping students in special education and developmental writing classes acquire better thinking and communication skills.
Conclusion
The common thread among the current research is that digital storytelling can be used to meet a variety of educational goals across subject areas, ability, and grade levels. Several researchers, including Sylvester and Greenidge (2009) and Robin (2008) noted the usefulness of using digital storytelling to develop the multi-literacies now expected of students, including those commonly identified as 21st Century skills of technological, visual, media, and information literacies. Throughout the literature, researchers have reported the positive effect of digital storytelling on student engagement, as well as in enhancing writing and comprehension skills.
A review of the literature suggests that digital storytelling can be an effective tool in supporting curriculum goals in K-12 schools, if teachers are aware of pitfalls that can hinder its effectiveness. This is reflected in Ohler’s (2006) admonition to work out oral and written storytelling first before using technology. On the other hand, Kulla-Abbot and Polman (2008) found students were more engaged in the narrative process when technology was used to create the stories. These differing conclusions suggest teachers seeking to use digital storytelling for the first time should study situations in which digital storytelling has been successful before designing their own lessons.
As educators and schools try to meet the demands of keeping up with 21st Century skills, differentiating instruction, and integrating new technologies into the classroom, current research offers support for the use of digital storytelling in meeting these demands.
References
Banister, S., Hodges, D., & Michalski, P. (2005). Digital storytelling in the middle childhood special education classroom: A teacher’s story of adaptations. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 1(4) Article 3. Retrieved from http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol1/iss4/3
Czarnecki, K. (2009). How digital storytelling builds 21st century skills. Library Technology Reports, 45(7), 15-19. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Fries-Gaither, J. (2010). Digital storytelling supports writing across content areas. Ohio Journal of English Language Arts, 50(1), 9-13. Retrieved from http://www.octela.org/OJELA.html
Gregory, K., Steelman, J. & Caverly, D. (2009). Techtalk: Digital storytelling and developmental education. Journal of Developmental Education, 33(2), 42-43. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Jakes, D. (2006). Standards-proof your digital storytelling efforts. Digital Storytelling and 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/show/Article.php?articleID=18020472
Kulla-Abbott, T., & Polman, J. (2008). Engaging student voice and fulfilling curriculum goals with digital stories. Technology, Humanities, Education & Narrative, (5), 38-60. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Malin, G. (2010). Is it still considered reading? Using digital video storytelling to engage adolescent readers. Clearing House, 83(4), 121-125. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
More, C. (2008). Digital stories targeting social skills for children with disabilities: Multidimensional learning. Intervention in School & Clinic, 43(3), 168-177. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Ohler, J., (2006). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership. 63(4), 44-47. Retrieved from http://scholar_google.com/scholar?q=The+World+of+Digital+Storytelling&hl=en & btnG=Search&as_sdt-80000001&as_sdtp=on
Robin, B. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 220-228. doi: 10.1080/00405840802153916
Sadik, A. (2008). Digital storytelling: A meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educational Technology Research & Development, 56(4), 487-506. doi: 10.1007/s11423-008-9091-8
Sylvester, R., Greenidge, W. (2009). Digital storytelling: Extending the potential for struggling writers. Reading Teacher, 63(4), 384-395. doi:10.1598/RT.63.4.3
