digital education review n 22 - digital storytelling

Digital Education Review - Number 20, December 2011- http://greav.ub.edu/der/

Number 22, December 2012 MONOGRAPHIC ABOUT DIGITAL STORYTELLING Guests Editors’ Introduction Carmen Gregori Signes and Barry Pennock Digital Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool within a Didactic Sequence in Foreign Language Teaching Agustín Reyes, Eva Pich and MªDolores García (1-18) Aprendiendo en el aula: contando y hacienda relatos digitales personales Gloria Londoño-Monroy (19-36) What Educators Should Know about Teaching Digital Storytelling Bernard R. Robin and Sara G. McNeil (37-51) El valor de una historia digital en el context europeo de aprendizaje integrado a través de lengua y contenido (CLIL) María Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo, María Victoria Sotomayor Sáez (52-67) El uso educativo de los relatos digitales personales como herramienta para pensar el Yo (Self) Miguel Herreros (68-79) Multimodal Discourse Strategies of Factuality and Subjectivity in Educational Digital Storytelling Patricia Bou-Franch (80-91) “Playing with the Team”: The Development of Communities of Practice in a Digital Storytelling Project Peter John Westman (92-99) PEER REVIEW ARTICLES Individual Innovativeness Levels of Educational Administrators Ahmet Naci Coklar (100-110)

Digital Education Review - http://greav.ub.edu/der/ - Number 22, December 2012

Digital Education Review

Number 22, December 2012

Universitat de Barcelona

Pg.de la Vall d’Hebron, 171

08035 – Barcelona, Spain

[email protected]

ISSN 2013-9144

Editorial Team

Editor: José Luis Rodríguez Illera, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

Associate Editor: Ana Teberosky, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

Elena Barberà, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain)

Editorial Board: Jordi Adell, Universitat Jaume I (Spain)

Fernando Albuquerque Costa, Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)

Mario Barajas, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

César Coll, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

Vivien Hodgson, Lancaster University (UK)

Mónica Kaechele, Universidad Católica de Temuco (Chile)

Pierpaolo Limone, Università degli Studio di Foggia (Italy)

Carles Monereo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain)

Jordi Quintana Albalat, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

José Armando Valente, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil)

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Digital storytelling as a genre of mediatized self-

representations: an introduction

Carmen Gregori-Signes & Barry Pennock-Speck

Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya

Facultat de Filologia, Traducció i Comunicació

IULMA. Universitat de València

Abstract

This article provides a critical review of some of the most relevant studies on digital storytelling and proposes a genre typology that allows an initial classification of digital storytelling into two main types: educational and social. Digital storytelling is a multimodal emergent genre characterised by its versatility and flexibility which has resulted in a series of subgenres. However, the main premise here is that differentiating between social and educational– although one does not exclude the other– and bearing in mind that most digital stories may lie at the intersection of both, is the most useful way to start labeling the massive production of digital stories available nowadays on the Internet. The articles included in this number are mostly educational (Ramírez-Verdugo & Sotomayor Grande, and Reyes, Pich & García, Londoño-Monroy) but they all include some traces of the social type. Thus, Bou-Franch is an example of how students interpret certain events that had social impact and that are part of history while Westman’s article involves the creation of communities of practice among those who share the same interests. Finally, Herreros-Navarro, although educational in essence, describes a social act in which students intentionally choose a way to present their own identity to society using digital storytelling.

Keywords

Digital storytelling; multimodal; education


Relatos digitales un género de expresión personal mediatizada: introducción

Carmen Gregori-Signes & Barry Pennock-Speck

Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya

Facultat de Filologia, Traducció i Comunicació

IULMA. Universitat de València

Resumen

Este artículo ofrece una revisión crítica de algunos de los estudios más relevantes sobre relato digital y propone una tipología de género que permite una clasificación inicial en dos grandes tipos: educativo y social. El argumento principal es que la diferenciación entre lo social y educativo, aunque uno no excluye al otro, ofrece la posibilidad de clasificar la producción masiva de relatos digitales disponibles hoy en día en Internet. Los artículos incluidos en este número son, en su mayoría, educativos (Ramírez-Verdugo y Grande Sotomayor, y Reyes, Pich & García, Londoño-Godoy), aunque en todos ellos todos ellos incluyen algunos rasgo de lo social. Bou-Franch nos habla de las estrategias utilizadas por los estudiantes en la interpretación de acontecimientos históricos que tuvieron impacto social; mientras que el artículo de Westman conlleva la creación de comunidades de práctica entre aquellos que comparten los mismos intereses. Por último, para Herreros Navarro el relato digital es un acto social en el que los estudiantes deben decidir como quieren que la sociedad les vea ya que describen y exploran su “o” a través del relato digital.

Palabras clave

Relatos digitales; multimodal; educación


I. Digital Storytelling: a multimodal way of telling stories

Couldry (2008) argues that there are many different types of Digital Storytelling (DS), which, in its broadest sense may be understood as an example of multimodal narrative. McClean (2007), for example, focuses on the narrative power of visual effects in film while Miller (2004) centres on the creative opportunities of interactive entertainment (cited in Lundby 2008, pp. 1). Here, we understand DS according to the now classical model of Digital Storytelling developed by the Centre for Digital Storytelling in California (see section 2 below) and best understood as short multimodal stories made with inexpensive equipment and mainly about personal experiences.

According to Kaare and Luntby (2008, pp.106) “these stories do not fit into formal theories of narratives from literature and film studies” using self-sourced images and told with the author’s own voice. Although some of the definitions that one finds “may suggest an additive character of DS, that is as the result of adding multimedia elements to a written or oral narrative,” as Hull and Nelson (2005, pp. 225) argue, “multimodal composing is not an additive art; a multimodal text can create a different system of signification.” Scheidt (2006) adds that DS should not be understood as a phenomenon equivalent to either oral or to written narratives: DS creates a new composition. Lundby (2008, pp. 1) summarises its characteristics as: a) short, just a few minutes long; b) made off the self-equipment and techniques with inexpensive productions; c) small-scale stories, centred on the narrator’s own personal life and told in his or her own voice.

Robin (2006) classifies digital stories into three main types, personal narratives, documentaries, and inform or instruct discourse (Robin, 2006), while Gregori (2011) includes a fourth type, socio-political digital storytelling. To these, many other subtypes could be added. However for the sake of simplification, we propose here a differentiation between two types: a) social b) educational, which, without doubt account for the vast majority digital stories that can be found on the Internet.

II. Classic model of Digital Storytelling originated in the Centre for Digital Storytelling: the personal and social dimension

a. Social commitment

The model initiated by the Centre for Digital Storytelling (CDS), which is the point of departure for most applications of DS, emerged as a celebration of the “creative expression of the common folk, of the non-professional artist” (Lambert 2010 pp. 79). Lambert (2010) admits that although the expansion of DS into a wide variety of practices such as marketing, education technology etc., is inevitable, the result in many cases situates this type of work “outside a social change framework […] missing the point about DS entirely. Thus creations of this kind are imbued, at best, with a “thin, superficial veneer” of social commitment” (2009, pp.82).

The logo of the CDS claims that everyone has a story to tell. For them, the practice of digital storytelling enables autonomous and creative intercourse among persons in an intent to promote social change. Since their beginnings, the CDS has undergone many changes, especially noticeable is the launch of its new website in 2012 where a great variety of workshops are offered: Educator Workshop, The Embodied Story Workshop, Stories-for-Health Workshop, iPhone Workshop, Snapshot Story Workshop, Facilitator In Training Workshop and a Certificate Program. This has meant an expansion of DS to many different contexts, thus favouring a “direct or indirect confrontation with the dominant culture and representative authorities” (Lambert 2010, pp.82).

b. The democratic dimension of digital storytelling

In its origins, there was a strong democratic motivation underlying DS (Lambert 2010, Erstad and Silseth 2008, pp. 217) since its intention was always to allow unheard voices to be heard. Although they recognize the democratic potential of DS, authors like Couldry (2008) and Erstad and Silseth (2008, pp. 216) express their reservations about the impact of DS in the “real world”.


There is no doubt that DS is the result of storytelling interacting with society. McWilliam (2009, pp. 151) argues that the discourses circulating around DS are “substantively constructed, circulated and sustained in institutions, among participants and within texts.” These three basic elements (institution, participant and the texts they produce) constitute dichotomous parameters that reflect different uses of DS: a) public vs. private sectors; b) cultural or economic motivations; c) expressive vs. instrumental pedagogies. These elements are represented in a continuum and, at the same time, include other factors shared between different institutions. The question is, however, whether digital stories surpass the limits of the institutions in which they are created and have any impact on the making of (social and cultural) meaning and also if they have any social consequences. That is, does DS have “implications for the sustaining, or expansion of democracy”? Does it contribute to social and cultural transformations which, as argued by Couldry (2008, pp. 46) can only happen under complex conditions? Couldry (2008) uses the term “mediation” and Hjarvard (2008) “mediatization” to refer to the transformative power of the media and the broader effects of DS. Couldry differentiates between both mediation (Martin-Barbero 1993; Silverstone, 1999; Couldry 2000) and mediatization (Hjarvard, 2004; Mazzoleni and Schulz, 2004), choosing mediation in order to express “the overall effect of media institutions existing in contemporary societies, the overall difference media make by being there in our social world” (Couldry 2008, pp. 46)

In this vein, Westman (this number), offers an analysis of digital stories created to celebrate grass roots cricket. The production process of the digital stories described by Westman is different from the classical model as described by CDS (cf. section 2.3 below) by CDS in that the stories are researched and created by project staff. Westman analyzes said stories using Gell’s (1988) theory of art. He reaches the conclusion that through their creation participants form complex communities of practice.

c. The workshop

The model introduced by the CDS with Dana Atchley, Joe Lambert and Nina Mullen, which was further developed by Daniel Meadows (2003) in the United Kingdom is workshop-based. It involves a 3 to 5-day workshop in which participants are provided with games and guided through the process of telling their story (Lambert, 2010).

As digital storytelling develops, so do the techniques it employs. As Lambert (2010) explains their:

[…] emphasis over the years has been to help storytellers find the story they want or need to tell, and then help them clearly define that story in the form of solidly written script. For many storytellers, this process of clarification has proven to be a transformative experience.

To this, Lambert (2010) adds that their new approach to digital storytelling incorporates new techniques:

[….] we are helping our storytellers fully visualize their story as a finished piece before they begin to write their script [ …. ] during our group process called the Story Circle [….] we want to help each storyteller not only find and clarify the story being told, but also check in with them about how they feel about it, identify the moment of change in their story, then use that to help them think through how the audience will see and hear their story in the form of a digital story. And finally, after the Story Circle is completed, and the storyteller has had some time alone with his or her thoughts, they can then let all of these considerations inform them as they sit down to write.

Taught and learned from person to person the model proposed by Atchley, Lambert and Mullen reiterates their commitment to both social change and the individual. Their logo is that everyone has a story to tell; CDS treats stories as acts of self-discovery.


III. Educational Digital Storytelling: school-focused

We understand educational digital stories as school-focused, produced and developed within the school context and as part of the academic curriculum which engage in formal schooling applications of DS at primary, secondary and tertiary level. In these contexts, as expressed by McWilliam (2009, pp.152), DS is often seen as a tool in “building media literacy, narrative development and self-presentation skills, but also means engaging students who might otherwise be struggling socially and/or intellectually.” In this number and from the point of view of a university lecturer Bou-Franch analyses stories produced by Spanish undergraduates of English Studies for the module History and Culture of English-speaking Countries, during the 2011 spring term. Bou-Franch points out that stories fluctuated from the discourse of factuality to the discourse of subjectivity and argues that factuality allows students to display their knowledge while subjectivity allows the inclusion of creativity and entertainment elements.

Barrett (2006) argues that digital storytelling fosters reflection and that reflection helps to enhance the effectiveness of learning and:

facilitates the convergence of four student-centered learning strategies: student engagement, reflection for deep learning, project-based learning, and the effective integration of technology into instruction.

Along the same lines, Bendt and Bowe (2000) draw up a list of ten reasons why we should pay more attention to storytelling:

it inspires dedication, encourages creativity to work, promotes problem solving, embraces diversity, captivates attention, piques interest in writing, fosters group dynamics, addresses different learning styles, creates a positive classroom climate and incorporates the multiple intelligences.

What most authors point out is that DS has brought about an activation of more informal and collaborative ways of learning which imply active participation between teacher and students (Castelló 2002) thus enhancing a student-centred focus in the educational context (Erstad and Silseth 2008, pp.214); and with society (Gregori-Signes, 2011).

Reyes-Torres et al. in this number, describe a didactic sequence which uses digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool with students of EFL. DS is seen as an adequate tool to help students improve their language skills in specific situations within common daily interaction. The results indicate that digital storytelling is evaluated as a positively both by teachers and students. In particular, they point out its potential to motivate students and to help them learn from their mistakes by improving teamwork and giving them the opportunity to get to know their classmates better, to negotiate their ideas and to make decisions.

Along the same lines, Ramírez-Verdugo and Sotomayor Grande describe the potential of digital storytelling to teach literary narrative in primary school. The schools where the project is carried out use CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) as a teaching method and ICTs are also employed as pedagogical tools. Despite the initial reluctance on the part of the teachers involved in the project, the results seem to indicate that once teachers and students experienced the use of DS in the classroom directly, they coincide that DS can contribute positively in a CLIL learning context by providing the necessary means to improve linguistic, literary, cognitive, social and cultural competences while promoting the acquisition of discipline-specific content.

a. Student: self-reflection and agency

Erstad and Silseth (2008, pp. 214) focus on digital storytelling and agency, and affirm that on the one hand, DS provides an opportunity for individuals to become agents and to be more visible. On the other, they affirm:


when young people are given the opportunity to blend the informal ‘cultural codes’ with more formal ones in their own learning processes, agency might be fostered in a new way, with implications for democratic participation.

They understand agency “as the capacity to make a difference” (Castor and Cooren, 2006 in Erstad and Silseth 2008, pp. 216), which links directly to other educational uses of DS as a tool that “can help promote critical thinking and self-and group-reflection by bringing school and society together” (Gregori-Signes 2013). The concepts of agency, identity and self-expression have become the hallmark of DS. Valkanova and Watts (2007) use it in order to promote self-reflective language in seven year old children (Bjorgen 2010) who produce video diaries about their own everyday classroom experiences in a science course.

In this number Herreros-Navarro analyses stories produced by secondary school students following the principles of classical narrative theory, filmic narrative; cognitive and psychological processes. Herreros-Navarro uses personal digital storytelling as a tool that makes students think about their identity as human beings. Through this activity the students reflect not only about themselves but also about the potential audience for their stories. This entails, undoubtedly, having to decide on the public image that they want the narrative to transmit, thus encouraging students to organize their own ideas about their own self-identity.

A similar perspective is taken by Londoño-Monroy who also analyses digital stories produced by secondary school students. She analyses the possibilities that DS offers when formally implemented in the curriculum. Her conclusions indicate that DS helps students modify or change their roles. They become creators instead of consumers and thus more active. The implementation of DS motivates learners by offering a student-centred model backed up by a multimodal tool which helps students put into practice several competences (cf. Pennock-Speck, 2009).

IV. ICT’s and Digital Storytelling

For the last decade one of the main concerns in school education has been the implementation of information and communication technologies. DS has been reported as a more personal approach to digital technologies while facilitating the development of “student-centered learning environments” (Jonasse and Land 2000 quoted in Erstad and Silseth 2008, p. 215). DS is used as a means to promote the development of competences such as research and writing skills, organization skills, technology skills, presentation skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills- and in turn they develop: digital literacy, global literacy, technology literacy, visual literacy, information literacy (cf. Robin 2006, Barrett 2006).

As argued by Gregori-Signes (2008) “with the advent of new technologies and their consequent integration within the curriculum teachers need to find attractive activities to substitute and complement more traditional ones.” DS promotes the use of Web 2.0 technology for educational purposes while teaching students both traditional and innovative storytelling techniques. Students learn how to combine basic multimedia tools (e.g., animations) with activities as varied as doing research, writing and delivering presentations (cf. Robin 2005, Barrett 2006).

In this number, Robin and McNeil provide us with a blueprint for the successful creation of digital stories within an educational context. The insights they provide are the product of years of experience gained through teaching, giving workshops and supervising research into digital storytelling. The article provides guidelines on every aspect of digital storytelling, that is, their analysis, design, development, implementation and assessment.

V. Final remarks This article has provided a critical review of some of the most relevant studies on digital storytelling and has put forward a genre typology that allows an initial classification of digital storytelling into two main types: educational and social. The articles in this number are mostly about experiences with DS in educational settings as DS is still strongest in the world of education. It is clear, however, that it is impossible to separate the two types completely; educational stories are not divorced from the social context they are created in and stories with a more social bent in the wider social context also have message to convey and, as such, are


partly pedagogical in nature.

Referencias

Barrett, H. C. (2006). Digital Stories in ePortfolios: Multiple Purposes and Tools. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/digistory/index.html, accessed 1 April, 2007.

Castelló, M. (2002). De la investigación sobre el proceso de composición a la enseñanza de la escritura. Revista Signos, 35:149-162.

Center for Digital Storytelling. http://www.storycenter.org/index1.htm. First accessed, 1 June, 2006.

Couldry, N. (2008). Digital storytelling, media research and democracy: Conceptual choices and alternative futures. In K. Lundby (Ed.) Digital Storytelling, Mediatized Stories. Self-representations in New Media (pp. 41-60). New York: Peter Lang.

Erstad, O. & K. Silseth. (2008). Agency in Digital Storytelling. In K. Lundby (Ed.) Digital storytelling, mediatized stories: Self-representations in new media. (pp. 213-232). New York: Peter Lang.

Gregori Signes, C. (2008a). Integrating the old and the new: Digital Storytelling in the EFL language classroom. Greta, 16, 1 & 2: 29-35.

Gregori-Signes, C. (2011). El relato digital desde una perspectiva socio-educativa. Jornada <<Creando Relatos Digitales>>. Barcelona, 21 marzo 2010. Edulab, Universitat de Barcelona, available from http://greav.net/pdf/ProgramaJornadaCreandoHistoriasDigitales, accessed 20 May, 2011.

Gregori-Signes, C. (2011). Digital Storytelling on the Worldwide Web. Digital Storytelling on the WorldWide Web. Talk presented at the Conference Interdisciplinariedad, lenguas y TIC: investigación y enseñanza. Valencia: IULMA, 2011.

Gregori-Signes, C. (2013, in press). Digital storytelling and multimodal literacy in secondary education.

Hjarvard, S. (2004). From bricks to bytes: the mediatization of a global toy industry. In I. Bondebjerg & Golding P. (Eds.), European culture and the media (pp. 43-63). Bristol: Intelect.

Hjarvard, S. (2008). Mediatization: An institutional approach. Nordic Review, 29 (2).

Hull, G. A., & Nelson, M. E. (2005). Locating the semiotic power of multimodality written communication. Research in the Teaching of English, 22(2), 224-261.

Kaare, B.H. & Luntby, K. (2008:106). Mediatized lives: autobiography and assumed authenticity in digital storytelling. In Lundby, K. (2008). Digital storytelling, mediatized stories: Self-representations in new media (pp. 105-122). New York: Peter Lang.

Lambert, J. (2010). Cookbook for Digital Storytelling. New York: Digital Diner Press.

Scheidt, L. A. (2006) Adolescent diary weblogs and the unseen audience. In D. Buckingham & R. Wilett (Eds.), Digital generations. Children, young people and new media (pp. 193-210). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Lundby, K. (2008). Digital storytelling, mediatized stories: Self-representations in new media. New York: Peter Lang.

Martin-Barbero, J. 1993. Communication, culture and hegemony: From the media to mediations. London: Sage.


McClean, S. 2007. Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. Massachusetts: Massachussetts Institute of Technology.

McWilliam, K. (2009). The global diffusion of a community media practice. Digital storytelling online. In Hartley, J. & K. McWilliam (eds.). Story circle: digital storytelling around the world (pp.37-76). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Meadows, D. (2003). Digital Storytelling: Research-Based Practice in New Media. Visual Communication, 2 (2), 189-93.

Miller, C. (2004). Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment. Oxford: Elsevier.

Pennock-Speck, B. (2009). European Convergence and the Role of ICT in English Studies at the Universitat de València: Lessons Learned and Prospects for the Future. In Pérez Cañado, M. L. (Ed.) English Language Teaching in the European Credit Transfer System: Facing the Challenge (pp.169-186). Bruxelles: Peter Lang Publishing.

Robin, B. R. (2005). Educational Digital Storytelling. Retrieved 2007 from http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/introductiontroduction.htm.

Robin, B. R. (2006). The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. Retrieved from http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/evaluation.htm.

Valkanova, Y., & Watts, M. (2007). Digital story telling in a science classroom: reflective self-learning (RSL) in action. Early Child Development and Care, 177(6), 793 – 80

Recommended citation

Gregori, C. And Pennock, B. (2012) Digital storytelling as a genre of mediatized self-representations: an introduction. In: Digital Education Review, 22. [Accessed: dd/mm/yyyy] http://greav.ub.edu/der


Digital Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool within a Didactic

Sequence in Foreign Language Teaching

Agustín Reyes Torres

[email protected]

Facultad de Magisterio, Universidad de València, Spain

Eva Pich Ponce

[email protected]

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

Mª Dolores García Pastor

[email protected]

Facultad de Magisterio, Universidad de València, Spain

Abstract

Digital storytelling constitutes a pedagogical tool for teachers to work on different linguistic skills while generating students’ interest and attention. This study analyses the usefulness of including digital storytelling within a didactic sequence in order to work on linguistic routines such as greetings and leave-takings in English as a foreign language. To this aim, we have worked with first year students in the Faculty of Education at the Universitat de València to improve their ability to adapt their language skills to specific situations within common daily interaction. We have designed a didactic sequence consisting of different workshops that have been put into practice in class. The sequence ends with a final project in which students are expected to produce their own digital stories, showing thus what they have learnt. This final production has highlighted a clear improvement in the use of linguistic routines, as well as in the use of more complex structures and of varied expressions used to open and close a conversation. Keywords Didactic sequence; Linguistic routines; Digital storytelling; Teaching


El relato digital como herramienta pedagógica en la enseñanza

de lenguas extranjeras a través del uso de la secuencia didáctica

Agustín Reyes Torres

[email protected]

Facultad de Magisterio, Universidad de València, España

Eva Pich Ponce

[email protected]

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, España

Mª Dolores García Pastor

[email protected]

Facultad de Magisterio, Universidad de València, España

Resumen

El relato digital representa una herramienta pedagógica que permite al profesor trabajar distintas competencias lingüísticas al mismo tiempo que suscita interés y atención en el alumno. Este estudio analiza la utilidad de incluir el relato digital dentro de una secuencia didáctica con el fin de trabajar expresiones y rutinas lingüísticas en inglés tales como los saludos y las formas de despedirse. Con este objetivo hemos trabajado con estudiantes de primer año de la Facultad de Educación de la Universitat de València para mejorar su capacidad de adaptar sus habilidades lingüísticas a situaciones específicas en la interacción diaria. Hemos elaborado una secuencia didáctica, con distintos talleres, que se han puesto en práctica en el aula. Dicha secuencia termina con un proyecto final en el que los estudiantes deben producir sus propios relatos digitales que muestran lo que han aprendido. Esta producción final ha puesto en evidencia una clara mejoría en el uso de las rutinas lingüísticas, así como en el uso de estructuras más complejas y de expresiones más variadas para comenzar y concluir una conversación.

Palabras clave

Secuencia didáctica; Competencias lingüísticas; Relato digital; Didáctica


I. Introduction

This paper presents the use of digital storytelling as a part of a didactic sequence to practice linguistic routines in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. The aim is twofold: to design a didactic sequence that includes digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool, and to help students learn and practice linguistic elements such as greetings and leave-takings in daily interaction. This proposal emerges in the context of a research project funded by the University of Valencia.1

A didactic sequence is a group of activities designed and organized by a teacher in order to reach a learning objective. The particular order of these activities and the rhythm in which they are presented is crucial for the learning process, since the final outcome does not depend on the content of each task, but on how all of them are arranged within the lesson (Dolz and Schneuwly, 2006; Vilà-Santasusana, 2002). Students are asked to create a dialogue between two or three people in a specific communicative context. The goal is to assess their language skills in order to detect their previous knowledge, and their mistakes. This information enables the instructor to adapt and tailor the didactic sequence to the students’ needs and ability throughout the following lessons. According to Dolz and Schneuwly (2006), the didactic sequence must begin by explaining to the students the goals of the activity on which they are going to work. The reason behind this is to motivate them, and engage them in their own learning process. Once they have done the initial production, they are given a model of what they are expected to create. In this case, they are shown a digital story that contains different situations in which daily interaction in English occurs. Finally, after working on the targets set, students are expected to produce their own digital stories showing that improvement has been accomplished.

II. Digital Storytelling and Foreign Language Teaching: Linguistic Routines

Many scholars have long highlighted the importance of the use of digital storytelling in language teaching and learning (Gregori-Signes, 2008; Robin, 2006; Rodríguez Illera & Londoño, 2009) as well as the need for more research on the learning outcomes of its usage in educational settings (cf. Barrett, 2005; Yuksel, Robin, McNeil, 2010). On the one hand, digital storytelling not only offers language teachers the opportunity of working with all four language skills from the very beginning, but also brings together the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia such as images, recorded audio narration, video and music (Robin, 2006). This enables instructors to teach any topic in a way that can generate interest and attention. In this particular study, digital storytelling is used to work on linguistic routines in daily interaction in English as a foreign language. Although traditionally digital stories mainly consist of a narration, we have also integrated a series of dialogues to provide an example of different communicative exchanges in which a variety of language chunks are used.

On the other hand, the positive effects of digital storytelling in the foreign language classroom are many. Hibbing and Rankin-Erikson (2003) and Boster, Meyer, Roberto and Inge (2002) have shown that multimedia in teaching facilitates students’ learning and retaining new information. Moreover, digital storytelling draws the interest of students with diverse learning styles and can also promote group work and increase their sense of achievement. Ultimately, it also constitutes a useful way of working on how to arrange information. As Robin (2006) points out, “students who participate in the creation of digital stories may develop enhanced communication skills by learning to organize their ideas, ask questions, express opinions and construct narratives” (p. 712).

The digital story presented here is aimed at 1st year undergraduate students within the subject “English as a Foreign Language for Primary Education Teachers”. It is based on different sections that can either be used individually or as a whole to cover different learning points of the didactic sequence in which it is embedded, one of them being linguistic routines. We have conceived linguistic routines in this study as ritualised linguistic behaviour which consists of expressions (words, phrases) usually occurring in a particular communicative situation or context that is recurrent (Coulmas, 1981). Consequently, they are expressions that are highly 1 Research Project UV-INV-AE11-42019


predictable in form, meaning and function. Linguistic routines or formulas have been acknowledged to highly contribute to language learning in the literature (cf. Bardovi-Harlig, 2006; Gregori-Signes & Alcantud-Díaz, 2011; 2012.). These linguistic elements are essential in everyday interaction, and, most importantly, they entail socio-cultural knowledge that members of a determinate speech community share (García-Pastor, 2009; Wildner-Basset, 1984). Therefore, they are expected to be formulated and interpreted differently in different languages.

In this paper, we have focused on a specific kind of linguistic routines, namely, greetings and leave-takings, which perform the discursive functions of opening and ending any interaction respectively. At a social level, greetings enable the speaker to start and/or retake and negotiate his/her social relationship with the hearer at the same time that both convey the conceptualization they have of the relationship, for example, in terms of social distance, power, etc. (cf. Laver, 1981; House, 1996). Leave-taking formulae are linguistic resources participants use to negotiate and temporarily finish their social relation, and, like greetings, they show the conceptualization speaker and hearer have about their social bond. Thus, greetings and leave-takings in the discourse practices of opening and closing a conversation have significant social implications. Fostering an adequate understanding and use of these linguistic devices among language learners is important to help them in their learning of functional or sociocultural aspects of the target language.

Finally, the digital story created for this project follows the approach of scholars such as Burmark (2004) and Robin (2006), who establish that these stories can be deployed by teachers as anticipatory sets at the beginning of a lesson to introduce and develop a particular topic. In our case, we use digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool to design, start and finish a didactic sequence that revolves around linguistic elements and communicative acts used in daily interaction in English such as language chunks or routines.

The concept of didactic sequence is not new, as it is a by-product of educational practice (cf. Crookes, 2003; Richards & Rodgers, 2001; Zabala, 1997). In daily classroom practice, teachers always have certain activities in mind that they wish to implement or actually conduct in an ordered, structured and articulated manner to reach certain educational objectives. These activities and the way they are implemented in the classroom setting are in accordance with the instructional method the teacher follows. Thus, for example, for a traditional teaching method, which involves a teacher-fronted model of the classroom and the deployment of the lecture as the form of the lesson, the type of didactic sequence that one should expect would encompass the following phases: a) explanation or delivery of the lesson; b) students’ individual study using the textbook; c) repetition of the content that has been learnt; d) teacher’s assessment of students’ knowledge (Zabala, 1997).

However, for a communicative-oriented teaching method that fosters student participation in the classroom and the use of more interactive lesson forms, the kind of didactic sequence that the teacher may employ is likely to be more complex with a focus on learner needs, interests and motivation, among other things (ibid.). The didactic sequence developed for this study has been conceived within a communicative approach to language teaching with the teacher as its deviser, that is, the organiser of the group of activities proposed, their arrangement and their implementation in the classroom, and the students as its receivers. As stated by Richards and Rodgers (2001), the teacher has therefore the central role of “selecting, adapting, and/or creating the tasks themselves and then forming these into an instructional sequence in keeping with learner needs, interests, and language skill level” (p. 236). These characteristics of the didactic sequence are part of the mainstream definition of this concept, which stands in stark contrasts with more discursive definitions, whereby a didactic sequence is seen to emerge from the interaction between teacher, students and the pedagogical situation that ensues in the classroom (see Aldemar, 2007).

Following the features of a didactic sequence as generally understood, the didactic sequence outlined in this paper also reflects a continuous interaction between oral and written production modes, and listening and reading skills (cf. Camps, 1994). Additionally, such interaction needs to emerge in the context of a discourse genre, and all these elements need to be embedded within an in-class project (Camps, 1994; 2003; Dolz & Schneuwly, 2006). In our didactic sequence the interaction between the five skills (reading, speaking, listening, writing, and spoken interaction) in the activities proposed surfaces in the context of ordinary conversation and storytelling in English as a foreign language. The project that shapes all these elements


consists of the use of digital storytelling to practice linguistic routines in the target language.

Lastly, the didactic sequence presented in this study also follows the general structure established for this didactic device in the literature: an initial or preparatory stage, which usually contains production on the part of the students, a longer production phase, and the evaluation of learning outcomes at the end and throughout the sequence (Camps, 1994; 2003; Dolz & Schneuwly, 2006; Zabala, 1997). Nevertheless, we have adopted Dolz and Schneuwly’s (2006) model of didactic sequences in this research, since, inter alia, it places emphasis on communication. An explanation of the didactic sequence designed for this study according to this model is provided in the following paragraphs.

III. The Didactic Sequence

a. Participants and General Description

As already mentioned, the participants in this study are first-year students of the Faculty of Education at the University of Valencia enrolled in the course “English as a Foreign Language for Primary Education Teachers”. These students need to take this course to fulfill the requirement of the four-year degree established by the Spanish Ministry of Education in order to become primary school teachers. We have worked with two different classes (Group A and Group B) of thirty students each (and within each class we arranged students in 10 groups of three). Group A was a rather homogeneous group of 19 female and 11 male learners, aged 18-22. With the exception of five students, all of them had just finished high school and were supposed to have an intermediate level of English, i.e., a B1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001). Group B, by contrast, was more heterogeneous, since it was composed of 21 female and 9 male students, and the age difference among the students was more pronounced. There were 10 older students, aged 35-44, and 20 students, aged 18-25.

In both groups, students’ level of English varied significantly. While 70% had a solid intermediate level as far as reading and understanding written English are concerned, their writing, listening and speaking abilities in this language corresponded to a beginner level. In the case of the older students, although they had not taken English lessons for many years, it was remarkable that their motivation was higher, and so they put more effort and dedication than the younger lot. Consequently, their work was among the best.

As a first step, we evaluated students’ command of English regarding the use of greetings and leave-takings as expressions to start and close a conversation. Students were asked to make a list of all the different ways they knew to say hello and good-bye in English. As already mentioned, these expressions are part of the linguistic routines native speakers use on a daily basis. Being acquainted with these linguistic resources reflects a basic level of English, since these linguistic elements are necessary to initiate or establish any interaction. This activity allowed the instructor to be aware of the repertoire learners already had in the foreign language. Moreover, we also asked students to write a short dialogue for two different situations in order to assess their ability to use the target language in context.

Situation A: You are having a coffee with your sister in Starbucks and then you see a friend. You introduce your sister to your friend.

Situation B: You are at home and your mobile phone rings. It’s your friend. He or she wants to ask you for another friend’s mobile phone number.

Table 1. Situations provided to the students for their dialogues

This assignment was meant to function as a linguistic needs analysis (Richards, 1990), helping both teachers and students to detect the aspects of the foreign language on which they need to work. Most importantly, it allowed us to adapt subsequent activities according to the students’ mistakes throughout the didactic sequence. In this particular study, we observed that the


majority of the learners showed difficulties using basic linguistic routines in a simple conversation. Some of their most common mistakes are listed in table 2.

Functional mistakes on greetings:

Example 1: -“Hi, who is?

-“I am Peter.”

Example 2: -“Hello, I’m nice to meet you”

-“And you.”

Example 3: -“I niece to meet you”

-“Enchanted” or “I too”

Functional mistakes in introducing someone:

Example 1: -“Do you meet my sister?”

Example 2: -“I’m go to introduce you”

Example 3: -“Do you meet she?”

Grammar and sentence structure mistakes:

Example 1: -“Do you have the Peter’s mobile phone number?”

Example 2: -“I’m seeing TV.”

Example 3: -“I don’t see you for a long time”

L1 interfering effects:

Example 1: -“Hello, Maria. Say me.”

Example 2: -“No, I haven’t the Pablo telephone number.”

Example 3: -“What’s happens?”

Table 2 Common mistakes made by the students

As we can see in Table 2, students’ initial production highlighted not only the problems they had when dealing with linguistic routines, but also how they often used literal translation in order to convey their attempts to greet someone and to communicate in different situations. Thus, this first production enabled the teacher to circumscribe students’ capacities and their main difficulties, and to adjust the following workshops to the student’s needs. It constituted an invaluable way of pointing out both to the teacher and the students the path they needed to follow in order to achieve the teaching-learning objectives.

Students’ awareness of the learning process is essential in a didactic sequence (Dolz and Schneuwly, 2006). This is why, after the dialogues had been written, students were asked to discuss the difficulties they had found when writing them and the mechanisms they had used in order to overcome these difficulties. The discussion lead to the establishment of different learning objectives to work on during the following workshops. Therefore, students were completely involved in the development of the didactic sequence, and contributed to set the linguistic objectives and the contents of the activities. This provided them with a sense of responsibility for their learning and academic awareness, which has been strongly encouraged recently in the European context (Council of Europe, 2001; 2003).

At this stage, students were also told the aims of the project, i.e. the final task they would have to carry out in groups at the end of the sequence. They had to create and display a digital story consisting of an introduction, a conflict and a resolution, and containing both a narrative and a dialogue in which they used daily linguistic routines. The explanation of this objective gave a


purpose to the whole set of workshops planned.

Certainly, it is important to introduce a context which allows students to use the language for a real purpose and, as they are more likely to be engaged in this kind of task, it may motivate them further in their language learning process. The different activities planned for the workshops are therefore no longer viewed as mere linguistic tasks; but they acquire a larger and more significant purpose in relation to the final project that the students need to create. This final production allows them to put into practice and to integrate what they have learnt throughout the sequence. It creates a space where they can use both the linguistic elements they already knew, and the ones they have learnt. By comparing their initial productions with the final outcome, students and teacher can also gain awareness of the learning that has taken place and whether the workshops have been efficient. Moreover, working in groups on a digital story can develop students’ collaborative skills, as they have to plan, negotiate and make decisions.

In order to help them visualize better the project they were expected to carry out, we made them watch three episodes of the digital story we had created. Thus, our digital story was used both as a model for the students of what they had to produce, and as a tool within the workshops in order to study and practice linguistic routines and other aspects of the target language. Our digital story consists of different episodes displaying everyday situations such as introducing oneself and others, talking to someone at a party, going out for dinner, talking on the phone, chatting on the internet, saying good-bye at the airport, asking for directions, etc. Each episode takes approximately two minutes and allows the teacher to focus on different aspects of the language. The episodes can be used independently or as a part of a whole story, depending on the aims of the instructor and the students’ needs. The main protagonists of our digital story are a Spanish young man, called Nacho, and an English speaking woman called Sarah. The story shows how these two young characters meet, fall in love and are separated when Sarah has to go back to London. The digital story makes use of communicative situations that students are likely to encounter in real life and that may be appealing to them. By presenting two characters of different nationalities it also attempts to foster intercultural awareness and it highlights the importance of the English language as a significant communicative medium across cultures (Crystal, 2003).

The digital story has been specifically designed for the students, which means that the language used has been selected and graded. It is thus adapted to their level of competence. As Dolz and Schneuwly (2006) indicate, the model used in a didactic sequence does not need to be based on ‘authentic’ language samples, as its main purpose is to function as an example of what the students themselves have to produce. The document must therefore be exemplary, accessible and adequate in length. Moreover, by combining sound and vision, digital storytelling provides a full and stimulating context from which the meaning can be inferred. It thus fulfils a psychological, linguistic, cognitive, socio-cultural, and pedagogical function.

b. The workshops

Once students had become familiar with the kind of work they were expected to produce at the end of the sequence, the set of workshops intended to guide them towards this goal began. In these workshops, students were able to work on the general and specific problems that had appeared in their initial production and the instructor provided them with the tools they needed to learn from their mistakes and overcome their initial difficulties.

i. Workshop 1

In workshop 1 students watched episodes 2 and 3 of the digital story. Before, we had asked them to pay special attention to linguistic routines. The first activity was to identify the greetings used by the two speakers who take part in the conversation in episode 2: Sarah and Nacho. Since the situation is similar to the one in the task given to students for their initial production (Table 1), they were already familiar with it. Kimberley lives in Valencia and her sister Sarah just came to visit her from London. It is Kimberley’s birthday party and she has invited all her friends over. At some point, Kimberley introduces Sarah to her friend Nacho.


We had students listen to it twice and then they were provided with the following listening comprehension questions:

Questions on episode two

1-What does Sarah say to Nacho when they meet?

2-How does Nacho reply?

3-Why does Sarah think that Nacho is “quick”?

4-What is a pickup line? Can you think of an example?

Table 3. Listening comprehension exercise on episode 2

Once students had discussed the answers in pairs, they watched the episode again to check if their responses were adequate.

Episode 3 presents two telephone conversations: the first conversation takes place between Nacho and Kimberley and the second one between Nacho and Sarah. Unlike the first activity, students were only familiar with the first situation (Table 1) at this point. In the first telephone exchange, Nacho asks Kimberly for her sister’s number. In the second one, he calls Sarah to invite her out to dinner. Students watched the episode twice and had to pay attention to linguistic routines. Then, they worked on the following listening comprehension questions:

Questions on episode three – Part I

1-What does Kimberley say to answer the phone call?

2-Why is Nacho calling?

3-What expressions do they use to end the conversation?

Questions on episode three – Part II

4-What does Sarah say to answer the phone call?

5-What does she ask to know who is calling? How does Nacho reply?

6-What does Nacho ask Sarah?

7-Where do they agree to meet?

8-What expressions do they use to end the conversation?

Table 4. Listening comprehension exercise on episode 3

As in previous activities students worked in pairs to discuss the answers. Once they had finished, they watched both episodes one more time to analyze greetings and leave-takings.

ii. Workshop 2

This session was used to work on the mistakes students made in their initial production. They received this production with the parts that needed to be corrected highlighted. In order to have students reflect on them, we only indicated “w.g” for wrong greeting, “rg/ss” for revise grammar or sentence structure, and “l.t” for literal translation. Instructors made clear that mistakes are a crucial source of information in order to learn and so they had to be seen as something positive (Ellis, 1994; James, 1998).

Next, we distributed to students a sheet in which we had included their most common mistakes. They recognized some of the sentences as their own, which increased their interest in correcting them. Once again the aim was to have them learn from their own mistakes. Most importantly, by sharing them with their classmates, we were emphasizing the idea of learning together and minimizing the relevance of who made the error.


Students were given some time to work in pairs on the mistakes and then the teacher checked their answers and showed to the whole class the different options. Students then received a handout with phrases in English that are commonly used to say hello, goodbye and to introduce to strangers. They were required to incorporate such phrases into the dialogues written during their initial production. Then, they did a role play with these dialogues.

iii. Workshop 3

In the third workshop, students watched the episode 4 of our digital story, which presents the two protagonists going out for dinner. However, this time the digital story was displayed without sound, so that the students could only watch the images and had to guess what was happening in the story and what the characters were saying. They had to use their imagination and create a dialogue using the linguistic routines they had learnt in the previous lessons. After that, the students read out loud their written assignments, which had to match the pictures of the video. At the end of the workshop, the digital story was presented with sound and the students could then compare it with their own dialogues. This workshop was intended as a practice for their final project. It fostered students’ creativity and allowed both students and teacher to check the progress of the former regarding the use of linguistic routines in specific contexts. It also enabled the instructor to see the difficulties that were still remaining and to further adjust the following sessions to the students’ needs. One of the main areas to work on were students’ oral skills. Due to their lack of confidence, they were very shy to speak English in front of their classmates. Likewise, they had a habit to translate expressions literally from Spanish into English and to mix up the use of the pronouns “his” and “her”. Some of these problems could be dealt with in the next workshop, which focused on a series of activities that covered different aspects of the foreign language.

iv. Workshop 4

In this session students were provided with several handouts containing different tasks that allowed them to practice some grammatical and lexical elements. As these were based on their difficulties and their mistakes in the previous sessions, the points to work were no longer seen as mere grammatical exercises. On the contrary, they were perceived as meaningful tools that enabled them to write their final production. The activities to carry out depend on the difficulties detected and therefore they may vary from one session to another. In this case, we devoted this lesson to work particularly on linguistic devices such as verb tenses, prepositions and pronouns, key in narratives. Students were given several activities that included a bank of words, so they had to fill the gaps by using a verb in the correct tense, a preposition or a pronoun. They also had to correct a small text containing different mistakes related to these categories. It was gratifying to see that they understood for example the difference between the present simple and the present continuous, and how to apply it in a regular conversation. i.e. Pam: Hello, Toni. Where are you going? (instead of “where do you go” as they used to say because of their attempt to translate directly from Spanish to English)

The second part of the workshop was centred on lexical and idiomatic aspects of the foreign language. Since in their final story students would have to combine narrative and dialogue, this workshop was also used to work on the structure of a narrative, hence sentence connectors. Students had to identify the meaning of some connectors and use them by integrating them in a given text. These exercises were meant to prepare them for the following workshop, in which they would have to start writing the final written production. Therefore, throughout the sequence, contents appear in a cyclical way: new contents are progressively incorporated to those which have been previously learnt. This is likely to enrich students’ knowledge and allows them to carry out more complex activities in the foreign language.

v. Workshop 5

The aim of this workshop was to have students start writing the story that they would later use in their final project: a digital story. In the guidelines, we reminded them about the importance of using linguistic routines, but also we gave them a list of common pickup lines. They were required to include at least one in their story.


Pickup lines

• Hey, I’m new in town. Can I get directions to your house?

• Hey, am I dreaming? You cannot be real

• Did you just fall from heaven? You are an angel!

• Call me anytime day or night if you need someone to talk to

• Here is my cell number, work number and home number; I want to make sure I do not miss your call.

• What is a fine woman like you doing shopping by yourself?

• Girl, the way you look in those jeans makes me want to cry

Table 5 Pickup lines provided to the students for their stories

The goal of this assignment was to motivate students into writing the story. They normally find using pickup lines amusing and creating a situation in which there is interaction between young people like them that meet for the first time in a party or a disco. This was clearly demonstrated in their final work as it will be shown later.

On the other hand, we also gave them instructions for the structure of the story. The story had to be well organized and include the following pattern:

Structure of the story

1-Setting: It introduces the main characters and the initial situation of the story.

2-Conflict: It presents some kind of problem or goal to reach and the tension around it.

3-Resolution: It is the end of the story and presents a solution to the conflict.

Table 6 Instructions for the structure of the story

They also had to include interaction and dialogue between the characters. On the whole, the story had to be approximately two pages long.

vi. Workshop 6

Peer correction encourages students to work together and learn from each other. As Asifa Sultana (2009) has argued and our students’ final comments and reflections later confirmed, “peer correction is implemented in classrooms to enhance learner autonomy, cooperation, interaction and involvement” (p. 12). In this workshop, students had to exchange their written productions and try to correct each other’s mistakes. This session was designed in order to make students realize the importance of revising their texts during the writing process. Anne Raimes (1983) has pointed out that checklists are useful in order to make students focus on specific characteristics of the written text during peer feedback activity. In order to help students with the feedback session, we created the following checklist.


Does the story have a clear introduction?

Do the characters use linguistic routines such as greetings and leave takings?

Can you understand the development of the plot? Does it create interest?

Does the story have a clear ending?

Is each sentence in the story clear and complete?

Can any long sentences be improved by breaking them down into shorter units and recombining them?

Does each verb agree with its subject?

Are all verb forms correct and consistent?

Do pronouns refer clearly to the appropriate nouns?

Is each word spelled correctly?

Is the punctuation correct?

Do you have any suggestions to improve the story?

Table 7.Checklist

Students had to write down their observations and comments regarding these aspects. Besides correcting the mistakes they found in their classmates’ production, they could also make suggestions related to the plot and the language used in the text. The objective was to provide students with another opinion on their work and to give them the opportunity to revise it according to the feedback they had received. After correcting it, the students were expected to discuss with each other the strengths and weaknesses problems and the good points observed in their writing. The authors of the text could then react to their partner’s comments and exchange opinions. However, at the end of the discussion they had to make decisions and modify their texts accordingly. Thus, this activity promotes cooperative learning. As De Almeida (2007) has stated, “the use of peer feedback aims at helping learners become more critical of their own texts. As they listen to their peers’ views on what they have written and have the opportunity to reshape their writing, they are exercising the ability to detach themselves from their texts and read it with the target reader’s eyes” (p. 5). Through this activity, and as their final production reveal, students are made to revise their productions in depth, to reflect on their own performance and to find ways of improving their work.

vii. Workshop 7

When reaching this stage, the written text is ready and the students are prepared to turn it into a digital story. In this workshop they learnt how to use the digital story software “Microsoft Photo Story 3”. Students chose pictures related to their story and arranged them in the proper order to match its development. Then, they read the text out loud and recorded the voices that were to accompany the images of the story. They had to bear in mind the intonation, the pauses and the mood of the characters in order to make the story convincing. As a final step, they added the music and generated the video.

viii. Final production

Ultimately, to complete the didactic sequence students had to present their final production, that is, their digital stories to the rest of the class. They had to do this along with an introduction in which they explained the rationale behind the pickup line selected and the story developed around it.


After watching each video there was time for discussing its content. First of all, we invited each group of students to comment on their experience putting the story together: the challenges, the progress they think they had made and how the overall process had helped them to improve their linguistic skills. Second, the rest of the class had to identify the use of linguistic routines and to make remarks on the originality of the story. This discussion served as a final reflection on the educational benefits of digital storytelling and how it had contributed to their learning of English.

IV. Results

The students were aware of the assessment criteria, as they were given a handout containing the different aspects that were going to be considered in the evaluation. This information was also used by them as a checklist, before handing in their work:

Assessment criteria

PART 1 – STORY

-Use of greetings

-Use of leave-takings

-Use of pickup lines

-General use of dialogues and interaction

-Use of vocabulary

-Grammar: use of verbs, past tenses, connectors, etc.

PART 2 – PLOT

-Introduction

-Conflict

-Resolution

-Intercultural aspects

-Coherence of the story

PART 3 – DIGITAL STORYTELLING

-Oral English: pronunciation

-Use of photos that match the story and the dialogues

-Overall final product and use of Photo Story 3

PART 4 – STUDENTS’ REFLECTIONS

-Comment on your group the advantages of the use of digital storytelling to improve your English.

-In your opinion, what is the skill that you practiced the most?

-Write down an insightful reflection on what you have learned.

Table 8. Assessment information provided to the students


The final productions showed a clear improvement regarding the use of linguistic routines. Compared to the initial texts which were written before the didactic sequence, the final outcome contained more complex structures and a varied range of expressions used to start and to end a conversation. The students were able to construct coherent stories that included both a narrative and a dialogue. Greetings and leave-takings were thus used in context, within a communicative situation, and embedded within the dialogues created. Most of the students also included one or several pick-up lines in very real situations. In addition, before creating the videos, the students were asked to turn in their scripts which provided us with the opportunity to check their progress as far as their use of grammar.

Although the level of English and the number of mistakes made varied from one text to the other, we observed a general attempt at using linguistic routines in a correct way and in the appropriate contexts. The students had been able to distinguish between the standard written language used by the narrator, and the oral language used in the interactions. The distinction appears clearly in the texts not only by the use of linguistic routines, but also by the use of exclamations, adjacency pairs, or pause and hesitation fillers in the dialogues: “Mmm...I think so, but I’m not sure, maybe! Why?”; “P- Hello, Sussie, it’s been a long time! You look great! / S- Oh my god! It’s you! It’s a pleasure to see you again”.

Some of the grammatical and lexical mistakes made in the initial productions did not appear in the final texts anymore. For example, in the initial productions we could find sentences such as: “-Hello Maria. How are you? / - Hi Pilar, I’m fun, thanks. What’s happen?”. In the final outcome, students were able to write these structures correctly: “-Hello Tom, how are you? / - I’m fine, thank you! I’ve already finished reading the book. Would you like to meet up with me?”; “- Hello John! / - Hi, Maria! What’s up?”

In the narrative part, the sentences used are more complex and they follow the rules of standard written language: “One day, while Sophie is at school with her colleagues, during the break, a handsome man enters the room. He’s the new intern, John”.

The most common mistakes found in the texts concern the use of prepositions, verbal tenses, and possessive pronouns. The linguistic routines seen throughout the didactic sequence were used adequately. However, there was still a structure that most of the students failed to employ correctly: “- nice to meet you. / - Me too”.

We could still find grammar and sentence structure mistakes such as “one photo’s mum” or “they are meeting in a Jenny’s cafeteria”. In spite of this, most of the functional mistakes described in Table 2 had been overcome at this stage. On a different note, due to the importance given to interactive speech throughout the sequence, in the case of some students, this resulted in some orthographical errors induced by a focus on correct pronunciation: “or my gad!” (used for “Oh my God!”).

Of the twenty groups (3 students per group) that created the digital storytelling, nineteen presented well-constructed stories. Seven groups had outstanding marks due to the originality and coherence of the plot, the adequacy of the images selected, the use of the English language and the good pronunciation and intonation of the students. There were nine groups that had more problems with the correct use of the language and four groups had difficulties regarding the creation of the video (blurred or pixelated images, sound problems, video motion, image-voice adequacy). However, and despite their difficulties, all the students made a clear effort to pronounce correctly.


Improvement in the use of linguistic routines

Correct use of pick-up line

Improvement in the use of oral English: pronunciation

Final work still includes grammar mistakes

Outstanding final work with the DST.

Grade: A

Above-average final work with DST.

Grade: B

Acceptable final work with DST,

Grade: C

Students’ satisfaction and positive reflection

Number of groups (20)

20 17 17 13 7 9 4 20

Table 9. Final results overview

All the groups were also required to hand in a reflection on their experience and the advantages that they found in the use of digital storytelling in learning and using EFL. It is significant that all of them highlighted the amusing and creative dimensions of DST, and its potential to motivate learners of English. They all agreed that it had helped them to improve their written and oral skills, but particularly their pronunciation and intonation:

Speaking is especially difficult for adults because we feel ashamed and ridiculous [even if] we have the knowledge to write the script with an acceptable level or grammar and vocabulary, We think that speaking is the skill that we practiced the most and we did it, in a certain way, avoiding the traditional fear of oral exercises. Furthermore, recording our voices allowed us to listen to ourselves and to discover our major pronunciation problems (Student’s reflection).

After making the digital story, we have developed different sills like writing, because when we created the story, we reviewed the writing, taking into account the use of pickup line, expressions and advanced vocabulary. Other aspect to consider was the pronunciation, because when we listened to ourselves, we were conscious of our mistakes and corrected them. This has been the skill we have practiced more, because the digital story is based mainly an oral expression. This work was a new and useful experience about our teaching-learning process. (Student’s reflection)

Students were aware that in order to create the video they had to revise their written production thoroughly, correct the mistakes, look for new vocabulary, check the good pronunciation of the words (some of them admitted having checked the pronunciation of some words online). Finally, many of the groups also highlighted the importance of teamwork in the creation of the video and how this assignment gave them the opportunity to get to know their classmates better, negotiate their ideas and make decisions.

V. Conclusions The use of digital storytelling in the class of second language acquisition constitutes a pedagogical tool that can be included within the frame of a didactic sequence. Following the methodology established by Dolz and Schneuwly, this paper has shown how it is possible to develop a series of workshops that revolve around a digital story in order to work with students on linguistic elements and communicative acts used in daily interaction. The technological devices involved throughout the process are expected to generate interest, attention and motivation for the current "digital generation" students that we find in our classrooms. Furthermore, it is intended to foster cooperative learning through which students work independently following the guidelines given.

Throughout the didactic sequence the teacher plays an important role at the beginning when according to his initial observations, he can elaborate and adapt the different workshops to the students’ needs and abilities. Some of the questions he should face beforehand are: what are the objectives of the didactic sequence? How do the workshops constitute a progression of


interrelated activities which reinforce and consolidate each other in establishing the final outcome? In this way, the teacher has the opportunity to individualize the work students do and monitor their progress. At this stage, his role as a teacher is more of a guide leading students through their learning and letting them use the language creatively to write their stories.

Lastly, the educational value of this project is ultimately intended to serve as an example on how digital storytelling can be incorporated in the teaching of English as a foreign language. We expect to encourage other scholars to generate new didactic sequences using our model as a source for their professional development.

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Appendix

Objectives Activities Material Procedure Time Initial

Production -Test students’ initial knowledge and ability of linguistic routines -Adaptation of language in different contexts. Adequacy of register. -Development of language skills: writing, reading, speaking and listening

1-In pairs, students make a list of all the different ways that they know to say hello and good-bye 2-Students write a dialogue in a given context. They will be given two different situations, so they will have to adapt the dialogue to each of them. 3-Reflection on the difficulties and establishment of targets to work on. 4- Presentation of the aims of the project: create their own digital story 5- Display of three episodes of our digital story. (Episodes 1, 2, 3)

-Hand-out with the instructions -One photocopy per group

1-Students in pairs. 2-Students in groups 3-Teacher and students 4-Teacher to the whole class

-5 min -20 min -15 min -10 min

Workshop 1

-Introduce the relevance of linguistic routines in daily interaction -Identify greetings and leave-takings. -Development of language skills: listening, reading, speaking

1- Listening. Display of the digital story (Episodes 2, 3).related to linguistic routines. 2-Listening comprehension exercises. 3-Analysis of the different parts of the conversation: -Greeting -Intention -Leave-taking

1-Computer, head-projector, screen. 2-Audio

1-Students individually 2-Students in pairs. 3-Teacher and students.

-10 min -20 min -20 min

Workshop 2

-Make students aware of their mistakes. -Learn a list of common expressions to say hello, to introduce someone and to say good-bye. -Development of language skills

1-Show students a list of the most common mistakes they have made in their original production. Correct them together 2-Return to students their original work in which now we have highlighted the relevant mistakes and those parts that need to be corrected. 3-Incorporate the given expression into the dialogues written during the initial production. 4-Role play

-Hand-out with students’ mistakes -Hand-out with the expressions -Students’ notebooks

1-Students in groups 2-Students in groups

-25 min -10 min -15 min -10 min

Workshop 3

-Practice of the linguistic routines. -Development of language skills

1-Students watch episode 4 of the digital story but only the images without sound. 2-They imagine what is happening and create a dialogue using the linguistic routines. 3- Students read the dialogue to the rest of the class 4-Display of the digital story with sound. Students compare it to their story.

1-Computer, head-projector, screen.

-Students in pairs. - Students to the whole class

-5 min -25 min -10 min -10 min

Workshop 4

-Review and work on the grammar mistakes detected throughout the first lessons.

1-Language exercises based on the difficulties detected. Special focus on: -Grammar: verbs, prepositions, pronouns. -Vocabulary and idioms. -Use of English in context

-Hand-out -Teacher to the whole class -Students in pairs

-50 min

Workshop 5

-Learn pickup lines and how to use them in context. -Learn how to organize a story: narrative vs dialogue

1-Students create a story in which they can use a pickup line. This is a written task. 2-Make sure the story has an introduction, a conflict and a resolution.

-Hand-out with the expressions -Students’ notebooks


-30 min

Workshop

6

-Identify linguistic routines -Identify the different parts of the story -Read, identify mistakes and improve a written text.

1-Peer-editing. Students exchange their work, correct the mistakes and make suggestions related to the plot.

-Errors checklist

1-Students in groups

-25 min

Workshop 7

-Create a digital story -Development of the language skills

1-Choose pictures in relation with your story and arrange them in the proper order. 2-Add the voice bearing in mind the

-Computer, digital story software, headphones


120 min


intonation, pauses and mood of the characters. 3-Add the music

and mics. 3-Students in gr

Final production

-Presentation of the digital stories -Discuss and assess the students’ work -Reflect on the improvements accomplished that took place during the learning process

1-Introduction and display of the digital story. Rationale behind the pickup line selected and the story developed around it 2-Discussion and assessment of each of the digital stories. 3-Reflection on how the use of digital storytelling has contributed to the learning of linguistic routines and other language skills

1-Computer, head-projector, screen. 2-Audio 3-Evaluation questionnaire

1-Students to the whole class 2-Teacher and students 3-Students individually

90 min


Reyes, A. Pich, E & García, M.D. (2012) Digital Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool within a Didactic Sequence in Foreign Language Teaching. In: Digital Education Review, 22, 1-18. [Accessed: dd/mm/yyyy] http://greav.ub.edu/der

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Aprendiendo en el aula:

contando y haciendo relatos digitales personales

Gloria Londoño-Monroy

[email protected]

Universitat de Barcelona, España

Resumen

Este artículo da cuenta de una investigación cualitativa que desde una visión interpretativa y participativa, analiza cinco intervenciones realizadas entre 2008 y 2011 con alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en Catalunya, España, para (a) describir y comprender las características del procedimiento de realización y de los productos resultantes, las condiciones y limitaciones de aplicación, y los beneficios pedagógicos que pueden ofrecer los Relatos Digitales Personales cuando son realizados como proyectos prácticos de aprendizaje en un marco de Educación Formal, y (b) diseñar, implementar y perfeccionar una metodología didáctica que permita orientar su uso en procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje centrados en los estudiantes. Se explican: los fundamentos teóricos que guían la indagación; la elección y el uso de los métodos (Investigación basada en Diseño y Estudio de Casos instrumental y múltiple); las actividades planificadas y aplicadas y, por último, algunos hallazgos relevantes considerando que los casos incluyeron representantes de los tres tipos de aulas existentes en los institutos catalanes: regulares, de acogida y abiertas. Se pretende contribuir al conocimiento de la relación entre narrativa personal digital y educación, y facilitar y potenciar el aprovechamiento en el aula tanto de la expresión, las vivencias y las visiones de los sujetos que aprenden, como de las posibilidades de multimedialidad y multimodalidad que ofrecen las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación.

Palabras clave

Digital Storytelling; Relatos digitales; Narrativa personal; Aprendizaje centrado en el estudiante; Aprendizaje por proyectos; Metodología didáctica; Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.


Learning in the Classroom:

Telling and Creating Digital Storytelling

Gloria Londoño-Monroy

[email protected]

Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

This paper presents a qualitative research from an interpretive and participatory vision. It analyzes five cases developed between 2008 and 2011 with students of secondary school in Catalonia, Spain, for: (a) describe and understand the process and the resulting products’ characteristics, conditions and limitations of use and educational benefits that it can offer when the Digital Storytelling are made as practical projects in formal learning; and (b) to design, implement and improve a teaching methodology to guide their use in teaching-learning student-centered. It explains: the theoretical foundations that guide the inquiry and the methodological approach employed (Design-based Research and Case Studies of instrumental and multiple type); activities designed and implemented and some relevant results, considering that these cases included representatives of the three types of existing classrooms in the High school in Catalonia (Spain): regular, reception and open classrooms. It aims to contribute to the knowledge of the relationship between personal digital storytelling and education and facilitate and promote the use in the classroom of both, the expressions, experiences and visions of people who are learning, and the possibilities of multimedia and multimodality offered by Information and Communication Technologies.

Keywords

Digital Storytelling; Digital Stories; Personal Narrative; Student-centered Learning; Project Learning; Teaching Methodology; High school.


I. Presentación Contar historias personales es habitual en los seres humanos. Es un mecanismo para relacionarse con los demás, sentirse parte de una comunidad y construir la identidad (McAdams, Josselson y Lieblich, 2006; Lundby, ed., 2008b); transmitir saberes, reflexiones o experiencias propias, ajenas o colectivas (McDrury y Alterio, 2003); registrar y prolongar la memoria de los individuos y las comunidades (Lambert 2007 y 2009); y enfrentar situaciones o problemáticas de la vida cotidiana al procesar individualmente las vivencias, organizarlas, explicarlas y, en definitiva, encontrarles sentido (Bruner, 1991; Schank, 1999).

Hasta hace poco lo normal para alguien sin conocimientos o contactos profesionales en creación y emisión de relatos, era contarlos en su entorno cercano o privado. Hacerlo públicamente, especialmente si las historias tenían carácter autobiográfico, era privilegio de pocos, entre otros aspectos por la dificultad o los altos costos para acceder a los instrumentos o espacios necesarios. Pero el panorama ha cambiado con el desarrollado las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) y el aumento de los niveles de apropiación y de alfabetización digital en algunos países, pues ahora es posible realizarlos usando ordenadores o teléfonos móviles inteligentes, e incluso, compartirlos con desconocidos utilizando servicios gratuitos de publicación en Internet.

Ello ha dado pie a la proliferación y circulación pública, sobre todo en la Web, de diversos tipos de narraciones amateur como uno conocido como Digital Storytelling o, en castellano, Relatos Digitales Personales (RDP), caracterizados porque un autor, con apoyo de TIC, crea un producto (generalmente un vídeo corto, aunque esto no es requisito), en el que en poco tiempo y recurriendo a diferentes sistemas de representación o mediación (audios, vídeos, fotografías, animaciones, entre otros), comparte con su propia voz y estilo, asuntos propios: sus memorias de vida o sus reflexiones acerca de eventos o fenómenos que le son cercanos.

Este artículo da cuenta de los avances de una investigación cualitativa en curso sobre RDP en Educación Formal, en la que se planifican, realizan y analizan algunas intervenciones con tipos diversos de estudiantes, en Catalunya (España), para: (a) Describir y comprender las características del procedimiento de realización y de los productos resultantes, las condiciones y las limitaciones de aplicación, y los beneficios pedagógicos que pueden ofrecer estos relatos cuando son realizados como Proyectos Prácticos de Aprendizaje, y (b) Diseñar, implementar y perfeccionar una metodología didáctica que permita orientar su uso en procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje centrados en los alumnos. Concretamente se presentan cinco de los diez casos que la componen, aquellos con 53 discentes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) que participaban en una o en varias de las aulas que es posible encontrar en los centros educativos catalanes: ordinarias o regulares, abiertas y de acogida2.

A continuación se explican los fundamentos teóricos de la investigación, su enfoque metodológico, las actividades diseñadas y aplicadas, y algunos de los hallazgos relevantes.

2 Según la Ley Orgánica 2/2006 de Educación de España y el Decret 143/2007 de Catalunya, la ESO es la etapa que sigue a la educación primaria y que precede a la no obligatoria (bachillerato) o a ciclos de formación profesional de grado medio y superior. Se compone de cuatro cursos (tres de enseñanzas de carácter común, y el último orientador para estudios postobligatorios o incorporación laboral) que se imparten en lo que comúnmente se llama Aulas Ordinarias o Regulares. La legislación establece también otras unidades para atender necesidades especiales del alumnado; en Catalunya están, entre otras, las Aulas de Acogida (Acollida en catalán) y las Abiertas (Obertas). Las primeras atienden discentes no catalanoparlantes llegados a la Autonomía durante los dos últimos años, con entornos abiertos de aprendizaje de la lengua, de socialización y de acompañamiento emocional y curricular. Las otras, a estudiantes de tercer o cuarto curso (excepcionalmente de segundo) que por diversos motivos presentan una marcada inadaptación al contexto escolar, carencias o dificultades significativas en sus aprendizajes (por bajo nivel de autoestima o problemas conductuales, p.ej.), para que puedan lograr la obtención del graduado escolar mediante estrategias metodológicas y organizativas, contenidos y criterios de evaluación y horarios de permanencia en el centro, diferentes a los de las aulas ordinarias.


II. Particularidades de los relatos digitales personales El término Digital Storytelling es bastante polisémico, pero el estudio parte de una comprensión teórica cercana a la del Center for Digital Storytelling (www.storycenter.org), entidad de California (EEUU) que lo define como “una forma de narrativa en la que cualquier persona con el deseo de documentar y compartir una experiencia significativa de su vida, sus ideas o sus sentimientos, lo hace a través de la producción de una historia testimonial corta, empleando medios, programas y recursos digitales”. De ahí la traducción propuesta, RDP, pues en ellos personas ordinarias, es decir, sin conocimientos especializados en crearlos, relatarlos o realizarlos para medios de comunicación, ni en manejo de las TIC para la producción audiovisual o multimedial, se convierten en autores que con su voz y estilo, de una forma emotiva, creativa, subjetiva y práctica, se implican tanto en el proceso de definir y contar algo que han vivido, que les interesa o que les es cercano, como en el de materialización de su historia usando medios y herramientas digitales de fácil manejo y acceso (como cámaras fotográficas o programas de edición de audio o vídeo disponibles en ordenadores personales).

Algunos autores, como Bolter y Grusin (2000), los consideran una re-mediación de los relatos tradicionales, mientras que otros, como Ryan y colegas (2004), opinan que se trata de una nueva narrativa porque los medios, con sus funcionalidades, condicionantes y limitaciones, determinan qué y cómo contar algo, lo cual introduce formas no tradicionales de expresión. La discusión está abierta, pero lo evidente es que los RDP tienen funciones parecidas a las de la narrativa clásica, y emplean componentes y esquemas expresivos propios o similares a los de ella, adicionando sistemas de representación y codificación de las TIC, como son la multimodalidad y la multimedialidad y, en ocasiones, novedosas formas de presentar y relacionar los compontes, de participación con el contenido, o de interacción entre quienes crean y reciben el mensaje (Rodríguez Illera y Londoño Monroy, 2009). Por ello el resultado puede ser de muchos tipos:

• Según el grado de intervención en el contenido: relatos no interactivos, con elementos y estructuras lineales y predefinidas, o interactivos, permitiendo modificar el orden de presentación o de visualización de la información e, incluso, dando la posibilidad de elegir o agregar tramas o subtramas (Miller, 2008), en cuyo caso el público se convierte en co-autor.

• Según el o los recursos semióticos empleados o dominantes: textual, fotográfico, auditivo, pictórico (secuencia de fotos, dibujos o ilustraciones), animado (con animaciones) o multimedial (si hay una combinación de varios recursos). De esta última clase son los que interesan en esta investigación: vídeos lineales o secuenciales en los cuales la voz del autor se mezcla con diversos recursos auditivos, visuales o textuales.

• De acuerdo con la temática: de acontecimientos de la propia vida en los que un evento desencadena, en el pasado o en el presente, un cambio significativo, una ruptura de la cotidianidad, un desafío que enfrentar o una experiencia inolvidable; de lugares significativos; de personajes importantes para el autor, humanos o no, que inspiran historias conmemorativas, de amistad o familiares; sentimentales, inspiradas en las vivencias de amor o de convivencia; sobre lo que hacemos o nos gusta, acerca del trabajo, la profesión o las aficiones; de descubrimiento o conocimiento, basadas en procesos de aprendizaje personal; de identidad (autobiográficas) o de la comunidad a la que se pertenece (Lambert, 2007). También, relatos sobre reflexiones propias sobre un tema específico, sobre hechos reales vividos por una persona cercana (historias ajenas o referidas), o sobre los anhelos o sueños.

• Y como podría serlo cualquier relato, según la intencionalidad y el estilo comunicativo: narrativo, centrado en contar hechos actuales o sucedidos; descriptivo, al presentar, sobre todo, detalles de los elementos que constituyen la historia (como los personajes, los escenarios o espacios, los hechos o acontecimientos, las acciones, los tiempos, o las causas que producen los hechos, los cambios o los pensamientos); dialogado, por reproducir o transmitir literalmente las frases de los personajes; expositivo, que se extiende en explicaciones de los elementos de la historia pero, al contrario de los descriptivos, de forma objetiva, directa y clara; o argumentativo, que defiende con argumentos, posturas, ideas y opiniones (García y Huerta, 1999).

Más allá de su clasificación, lo que distingue a los RDP es que las funciones de autor, narrador, protagonista o coprotagonista y realizador, recaen en el mismo sujeto, y que la experiencia,


visión, imaginación u opinión que se comparte, casi de una forma confesional como dicen Hartley y McWilliam (2008), se relaciona con su vida y/o su contexto próximo, evidenciando siempre una implicación individual con lo relatado. Por ello Lundby (2008a) los define como narraciones a pequeña escala centradas en el Yo, si se realizan de forma individual, o en el Nosotros, si se hacen en grupo, que buscan transmitir una representación personal, la del autor3.

Por lo tanto, su riqueza no está en la espectacularidad visual o auditiva que se alcance gracias a la cantidad de efectos y recursos expresivos usados, o a la experticia que se tenga en la producción audiovisual o en el manejo de recursos técnicos (a la forma de materialización o de mediación), sino en aquello que se relata (en la estructura narrativa y dramática) y, sobre todo, en algo menos evidente: en lo que implica para el autor contar su historia, y en la práctica reflexiva al transformar el conocimiento tácito que parte de las vivencias o de los contextos de un sujeto, en un producto multimedial, durante todo el proceso de pensar, planificar y producir el relato digital (Rodríguez Illera, Fuertes Alpiste y Londoño Monroy, 2011).

En resumen, los RDP son: subjetivos, porque no cuentan historias ajenas sino cercanas o propias bajo la perspectiva particular del autor-narrador (por eso en ellos se suele hablar en primera persona del singular o del plural); concretos, porque giran alrededor de un tema o hecho preciso; breves, porque son microrrelatos, es decir, cortos o de poca duración (si son audiovisuales, de uno a cinco minutos aproximadamente); emotivos, con contenido que transmite un compromiso emocional, consciente o inconsciente, por parte del autor; reflexivos, porque lo que se comparte ha sido meditado antes y/o durante el proceso de creación (p.ej., pensando en los impactos del hecho en la vida propia, en los aprendizajes personales, o en las relaciones o situaciones futuras) y digitales, al ser hechos aprovechando los lenguajes, las herramientas y los soportes técnicos que proveen las TIC para su materialización, así como las posibilidades multimediales, multimodales e interactivas que ellas proporcionan.

III. Usos, aportes y limitaciones en educación

Los RDP han sido impulsados especialmente en países anglosajones o saturados digitalmente (Lundby, 2008a), con diversas finalidades y en contextos disímiles (escuelas y universidades, museos, organizaciones comunitarias, empresas, hospitales, etc.) debido especialmente a algunas iniciativas de uso y divulgación, y a unas pocas de investigación. Igualmente, gracias a varias propuestas metodológicas que buscan orientar y facilitar su producción y publicación, entre las que sobresalen: la más antigua y conocida, del Center for Digital Storytelling (Lambert, 2007 y 2009); la de los proyectos Capture Wales (BBC Capture Wales y Cipolwg ar Gymru team, 2009), Digi-Tales (Massaro, Vaske, Jol y De Groot, 2007) y KQED Digital Storytelling Initiative (2008); la de entidades como Creative Narrations y MassIMPACT (Freidus y Nowicki-Clark, 2005), y unas pocas explícitamente formuladas para trabajar en aulas de clase o con fines educativos, como son la de Ohler (2008), enfocada en niños y adolescentes, y la de Robin (2008b), para estudiantes universitarios4.

La mayoría de estas metodologías incluyen recomendaciones sobre equipamiento, espacio y recursos; tutoriales para usar determinados programas o equipos; y estrategias que van desde la conceptualización hasta la edición final, es decir, actividades o sugerencias para que se logre: (a) comprender las características y los elementos5 que debería tener un ‘buen’ RDP;

3 Hartley (2008) explica que lo que se consigue en estas medias autoproducidas, son representaciones del yo público (el que se exhibe conscientemente en un grupo determinado) más que del yo privado, por lo que advierte que aunque se cuenten hechos o impresiones que el autor asume como reales, no necesariamente lo expresado se ajusta a la realidad que perciben los demás. 4 Ohler y Robin no necesariamente trabajan RDP. El primero admite relatos sobre la propia cultura o relacionados con un área del currículum, mientras que el segundo se basa en las recomendaciones del CDS para ayudar a crear otros académicos o curriculares. En los dos casos se considera la investigación sobre el tema la base de una historia original, y como asunto clave, la postura subjetiva. 5 La propuesta de Lambert (2007) habla de siete elementos constitutivos esenciales: el punto de vista del autor-narrador que se manifiesta en el estilo de la voz que emplea (personal o impersonal, directo o indirecto); la(s) cuestión(es) dramática(s) o preguntas que se le plantean al público inicialmente y que poco


(b) seleccionar un tema o hecho, recordarlo o investigarlo, enfocarlo o delimitarlo, articular la historia en una estructura narrativa con sentido, y plasmar todo en un guion literario con un número limitado de palabras (entre 250 a 375, aunque varía según cada propuesta); (c) planificar la historia audiovisualmente, empleando un storyboard o guion gráfico o audiovisual; (d) buscar, seleccionar o crear imágenes o audios; (e) grabar y editar la voz; (f) editar el vídeo agregando efectos, transiciones y créditos; (g) generar el archivo final en un formato que pueda ser fácilmente reproducido o visualizado; (h) compartir lo hecho con los compañeros y, solo a veces, (i) publicarlo en Internet6. Algunas agregan indicaciones para respetar los derechos de propiedad intelectual de terceros, y muy pocas hacen advertencias sobre la necesidad de obtener consentimientos informados de los autores para participar, hacer o publicar su relato.

Excluyendo las de Ohler y Robin, esas metodologías, además, se orientan al trabajo social o cultural, y en algunos casos a la educación informal, con grupos limitados o pequeños de adultos que desean voluntariamente hacer un RDP. Por tanto, no han sido planteadas directamente para lograr finalidades u objetivos definidos en procesos de Educación Formal, ni parten de una situación en la que los alumnos no son adultos, ni suelen ni quieren compartir sus vivencias o cuestiones personales con profesores o compañeros de clase, entre otros motivos porque no están acostumbrados a que los discursos cotidianos y más íntimos tengan cabida en sus actividades escolares. Tal vez por ello no hacen tanto o ningún énfasis en la planificación de la intervención educativa, en hacer seguimiento para determinar los problemas y logros pedagógicos, o en evaluar el trayecto productivo y no solo el producto final7.

Si a lo anterior se suma que todas las propuestas mencionadas, sin excepción, responden a realidades tecnoeducativas foráneas, anglosajonas especialmente, y que mayoritariamente plantean sesiones de trabajo consecutivas e intensivas (talleres de pocos días seguidos, por lo que las tareas ni se dilatan en el tiempo, ni se solapan con responsabilidades o compromisos ajenos al proyecto), se puede afirmar que no son del todo compatibles con la Educación Formal, por lo menos en el contexto español, pues en ella es común que los temas y las actividades de aprendizaje se compartimenten en diferentes asignaturas que se estudian o abordan paralelamente, que los grupos sean de tamaño variable, y que, en ocasiones, la infraestructura técnica de los centros educativos o el nivel de alfabetización digital de los docentes no sea el adecuado para replicarlas.

Aun así, se han empleado en este tipo de educación en diversos países, incluso España8, aunque en opinión de Erstad y Silseth (2008), con escasa reflexión sobre su impacto en los

a poco se resuelven a lo largo del relato; el contenido emocional, son sentimientos que se hacen explícitos tanto en el argumento como en los componentes sonoros o visuales; la economía en los detalles de la historia; el ritmo o la velocidad del relato que se use para mantener la atención y el interés; la banda sonora, y cómo no, la voz propia y auténtica. Curiosamente dicho autor no habla de las imágenes, aspecto que agrega Robin (2008b) al advertir que son fundamentales para denotar y connotar significado. También este último autor añade otros dos elementos: el propósito general o justificación; y la gramática multimedial, el lenguaje que le corresponda a cada medio o recurso semiótico empleado (gráficos, textos, audios, etc.). 6 Es importante aclarar que aunque los relatos se hagan de forma individual, en todas las metodologías mencionadas los procedimientos creativos y de planificación, de producción, de exposición y de análisis de los resultados, se suelen hacer con ayuda del tutor y de los mismos compañeros, realizando diálogos, dinámicas y ejercicios grupales para definir, evocar y apropiarse de la historia, así como para revisar y mejorar los avances, o reflexionar sobre lo hecho y los productos logrados. Los del CSD, por ejemplo, emplean lo que denominan Story Circle o Círculo de la Historia para orientar los momentos creativos o de reflexión colectivos. 7 Existen rúbricas para evaluar RDP pero se centran, en su mayoría, en el producto, mas no en los procesos y logros no evidentes. Algunas son: la de Barrett (2005); la de la KQED The Digital Storytelling Initiative, usada en su concurso anual de RDP (http://dsi.kqed.org/index.php) y la de M. Ormiston (www.techteachers.com/digstory/gradclass/rubrics.htm). Ohler, en cambio, sugiere varias que consideran aspectos como: planificación del proyecto, desarrollo de los medios, investigación, comprensión del contenido, cumplimiento de requerimientos, originalidad, creatividad, implicación, gramática de los medios, resolución de problemas, colaboración con los compañeros, esfuerzo, ética, compromiso con la actividad, reflexión, entre otros (ver www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessment.cfm). Más rúbricas en http://rubistar.4teachers.org o en http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/rubrics.html 8 En España se identificaron pocos proyectos de uso o indagación de RDP anteriores al inicio de esta investigación, aislados y sin continuidad, y con poca publicación o registro del proceso seguido. Uno de ellos


procesos de enseñanza o de aprendizaje, y sobre los cambios sociales y culturales que producen o evidencian en las instituciones educativas. Sin embargo, algunas experiencias en educación infantil y primaria (como las de Ohler desarrollando competencias artísticas), en secundaria (como las de Erstad y Silseth en escuelas noruegas) y en educación superior (con Robin, desde la Universidad de Houston; el Digital Stories@UMBC de la University of Maryland; o los proyectos de investigación e innovación educativa de la Universitat de Barcelona, entre otros), han permitido profundizar en el estudio, y sugieren que los RDP y las prácticas inmersas en su creación pueden ser de utilidad pedagógica y didáctica en procesos formativos centrados en los estudiantes.

Ohler (2005 y 2008), p.ej., afirma que aumentan la motivación e inducen a los discentes a asistir a la escuela y a ser receptivos, debido a que los involucra y los hace consciente de las responsabilidades que tienen con su propio proceso educativo; se sienten cómodos y atraídos por los componentes digitales que agudizan su pensamiento crítico, la indagación y la experimentación, y dan voz a un número de alumnos que sin estrategias como los RDP no se escucharían y a otros cuyas habilidades académicas no encajan dentro de los moldes usuales escolares. Erstad y Silseth (2008) también aseveran que comprometen con prácticas de producción mucho más activas, con el trabajo en grupo, y con nuevas maneras de aprendizaje tomando ventaja de la alfabetización técnica digital que traen al aula desde sus experiencias externas; a la par, que estimulan una relación epistémica de la escuela basada en el aprendizaje y no en la enseñanza, y una relación más recíproca entre estudiantes y docentes.

Para Barrett (2004), incentivan dinámicas para promover el aprendizaje profundo, y facilitan la aplicación de las metodologías constructivistas y las basadas en el aprendizaje situado y por proyectos. Ohler (2005) añade que contribuyen a descubrir múltiples inteligencias (aquellas ignoradas en el currículum tradicional); mejoran las funciones cognitivas, porque requieren pericia en la síntesis y la evaluación, habilidades que ocupan el primer lugar en la taxonomía de Bloom; y despiertan habilidades y talentos que pueden permanecer dormidos en los discentes o desaprovecharse en la escuela (en arte, producción mediática y narrativa oral, entre otros). Robin (2008a) refuerza este último punto explicando que el trabajo creativo proporciona una base sólida para la multialfabetización: digital (capacidad para comunicarse con un número cada vez mayor de miembros de una comunidad, debatir cuestiones, recabar información, y buscar asistencia), global (leer, interpretar, responder, y contextualizar los mensajes desde una perspectiva global), tecnológica (utilizar TIC para mejorar el aprendizaje, la productividad y el rendimiento), visual y multimedial (entender, producir y comunicar con diversos códigos semióticos) e informativa o informacional (encontrar, evaluar y sintetizar la información).

Por su parte, Banaszewski (2002), en su indagación sobre uso de RDP en escuelas públicas estadounidenses, deduce que ayudan a fomentar prácticas en equipo de tipo cooperativo/colaborativo, facilitar la creación de redes de aprendizaje, promover la discusión en la sala de clase, y dar a conocer las realidades de los estudiantes a la comunidad académica. Y López, Azzato, Escofet, Martín y Rodríguez (2004) consideran que su uso educativo, permite descubrir diferencias generales de culturas distantes entre sí que pueden resultar reveladoras, generar nuevos conocimientos para el uso pedagógico de las TIC y promover la reflexión compartida, así como experimentar desde el interior diferentes culturas de investigación, lo que redunda en el crecimiento de los alumnos-autores como investigadores en desarrollo.

La carencia de estudios que verifiquen y complementen el conocimiento o la comprensión que se tiene de los RDP y de sus aportes cuando son empleados en Educación Formal en el contexto español, así como la necesidad de diseñar y perfeccionar, a partir de la práctica, una estrategia didáctica adaptada al ámbito educativo que interesa, que supere las limitaciones de las metodologías existentes y que facilite su aplicación en proyectos prácticos de aprendizaje centrados en los estudiantes, es pues lo que motivó esta investigación.

es el que impulsó el Grup de Recerca Ensenyament i Aprenentatge Virtual (GREAV) de la Universitat de Barcelona en 2004, antecedente del estudio que se presenta (ver Rodríguez Illera y Escofet, 2006).


IV. Enfoque y proceso investigativo Para abordar el estudio se combinaron dos métodos bajo una visión interpretativa y participativa. El primero, la Investigación basada en Diseño (IBD)9, para caracterizar y orientar el macroproceso de indagación, es decir, el modo de proceder, obtener, reflexionar y discutir los resultados y aplicarlos en el diseño y mejoramiento del producto (en este trabajo, la metodología didáctica). El segundo, el Estudio de Caso de tipo instrumental y múltiple10, para facilitar la comprensión particular de cada una de las experiencias (analizar cada una con profundidad y con los resultados alimentar el diseño y la intervención siguiente) y una más global o retrospectiva (mediante un análisis comparativo). Tras identificar y revisar antecedentes teóricos y prácticos, y comprender el contexto de la Educación Formal en el país, se pasó a la formulación de la investigación, estableciendo preguntas y objetivos iniciales, y planificando una cadena coherente y explícita de acción y razonamiento para orientar el análisis, como recomiendan Rinaudo y Donolo (2010). Esto incluyó la construcción preliminar de un sistema de temas, variables, categorías y subcategorías de interés, que se fue depurando y consolidando a medida que avanzaba el estudio, y que quedó finalmente conformado por estas temáticas11: (a) el proceso, pues era esencial recabar información sobre momentos, procedimientos, recursos técnicos o didácticos, ambientes, problemas encontrados, instrucciones y limitaciones no planificadas, entre otros aspectos, durante las diversas fases productivas: planificación, preproducción, producción, postproducción, exposición o presentación en la comunidad académica y evaluación (tanto la autoevaluación como la grupal con los compañeros y docentes participantes); (b) los relatos resultantes, comprendiendo tópicos como la clase o tipo de RDP, sus elementos, la estructura narrativa y dramática, y los recursos expresivos o de representación simbólica, porque caracterizarlos podía dar luces sobre los productos que era posible conseguir con los proyectos, lo que era necesario orientar con mayor profundidad y las limitaciones que podría tener la metodología; (c) los posibles aportes pedagógicos, para analizar la relación de lo hecho en todas las etapas y de las narraciones obtenidas, con las finalidades generales de la ESO, los objetivos del curso o del tipo de aula, las competencias básicas (generales o específicas), y otros factores como la motivación; y (d) el perfil de los participantes, reconociendo tanto indicadores demográficos (sexo, edad, idioma y país de origen o procedencia del autor), como académicos (tipo de aula y curso), así como los conocimientos y experiencias previos contando o produciendo relatos con o sin TIC, por ser variables que pueden influir en los puntos anteriores.

Luego se emprendió el ciclo iterativo de pruebas y ajustes del diseño y de la teoría en la práctica, que recomiendan para la IBD (Bereiter, 2002; Van den Akker et al, 2006, entre otros). Para ello se establecieron contactos con instituciones académicas, entre ellas algunas que

9 La IBD es participativa, intervencionista y recurrente; aplica los principios de la ingeniería a estudios sistemáticos de experiencias particulares que se producen en contextos naturales de aprendizaje (Barab, 2006), buscando tanto el desarrollo innovador de un producto (un artefacto educativo, una herramienta tecnológica o instruccional, una estructura de actividad, planes o programas de estudio o una metodología, entre otras posibilidades), sustentado en resultados y mejoras que se producen en varios ciclos de diseño, aplicación y análisis (Bereiter, 2002), como la comprensión de un fenómeno, mediante una indagación contextualizada y múltiples iteraciones que pueden llegar a generalizarse en otros cursos o entidades educativas (Barab y Squire, 2004). Así, se produce una transformación de una idea inicial (un prototipo), en un diseño sólido, con principios probados, legitimados y validados en la práctica y por la perspectiva de colaboración entre los investigadores y los miembros de la comunidad educativa que ejercen de diseñadores (The Design-Based Research Collective, 2003), y conocimiento útil los participantes y la comunidad de investigación o académica que participa o se interesa por los resultados (Van den Akker, Gravemeijer, McKenney y Nieveen, 2006). 10 Instrumental, porque se tenía la posibilidad de elegir los casos y/o dentro de ellos las subunidades de análisis por ser las que aportaran más datos relevantes; Múltiple, porque en el análisis final o retrospectivo se comparan unidades o subunidades coyunturales con condiciones o características similares. 11 En toda la investigación, tras el análisis de cada intervención, se ajustaban o reformulaban las preguntas y el sistema de temas, variables y categorías de análisis, si se consideraba necesario. Para esto se consideraban nuevas teorías, las condiciones de los contextos y las opiniones o actuaciones de los participantes. Esto es compatible con la IBD e, incluso, con las orientaciones de Stake (1998) para realizar un Estudio de Caso, pues él sugiere complementar los temas éticos, es decir, por los que el investigador, una comunidad científica más amplia, colegas o autores aportan o definen, con los temas émicos, que son los que establecen los actores o las personas estudiadas o que pertenecen al caso.


ofrecieran ESO, puesto que interesaba que en la investigación participaran estudiantes adolescentes, jóvenes y adultos. Así, el IES Esteve Terradas i Illa de Cornellà de Llobregat, se vinculó permitiendo realizar tres intervenciones iniciales durante el año académico 2009-2010: una con un grupo de aula ordinaria (caso N1), otra con acogida (N2) y otra más con aula abierta (N3). Tiempo después se realizarían otras experiencias en el mismo centro con aula abierta, en los años académicos 2010-2011 y 2011-2012, respectivamente (N4 y N5)12. La Tabla 1 presenta datos sobre los relatos obtenidos y la modalidad de trabajo.

Código*

Referencia Fecha de realización

Cantidad participantes

Relatos Individua-

les

Relatos hechos en

pareja

Total relatos

N1

Aula ordinaria (Primer curso de ESO) Año académico 2009-2010

Enero-marzo 2009 15 3 6 9

N2

Aula de acogida (ESO)

Año académico 2009-2010

Enero-marzo 2009 14 8 3 11

N3 Aula abierta (ESO) Año académico 2009-2010

Enero-marzo 2009 6 6 0 6


Noviembre 2010 9 0 9 9


Octubre 2011 9 8 0 8

Total 53 25 18 43

*(N = Casos con niños-adolescentes) Tabla 1: Casos o unidades de análisis, participantes y relatos obtenidos

La elección de los tres tipos de aulas, con la diversidad de características y necesidades del alumnado, respondió a una exigencia del instituto: desarrollar el proyecto no solo con aula ordinaria sino con las otras aulas, aduciendo la necesidad de garantizar a todos los discentes su derecho a la igualdad de oportunidades para participar en programas o actividades de innovación y, también, que de esta forma se podría contar con estudiantes-representantes de varios cursos (no solo de primero), pues en acogida participan también los de segundo a cuarto, y en aula abierta los de tercero, cuarto y, excepcionalmente, segundo. Esta condición se convirtió en una oportunidad para replantear las preguntas y los objetivos, pues dio pie a pensar que el diseño de la metodología necesariamente debía considerar la pluralidad y multiculturalidad de la ESO en España en general, y en Catalunya en particular13, y contribuir a

12 Los grupos eran mixtos, aunque la mayoría de los aprendices eran hombres (el 63%). La edad promedio era 15 años, siendo la de los de aula ordinaria la más baja, 13 años. Igualmente, había una marcada multiculturalidad, puesto que en general, el 45,28% de los participantes era de origen español, mientras que el 54,72%, era extranjero (especialmente de Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Marruecos y República Dominicana, y en menor cantidad de Argelia, Brasil, Cuba, Moldavia, Pakistán, Perú, Rumanía y Ucrania). Estas características se tuvieron en cuenta, posteriormente, en el análisis. 13 A primero de enero de 2011 residían en España 6,7 millones de personas nacidas fuera de sus fronteras, equivalente al 14,1% de la población total (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, www.ine.es). El 16,2% de los


disminuir el riesgo de exclusión de aquellos recién llegados o que manifiestan inadaptación o dificultades en sus aprendizajes.

Ahora bien, previamente, durante etapa de formulación, se diseñó un primer prototipo de la metodología con base en las propuestas preexistentes; este se puso en práctica en un caso inicial con jóvenes universitarios14, y se mejoró teniendo en cuenta los resultados de tal experiencia. Ese segundo fue el que se aplicó a los participantes de N1, N2 y N3, proponiéndoles realizar y compartir con sus compañeros un RDP que sería publicado en Internet, como parte de sus actividades escolares15.

Para ello la misma investigadora planificó la intervención educativa considerando los aspectos que se describen más adelante; en N1, N2 y N3 con apoyo del director de la investigación y de algunos asesores, y en N4 y N5, conjuntamente con la docente de aula abierta16. Más tarde orientó un taller de 20 horas aproximadamente (2 ó 3 por semana, para un total máximo de 10 semanas) por cada grupo, en horario escolar pero fuera del instituto17, con algunos monitores (uno o dos por aula, con la función de asistir a los estudiantes durante las actividades individuales o la recopilación de datos18) y con la presencia de las profesoras. Antes de comenzar explicó los propósitos y la dinámica del proyecto a los padres, y les solicitó su consentimiento informado, advirtiéndoles que la participación de sus hijos implicaba hacer visible y pública su voz e imagen.

Para recopilar información y datos importantes, se utilizaron antes, durante o después de los casos, varias técnicas: encuestas a alumnos, entrevistas semiestructuradas a ellos y a las docentes acompañantes, observación participante y análisis de documentos (guiones y vídeos). Para ello se diseñaron, probaron y aplicaron como instrumentos: formularios con preguntas cerradas y abiertas, guías de preguntas para entrevistas, notas de campo tanto descriptivas (de las reacciones, actuaciones, dificultades u opiniones de los autores) o como reflexivas (de las interpretaciones del investigador o del equipo de apoyo) y matrices de análisis de documentos. Asimismo, se usaron y revisaron medios que dejaban evidencia de lo sucedido (fotografías o grabaciones en vídeo durante algunas de las sesiones de trabajo).

El análisis se hizo, entonces, siguiendo las recomendaciones de Stake (1998), combinando la lógica inductiva (con base en las respuestas) y deductiva (en la teoría preexistente), primero analizando por separado los datos obtenidos en cada instrumento, y luego comparándolos, buscando aspectos o situaciones que resultaran comunes y que podían tener relación con los temas, variables, categorías o subcategorías predefinidos, o dar pie a nuevas consideraciones. Como potenciales subunidades de análisis se tomaron todos los discentes de esos primeros casos, con sus respectivas producciones (guiones y relatos). Posteriormente se fue acotando esa cantidad, aplicando diferentes criterios: unos relacionados con los productos, como la alta

habitantes de Catalunya era de origen extranjero (Direcció general per a la Inmigració, www.gencat.cat/bsf/immigracio). En el curso académico 2009-2010, de los adolescentes escolarizados en Catalunya, el 17,7% era de origen extranjero (Consell Comarcal del Baix Llobregat, www.elbaixllobregat.net). No ha sido posible hallar cifras sobre alumnos en aula abierta en cursos recientes. 14 Con estudiantes de licenciatura en Comunicación Audiovisual, adscrita a la Facultad de Formación del Profesorado de la UB. Los otros casos fueron con adultos: docentes de ESO y alumnos del máster oficial Enseñanza y Aprendizaje en Entornos Digitales (EAED), vinculado al doctorado en Educación y Sociedad de la Facultad de Pedagogía de la UB. 15 Se dio libertad sobre la temática de la historia, el tiempo de duración (aunque tratando de que no superar las 5 minutos) y la forma de trabajo (individual o en pareja). Incluso, se admitió realizar relatos ficticios, en caso de que se viera que el recordar una vivencia personal podía herir susceptibilidades. 16 En N4 y N5, la profesora de aula abierta no solo acompañó a los estudiantes al taller, como sucedió en los casos anteriores, sino que hizo las veces de cotutora, puesto que ella misma ya se había tenido la experiencia de crear un RDP en una de las intervenciones hechas con adultos. 17 Todos los talleres se ofrecieron en la sede del Citilab, centro para la innovación social y digital de Cornellà de Llobregat (http://citilab.eu/). El IES está ubicado cerca al centro y participa frecuentemente en los proyectos educativos y de formación que se ofrecen allí, con lo cual se facilitaba el desplazamiento de los estudiantes en horario de clase. Solo en N4 y N5 las sesiones se realizaron tanto en el Citilab como en el instituto, puesto que al ser pocos alumnos, se facilitaba el trabajo en el aula de informática disponible en él. 18 Algunos habían participado en el caso inicial con jóvenes universitarios, haciendo sus propios RDP.


producción audiovisual o implicación personal del autor, o bien la poca; otro que tenía que ver con la subunidades atípicas, puesto que interesaba conocer las razones para haber abandonado el proceso o para no haber hecho una historia real-personal (de esa forma se prestaba atención no solo a los logros, sino también, y de forma especial, a las a las deficiencias detectadas, para solucionarlas con los diseños futuros, como lo recomienda la IBD), y uno último que consideraba la calidad de los datos obtenidos, la saturación, cuando estos empezaban a no ser relevantes ni a aportar nada nuevo.

El análisis de N1, N2 y N3 impactó en las preguntas de la investigación, en el sistema de temas, variables y categorías general y, a su vez, en el diseño del prototipo que se usó más adelante en N4, intervención en la que participaron nueve adolescentes y que permitió la obtención de igual número de relatos. Los resultados de ese caso, a su vez, lo hicieron sobre N5, donde de nueve alumnos solo acabaron ocho.

Finalizado el trabajo de campo, se pasó entonces al análisis retrospectivo o sumativo de la secuencia iterativa, comparando los resultados globales de los cinco casos19 y, luego, realizando una triangulación de fuentes de datos y una metodológica para hallar similitudes o discordancias importantes que deben tenerse en cuenta en el diseño final. Y tras eso, a la fase actual del proceso investigativo: la consolidación del diseño del producto.

Próximamente se aplicará a los resultados globales, varias estrategias de validación (entre ellas triangulación de posturas del investigador, metodológica y de métodos, de fuentes de datos y con los interesados) para hacer ajustes y depurar o mejorar las conclusiones y la propuesta metodológica esperada, y con ello, se pasará a la presentación del informe final de investigación.

V. Resultados: Producto y comprensiones Hasta el momento se ha avanzado en el diseño de la metodología didáctica, entendiéndola como sinónimo de estrategia didáctica, es decir, como “un conjunto de procedimientos que, apoyados en adecuadas técnicas de enseñanza, tienen por objeto alcanzar los objetivos previstos o, lo que es lo mismo, desarrollar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en las mejores condiciones. (…) Una ordenación de elementos personales, interpersonales, de contenido, contextuales y de organización que, al ponerlos en práctica, desencadenan la actividad en el grupo de alumnos, en cada uno y en el docente”, siguiendo a Salinas, Pérez y de Benito (2008). Por ello, la propuesta incluye y describe diversos elementos sugeridos por esos autores (objetivos, conocimientos básicos y actividades del profesor y del estudiante, organización del trabajo, espacio, materiales, infraestructura y tiempo de desarrollo), y los incorpora a una propuesta de aprendizaje por proyectos que está constituida por las siguientes macroetapas que se desarrollarían de forma consecutiva:

• La planificación de la intervención educativa, a cargo del maestro o tutor. Engloba: (a) la investigación previa del contexto educativo (tipo de aula o curso, finalidades y objetivos, competencias que se deben lograr en el curso, cultura escolar, etc.), del ámbito físico y tecnológico (disponibilidad de equipos, de programas, de espacio, etc.) y del perfil de los aprendices (conocimientos o experiencias anteriores, necesidades educativas, aspectos demográficos y sociográficos, entre otros). Además, (b) la formulación del plan de intervención (la definición y preparación de las actividades, la selección de ejemplos o modelos, los recursos de apoyo y los recursos técnicos20 que

19 De un total de 53 participantes, solo uno no terminó su relato, y de un total de 43 relatos, 42 fueron más o menos personales (es decir, sobre vivencias o asuntos de interés personal, y con distintos niveles de implicación personal) y solo uno de otro tipo, ficticio. Lo hecho por estos estudiantes y sus relatos en cada caso, sirvieron entonces, de base para este análisis. 20 En general, los equipos que se requieren para este tipo de proyectos son: un ordenador personal para cada alumno y para el tutor, cámaras digitales, escáner plano, grabadora de audio digital, audífonos, memorias USB, un disco duro externo (para realizar copias de respaldo), un proyector y una pantalla gigante, entre otros. En cuanto a programas, se requiere software para edición de audio, imágenes y vídeo, para realizar los guiones gráficos y para convertir formatos de video y de audio, entre otros. En los casos descritos se emplearon, concretamente: Audacity (para editar la voz) y Movie Maker (el vídeo), ambos para


más convengan al grupo por sus características, p.ej.), (c) la presentación de la intervención a miembros de la comunidad académica que directa o indirectamente se vean involucrados (padres, directivos, maestros, monitores u otros, excepto a los alumnos), y (d) la consecución de permisos y consentimientos informados.

• La planificación y el desarrollo del proyecto. Comprende un primer paso, a cargo del docente o tutor: (a) el acercamiento al proceso y a los relatos, para motivar, estimular la creatividad y familiarizarse con los tipos de RDP posibles, con el enfoque y las características, con elementos expresivos o de representación simbólica que pueden emplearse y con el procedimiento que se seguirá para pensar y hacer realidad las narraciones, y también para explicarles lo que se espera de los estudiantes durante las distintas fases. Y también, otras etapas posteriores, en las que el papel del estudiantes es fundamental: (b) la conceptualización y planificación de la narración, durante la cual se realizan algunos ejercicios grupales e individuales para incentivar la creatividad y la memoria, seleccionar temas preliminares, elegir entre ellos el tema a trabajar, enfocar y esbozar la historia definitiva y su estructura, plasmar y organizar las ideas en un guion literario (sin poner restricción de palabras, aunque sí tratando de ayudar a que al leerlo, quede aproximadamente de 2 a 3 minutos aproximadamente21) y proyectar audiovisualmente el producto con apoyo de un storyboard u otras herramientas; (c) la preproducción, para buscar y seleccionar objetos y elementos expresivos y digitalizar los materiales preexistentes, haciendo uso de recursos personales y de bancos de imágenes y sonidos que pueden ser usados legalmente en trabajos como este; (d) la producción de medios, para realizar nuevos materiales narrativos (fotos, vídeo, dibujos, etc.) y grabar la voz; y por último, (e) la posproducción, para lograr la familiarización con los programas y equipos, la edición de la voz y del video y la obtención del archivo final.

• La exposición y la evaluación interna del proyecto, a cargo de los alumnos participantes, con orientación y acompañamiento del profesor. Supone compartir y valorar la historia propia y la de los demás, haciendo una reflexión individual y grupal del trabajo realizado (relato final y proceso), los logros alcanzados y las dificultades enfrentadas.

• La valoración del proyecto por parte de los docentes (y de los monitores y/o el equipo de investigación, si los hay)22, con el ánimo de seguir perfeccionando la metodología empleada, para adaptarla a necesidades particulares o para corregir las deficiencias encontradas en cada intervención.

• La difusión externa del proyecto, haciendo actividades para dar a conocer los productos y la experiencia entre los miembros de la comunidad académica (con compañeros de otros cursos o aulas, profesores, padres y/u otros familiares)23 o en medios de comunicación como Internet24.

PCs, pues eran programas conocidos por los docentes y de uso frecuente en los institutos catalanes; Comic Life (para el guion audiovisual), Media Coder (para convertir formatos de video o audio) y un editor en línea de imágenes, Picnik (reemplazado por Creative Kit in Google+), para hacer composiciones o retocar las fotos, entre otros. Más información sobre recursos en: http://greav.ub.edu/relatosdigitales/ En el mismo sitio Web se encuentran ejemplos, tutoriales y otros recursos hechos y empleados durante la investigación. 21 Esto equivale, máximo, a dos cuartillas escritas a doble espacio en letra Arial o similar, 12 puntos. En los casos descritos (N1 a N5), p.ej., los guiones contaron con 386 palabras en promedio, y los relatos finales tenían una duración media de 2 minutos 44 segundos. 22 En esta investigación se consideró fundamental la opinión de las profesoras y los monitores para el análisis y al mejoramiento de la propuesta metodológica, pues es esencial en la IBD, como lo recomienda Bereiter (2002), la contribución de los profesionales de la educación y de personas cuyos intereses o conocimientos puedan producir cambios significativos en los contextos locales donde se realizan las prácticas educativas. 23 En las intervenciones se hicieron dos eventos con miembros de la comunidad académica: uno fue con N1, N2 y N3 en el lugar donde se hizo el taller, con los alumnos de los tres grupos participantes, en un acto preparado y presentado por ellos mismos, que contó también con la presencia de algunos padres, otros familiares y directivos del Instituto. El otro fue un acto en el auditorio de la escuela, en el que los estudiantes de aula abierta (N3, N4 y N5) que así lo quisieron, compartieron sus relatos y su experiencia con algunos docentes y discentes externos al proyecto.


Así mismo, la metodología incluye una serie de advertencias y consejos para que los docentes y los centros educativos puedan prever y planificar soluciones a los condicionantes o limitaciones que se encontraron durante esta investigación específica, y para que tengan en cuenta las características de los relatos identificadas.

Entre los primeros está el tamaño numeroso de los grupos (más de 10 ó 12 participantes, como ocurrió en aula ordinaria), pues este tipo de proyectos prácticos de aprendizaje exige un acompañamiento permanente de parte de los docentes, así que es posible que la demanda de ayuda por parte de los alumnos, supere la capacidad de atención o reacción del profesor. Es, entonces, importante planificar actividades donde sean los chicos más adelantados o aventajados (p.ej., con más destrezas técnicas) quienes den soporte a sus compañeros. También pensar en el desarrollo de los RDP como trabajo válido para diversas asignaturas (p.ej., de Educación artística plástica y visual, Sociales y/o Tecnologías), de tal forma que varios maestros puedan coordinarse para tutorizar los proyectos, y enriquezcan con sus conocimientos las ideas y producciones de los estudiantes. O incluso, buscar el apoyo de tutores o monitores externos, haciendo alianzas con entidades interesadas en innovaciones educativas o en promover el uso de TIC en educación, o recurriendo a pupilos de cursos pasados que ya hayan hecho su RDP.

Además, como se observó, en un mismo grupo puede suceder que el proyecto de cada alumno exija más o menos tiempo, por el grado de conocimientos o destrezas técnicas previas, o por el grado de desarrollo que ya se tenga de las competencias narrativas. Es probable pues que un chico sea más rápido o más lento que sus compañeros, así que esto requerirá la planificación de actividades adicionales para quienes estén adelantados, de tal forma que estos, al ver cumplidos sus compromisos, no realicen usos no planificados o controlados de los recursos técnicos durante la clase, o se disperse su atención (y la de los demás).

También los proyectos y el logro de los objetivos se pueden dificultar por factores culturales o sociales del alumno, como la religión o el grado de integración escolar, pues pueden limitar la exposición personal en el relato y su participación en actividades de difusión interna o externa25, por lo que hay que considerar estos aspectos desde la planificación de la intervención, y orientar a los aprendices para que logren el objetivo, sin vulnerarlos o invadir su privacidad.

La edición social (la que realizan directa o indirectamente familiares, amigos, conocidos o la comunidad) o escolar (la que ejercen los compañeros o incluso el docente) durante la planificación26; la costumbre de ser consumidores y no productores de medios; la concepción errónea pero popularizada entre los estudiantes adolescentes de que si algo es publicado en Internet, es porque se puede usar libremente, y la práctica generalizada de descargar archivos ajenos (fotos, p.ej.) para usarlos en los trabajos académicos, sin citar su fuente y sin sanciones escolares por esas actuaciones, pueden ser también restrictivos para la representación o implicación personal, o para la originalidad en la producción, así que si no se guía, incentiva y se negocia con los autores, pueden resultar historias poco auténticas, o hechas con todas sus imágenes extraídas de la Web.

Aunque la falta de originalidad en la parte visual también se puede explicar, en parte también, por el hecho de estar lejos del lugar de origen, pues esto, en algunos estudiantes, puede

24 En acuerdo con el IES y con permiso de los estudiantes y der los padres o tutores legales, la mayor parte de los relatos se publicó en el sitio Web del proyecto de la UB (http://greav.ub.edu/relatosdigitales), en la comunidad virtual Digital Storytelling (http://storytelling.greav.net/es/) y en otro sitio ofrecido por a UB y el Citilab (http://edulab.projectescitilab.eu/). No obstante, esa exposición externa, con sus efectos sobre los autores, no se consideró en la investigación. 25 Como ocurrió con una niña musulmana que se rehusó a aparecer en el vídeo (finalmente lo hizo solo con dibujos) y que luego pidió retirarlo de Internet, citando sus creencias religiosas, pese a que ella y sus padres habían dado su consentimiento inicial para publicarlo. 26 Tal y como sucedió en el aula ordinaria, pues algunos chicos bromearon sobre los relatos de algunos compañeros, haciendo que estos prefirieran no compartir sus producciones o las modificaran. O con algunas profesoras que modificaron algunos guiones literarios, sin negociarlo, agregando o eliminando frases o incluso alterando los argumentos por considerarlos violentos, mal escritos o pobres en su lenguaje, lo que hizo que unos autores se rehusaran en un momento dado a continuar con la producción o decidieran cambiarlo posteriormente sin consultarlo con la maestra.


obstaculizar la realización de historias sobre hechos pasados (varios de los extranjeros no tenían acceso a fotografías o vídeos familiares que pudieran ayudarles a ilustrar sus vivencias). Por eso, entonces, se deben planificar, desde el inicio, tácticas que faciliten la recordación y la producción visual si lo que se pide es que se cuenten eventos pasados, o se deben definir o proponer otras temáticas que faciliten contar algo sobre el presente.

Del mismo modo, hay que considerar que, con independencia del sexo y de otras condiciones, como la procedencia de los aprendices, parece que en la adolescencia la edad es un factor que determina el eje temporal de las historias, es decir, si el hecho real que se cuenta ocurrió en el pasado lejano o cercano, si está ocurriendo en el presente, o si se espera que suceda en el futuro, pues en estos casos, en los alumnos de menor edad fue más frecuente relatar algo sobre el presente, mientras que los que tenían más años, tenían más facilidad para recordar y narrar un hecho ya ocurrido. Saber esto puede contribuir a la planificación de la intervención, definiendo o sugiriendo temáticas que puedan resultar más atractivas u oportunas, como pueden ser las historias cuyo eje temporal sea el presente (aficiones, personajes o lugares significativos, o de comparaciones entre lugares como el de origen y el de residencia actual), o más fáciles de realizar visualmente, pues historias sobre hechos futuros (sueños) o sobre hechos pasados pero que no hayan sido registrados en imágenes, pueden encarnar un reto mayor.

De otro lado, también pueden ser limitantes: la poca cultura que se tiene de ejercitar la memoria en las personas, en muchas de las sociedades actuales, fruto esto de dejar dicha memoria a cargo de dispositivos externos (registros escritos, visuales o auditivos, por ejemplo); la falta de oportunidades para la expresión oral de historias personales en público y más en la escuela o institución educativa; y que en el contexto de la ESO, no se suelen escribir textos narrativos sino otros más de tipo descriptivo. Por ello la conceptualización y planificación del proyecto puede ser la etapa que represente más dificultad, y que pueda generar, incluso, angustia o desmotivación.

Relacionado con lo anterior está que los ejemplos que se muestran durante la familiarización con los RDP, influencian la elección del tipo de historia, el enfoque de la misma, el estilo comunicativo, la estructura de la narrativa y la forma de expresión audiovisual, especialmente en los autores de menor edad (como fueron los de aula ordinaria) o en grupos con poca cohesión (donde los estudiantes se conocen poco o comparten poco tiempo escolar juntos, como en aula de acogida, puesto que en este tipo de unidad, alumnos de diversos cursos se reúnen solo algunas horas a la semana para realizar actividades que les ayuden a integrarse y a aprender el catalán), pues en esos casos es muy posible que se trate de reproducir aquello que se ve como modelo. Eso indica la necesidad de elegir en la formulación del plan de intervención, relatos guía que sean distintos (tanto por su temática, como por sus elementos expresivos o semióticos) y que tengan una buena estructura narrativa. Así mismo, visualizarlos la misma cantidad de veces (no un modelo más que otros), para evitar que por efecto de la repetición se recuerde alguno en especial y se trate de imitar.

Y por último, mencionar que en centros educativos públicos, es muy posible que se trabaje con software libre y no con los que los alumnos puedan tener en sus ordenadores personales o en los que haya en sus casas; que no se cuente con ordenadores para todos y cada uno de los estudiantes; que los que haya no sean de uso exclusivo, sino que un mismo equipo esté disponible para muchos discentes; y que en las distintas sesiones se use un ordenador diferente. Incluso, que los equipos estén programados para que se borren diariamente los archivos de los usuarios. Es indispensable pues, familiarizar a los aprendices con los programas, en caso de que no lo estén, y enseñarles buenas prácticas tanto para la gestión y el manejo de los archivos, como para el respaldo o back-up de los avances, los materiales multimediales y los guiones, pues de no ser organizados, se puede perder lo hecho (lo cual desmotiva), o se pueden dejar con acceso público informaciones íntimas o privadas.

Ahora bien, con respecto a los aportes pedagógicos encontrados, se puede decir que entre los principales resultados está constatar que la creación de RDP puede contribuir al desarrollo de las competencias básicas (de tipo comunicativo, metodológico y personales) y específicas (centradas en convivir y habitar el mundo) que se esperan en la ESO, pues en todos los casos, el proyecto permitió ejercitar la expresión escrita (al pensar, realizar y corregir el guion previo a la realización), la oral (al ensayar, grabar, escuchar y regrabar, si era necesario, su propia voz) y la audiovisual; realizar actividades de búsqueda, selección, archivo y recuperación de materiales; aprender o poner en práctica conocimientos técnicos (relacionados con TIC);


generar un producto creativo, usando las TIC reflexiva y responsablemente; trabajar el autoconocimiento, la regulación de las emociones, la autoexigencia y la autonomía (sobre todo en aula abierta); y conocer a través de los relatos de sus compañeros, otras realidades, incluso otros territorios y otras formas de vida, gracias a la multiculturalidad de todos los grupos, y a que muchos de los compañeros de origen extranjero hablaron de sus familias y de sus países, y de las diferencias encontradas entre ellos y Catalunya.

Para los del aula de acogida, además, fue una oportunidad para familiarizarse y practicar el nuevo idioma, al haber traducido con su profesora los guiones, al haber ensayado varias veces la locución antes de grabarla y al escuchar los relatos hechos por sus mismos compañeros. Y en los tres casos con aula abierta, implicarse creativa, activa y persistentemente en la construcción del producto y en la culminación del proyecto, y elevar su autoestima al verse capaz de alcanzar los objetivos y las metas propuestas, aspectos que no son frecuentes en los tipos de alumnos que participan en estas unidades escolares.

La creación de RDP también logró que se alcanzara un uso básico de las herramientas y de los sistemas de representación y expresión digitales que podían crear con el ordenador o encontrar en Internet, en el caso de algunos participantes del aula de acogida que no habían trabajado con este tipo de TIC, o bien, que superaran ese uso básico y que desarrollaran y relacionaran habilidades de comunicación, de investigación e informáticas, para crear un mensaje integral, cuyas piezas se engranaran con sentido crítico, en pro del objetivo que perseguían con su propia historia (el mensaje que querían dejar).

Y finalmente, mencionar que en los cinco casos, pese a la reticencia inicial y comprensible de los alumnos por compartir una historia personal, más o menos íntima, como parte de una actividad escolar, la gran mayoría de ellos y todos sus docentes consideraron muy motivador el proyecto realizado; que hubo una alta implicación con el logro de los objetivos; y que tras la intervención, dos de las profesores desarrollaron con sus estudiantes otros relatos digitales, algunos de los adolescentes pidieron repetir la experiencia, y otros manifestaron estar haciendo productos similares aplicando lo que aprendieron.

VI. Conclusiones

Las experiencias descritas han contribuido a explorar la narración personal y multimedial como forma de comunicación y aprendizaje, permitiendo afirmar que los RDP pueden ser instrumentos potenciales para que los alumnos dejen de ser consumidores de contenidos, y pasen a ser a autores de los mismos, dejando el rol pasivo y ejerciendo uno activo, productivo y comunicativo.

Además, han ayudado a ahondar en la comprensión de los RDP como una forma de conocimiento y organización de la experiencia humana, útil para facilitar y motivar procesos de aprendizaje práctico centrados en los estudiantes, en un marco de Educación Formal en el contexto español, al potenciar el aprovechamiento en el aula tanto de las expresiones, vivencias y visiones de los sujetos que aprenden, como de las posibilidades multimedialidades y multimodalidades que ofrecen las TIC. De igual forma, al hacer que tanto profesores como aprendices, conozcan y asuman el sentido de lo que hacen, lo anclen y sitúen.

Finalmente, el estudio ha permitido obtener y usar información relevante para el diseño y perfeccionamiento de una metodología didáctica que permita a los docentes, orientar la planificación y el desarrollo de RDP como proyectos prácticos de aprendizaje, de tal forma que se potencien sus aportes pedagógicos en lo que se refiere a las diversas competencias inmersas en su creación.


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Aclaración y agradecimientos

El estudio presentado forma parte de un proyecto de investigación e innovación educativa más amplio centrado en el tema de los RDP en Educación, impulsado desde 2008 por el Grup de Recerca Ensenyament i Aprenentatge Virtual (GREAV) y el Observatori de l'Educació Digital (OED) de la Universitat de Barcelona, con la colaboración de la Fundació per a la Societat del Coneixement-Citilab de Cornellà de Llobregat, la Agrupació de Recerca en Ciències de l'Educació (ARCE), la Fundació Bosch i Gimpera y el IES SEP Esteve Terradas i Illa (ver http://greav.ub.edu/relatosdigitales/). Además, la autora de este artículo la está haciendo como Tesis Doctoral, inscrita en el Departament de Teoria i Història de l'Educació, Programa Doctorat Multimèdia Educatiu, de la misma universidad. Se agradece a las instituciones mencionadas, al profesor José Luis Rodríguez Illera (director del proyecto general y de la tesis) y a todos los docentes, alumnos, asesores, monitores y colaboradores que han participado, por sus aportes y contribuciones.


Londoño-Monroy, G. (2012) Aprendiendo en el aula: contando y hacienda relatos digitales personales. In: Digital Education Review, 22, 19-36. [Accessed: dd/mm/yyyy] http://greav.ub.edu/der

Copyright






What Educators Should Know about Teaching Digital Storytelling

Bernard R. Robin

[email protected]

University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Sara G. McNeil

[email protected]

University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present some of the most important lessons they have learned from teaching courses, conducting workshops, writing articles, and supervising graduate student research on the educational uses of digital storytelling. The guidelines described here are categorized within the ADDIE instructional design framework and are presented as starting points that educators should consider when they begin to integrate digital storytelling in their classrooms. The guidelines provide useful information that will help educators teach students all phases of the digital storytelling process, including analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation of digital storytelling projects that focus on educationally meaningful topics.

Keywords: Digital Storytelling; Instructional Design; ADDIE Framework; Educational Technology; Multimedia


I. Introduction

For the past several years, digital storytelling has been a major focus in the University of Houston’s College of Education. Faculty members and graduate students in the Laboratory for Innovative Technology in Education (LITE) teach courses, deliver workshops, conduct research, write articles and share presentations at conferences on the many different aspects of how digital storytelling can be used in educational settings (e.g., Dogan & Robin, 2008; Robin, 2008a; Robin, 2008b; Robin & Pierson, 2005; Robin, White & Abrahamson, 2009; Rudnicki, et. al, 2006). This work has included K-12 teachers and their students, undergraduate and graduate students at the university, and college faculty members from different content areas. We also maintain a comprehensive website (Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/) that reaches educators and students across the globe, as evidenced by a 2010 survey we conducted on the uses of digital storytelling around the world (Yuksel, Robin, & McNeil, 2011).

In addition, our doctoral students have conducted research and published articles and dissertations that have added to the body of knowledge and our conceptual understanding of how this technology tool can be used to enhance both the teaching and learning experience. Working so intensely on the many facets of digital storytelling has helped us achieve a great deal of practical expertise in how students can be successful at creating educationally meaningful digital stories to support their learning. In this article, we share some of the most important lessons we have learned about digital storytelling that we hope will benefit other educators who may wish to use this technology tool in their own teaching.

a. What has our research on digital storytelling shown?

Even though digital storytelling has been practiced for more than two decades, a limited amount of research has been conducted on this technology, especially as it has been used in educational settings. One of the first doctoral dissertation research studies at the University of Houston on digital storytelling was conducted by Bulent Dogan in 2007 (Dogan, 2007). In this study, three groups of public school teachers were tracked following their participation in an intensive digital storytelling workshop offered at the university. The three groups, composed of elementary, middle, and high school teachers, learned to create digital stories that they could use in their own classrooms. The teachers completed pre- and three-month-post-workshop surveys that were used to measure and evaluate whether or not they continued to use digital storytelling in their teaching, the impact of such use and, in cases where there was no use, the barriers that prevented this use. The teachers who used digital storytelling in their classrooms believed that their students increased their technical, research, presentation, organizational and writing skills. Teachers also reported that they thought that the digital storytelling process had positive effects on students’ motivation and engagement levels.

In 2009, Anne Rudnicki completed a doctoral dissertation (Rudnicki, 2009) focused on the dialogical aspects of the digital story development process used by graduate students in a digital storytelling course and a popular culture course that were taught as a linked pair at the University of Houston. In her research, Rudnicki explored whether discussions about storytelling evoked students' higher consciousness of the stories they tell and in turn helped them tell more meaningful digital stories. Some of the topics that emerged from the research included personal narrative versus academic writing, story circles as knowledge communities, aesthetic knowing, digital stories as narratives of inquiry, and teachers as curriculum makers. One of the most practical outcomes of this study was the development of a “Story Circle Guide,” which is still being used in our digital storytelling courses and workshops.

In her 2011 doctoral research study on digital storytelling, Anh Nguyen interviewed graduate students at the University of Houston about the challenges they faced when they created a comprehensive digital storytelling project on an educationally relevant topic for a course in which they were enrolled. Nguyen focused her investigation on understanding the experience of these digital storytellers and the choices they made in creating their stories. She found that students’ own learning and teaching practices were influenced by personalizing elements in the script, using computer-based digital storytelling software, reflecting on their own work and listening to feedback from others, and perhaps most important, sensing their own progress as they worked through all of the components of the digital storytelling process. These findings


provide useful implications for instruction and evaluation in teaching digital storytelling and suggest many opportunities for future research. Nguyen’s study focused on graduate students’ use of digital storytelling; similar research that explored digital storytelling use by college and/or high school students would also be valuable areas for research studies conducted by our current doctoral students. In addition, we are interested in research that more closely examines characteristics of technological skills and literacies in order to gain further insight into how individual learners can best take advantage of digital storytelling in educational settings.

Based on the results of these doctoral research studies, as well as lessons we have learned from teaching courses, conducting workshops and writing articles on the educational uses of digital storytelling, we have developed a set of guidelines that we feel educators should consider when they begin to integrate digital storytelling in their own classrooms and teach students to create digital stories on instructionally meaningful topics. We have structured these guidelines within the framework of the ADDIE model of instructional design.

b. The ADDIE Model

ADDIE, an acronym that stands for Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate, is a five-step process of instructional design that has been widely used in both education and industry since it was developed in the mid-1970s (Clark, 2011; Molenda, 2003). Morrison, Ross, and Kemp (2007) noted that ADDIE is not an original design model, but “a label that refers to a family of models that share common basic elements.” (p. 13). Each stage of the model provides a framework for collecting information necessary to complete related tasks (Cennamo & Kalk, 2005). Most systematic instructional design models use similar elements with variations in emphasis, depth, time, and representation (Gagne, Wager, Golas, & Keller, 2005).

Figure 1: The ADDIE Model

II. Analysis

In the analysis phase, the designer of the instruction identifies an instructional goal and analyzes the learners, the learning context, and the tasks that should be performed. The guidelines related to this ADDIE phase include analyzing aspects of the digital story related to the topic and script, as well as analyzing the potential audience for the story.

Guideline 1: Distinguish the characteristics of an educational digital story

With so many different types of media files available online, including digital photo essays, slideshows set to music, instructional videos, and an ever increasing number of animated projects created with Web 2.0 tools, we have found that many students are not able to clearly differentiate between what is and what is not a digital story. Almost all of the accepted


descriptions of digital storytelling define this technology as a way to combine different types of multimedia, including still images, text, video clips, audio narration and music to tell a short story, usually just a few minutes in length, on a particular topic or theme. Most educational digital stories are classified within a general list of categories that include personal accounts that tell stories about significant events, people and places in our lives; stories that examine or retell historical events; and stories that inform and instruct, often with some overlap between categories.

A comprehensive overview of the defining elements that make a digital story suitable in the classroom can be a useful topic for educators to discuss with their students, especially when working with students who are new to this type of technology. This discussion should include watching example digital stories together and exploring various questions that may arise from the viewing, including:

1. What is the topic of the story?

2. What is the main purpose of the story?

3. Who created it?

4. Were educators and/or students involved in the creation of the story?

5. Who is the intended audience?

6. Is the information presented in a clearly organized and logical manner?

7. Does the story contain narration that is easy to hear and understand?

8. If music and video clips are included, do they significantly improve the story?

9. What educational value, if any, does the digital story contain?

10. Are there distinct ways that the story could be improved?

These are just some of the items that educators and their students might consider when they embark on using digital storytelling in the classroom. These items may be used as a starting point to begin the digital storytelling process, and other questions should be added to this list as needed.

Guideline 2: Analyze the audience and develop the digital story script accordingly

In order to tell a story that will interest others, digital story creators should identify the audience as clearly and specifically as possible. As the script for the story is written, students should keep in mind who they are trying to reach. Creators should consider the age, gender, cultural background and other defining characteristics of the intended audience to make sure that the story is appropriate for those viewers. They should also think about what they want viewers to know from watching their story and what are some ways to get and keep the attention of these particular viewers. One strategy that we have found to be effective is to begin a digital story with by asking an opening question or presenting a compelling introduction to gain the attention of the audience. Our students are encouraged to consider the language they use in their stories to make sure that it will be understandable by viewers who may represent different age groups and come from different cultural backgrounds. We also stress that digital stories should focus on common themes that most viewers can identify with, such as personal reflection, historical narrative or the presentation of instructional content.

Guideline 3: Choose an interesting topic and add a personal connection

A major challenge for a digital story creator is how to write a script on a topic that will present information in a way that interests viewers unfamiliar with the topic. For example, if a student is writing a script about how computers have become an important part of everyday life, he or she might start by going to the Wikipedia website to get some background information about personal computers that they could use as the beginning of their story. Here is what they would find:


“A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. In contrast, the batch processing or time-sharing models allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer)

However, that text is mechanical and dispassionate and would certainly not fit most teachers’ description of an engaging script for a digital story. Instead, a student might try writing something more personal, such as this:

“When I wake up every morning, one of the first things I do is turn on my computer. I never have given this much thought, but recently I began wondering about what people at other times in history did when they first woke up each day. For many throughout history, there was no electricity, which meant there were no refrigerators. So, finding food to eat when you first woke up was probably a lot more challenging and necessary than turning on a computer.”

Students should be encouraged to select a topic that they feel passionate about, write a script that reflects that passion, and make the story as interesting as possible for their specific audience.

Digital story creators should add a personal viewpoint to the script so that it sounds more like a story they are telling from their own experience and less like passages from a textbook, a journal article, or a website. Digital stories that focus on significant life events, honor the memory of friends and loved ones, or recount the process of accomplishment, challenge and recovery gain an extra measure of emotional power and meaning that is felt by both the digital story creator and the viewer. A first person account may be used to highlight recollections from the past, provide an understanding about present day events and look forward to hope and aspirations that may occur in the future. In all of these cases, the personal connection to the story is what makes it compelling since they often revolve around universal themes and questions that we all share.

III. Design

In the design phase, designers of instruction make decisions about how information should be presented depending on the analysis performed in the first stage (Lohr, 2003). In this ADDIE phase, digital story creators complete the script and storyboard for the design of the story as well as collect and organize appropriate media such as images, audio and video.

Guideline 4: Recognize the importance of a detailed script

The script for an educational digital story is one of the most important components that students will create. We stress to our students and workshop participants that a good digital story must first be a good story and that no matter how much expertise a student has with technology, a poorly written story will not be improved by fancy transitions and other digital effects.

Scriptwriting can be difficult for many students and is certainly more taxing and less fun than some of the other tasks associated with creating a digital story, like searching for images or adding music. However, digital storytellers at all levels must understand that a well thought out, well written script is an absolute requirement for a good digital story and we require our students to write a draft version of the script for their story before they begin work on creating the digital story. The script should stand on its own merits, even if there are no visuals, narration, music, animations, or other components that will eventually add interest to the digital version.

Guideline 5: Create a detailed storyboard before work on the actual creation begins

Creating storyboards is an often overlooked part of the digital storytelling process, and for many students, storyboarding may seem like a tedious extra step in the development. However,


storyboarding can be a valuable component in the creative process by allowing the student to organize images and text in a blueprint fashion before the actual creation begins. It allows the student to visualize how the project will be put together and helps illustrate what portions of the story need more work because they can see the entire plan laid out in front of them. Storyboarding can also inspire new ideas as well as let the student rearrange existing resources before the final development begins, when changes may be harder to make. Storyboards provide a way to decide how the digital story script can be split up into individual pieces, either with or without placeholder images, so that the student can then get a clearer overview of their digital story plan. Storyboards may be created on a computer using programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, as well as specialized software such Celtx media pre-production software, available from: http://celtx.com/download.html

Storyboards may also be sketched by hand, allowing students who do not have access to a computer to complete this phase of development. The most important thing to remember is that creating a storyboard is an integral part of the pre-development process that should not be skipped.

Figure 2. A section of a storyboard created with the program, Celtx

Guideline 6: Organize all of the digital story materials

Our experience has taught us that a system for cataloguing all of the digital story materials will help students stay organized and easily able to locate all of the important files they will be using in their digital story project. We have seen far too many cases where students have stored files stored in numerous locations, only to become frustrated and discouraged when these files cannot be found. Here are a several important organizational strategies for beginning digital storytellers.

1. Before any other work is done on the computer, students should begin by creating a folder on the computer’s desktop where all of the files related to the digital story can be stored.

2. Inside this master folder, separate sub-folders should be created for the script, storyboard, text files, images, audio narration, music, video clips, and any other


materials that will be used. 3. If you a PC running the Windows operating system is being used, students should

verify that the file extensions of a file are viewable and if not, the settings on the computer should be adjusted to make sure that file extensions are displayed and not hidden.

4. After collecting and creating a large number images that could be used in their digital story, students are encouraged to go to the master image folder and make copies of just the images they select to go into the story and place them in a new folder, named something like “Photos-to-Use.” Since these selected images will often be inserted into a storyboard in the order in which they will be shown in the final digital story, we also suggest that these images be renamed with numbers that indicate the order in which they will be displayed in the story, such as image-01.jpg, image-02.jpg, etc. Then when they are inserted into the digital storytelling software program used to create the story, they will appear in the correct order. New images can always be added later, and these new images can be re-named something like image-01b.jpg, image-01c.jpg, image-01d.jpg and so forth, so that the correct sequence will be maintained.

Figure 3: Screen shot of the organization of a folder for a digital story

This type of organization will make locating files much easier and will help students eliminate the frustration and confusion they invariably feel when they cannot locate important pieces of their projects. Storing all files in a master folder also has the added of benefit of allowing the entire project to be easily copied to a thumb drive or external hard drive so that the student may work on the digital story project on a different computer.

Guideline 7: Use visually interesting images that support and strengthen the story

While they are writing the script, creators of digital stories should think about what kinds of images they will use to add meaning and interest. Students generally search for online images early in the design process, but they often select low quality, low-resolution images that appear first in their search query. A low-resolution image can often ruin a digital story because of the blurry quality and difficulty in viewing the details in an image. Often students do not realize that they can limit their search to high-resolution, large-size images in the search engine.


Many students who ask for advice about how to find high quality images for their stories do not appreciate that the choice of topic plays a large role in this process. For example, if a student chooses a topic about space exploration, there is an abundance of high quality images courtesy of NASA (http://www.nasa.gov). However, if a student chooses the history of World War I as the topic of their digital story, there is a significantly smaller selection of high quality photographs available on this subject.

Guideline 8: Be inventive in creating useful images

In addition to finding and downloading images from the web for use in their digital stories, digital story creators should also be encouraged to take their own pictures with a digital camera, scan images from books, newspapers or magazines, create charts and graphs with spreadsheet software, or even use graphic layouts created in Microsoft PowerPoint and saved as still images for use in a digital story.

In our work, we have found that many students are not aware that PowerPoint slides may be saved as separate image files instead of the more customary method that is used to save slides in the .PPT or .PPTX format for presentation as a slide show. Using PowerPoint’s File Save As option, this method may be used to save one or more slides in common digital image file format, such as .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, or .BMP. These image files may then easily be inserted into a digital story in the same manner as any other graphic.

Guideline 9: Use the highest quality images available

When searching for images on the web, digital story creators should always try to find large, high-resolution images. When using an image search engine, restrict the image search to only large, high-resolution images if possible. Be sure that the full size image is saved, and not just the thumbnail image.

When high-resolution images are not available and a lower quality image must be used, we recommend that panning and zooming for that image not be used. When a low quality image must be used, and several are available, students should consider creating a photo collage of these multiple images, and saving the group as a single high-resolution image. There are several easy to use software applications that can be used to create photo collages, including Picasa, Microsoft AutoCollage and even PowerPoint. We have a page on our 1Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website devoted to creating photo collages for digital stories.

Guideline 10: Address issues of copyright and fair use

Issues of ownership, copyright, permission, and educational fair use invariably come up in any discussion involving the use of digital content created by someone else. The use of copyrighted material is indeed a serious concern and one that many educators and policy makers study and discuss. Unfortunately, there is not yet a definitive answer to the question of what materials may or may not be freely used in educational projects. Some educators feel that if a picture or a video clip may be easily found and downloaded from the web, then it is permissible to use this material in an educational digital story. But other educators have a different opinion and do not want their students to use any materials that were created by someone else. As mentioned, we encourage our students to use digital cameras and camcorders to shoot their own pictures and video, create their own charts and graphs with software such as Microsoft Excel, search for copy-right-free music on the web rather than use commercial songs, and in general, think about how to create a digital story that uses as many copyright-free materials as possible.

But our overarching philosophy is that each educator needs to answer the question of copyright and educational fair use themselves, by carefully considering several factors, including the digital medium being used, the nature of that use, the policies in place at their school or institution, and, perhaps most importantly, their own comfort level in using and having students use material that can easily be downloaded from the web or re-mixed with commonly available computer hardware and software. There are many lengthy and often confusing copyright websites that aim to help educators make sense of copyright and educational fair use, and unfortunately, there are no simple or one-size-fits-all answers. For those who wish to explore this topic in more detail, we have included a variety of online resources on these important topics on the 1Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website.


IV. Develop

In the develop phase, the designer of the instruction creates the actual instructional product. In this ADDIE phase, digital story creators use digital story software such as Apple iMovie, Microsoft Photo Story 3, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Elements to create the story.

Guideline 11: Use blank slides for titles and fades

Some software applications that are commonly used to create digital stories, such as Microsoft Windows Live Movie Maker, Adobe Photoshop Elements and Apple iMovie provide the option of creating a blank title screen directly from within the program. However, older software applications, such as Microsoft’s Photo Story 3, do not provide this option for inserting a separate blank slide, so Photo Story 3 users need to create a blank slide outside of the program if it is to be added to the digital story.

One of the easiest ways to create a blank slide is to use Microsoft PowerPoint. Using PowerPoint’s Format Background command, we recommend using a solid fill white or black background, although a gradient or pattern fill may also be used. Then use the “save as” option under the File menu to save the slide as a graphic file such as a JPEG or PNG. Text can then be added as desired to create a title or even provide information in the digital story. In the example shown in Figure 4, a black slide was created in PowerPoint and exported as a JPG. The graphic was then imported into Photo Story 3, and white text was added.

Figure 4: Adding text screen in Microsoft Photo Story 3

In addition, blank slides can also serve as a good way to transition between different sections of a digital story. By setting the timing on a blank slide for just a second or two, a totally black slide can be used to change topics as one slide fades out to black and the next slide fades in from black. We also encourage the addition of a black slide at the end of the digital story. This ensures that the story not stop abruptly, but will slowly fade to black as the story ends. This adds a more elegant and finished look to the story and demonstrates that care was taken throughout the entire digital story development.

Guideline 12: Record high quality audio

Many students find it difficult make a high quality recording of themselves narrating the script of their digital story. This is not surprising since there are many factors involved in creating a high quality sound recording for use in their story. These factors include the specific audio recording software being used, the type of microphone, the quality of the computer’s sound card, the recording volume setting on the computer, how loud the student speaks, and the amount of background noise that can be heard during the recording process.


We recommend that digital story creators record their narration with USB microphones and Audacity, a free digital audio recording and editing software program available for Windows and Macintosh computers from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/. When using Audacity, students may choose to save the recorded audio files as either MP3 or WAV files. Since MP3 files will be approximately one-tenth the file size of WAV files, we strongly recommend that when students use Audacity, they export the audio clips as WAV files, which are uncompressed, instead of MP3 files, which are highly compressed. Saving audio files in an uncompressed format becomes even more important when the digital story is saved, because many software programs used to create the final version of the digital story will add its own compression to the file, reducing the audio quality even more.

Guideline 13: Be thoughtful about the use of additional multimedia elements

In addition to the customary process of creating digital stories with still images, some students may decide that they want to include external media elements such as multiple pieces of music, audio or video interviews of other people, and portions of video clips downloaded from the web, shot with a camcorder or created with screencasting software. There are many media clips available online, and students will need to think critically about which ones effectively support their story. A level of technological sophistication is often needed to locate these kinds of multimedia and then reuse or remix them to include in digital story projects. Digital stories that make use of these media resources can often help facilitate classroom learning and inquiry while engaging and motivating students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of important educational content. However, that benefit should be carefully weighed against the amount of time and effort that will be required to integrate these media elements into a digital story project. Even though it is now easier to work with these media clips than it has been in the past, students who choose to work with more varied types of files should be aware that they will face more challenges than those students who attempt to design and develop more simple digital stories that primarily make use of still images and audio narration.

Guideline 14: Use meaningful file names for images and other media

When downloading media from the web for use in a digital story, the file names should be re-written using descriptive information without any spaces in the file names. The original image may have a nonsense label that will be meaningless later, and may even cause problems when inserted into some software applications. In the new file name, hyphens and underscores should be used instead of spaces. For example, the following image of the rings of Saturn was downloaded from the NASA website with this actual file name: 216200main_pia10246‑516.jpg

Figure 5. An image found online with an unintuitive file name

Renaming this file so that it more accurately describes what the picture shows, such as Saturn-rings.jpg, would be a much better choice.

Guideline 15: Edit a copy of the file, rather than the original file

When working with audio and video clips, students should be instructed to make a copy of the original file before they do any editing, and conduct the editing using this copy. That way, no


matter what changes are made during the editing, the original file will still be available and can be opened again should anything go wrong during the editing process. Students who edit original audio or video files often change their mind after the editing is done and want the original file back.

Guideline 16: Save files early and often–and in more than one location

As students work on their digital stories, they should save multiple versions as well as both project file and the completed story files. We encourage students to save the project file and keep a copy in a safe place. In almost every digital storytelling workshop, there is at least one participant who forgets to do this and then loses all of their work. So a guiding principle for digital storytellers is to save the project file often, especially after making significant changes to the story. We encourage students to save the project file with a new version number in the file name every so often, as major new pieces of the story are added.

When saving a digital story file, students should also try to use descriptive names and again, no spaces. For example, the file name, Martin-Solution-to-Pollution-2012.wp3, includes the name of the storyteller plus the topic and year that the story was produced. When the final output file is saved, we recommend that the project file be saved one more time first and then the final output file be saved in a separate folder where just the final version of the completed story will go. Separating the locations where the project file and final output files are stored can often prevent the two files from being mixed up or even accidentally deleted. As another layer of protection, we also suggest that students save copies of their project files and final output files on a thumb drive, external hard drive or external website such as Dropbox, www.dropbox.com/.

Guideline 17: Save the final version of the digital story in different formats

In today’s multimedia universe, a digital story can be saved in a number of different file formats. Students should save the final version in more than one format, such as WMV, MOV, and MP4, so that they have the most flexibility when they are ready to share the story with the world. This way at least one version of the final digital story may be included on a website, posted to a blog, inserted into a PowerPoint presentation, or easily added to other programs and applications.

V. Implement

In the implement phase, the designer of the instruction plans for the implementation of the product in the actual learning context. In this ADDIE phase, digital story creators plan how to use the story and may use programs such as Microsoft Word to create additional resources including lesson plans, handouts, and other learning supports.

Guideline 18: Develop educational materials to supplement the digital story

We encourage students in our courses and participants in our workshops to think about a digital story not as a single educational resource that others will view once or twice, but as a key component in a set of educational resources that can be used by people who view the story and then want to learn more about the topic. In some cases, these might include customary educational materials such as classroom activity sheets, a glossary of terms, and so on. In other cases, the resources may be a collection of PDF files, journal articles, and links to external websites, blogs or podcasts. The important concept to remember is that educational digital stories can be an excellent way to motivate viewers to seek new information and more in-depth instructional content. Since the digital story may be just the first of many other resources that viewers will encounter in order to add depth, complexity, and richness to the learning experience, students are encouraged to locate suitable support materials as well as develop their own as part of a set of educational resources.


VI. Evaluate

In the evaluate phase, the designer of the instruction assesses whether the product was successful in achieving the desired learning goal. In this ADDIE phase, digital story creators use a variety of measures to determine if the learners achieved the goal for the digital story project and revise the story and supplemental materials based on this input. Evaluation is also an important part of all of the four previous phases since revision is also built into each stage.

Guideline 19: Learn to provide useful and supportive feedback to others’ scripts in the design phase and drafts in the develop phase

There are many opportunities for students to be involved in evaluation of their story as well as the stories of their peers throughout the entire process, from analysis through development.

Joe Lambert (2010) at the Center for Digital Storytelling, and many others who work with digital storytelling, endorse the use of Story Circles, where small groups of digital storytellers share aloud the rough drafts of their scripts in order to get peer feedback about their initial efforts at writing down their ideas. Students who participate in story circles should remember that they are serving a valuable service to their fellow students when they ask questions about the scripts and provide feedback that includes suggestions for how the script might be improved. A potential problem often occurs since most students want to be nice and not cause any problems by suggesting that a script has problems. But realistically, how helpful is feedback like this example below?

"I really liked your script and think you did a great job." Or, "You have selected a very interesting topic and I can't wait to see how your story turns out.”

The truth is that this kind of feedback does not really help the student who wants to improve their script. It would be much more useful for a student to receive feedback like the comments in these examples:

"I think your script is well written, but I did not understand the second sentence where you discussed [your topic]. Perhaps if you provided a definition of the term you used, viewers would have a better idea of the point you are trying to make.”

"Maybe it's because I'm a former high school language teacher, but I found it distracting that you went back in forth from past tense to present tense in your writing. I think it would be better for you to choose one tense or the other, and stick to that. Using both tenses mixed together does not work for me, and I suspect that others may find this distracting also."

“I like the topic you selected but your script sounds a little too personal. I know that we were told that we should add our own opinions to our scripts, but when I read your story, I felt like I was eavesdropping and learning too many details about your private life. I think it would be better for you to try to think more globally about your topic and write the script in a way that will connect with the viewer, without making the story just about yourself. Also, perhaps you could add something humorous at the end. Laughter, especially when we direct it at ourselves, can be a good way to put people at ease when they deal with serious topics such as this.”

These example comments demonstrate how students can provide useful yet supportive feedback to others. Students need to remember that if they don't understand something that's in a script, they should politely ask the writer to explain it better. If they have a question or concern about the script, then it's almost certain that other viewers will too. Time spent on revising and improving the script is always well spent.

Like Story Circles used during the design process, Story Screenings allow students to share their digital story while it is still being developed. Stories can be shared in the same or different groups that were used in Story Circles. Peer questions should focus on the combination of the script with the media used – video, audio, background music, and images – and how these elements contribute to the goal and tone of the digital story. Students may even make small changes in the product as the screening is occurring; for example, they may decrease the background music or change the pan and zoom effect on an image, then replay the story from


that point.

Guideline 20: Involve students in evaluation throughout the entire process.

Rubrics are the most common form of assessment for digital stories. A rubric usually includes scales that provide descriptions of different levels of achievement or an understanding for a set of criteria of quality for a given type of performance such as an essay or presentation (Allen & Tanner, 2006). However, it is distinguished from ordinary scoring checklists by its more extensive definition and description of the criteria of quality that characterize each level of accomplishment. When a rubric is given to students prior to a project, it becomes an excellent way to convey expectations. A rubric can be used during the process as a peer evaluation tool. After the project, a rubric gives the teacher a consistent and specific tool to measure many different facets of the digital storytelling process from the script to the audio quality. Students with digital storytelling experience can also be involved in the rubric development and contribute to the categories as well as the criteria.

Many educators, such as Barrett (2006), Ohler (2008), and Teehan (2007-08), have developed rubrics that educators can use to assess digital stories created by students. These rubrics include categories related to the overall quality of the story such as “How well did the story work?” (Ohler, 2008), categories related to image quality such as “Did the images create an atmosphere or tone?” (Teehan, 2007-08) and categories related to audio quality such “Is the voice quality clear and consistently audible throughout the presentation?” (Barrett, 2006).

VII. Conclusion

In this article, we have examined many of the critical components faced by students and participants in our digital storytelling courses and workshops. Based on this work with large numbers of new digital story creators, we have provided a set of specific recommendations and guidelines based on the lessons we have learned. We feel that these recommendations provide useful guidance for educators who would like to begin teaching digital storytelling to their own students, either in formal classroom settings or more informal workshops. The guidelines are categorized within the ADDIE instructional design framework and are presented as starting points that educators should consider when they begin to integrate digital storytelling in their classrooms.

These lessons include a strong focus on preparation and organization before the physical creation process begins and stresses the importance of key components of the digital storytelling process, including selecting a meaningful topic, developing a well-crafted script, working with high quality media files and including students in an ongoing evaluation process. In actuality, our experience has taught us that every aspect of the digital storytelling process, from the initial design through the final development, are all important and each one has the potential to enhance or detract from the final digital storytelling project that a student creates. It is our hope that educators who undertake the task of teaching digital storytelling will benefit from our mistakes and our acquired knowledge in using this technology to improve their teaching and ultimately, improve their students’ learning.

The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling Website is online at: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/


References

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El valor de una historia digital en el contexto europeo de

aprendizaje integrado a través de lengua y contenido (CLIL)

María Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo

[email protected]

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

María Victoria Sotomayor Sáez

[email protected]

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

Resumen

Este artículo se inscribe en el marco de la investigación llevada a cabo desde 2009 en el proyecto European CLIL Resource Centre for Web 2.0 Education, uno de cuyos objetivos principales es la investigación y desarrollo de recursos digitales para la enseñanza integrada de contenidos y lengua (CLIL) según las directrices de la Unión Europea. Es un proyecto multilingüe y multicultural apoyado en las posibilidades que ofrece la web 2.0 en cuanto a interactividad, creación y conocimientos compartidos y conectividad, en el sentido más amplio del término. En este marco general, la investigación se ha dirigido a una etapa de educación primaria, la que corresponde a niños y niñas de 8 a 10 años, y el trabajo que aquí presentamos recoge una parte del mencionado proyecto y algunos de sus resultados iniciales, puesto que se encuentra todavía en fase de desarrollo. En esta fase inicial del pilotaje en los colegios, se presentó el cuento digital a un total de 12 profesoras de inglés en contexto CLIL que desarrollan su actividad docente en seis colegios públicos bilingües de la zona norte de la Comunidad de Madrid. Con el fin de compilar datos objetivos que probasen nuestra hipótesis inicial, estas profesoras completaron cuestionarios iniciales y finales para su posterior análisis. El resultado obtenido se tendrá en cuenta en el pilotaje ulterior que se extenderá a otros países europeos que participan en este proyecto de manera inminente. El aprendizaje simultáneo de los contenidos del currículum y una segunda o tercera lengua es una de las líneas prioritarias de la investigación educativa en el contexto europeo, y así lo recoge el proyecto que presentamos.

Palabras clave

Historia digital; Bilingüismo; CLIL; Ficción narrativa; Aprendizaje multicultural; Lenguas europeas.


The value of a digital story in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) European context

María Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo

[email protected]

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

María Victoria Sotomayor Sáez

[email protected]

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

Abstract

This article presents the research conducted within the framework of the funded project called European CLIL Resource Centre for Web 2.0 Education. The mission of E-CLIL is to increase children’s exposure to European languages and to improve the quality of teaching through the implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) within the European demand for acquiring a mother tongue plus two foreign languages. The project is currently building multilingual interactive resources for the use of CLIL teachers. More specifically, the present study investigates the value a digital story may bring to a Primary education context which promotes CLIL and ICT as methodological procedure and resources.

The central digital story, originally created for this project, entails three main objectives which involves exposing young learners to European languages, children literature and science content. Our main aim was to prove whether the universal narrative elements and structure present in this digital story may enhance 8 to 10 year-old students’ learning involvement and CLIL achievement. In an initial piloting phase of the study, the story was presented to a total of 12 experienced English CLIL teachers working in six different state bilingual schools in the region of Madrid. In order to gather objective data that may prove our hypotheses these teachers completed initial and final questionnaires which were then analysed. The outcome gathered has been used to extend the piloting to other European countries participating in the project. This larger study will provide information on cross-cultural similarities or differences regarding the results already obtained here. These initial findings point towards the richness a central digital storyline may add to a CLIL learning context at linguistic, content, literary, cognitive, social and cultural levels.

Keywords

Digital story; Bilingualism; CLIL; Fictional narrative; Multicultural learning; European languages.


I. Introducción

Este artículo se enmarca dentro del proyecto financiado por la Comisión Europea denominado European CLIL Resource Centre for Web 2.0 Education27. Uno de los objetivos principales de este proyecto se refiere a la investigación y desarrollo de recursos digitales para la enseñanza integrada de contenidos y lengua (CLIL) según las directrices de la Unión Europea. Es un proyecto multilingüe y multicultural apoyado en las posibilidades que ofrece la web 2.0 en cuanto a interactividad, creación y conocimientos compartidos y conectividad, en el sentido más amplio del término. En este marco general, la investigación se ha dirigido a una etapa de educación primaria, la que corresponde a niños y niñas de 8 a 10 años, y el trabajo que aquí presentamos se refiere a una parte del mencionado proyecto y algunos de sus resultados iniciales, puesto que se encuentra todavía en fase de desarrollo. En esta fase inicial del pilotaje, el cuento digital que describiremos a lo largo del artículo, se presentó a un total de 12 profesoras de inglés en contexto CLIL que desarrollan su actividad docente en seis colegios públicos bilingües de la zona norte de la Comunidad de Madrid. Con el fin de compilar datos objetivos que probasen nuestra hipótesis inicial, estas profesoras completaron cuestionarios iniciales y finales para su posterior análisis. El resultado obtenido se tendrá en cuenta en el pilotaje ulterior que se extenderá a otros países europeos que participan en este proyecto de manera inminente. El aprendizaje simultáneo de los contenidos del currículum y una segunda o tercera lengua es una de las líneas prioritarias de la investigación educativa en el contexto europeo, y así lo recoge el proyecto que presentamos.

II. Justificación del estudio

El núcleo a partir del cual se articula este proyecto y se generan materiales y recursos es un cuento digital. Esta elección se fundamenta en el papel que juega la ficción narrativa en la construcción de la personalidad, la ordenación de la experiencia y el conocimiento y desarrollo de habilidades sociales, todo ello sobradamente demostrado en numerosos estudios realizados desde la psicología, la antropología, la literatura, la sociología, la lingüística y la didáctica. Lo narrativo, lo literario y lo digital son los tres ejes de nuestra propuesta y recogen, a su vez, los objetivos generales del proyecto: lingüísticos, literarios, educativos, culturales y sociales.

a. La narración

Una de las actividades a la que el ser humano se ha dedicado con más entrega a lo largo de toda su historia es narrar y oír narraciones. Con el relato, considerado como la forma más antigua de conocimiento (Del Rey, 2007: 12), el ser humano se ha construido como individuo y como ser social. Ha volcado en narraciones sus experiencias y su visión del mundo, creando ficciones con las que imitar o reflejar la realidad vivida. Desde los más antiguos mitos, poemas épicos o relatos breves hasta las actuales series televisivas, sagas fantásticas y relatos virtuales que encandilan a jóvenes y adultos, la ficción narrativa está presente como una necesidad irrenunciable: el hombre necesita de ficciones para alimentar su vida.

La narración es una capacidad del ser humano que la psicología considera una forma de pensamiento (Bruner, 1986). La modalidad narrativa del pensamiento, junto a la lógico-científica, o analítica, son las dos formas de funcionamiento cognitivo con las que el individuo da sentido a la experiencia, de forma que no sólo es capaz de comprobar hipótesis o dar explicaciones lógicas, sino de crear mundos posibles, imaginarios, con los que construir su propio universo real. Desde esta premisa, la narración es vehículo idóneo y esencial del aprendizaje, ya que permite al individuo experimentar la realidad de modo indirecto en esos mundos imaginarios. Además, las narraciones condicionan también las conductas sociales de jóvenes y adultos, tal como han mostrado diversos estudios, y son un poderoso agente de socialización en la etapa infantil. En este punto, las conclusiones de la psicología convergen con las de la antropología, la lingüística y la teoría literaria. La construcción lingüística de narraciones que se convierten en ficciones tras un proceso de elaboración literaria y llegan a

27 (E-CLIL, 504671-LLP-1-2009-1-ES-COMENIUS-CMP, proyecto concedido a la Dra. María Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo)


adquirir valor simbólico en el imaginario colectivo, fue vehículo de aprendizaje para el hombre primitivo y lo es para niños y niñas de nuestro tiempo.

b. La narración literaria

Las investigaciones sobre lectura y educación literaria (procedentes de la psicología, la teoría literaria y la didáctica) demuestran que uno de los elementos más influyentes en la comprensión del texto, por encima incluso, de su propia composición o estructura, es la respuesta afectiva. Esta respuesta del lector puede proceder tanto de las emociones que suscita la trama como de la identificación con los personajes, la elaboración de juicios y valoraciones, la inmersión en el mundo imaginario o el placer estético que el texto proporciona. Es un aspecto altamente motivador para activar los procesos mentales de la construcción del sentido, sobre todo si consideramos que el principal resorte capaz de provocar esa respuesta es la forma de la narración: cómo comienza el relato, cómo están caracterizados los personajes, qué situaciones o episodios se han seleccionado para construir la trama (componentes de humor, sorpresa, misterio, miedo, sentimientos…), cómo habla el narrador, cómo se describen los lugares, objetos o personas, el juego lingüístico y tantos otros aspectos del lenguaje literario en los que radica la capacidad para crear ficciones a partir de la realidad. El poder de la narración no está sólo en un contenido capaz de informar o responder a preguntas, sino en la forma en que se cuenta.

El acceso a la literatura y a la ficción es un proceso gradual que comienza en los primeros años. Desde que a partir de las teorías estructuralistas se consolidó el concepto de competencia literaria (derivado y relacionado con el de competencia lingüística), las diferentes teorías literarias que se han sucedido en los últimos 50 años han tratado de explicar cómo se adquiere esta capacidad. La relevancia que en la última parte del siglo XX adquieren las teorías pragmáticas, sistémicas y vinculadas a la recepción, ha hecho que se generalice la idea de que el factor determinante en este aprendizaje es la experiencia literaria y lectora, o sea, la experiencia estética que se va integrando en el conjunto de experiencias vitales con las que el sujeto que nace se va haciendo persona.

La respuesta afectiva motivadora se logra con experiencias satisfactorias, gratificantes, es decir, con textos adecuados a la competencia del lector en cada momento. Es obvio que la del lector infantil es una competencia limitada y cambiante, puesto que se encuentra en pleno proceso de aprendizaje y maduración. La literatura infantil es, pues, la única que puede vehicular ese aprendizaje, y en nuestro proyecto tiene un papel fundamental, precisamente por el valor que le damos a la narración literaria como medio de aprendizaje en todas las áreas.

c. La narración literaria digital: la dimensión digital como factor favorecedor del aprendizaje de lenguas y contenido

Estudios previos indican que una buena selección de recursos y cuentos digitales en consonancia con el desarrollo cognitivo, lingüístico y emocional de los niños, puede incidir positivamente en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras ya que se crea un contexto motivador y lúdico que favorece la exposición al sonido y representación de la nueva lengua (Van Scoter, Ellis & Railsback, 2001; Wright & Shade, 1994). De hecho, los cuentos e historias se convierten en un elemento fundamental para el desarrollo de la percepción y comprensión oral tanto de la primera como de lengua extranjera (Dickinson, 2001; Elley, 1989; Isbell, 2002; Penno, Wilkinson & Moore, 2002; Raines & Isbell, 1994; Richards & Anderson, 2003; Zevenbergenn & Whitehurst, 2003). En los primeros momentos del aprendizaje de una lengua, los cuentos proporcionan un contexto a las primeras experiencias lingüísticas que las hacen significativas y memorables para el niño (Wasik & Bond, 2001; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; Wright, 2000). Se asocian con recuerdos, emociones y experiencias que reflejan además valores sociales y culturales presentes en el cuento. Desde el punto de vista lingüístico, encontramos en las historias formas lingüísticas, gramaticales, de vocabulario, pragmáticas dentro de un contexto bien estructurado que ayuda a la comprensión del mundo narrativo y permite exponer a los niños al sistema de la nueva lengua en un contexto natural de aprendizaje (Glazer & Burke, 1994; Jennings, 1991; Mallan, 1991). La información verbal se complementa con la información visual y sonora, lo que ayuda a que los niños puedan reconstruir la línea argumental del cuento


y por tanto, descifrar un mensaje significativo a su propia experiencia (Kellerman, 1992; Meyer, 1990; Mueller, 1980; Brett, 1995; Felix, 1995; Hoven, 1999).

Los avances tecnológicos y las aplicaciones multimedia favorecen, sin duda, el renovado interés por el valor del cuento en su formato digital en contextos escolares y de aprendizaje. Es este componente digital de un cuento lo que permite reflejar con mayor intensidad una imagen más real de la nueva lengua y de la nueva cultura en el aula ya que mediante canales de información diversos proyecta no solo rasgos lingüísticos sino también paralingüísticos como son el lenguaje visual, gestual, la prosodia y el ritmo de la nueva lengua lo que hace, todo ello, que el mensaje del cuento, el elemento comunicativo y literario, llegue mejor al niño (Fidelman, 1997; Gassin, 1992). De hecho, un relato digital resultará útil a la hora de desarrollar destrezas de percepción auditiva ya que tienden a ser visuales, interactivos y reiterativos.

A partir de los presupuestos anteriores, el aprendizaje que pretendemos impulsar con esta historia digital se orienta en una triple dimensión: lingüística, literaria y de contenidos. Tres aprendizajes simultáneos que se potencian y se apoyan recíprocamente en la historia de La pandilla de Draco, creada expresamente para este proyecto.

III. La historia digital La pandilla de Draco

a. Historia de una historia: el proceso creativo de La pandilla de Draco

La historia inicial de este grupo de niños se crea a partir de una serie de elementos que se consideran esenciales para lograr los objetivos propuestos:

• Tipo de historia: relato fantástico, entendiendo lo fantástico en el sentido que le dan Todorov, Cortázar, Calvino y otros maestros del género como una mezcla de elementos reales con elementos extraordinarios.

• Organización del relato: estructura básica de la narración, que comprende una localización espacio temporal de la situación inicial, el planteamiento del problema, su desarrollo y desenlace. A esta estructura elemental se debe añadir un desenlace abierto que dé lugar a continuaciones.

• Componentes argumentales: motivos, personajes y situaciones procedentes del imaginario popular universal, que sirvan de referencia para la comprensión y de apoyo para construir nuevos significados.

• Personajes: personaje colectivo y diverso en sus procedencias y rasgos de identidad.

• Procedimientos narrativos: adecuados a la competencia lingüística y literaria de los niños y niñas de 8 a 10 años y que faciliten la identificación del lector con personajes y situaciones, con el fin de motivar una respuesta positiva a la historia.

• Elementos interactivos, sonoros y visuales propios de una historia digital.

Con estas premisas se escribe un primer esbozo de historia que será el inicio de un laborioso proceso de propuestas, valoraciones, reescrituras y correcciones hasta llegar a la versión digital que aquí presentamos.

La planificación de la historia en su conjunto contempla un capítulo inicial, el más largo, donde se presenta a los personajes y se plantea la situación que va a dar pie a los capítulos siguientes: el reto de conseguir los libros mágicos que salvarán a la especie de Draco, el dragón de la sabiduría, amenazada por los troles. Los capítulos posteriores, más breves, se sitúan en escenarios distintos y significan cada uno de ellos una aventura que debe culminar en la consecución de los libros mágicos. Estos mundos fantásticos a donde viajan los amigos se corresponden con las diferentes áreas del currículum, y la superación de las pruebas va vinculada a la realización de las actividades propuestas.


La limitación temporal del proyecto y la dificultad inherente a una historia compleja, dependiente de una gran diversidad de elementos que deben integrarse armónicamente, hacen imposible culminarlo en su totalidad. Presentamos, como se ha dicho, la parte más importante de un proyecto en curso, que contiene todo lo necesario para mostrar el valor de una historia digital en la enseñanza integrada de lengua y contenidos, tal como explicamos a continuación.

b. La pandilla de Draco en el proceso de aprendizaje. Motivación y respuesta afectiva

En la historia digital que presentamos deben encontrarse los elementos motivadores capaces de generar una respuesta afectiva que induzca al aprendizaje. En ellos radica el valor de esta historia de niños y dragones para conseguir los objetivos propuestos, y la aplicación en las aulas demostrará el acierto o error de nuestros planteamientos.

i. Para despertar el interés por la historia:

1. Localización espacio temporal bien definida. La historia se desarrolla en un contexto familiar y cercano, reconocible desde el inicio por cualquier lector: una clase de Primaria. Texto e imágenes expresan claramente cómo es la clase y cómo se organiza en ella la actividad escolar. La cercanía de la experiencia es el primer elemento de motivación.

2. Relato fantástico. Lo real por sí mismo no es tan atractivo como lo fantástico. La fascinación de lo extraordinario cuando irrumpe en la realidad cotidiana - una de las formas en que se realiza lo fantástico (Held, 1981:50)- es innegable. Ya sea en esta forma o en la contraria, es decir, la proyección de un elemento común en un mundo extraordinario, lo cierto es que lo fantástico siempre se apoya en lo real para provocar un efecto de extrañeza, sorpresa o desconcierto con la inclusión de elementos extraordinarios y ahí radica su atractivo.

3. Estructura elemental que facilita la comprensión, con un desarrollo lineal y un desenlace abierto. Esta composición tiene por objeto hacer posible el desarrollo de expectativas y activar los mecanismos de anticipación y predicción. La inclusión de enigmas dentro del capítulo 1 (una sencilla actividad de matemáticas y una adivinanza) y en los capítulos siguientes, favorece estos procesos y refuerza el interés por la historia.

4. Inclusión de personajes y motivos de la narrativa tradicional: el dragón, los troles, la superación de pruebas, la magia. La narrativa tradicional es la que forma el imaginario colectivo que puede ser motor de aprendizaje en cuanto que proporciona un marco de referencias donde la historia adquiere sentido. Las expectativas que pueden generar estos elementos ayudan a comprender mejor la historia y a entrar en el juego de aprendizaje de contenidos conectado a ella

ii. Para favorecer la identificación con los personajes:

1. Personajes semejantes a los lectores, reconocibles y cercanos aun en su diversidad. Sus nombres remiten a culturas distintas, su imagen evoca procedencias diversas –que se especifican en la presentación- y, sin embargo, todos son niños y niñas reales que conviven de la manera más natural en un aula de Primaria. Tanto en la situación inicial como en el desarrollo de las aventuras posteriores su actuación es verosímil y creíble.

2. Personaje colectivo, acorde con la edad a la que se dirige el cuento, en la que el grupo tiene más importancia que la individualidad. Es un grupo formado por iguales, donde nadie destaca a no ser por sus aficiones o destrezas. Es el grupo quien toma las decisiones, se enfrenta a los obstáculos y vive las experiencias que le hacen progresar.


3. Diversidad: mosaico de caracteres individuales. La pertenencia a un grupo no debe significar pérdida de la identidad personal. En la presentación se caracteriza a cada uno de ellos a partir de su nombre, procedencia, aficiones y habilidades. Cada personaje tiene unos rasgos propios que lo diferencian dentro del grupo, que la imagen termina de concretar reforzando su identidad individual. Así se favorece la identificación de cada lector con aquel que más se aproxime a su propia personalidad.

Este es uno de los elementos más influyentes en la respuesta afectiva a la historia, y por eso se han introducido tipos como el miedoso, el apasionado por las ciencias o los ordenadores, el apasionado por los animales, el tímido y dialogante, el artista, etc., y se ha buscado el equilibrio entre niños y niñas.

4. Narración en primera persona. Es un procedimiento que tiene el efecto de acercar al lector el mundo de ficción creado. Se favorece así su inmersión en la historia y, con ello, la identificación con los personajes, ya sea con el grupo o con alguno de ellos en particular.

5. Organización de los personajes en esquemas de contraste y oposición: reales / fantásticos, protagonistas / antagonistas, presentes / aludidos, benefactores/agresores. El grupo de niños, protagonistas reales a los que vemos en acción constantemente, tienen enfrente a seres fantásticos de diferente naturaleza y función: un dragón que, aunque les pide ayuda, les advierte de los peligros, les traslada a los diferentes escenarios donde viven sus aventuras y, en suma, les protege, y, por otra parte, los troles: antagonistas agresores que están en la historia como una amenaza desconocida. No se sabe lo que pueden hacer ni dónde están, pero se alude a ellos constantemente como símbolo del peligro y la maldad. Estas dicotomías tienden a favorecer la identificación de los lectores con los niños que tienen que escapar de esa amenaza constante.

iii. Para estimular el placer estético:

1. Lenguaje simplificado. El lenguaje literario es un uso específico del lenguaje que potencia sus recursos intensificando significados, sugiriendo imágenes, provocando emociones, estimulando el pensamiento y el sentimiento. Teniendo en cuenta la competencia literaria media de estas edades y que la historia se dirige a la enseñanza de segundas y terceras lenguas, se ha utilizado un lenguaje de estructuras sintácticas sencillas (con predominio de oraciones simples y coordinadas) y léxico comprensible. La comprensión del texto es la prioridad, ya que sin ella desaparecen todas las demás posibilidades de motivación.

Sin embargo existen elementos que favorecen el placer estético, como la introducción de ciertos toques de humor, subrayados por los dibujos y animaciones, o las descripciones que favorecen la creación de imágenes en el lector: la aparición y presentación de Draco, los escenarios del segundo y tercer capítulo, etc.

2. Construcción temporal con una voz narradora que cuenta la historia tiempo después de que haya sucedido, articulando así dos planos temporales distintos. Es un procedimiento de una cierta complejidad que busca el progreso en el dominio del discurso literario narrativo.

iv. Para favorecer la inmersión en la historia digital

En el cuento objeto de esta investigación, los niños tienen que escuchar con atención, comprender instrucciones, resolver problemas o adivinanzas para que relato pueda proseguir. Ellos se convierten de esta forma en parte de la propia historia y contribuyen a la continuación del hilo narrativo. Este componente de interacción favorece el uso de estrategias de scaffolding o andamiaje en el aprendizaje, ya que los niños adoptan un papel activo que implica la decodificación y reconstrucción del argumento principal del cuento (Donato, 1994). El formato digital de una narración como la que hemos diseñando para este proyecto permite que el niño avance a su propio ritmo lo que favorece la atención a las características diversas e individuales


que encontramos en el aula. También el lenguaje escrito se beneficia de las características de poder leer un cuento animado que da vida a los personajes y acciones lo que ayuda a comprender el texto del cuento (Sticht 2003; Biemiller 2003). Los componentes de este formato son:

1. Las imágenes que aparecen en este cuento, creadas en formato gráfico basado en un algoritmo de comprensión sin pérdida para bitmaps conocido como PNG, son dibujos originales creados específicamente con el fin de ilustrar sus personajes y escenarios principales.

2. Las animaciones realizadas mediante formato de archivos de animación de gráficos vectoriales swf, representan las acciones que configuran la narración y ayudan a los niños a visualizar o representar mentalmente el mensaje oral y escrito del cuento mediante canales multimodales del lenguaje.

3. El acceso a la melodía de la nueva lengua es fundamental para una adquisición y aprendizaje natural de la misma. En este cuento hemos insistido en que el formato oral permitiera a los profesores y niños poder oír de forma autónoma cada página del cuento.

Esto permite que la profesora pueda decidir cuándo y cómo reproducir el sonido del cuento, adaptándolo a las características de su clase y las tareas o actividades relacionadas con la narración.

4. Los juegos: El carácter lúdico e interactivo que introduce el aprendizaje a través de juegos capta la atención del niño y favorece su concentración. Aumenta además su motivación por realizar la tarea planteada o resolver el problema o acertijo planteada como último fin. Para ello utiliza la lengua extranjera de modo instrumental a fin de poder continuar explorando el mundo de fantasía y realidad que le ofrece el cuento y los juegos asociados al mismo.

En conclusión, el cuento digital creado para este proyecto puede ser un elemento motivador para el aprendizaje porque contiene elementos capaces de provocar una respuesta afectiva que despierte el interés por conocer: conocer la lengua en que está escrita o contada (L2 y L3); comprender el discurso literario narrativo (L1, L2); y conocer temas concretos, en este caso de ciencias y conocimiento del medio natural, que forman parte del currículum escolar. El interés por saber qué pasa al final, por ayudar a los personajes a resolver sus problemas y compartir el interés que muestran por el tema en sí mismo, o la curiosidad por los lugares desconocidos o fantásticos en que se ubican las aventuras debe ser motor de aprendizaje para los lectores. Nuestro reto como investigadores es comprobar la respuesta en el aula, por parte de profesores y alumnos de todo el marco teórico aquí descrito.

IV. Metodología y diseño del estudio: La pandilla de Draco en el aula

Con el fin de conocer cómo se perciben en el contexto educativo todos los elementos que componen este cuento digital, se aplicó la siguiente metodología. Nuestro interés fundamental era conocer la valoración de profesores y alumnos de colegios bilingües de la Comunidad de Madrid sobre qué conceptos, conocimientos y actitudes concretas se pueden aprender a partir de esta historia. Partimos de la premisa de que será un aprendizaje lingüístico que integrará otros aspectos igualmente necesarios: literarios, de contenidos, cognitivos, multiculturales y sociales. En el presente artículo nos centramos en la respuesta de los profesores al cuento digital, como a continuación explicamos.

Para llevar a cabo este estudio, se diseñó un modelo de cuestionarios iniciales y finales que nos permitiera obtener información específica y objetiva sobre la implantación de La pandilla de Draco en un contexto de enseñanza de lengua extranjera mediante el enfoque CLIL. En este estudio preliminar participaron un total de 12 profesoras con una experiencia en la enseñanza de inglés como lengua extranjera que oscila entre los 3 y 15 años en la zona norte de la Comunidad de Madrid.


En el cuestionario inicial se recogían datos sobre el uso que estos profesores hacían de recursos digitales para la enseñanza de inglés a través de contenidos. Se incluían también preguntas sobre el uso de cuentos digitales en sus clases. Tras la presentación del cuento digital en los colegios participantes, se aplicó el cuestionario final a los profesores, con el fin de conocer su valoración del mismo. Para ello, este cuestionario final incluía cuatro grandes bloques que nos servirían para confirmar o refutar nuestras hipótesis iniciales respecto a los componentes fundamentales que se distinguen en La pandilla de Draco.

Estos apartados venían a coincidir con los grandes bloques de conocimiento que se definen en el Currículum Oficial para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras tanto del Ministerio de Educación como de la Consejería de Educación de la Comunidad de Madrid y el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza y evaluación (MCERL) Destaca el Currículum la importancia de la inmersión lingüística desde el inicio del aprendizaje de la nueva lengua, ya que la mayoría de las oportunidades de exposición lingüística y cultural se limitan al contexto escolar. Los contenidos que establece se clasifican en cuatro ejes específicos: el lenguaje oral; el lenguaje escrito; los elementos constitutivos del sistema lingüístico, su funcionamiento y relaciones; y la dimensión social y cultural de la lengua extranjera.

Nuestro propósito, por tanto, era recoger la opinión de las profesoras que participan en el estudio, sobre qué objetivos y contenidos se pueden alcanzar mediante la implementación en los colegios de los recursos digitales creados, el cuento La pandilla de Draco y los juegos digitales sobre contenidos específicos de ciencias. Los cuestionarios incluían 14 preguntas, de las cuales doce eran preguntas cerradas, con una escala de valoración de 1 a 5 y las dos últimas abiertas, lo que permitía al informante añadir otros aspectos que considerase de interés. Tras la anotación de los datos se aplicó un análisis estadístico descriptivo con el fin de obtener información sobre frecuencias, mediana, moda, porcentajes y desviación típica. Los resultados obtenidos en este pilotaje inicial se tendrán en cuenta en la revisión y, en su caso mejora, de los materiales antes de la divulgación de los mismos a nivel europeo en los distintos países que participan en el proyecto.

V. Resultados del estudio

Los resultados iniciales obtenidos sobre el estudio del análisis de los cuestionarios, indican que las expectativas iniciales y el uso de recursos digitales en el aula de primaria dentro del programa de bilingüismo de la CAM denotan cierto escepticismo en cuanto a su uso en el aula. Las profesoras argumentan que sí conocen que existen un gran número de recursos digitales pero que con frecuencia no se ajustan a sus necesidades ni objetivos. Introducir estos materiales en la planificación de sus clases requiere más tiempo y dedicación del que disponen hoy en día. Por tanto, la tendencia es a prescindir de estos recursos y limitarse en un alto porcentaje al uso del libro de texto como fuente de información. No obstante, reconocen que lo ideal sería que existiesen materiales de calidad que pudieran adaptar a su contexto educativo.

Tras la presentación a las profesoras del cuento digital de La pandilla de Draco, el análisis de sus respuestas en el cuestionario final muestran una valoración positiva hacia el uso de este recurso digital en el aula. Estos resultados globales se recogen en la Tabla 13 que incluimos en el Apéndice.

A continuación presentamos un desglose de resultados sobre cada una de las variables o preguntas incluidas en el cuestionario. Cabe destacar la homogeneidad en las respuestas obtenidas, mostrando el grupo de profesoras participantes en el estudio gran coincidencia en cuanto a su valoración de las premisas que se presentan a continuación:

1. Ayuda a captar el sentido global e identificar información específica en el texto oral, relacionado con actividades del aula y del entorno de los alumnos, con apoyo de elementos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos (imagen y sonido) presentes en la comunicación, Tabla 1.


Porcentaje

Válidos Bastante de acuerdo 33,3

Totalmente de acuerdo 66,7

Total 100,0

Tabla 1: Ayuda a la comprensión auditiva global y específica

2. Favorece que los alumnos puedan leer y captar el sentido global y algunas informaciones específicas de textos variados y sencillos adecuados a su competencia comunicativa sobre temas conocidos, contenidos de ciencias, etc., Tabla 2.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 2: Ayuda a la comprensión lectora global y específica

3. Ayuda a que los niños perciban y usen formas y estructuras propias de la lengua extranjera que contengan aspectos sonoros, de ritmo, acentuación y entonación dentro de diferentes contextos comunicativos de forma significativa, en actividades de lectura en voz alta y donde participen activamente, Tabla 3.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 3: Fomenta la riqueza del lenguaje de cara a la comprensión oral y escrita

4. Puede ayudar a valorar la lengua extranjera como instrumento de comunicación con otras personas y mostrar curiosidad e interés hacia personas de otros países, culturas y lenguas, Tabla 4.

Frecuencia Porcentaje Porcentaje válido

Porcentaje acumulado

Válidos Bastante de acuerdo 10 83,3 83,3 83,3

Totalmente de acuerdo 2 16,7 16,7 100,0

Total 12 100,0 100,0 100,0

Tabla 4: Ayuda a que los estudiantes se interesen por la lengua y la cultura


5. Favorece que los niños perciban los componentes básicos de una estructura narrativa: contexto, principales acciones, nudo, desenlace, personajes, etc. Tabla 5.

Porcentaje

Válidos De acuerdo 33,3

Bastante de acuerdo 50,0


Total 100,0

Tabla 5. Ayuda a identificar la estructura narrativa

6. Fomenta la exposición a riqueza del lenguaje tanto a nivel de comprensión oral como escrita, Tabla 6.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 6: Fomenta la riqueza del lenguaje de cara a la comprensión oral y escrita

Además, las profesoras consideran que con este cuento se puede motivar a los alumnos a seguir leyendo y completar los contenidos digitales sobre ciencias creados para el proyecto.

Por otra parte, las docentes que participaron en el estudio expresaron que estaban bastante de acuerdo con las siguientes afirmaciones respecto al cuento digital:

1. Facilita la participación en actividades de aula y en interacciones orales dirigidas sobre temas conocidos en situaciones de comunicación cotidianas, predecibles, simuladas o relacionadas con necesidades de comunicación inmediatas (hablar sobre habilidades y gustos, pedir permiso, etc. ) respetando las normas básicas del interacción social, Tabla 7.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 7: Ayuda a la participación y a la interacción oral

2. Puede servir como modelo para que los niños escriban frases y diversos textos cortos significativos en situaciones cotidianas y escolares, Tabla 8.

Porcentaje




Total 100,0

Tabla 8: Ayuda a la escritura de frases y textos cortos


3. Puede ayudar a desarrollar estrategias de aprender a aprender y favorecer el aprendizaje autónomo, Tabla 9.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 9: Ayuda a aprender a aprender y a adquirir autonomía

4. Fomenta el desarrollo de una idea de multiculturalidad, que se puede percibir mejor al ser cada niño de la pandilla de un país, Tabla 10.

Porcentaje



Total 100,0

Tabla 10: Ayuda a formar a los estudiantes en aspectos culturales

5. Puede facilitar que los niños lo utilicen como modelo para crear sus propias narraciones y fomentar la escritura creativa, Tabla 11

Porcentaje




Total 100,0

Tabla 11: Fomenta la escritura creativa

6. Las profesoras creen que el nivel lingüístico del cuento es apropiado para niños entre 8-10 años en su contexto educativo. No obstante, recomiendan que los niños puedan leer el cuento junto a la profesora para que les pueda ir aclarando mediante gestos y otros recursos el significado de algunas palabras más difíciles, Tabla 12.

Porcentaje

Válidos En desacuerdo 8,3

De acuerdo 50,0


Total 100,0

Tabla 12: Apropiado para niños de entre 8-10 años

Teniendo estos resultados en cuenta, quizá una revisión del cuento conlleve cierta simplificación del lenguaje y recursos literarios o la posibilidad de ofrecer una versión simplificada y una avanzada del texto en sí. De este modo, adaptamos el cuento a la diversidad que encontramos en las aulas.


El único aspecto sobre el que algunas profesoras mostraron cierta reserva durante la segunda fase del estudio, cuando se implemente el cuento en sus clases, se refiere a aspectos metodológicos.

Las profesoras mencionan los posibles problemas de organización dentro de la clase:

“Imagino que el cuento está diseñado para trabajarlo en gran grupo en el aula. En ese caso, como no todos pueden participar al mismo tiempo (leer, resolver los acertijos o contestar preguntas) es probable que algunos alumnos (especialmente los de niveles más bajos) tiendan a perder la atención o distraerse en algunos momentos en los que hay textos más largos o densos.”

Estas reflexiones ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de diseñar una guía del profesor clara y precisa que evite las dificultades que pudieran darse en clases que cuentan con una ratio de alumnos alta y que, además, las componen niños que muestran una gran diversidad en cuanto a sus niveles de atención, motivación, procesos de aprendizaje y resultados.

De las preguntas abiertas, las profesoras coinciden en el potencial del cuento en su desarrollo metodológico. Estiman que se pueden diseñar numerosas actividades en las que practicar la lengua y los contenidos del ciclo. Finalmente, consideran que pueden adaptarse con facilidad a los distintos niveles del aula. Responde, por tanto, a la diversidad del aula, y más específicamente al aula de lengua extranjera y CLIL

Queremos concluir la presentación de los resultados obtenidos citando de modo textual las palabras de una de las profesoras que participaron en esta investigación:

“Para los niños es muy motivador trabajar con materiales digitales, especialmente si se les incorporan dibujos coloridos con movimiento y sonidos, como los de este cuento. Sienten que están jugando o que se trata de un premio en vez de estar trabajando o leyendo un texto del libro como siempre.”

Para las investigadoras, y autoras de este artículo, supone una enorme recompensa recibir este feedback por parte de los expertos que trabajan en el aula y favorecen un aprendizaje significativo día a día.

VI. Conclusiones

Los resultados obtenidos en esta primara fase del estudio con profesoras que imparten enseñanza de lengua inglesa a través de contenidos, principalmente de ciencias naturales, vienen a demostrar el valor que tiene una historia digital para el aprendizaje en cuanto que aumenta la motivación al provocar una respuesta afectiva positiva, estimula el aprendizaje significativo y pone en marcha muchas capacidades del niño que aprende: no sólo las verbales, sino también capacidades intelectuales de razonamiento y simbolización, afectivas, sociales y creativas.

La valoración del cuento digital ha sido extraordinariamente positiva y resulta de enorme interés ahora conocer la opinión de los niños ante los recursos diseñados. Queremos conocer el grado de aceptación de los fundamentos de este cuento así como su influencia en el proceso de aprendizaje y de resultados lingüísticos, de contenido, literarios y culturales. Las profesoras consideran que el cuento da acceso de manera coherente y motivadora a los contenidos de ciencias en forma de juegos digitales diseñados para este proyecto. Estos contenidos versan sobre temas tales como la materia y sus propiedades, el sistema solar o la representación de la Tierra y vienen a coincidir en todos los países que forman parte del proyecto. Se ha señalado la necesidad de diseñar una guía para el profesor y actividades complementarias que les ayuden en la presentación y explotación de los recursos con los niños.

Por tanto, antes del inicio de la segunda fase del estudio será necesario completar esas nociones metodológicas que incidan en cómo introducir de manera adecuada recursos tecnológicos en la clase de primaria para que vaya más allá de la motivación inicial derivada de la sorpresa de su uso en clase.


Demostramos, de esta manera, el valor que un cuento digital puede tener en el contexto actual de enseñanza a través de la metodología CLIL. Creemos que crear un cuento partiendo de principios fundamentales literarios, de aprendizaje, cognitivos y lingüísticos introduciendo además nociones socioculturales son la clave para el éxito inicial obtenido. Una de las mayores dificultades encontradas en el proceso de creación de este cuento digital ha sido el establecer líneas de diálogo con los profesionales de la tecnología y hacerles entender la importancia de integrar animación, imagen, sonido y texto siguiendo las indicaciones de los expertos en aprendizaje, lenguas extranjeras y literatura infantil. Esperamos que la evaluación obtenida a las propuestas tecnológicas en las que hemos insistido desde el inicio de este proyecto sirva para reforzar esa cooperación necesaria guiada por los fundamentos de aprendizaje esbozados en este artículo.

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Agradecimientos

Agradecemos a las profesoras que han participado en este estudio el interés mostrado y el tiempo invertido en completar los cuestionarios y contestar nuestras preguntas. Sin su compromiso esta investigación no hubiese sido posible. Queremos agradecer a la Comisión Europea la concesión del proyecto dentro del cual se enmarca esta investigación (E-CLIL, 504671-LLP-1-2009-1-ES-COMENIUS-CMP).



Ramírez-Verdugo, M.D., and Sotomayor, M.V. (2012). El valor de una historia en el contexto europeo de aprendizaje integrado a través de lengua y contenido (CLIL) In: Digital Education Review, 22, 52-67. [Accessed: dd/mm/yyyy] http://greav.ub.edu/der Copyright






El uso educativo de los relatos digitales personales como herramienta para pensar el Yo (Self)

Miguel Herreros

[email protected]

Universidad de Barcelona, España

Resumen

A partir de la experiencia acumulada durante tres años de trabajo con relatos digitales en el aula, y apoyándose en la teoría narrativa clásica, en la narrativa fílmica, en los procesos memorísticos, en procesos cognitivos y en procesos psicológicos, se presenta el relato digital personal como una herramienta con la que el alumnado reflexiona sobre su identidad personal (Yo). Este proceso de auto-reflexión se articula en torno a dos momentos, a saber: el de construcción del relato por parte del alumno y el de recepción del mismo por parte de la clase. Se muestra cómo el proceso de creación del relato supone la estructuración del Yo en torno a una identidad narrativa y no esencialista, se señala que la recepción del relato digital ajeno supone una experiencia que permite al alumno reestructurar sus esquemas mentales y vivir emociones de manera vicaria.

Palabras clave

Relato digital personal; Yo; Identidad narrativa.


The educative use of personal digital storytelling as tool for thinking on my-Self

Miguel Herreros

[email protected]

Universidad de Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

From the experience accumulated during three years of working with digital storytelling in the classroom and relying on the classical narrative theory, in the filmic narrative, in the memory processes, in the cognitive processes and in the psychological processes, the personal digital storytelling is presented as a tool with which students reflect on their personal identity. This process of self-reflection is articulated around two moments, namely: the construction of the story by the student and the reception of it by the class. It is shown how the creation process involves the structuring of the self around a narrative identity and not a essential identity. And it is pointed out that the reception of the others digital storytelling suppose an experience that allows students to restructurate their mental schemata and to live emotions in a vicarious way.

Keywords

Personal Digital Storytelling; Self; Narrative identity.


I. A modo de introducción

a. Relato digital y educación

La presencia del relato se remonta a los albores de la humanidad (Barthes, 1990), toda forma cultural los ha utilizado para recoger y narrar hechos o sucesos reales o imaginarios. La revolución digital ha supuesto una explosión de los medios digitales, medios que también han sido usados para contar y compartir historias. En las dos últimas décadas, las narraciones digitales han proliferado (Lundby, 2008; Couldry, 2008; Hartley y McWilliams, 2009) hasta llegar a popularizarse, incluso han penetrado en las instituciones educativas. Su uso educativo puede ser diverso (Robin, 2006): pueden servir tanto para potenciar el aprendizaje de profesores como de alumnos; pueden utilizarse para instruir en diferentes materias: matemáticas, medicina, ciencias, lenguas, humanidades; pueden ser utilizados para trabajar historias personales a partir de la experiencia, para profundizar en alguna temática académica, para mejorar el aprendizaje de una lengua, para realizar una alfabetización digital, etc. Por último, siguiendo a Ohler (2006, 2008), Robin (2006), Rodríguez Illera & Londoño (2009), afirmamos que el uso educativo del relato digital promueve la alfabetización digital, el alfabetismo escrito, el alfabetismo oral, el pensamiento crítico, la creatividad, la imaginación, la integración de diferentes competencias y habilidades; dota de significado las experiencias personales y ayudan a crear identidad y, además, son un elemento muy motivador para el alumnado. Todo ello justifica por sí mismo que se reflexione desde el mundo educativo sobre el relato digital como herramienta de enseñanza-aprendizaje.

b. Relatos digitales personales

Según Lambert las narraciones digitales son un género de auto-representación que nos permite crear y contar historias personales a través pequeños relatos en formato digital –entre 250 y 375 palabras- compuestos de narración textual, visual y sonora (Lambert, 2009:19-27;44). Este tipo de narraciones suelen ser de carácter personal, autobiográfico, donde el narrador es el protagonista de la historia (Hertzberg y Lundby, 2008:99). Lambert (2009:24-27) nos presenta una tipología de relatos personales (ver tabla I), si bien nos dice que las categorías de relatos que presenta no ha de entenderse como algo cerrado, y que incluso pueden mezclase de muchas maneras. Esta clasificación también es recogida por Robin (2006).

Relatos sobre personas importantes

Historias de caracteres: historias que explican la especial relación que se establece con determinadas personas.

Historias “in memoriam”: en honor o recuerdo de alguien fallecido.

Relatos sobre sucesos importantes

Relatos de aventuras: lugares que hemos visitado (viajes), aventuras vividas

Relatos de realización: narran la consecución de metas, logros, lo que supone conseguirlo: graduarse, conseguir un reto, etc.

Relatos de lugares significativos Historias en torno a lugares significativos en nuestras vidas: mi casa, un parque, el bosque, la tienda, etc

Relatos sobre las actividades que se realizan

Historias en torno a las actividades profesiones, las aficiones, los compromisos sociales.

Otras relatos personales

Relatos de superación: cómo se han afrontado los obstáculos o retos de la vida.

Relatos de amor: relaciones afectivas, familiares, fraternales, etc.

Relatos de descubrimiento: historias que nos hacen reflexionar sobre lo aprendido y que muestran cómo se ha hecho, que descubren alguna verdad.

Tabla 1. Categorías de relatos personales según Lambert (2009)


c. El concepto de Yo o self

Los relatos digitales personales son una auto-representación narrada en lenguaje multimodal, en ellos se hace referencia a las experiencias, sentimientos, emociones, vivencias... de un sujeto, que es el autor del relato. Y en ese sentido, estos relatos constituyen una muestra del Yo de su autor.

¿Qué entendemos por Yo?. Este concepto ha sido abordado desde la biología, la psicología, las ciencias sociales, la filosofía, la religión, las ciencias jurídicas, etc., dando origen a una diversidad de significados:

Ser, ser humano, ser ahí, ens, ente, homo, hombre, persona, persona humana, personaje, ego, yo, self, mí, yo-mismo, sí-mismo, mí mismo, individuo, individuo humano, individuo biológico, sujeto, sujeto humano, sujeto psíquico, sujeto social... sin olvidar otros conceptos con connotaciones religiosas, como alma, espíritu, criatura, criatura humana, criatura divina. (Prat, 2007, p.103).

Nuestro objetivo no es precisar qué entendemos con cada uno de estos términos28, ni siquiera dar un significado preciso del concepto Yo, pero tampoco podemos hablar del concepto sin aclarar a qué nos referimos cuando hablamos del Yo.

Siguiendo a Erikson, consideramos el Yo como la experiencia del individuo de ser él mismo (Bégin, 2006, p.17). Entendemos la identidad personal como el espacio en el que el individuo se reconoce a sí mismo, y en ese sentido el Yo o Self representa la toma de conciencia de lo que el sujeto es o cree ser en un momento determinado.

d. El relato digital personal como construcción del Yo

Nuestro punto de partida es que la narración digital nos permite trabajar la identidad personal. Nos apoyamos en una serie de autores que han afirmado que esta identidad se construye a través de las historias que contamos sobre nosotros mismos (Ohler, 2008; Davis, 2004; Bruner, 2006; Lambert, 2009; Rodríguez Illera & Londoño, 2009; McAdams, 1993; McAdams, Josselson, Lieblich, 2006; Lundby, 2008).

Nuestra posición de partida es que logramos nuestra identidad personal y el concepto de nosotros mismos mediante el uso de la configuración narrativa, y damos unidad a nuestra existencia entendiéndola como la expresión de una historia singular que se despliega y se desarrolla. Estamos en medio de nuestra historias y no podemos estar seguros de cómo van a terminar; tenemos que revisar constantemente el argumento a medida que se añaden nuevos acontecimientos a nuestras vidas. El yo, por consiguiente, no es una cosa estática o una sustancia, sino una configuración de acontecimientos personales en una unidad histórica, que incluye no sólo lo que uno ha sido, sino también previsiones de lo que uno va a ser (Polkinghorne, 1988, p.150).

El relato digital es una herramienta con la que alumno puede pensar su propia identidad a partir de su propia experiencia, puede ser una herramienta para que el alumnado piense su Yo dentro del contexto real de un clase (“los otros”).

Sin duda, los relatos digitales articulan una cuestión central en la vida de las personas y que no suele tener ese lugar en las prácticas educativas tradicionales. Nos referimos a la construcción de la identidad personal a través de las historias que contamos sobre nosotros mismos y a cómo las comunicamos a los otros (Rodríguez Illera & Londoño, 2009, p.9).

El relato digital permite al alumno trabajar su identidad, durante el proceso de creación del mismo, éste piensa sobre sí mismo y sus experiencias (Ricoeur, 1996, p.147). “La vida solamente se comprende a través de las historias que narramos de ella” (Ricoeur, 2009, p.53). Pero, a su vez, el proceso de proyección del relato convierte a la clase en espectadora, el alumno pasa a ser también receptor del relato –el de sus compañeros-, y ese proceso de recepción también le lleva a pensar sobre sí mismo en relación con el relato percibido. El uso

28 En posteriores artículos entraremos en el estudio del término.


educativo del relato digital en esa doble dimensión de creación y de recepción, activa en el alumno elementos cognitivos y emotivos que promueven la reflexión sobre su Yo y le ayudan a pensarse y comprenderse como un proceso discursivo (un “yo estoy”) y no como un proceso esencial (un “yo soy”).

e. Relevancia educativa del relato digital como herramienta para trabajar el Yo

En las prácticas educativas tradicionales el tema de la identidad suele trabajarse desde las ciencias sociales (antropología, sociología, historia) o bien desde la psicología. En ambas áreas se suele reflexionar sobre una identidad genérica, un individuo que pertenece a una sociedad, a una cultura, a un tiempo concreto. No suele contemplarse el tema de la construcción de la identidad personal. No se promueven prácticas en las que el alumnado se piense a sí mismo desde su experiencia.

Desde 2009 venimos utilizando los relatos digitales para que los alumnos de bachillerato reflexionen sobre sus experiencias personales y les atribuyan significado; en definitiva, para que piensen sobre su identidad personal. Hemos observado que cuando los adolescentes hacen un relato personal, éste suele centrarse en la dimensión observable de su comportamiento, su conducta (acciones, hechos, situaciones). Suelen hacer pocas referencias a su dimensión íntima y subjetiva de su comportamiento: su experiencia psíquica (deseos, pasiones, motivaciones, ideas, pensamientos). A través del relato digital pretendemos que el alumno no sólo se piense en su dimensión conductual, sino que exprese en su dimensión íntima, es por ello que orientamos al alumno a que en su narración no se centre exclusivamente en sus acciones sino que hable de sus emociones, sentimientos e ideas. Pretendemos que el relato no sea únicamente descriptivo de acciones o conductas, sino que incorpore una dimensión reflexiva, que haga referencia a las experiencias psíquicas que acompañaban la acción, en el intento de que el alumno trabaje también la dimensión más íntima y emotiva de su Yo. Esta línea de trabajo potencia que el relato digital personal sea una herramienta para que el alumno explore, piense y muestre su Yo.

II. La construcción del Yo en la creación del relato digital

a. Dos elementos que configuran el relato digital: narrador y receptor

El relato digital personal es una herramienta que puede utilizarse para pensarse a sí mismo y para narrarse ante otros. En ambos procesos se está creando identidad.

El relato digital, así entendido, es un modelo comunicativo porque “presupone dos partes, un emisor y un receptor” (Chatman, 1990, p.29).

En los relatos digitales personales quien construye el relato (autor real), es quien le pone voz y nos cuenta (narrador) una historia personal. Ese relato incorpora una imagen de sí mismo (autor ideal) que proyecta ante los receptores. Pero también se tiene presente mentalmente a los receptores del relato (lectores ideales). Incluso, en ocasiones, se tiene presente otro público diferente al esperado (lectores reales) (Chatman, 1990, p.158-162). El hecho de compartir un relato en la red hace que éste pueda ser visionado por cualquiera.

Así, desde le primer momento en que el alumno decide relatar una historia, está pensando en la dimensión privada y pública de su Yo. Está gestionando qué contar, a quién y cómo. Está construyendo una imagen de sí mismo ante él y hacia los demás, está reflexionado sobre sí mismo y sobre cómo quiere mostrase. Pero también se está planteando ante quién va a hacer público su relato. La audiencia no sólo está presente en el relato en relación a lo que el narrador desea que ésta sepa, sino que lo que se dice y cómo se dice depende de lo que la audiencia sepa o no sepa, pues no se narrará nada que ya se dé por sabido (Lambert,2009, p.31). Todo ello sitúa al alumno ante el tema de la privacidad: ¿qué quiero contar de mi y quién quiero que lo vea?. A partir de ahí se planteará el cómo contarlo.

El relato se convierte así en una herramienta con la que alumno puede construir su propia identidad teniendo presente tanto su “yo” como a “los otros”. “La ipseidad del sí mismo implica la alteridad” (Ricoeur, 1996, p.XIV).


b. Elegir y contar una historia

Hay muchos momentos importantes en nuestra vida, pero algunos lo son más que otros. Lo primero que el alumno ha de pensar es qué momentos son importantes para él, ha de recordar algunos momentos significativos de su vida y elegir cuál quiere relatar y cómo. Lambert (2009, p.35) denomina a esos momentos “momento de cambio”. Una vez se haya decidido por uno, deberá recuperar los recuerdos que acompañan a ese momento.

Elegir qué historia quiere contar debería llevar al alumno a ser consciente de por qué ese momento fue importante para él. Esto es, debería llevarle a un proceso auto-reflexivo sobre su Yo. Cuando un alumno va a realizar un relato digital personal, se plantea una serie de interrogantes. En general esos interrogantes son: qué historia contaré, qué y qué no contaré de esa historia, cómo lo contaré, etc. Lambert (2009, p.25-26) nos sugiere una serie de interrogantes que ayudan a pensar los diferentes tipos de relatos personales. Partiendo de esos interrogantes señalamos los que servirían al propósito de que el alumno encontrara y realizara su relato digital personal, a saber: ¿qué sucedió (dónde, cómo)?, ¿qué relación guardas con el suceso?, ¿cómo te sentiste (sentimientos, emociones...)?, ¿hubo algún momento decisivo en el evento, qué te enseñó, qué aprendiste sobre ti mismo, cómo afectó a tu vida (relaciones, decisiones, visión del mundo, futuro...)?. Estos interrogantes ayudarán al alumno en el proceso de búsqueda y selección de la historia, pero también, y ello es más importante, le ayudarán a pensarla y con ello a pensarse en relación a la experiencia que relate. Enfrentarse a estos interrogantes supone para el alumno un proceso de auto-reflexión: tomar conciencia de algunos eventos de su pasado importantes para él, recordar los sucesos, creencias y sentimientos que le acompañaban en ese evento, pensar qué imagen va a proyectar de sí mismo.

El relato es un medio por el cual aprendemos de la experiencia al reflexionar sobre la experiencia, estableciendo lo que significa, transformándola en una forma simbólica de ser expresada y recordada. El proceso es esencialmente reflexivo, volviéndose sobre sí mismo: la experiencia se transforma en narración y la propia narración se convierte en una herramienta que da forma a la memoria y a la experiencia futura. (Davis, 2004)

A la vez este proceso auto-reflexivo mostrará al alumno la naturaleza narrativa de su Yo, la cual se opone a la concepción del Yo que suele tener el alumnado, a saber, esencialista. Lambert (2009, p.30) señala que el proceso de auto-reflexión ayuda a pasar de una conciencia de “yo soy” a una conciencia más profunda del “he estado..., me estoy volviendo..., soy... y seré”.

c. Los recuerdos autobiográficos y las emociones

El alumno, autor del relato, ha de recuperar una historia autobiográfica a partir de la que construirá su relato. Ahora vamos a centrarnos en dos aspectos sobre el funcionamiento de la memoria que conviene tener presentes en relación a los recuerdos autobiográficos, a saber: hay tres clases de recuerdos autobiográficos y los recuerdos no son una copia idéntica de lo sucedido.

Conway y Rubin (1993, p.104-105) postulan la existencia de tres clases de conocimiento biográfico, los cuales están dispuestos jerárquicamente: periodos de vida, acontecimientos generales y acontecimientos concretos. Los periodos de vida son largos segmentos de vida que se miden en años o décadas, por ejemplo ir a la universidad. Los acontecimientos generales son episodios compuestos y extensos que se miden en días, semanas o meses, por ejemplo, primer año de universidad. Y los acontecimientos concretos son episodios individuales que se miden en segundos, minutos u horas, por ejemplo, mi primera clase en la universidad.

Si hemos de contar historias autobiográficas tendremos que tener presentes estas tres clases de conocimiento. La búsqueda de esa historia lleva a buscar en los recuerdos, los cuales no permanecen intactos e idénticos a cuando se grabaron, sino que se han ido desvaneciendo y tornándose más lánguidos con el paso del tiempo. “A medida que pasa el tiempo, codificamos y almacenamos nuevas experiencias que interfieren en nuestra capacidad de recordar las anteriores” (Schater, 1999, p.115). En el proceso de guardar la información, el cerebro va fijando patrones generales cada vez más generales, y va olvidando los detalles concretos. A la hora de recuperar esa información, son fáciles de recordar los sucesos acaecidos hace poco tiempo; los episodios que se relatan con frecuencia, si bien no sus detalles, y los sucesos


ligados a emociones fuertes. Por contra, los episodios que no se relatan, suelen requerir de más esfuerzo e indicios para llegar a rememorarse (Schacter, 1999, p.119-120).

El recuerdo va ligado a las emociones. Todos los recuerdos tienen una carga emocional, se recuerda con más claridad lo que se asocia a estados de ánimo o eventos que se presentan como coherentes con las propias actitudes y valores, se recuerda más fácilmente lo que afecta emocionalmente, la afectividad positiva atrae hacia un objeto determinado y la negativa repele o disgusta, en ambos casos aportan un significado añadido para el recuerdo (Rodríguez & Baños, 2010, p.141). Schacter (2003, p.173-175) también señala que al recordar, los hechos se trastocan de forma interesada, se recuerda desde el presente, y los sentimientos que tenemos en el presente se vuelcan sobre los eventos del pasado: “los recuerdos de “cómo éramos”... resultan influidos por el “cómo somos”...” (Schacter, 2003, p.178).

A partir de lo explicado se entiende que los recuerdos que el alumno evoque al tratar de recordar la historia que ha decidido relatar, no serán fiel reflejo del pasado, podrán ser generales y poco concretos –en función del tiempo transcurrido-. Cuando el alumno intenta recordar, difícilmente recuerda acontecimientos concretos, y lo que suele rememorar con facilidad son acontecimientos generales; éstos conservan parte del sabor distintivo del pasado y son fácilmente accesibles porque se han visto reforzados con la repetición. (Schacter, 1999, p.133), “los acontecimientos generales suelen ser puntos de acceso a los recuerdos autobiográficos” (Schacter, 1999, p.132). Y, a la vez, esos recuerdos más que aportar los sentimientos y emociones asociados a ese evento, mostrarán sus sentimientos presentes hacia los hechos pasados.

El objetivo básico del uso de relatos digitales personales para pensar el Yo, es hacer que el alumno reflexione sobre sí mismo, profundizando en los recuerdos en busca de los detalles concretos y ahondando en las emociones que acompañaban a sus recuerdos. Para tratar de potenciar que esto se dé, se propone utilizar técnicas de estimulación de recuerdos. En ese sentido el alumno trabaja estos aspectos a través de un taller de evocación, en el que mientras cuenta su historia a un compañero, éste le interroga sobre algunos aspectos concretos del suceso, y sobre los sentimientos y las emociones que tenía. El taller hace que el alumno se enfrente a interrogantes que no se había planteado sobre su historia, lo cual, en muchas ocasiones, aporta nuevos elementos enriquecedores a la misma. Este taller es un medio de interpelarse sobre sí mismo a través de las cuestiones que le presenta “un otro”. Aporta una nueva perspectiva al proceso de auto-reflexión del Yo.

d. Escribir el storyline y producir el relato digital

Hasta este momento el alumno ha trabajado el recuerdo de la historia, una historia a la que se ha acercado desde dos perspectivas: desde la evocación reflexiva del recuerdo y desde la interpelación reflexiva por parte de un otro. Todo ello constituye la historia que nos quiere contar, que es la materia prima a partir de la que creará el guión literario (storyline) de su relato. Un guión que deberá tener una extensión delimitada (500 palabras) y respetará los elementos propios del relato digital, a saber:

• Selección y ordenación temporal de sucesos (Bal, 1990, p.21; Chatman; 1990, p.45 y p.56-57).

• Articulación de los sucesos a partir de dos principios lógico-narrativos: causalidad y contingencia (Chatman, 1990, p.48-51), pudiendo incorporar el suspense y/o la sorpresa (Chatman, 1990, p.62-63).

• Estructuración dramática de la trama: planteamiento, desarrollo y resolución (Seger, 1991, p.30).

Que el relato del alumno cumpla con los principios básicos antes señalados será decisivo para que resulte de interés para el espectador y capte su atención. A la vez, facilitará su comprensión, fomentará su recuerdo, e implicará emotivamente al espectador, al hacerlo participar cognitivamente con expectativas e incertidumbres sobre lo que se narre (Rodríguez & Baños, 2010, p.85-86; Bordwell, 1996, p.35). A este fin también contribuirán los efectos visuales y sonoros que el alumno incorpore en el proceso de producción de su relato digital.

En el momento en que el alumno ha de convertir en relato su historia, se dará cuenta que una cosa son los recuerdos que se tienen sobre los sucesos y acontecimientos que se quieren narrar


(historia concebida o historia), y que otra cosa son los hechos y sucesos que cuenta en el relato (historia narrada o discurso) y, aún más, que una tercera cosa diferente será la interpretación y representación que los oyentes se hagan de ese relato (historia percibida) (Todorov, 1990; Chatman, 1990).

[...] la obra literaria ofrece dos aspectos: es al mismo tiempo una historia y un discurso. Es historia en el sentido de que evoca una cierta realidad, acontecimientos que habrían sucedido, personajes que, desde ese punto de vista, se confunden con los de la vida real. [...]. Pero la obra es al mismo tiempo un discurso: existe un narrador que relata la historia y frente a él un lector que la recibe. A este nivel, no son los acontecimientos referidos los que cuentan, sino el modo en que el narrador nos los hace conocer (Todorov, 1990, p.157).

La distinción entre historia y relato, le debe hacer comprender al alumno que la “historia narrada” no tiene porqué contener todos los datos de la “historia concebida”, de hecho ese es uno de los errores frecuentes del alumnado. Pudiendo comprender que una misma historia puede ser narrada de modo diferente a través de diferentes medios: novela, film, cómic, cuento, relato, etc. Y comprender y cumplir las exigencias del relato digital le llevará a reflexionar sobre cómo narrar su historia, que en definitiva no es más que narrarse a sí mismo (su Yo) a través de un relato digital. La limitación del espacio lleva al alumno a centrarse en una única historia que contar. A menudo en sus primeros esbozos de la historia aparece más de una historia que relatar, o bien elementos que resultan superfluos para el relato en cuanto que no añaden nada y su supresión no supone ninguna pérdida de sentido del mismo. Esa exigencia de síntesis le lleva a concretar bien lo que quiere contar sobre sí mismo.

La imagen de sí mismo que el alumno dé a través de su relato también dependerá del proceso de producción del storyline, del storyboard y de montaje del mismo. El proceso de creación de un relato digital personal es la creación de un discurso a través del cual el alumno muestra una imagen pública de sí mismo, en un intento de dirigir la mirada de sus compañeros en un sentido. Pero el alumno sólo tiene a su alcance qué contar y cómo, aunque no cómo o qué interpretarán los que visionen su relato.

III. La construcción del Yo en la recepción del relato digital

En este apartado vamos a mostrar cómo aprendemos a través de las experiencias que los demás nos cuentan en sus relatos digitales personales. Y entre esos aprendizajes está el aprendernos a nosotros mismos. Señala Lambert (2009, p.36) que en general para aprender preferimos que nos cuenten historias a tener que hacerlo leyendo ensayos, lecciones o informes. Así pues, abandonamos la perspectiva del alumno como creador de relatos digitales personales para centrarnos en el alumno como receptor de los mismos. Nos interesa un hecho que el propio Lambert (2009, p.36) señala respecto a los relatos digitales, pero que no es exclusivo de éstos, a saber: que la audiencia construye sus propias interpretaciones del relato.

Al centrarnos en el espectador, en cuanto sujeto real, aparece su dimensión social-cultural. Todo espectador pertenece a un marco social y cultural definido por unos parámetros geográficos y temporales, y ese marco condiciona sus características respecto a los procesos psicológicos de procesamiento y gestión de la información y de las emociones. Pero no es esta la línea que nos interesa desarrollar aquí. Nos interesa detenernos en uno de los aspectos que ha estudiado la teoría general del cine, a saber: “la relación del espectador con el filme como experiencia individual, psicológica, estética, en una palabra subjetiva” (Aumont, Bergala, Marie, Vernet, 2010, p.227). Es decir, nos interesa centrarnos en el espectador como lector del relato fílmico, pues las relaciones que se establezcan entre el espectador y el film cinematográfico, nos servirán para pensar la relación entre el espectador del relato digital y el propio relato.

Nos acercaremos al proceso de recepción del relato por parte del espectador desde dos perspectivas: de la mano de Bordwell (1996), nos adentraremos en la comprensión del relato desde la perspectiva de la psicología constructivista, y de la mano de Aumont et al. (2010) exploraremos cómo el espectador participa a nivel psicológico y emocional del relato. En ambos casos se nos presenta al espectador como un agente activo en la recepción del relato, esto es, que mantiene una actividad psíquica constante durante su visualización.


a. La recepción del relato digital como aprendizaje cognitivo

Maturana (1990, p.30) dice que “los seres vivos en general, no podemos distinguir en la experiencia entre lo que llamamos ilusión y percepción como afirmaciones cognitivas de la realidad”. Ricoeur (2009, p.50) afirma algo parecido al señalar que “La lectura misma es una forma de vivir en el universo ficticio de la obra. En este sentido, podemos decir ahora que las historias se narran, pero también se viven en el mundo de lo imaginario”. En la medida que los procesos cognitivos de la vida real coinciden con los de la ficción, el visionado de un relato se convierte en una fuente de conocimiento vivencial, tanto más cuanto el relato tenga visos de verosimilitud. Podemos aventurar que eso es precisamente lo que pasa en la recepción de los relatos digitales personales. Y más, si se tiene presente que el relato es contado por un compañero de clase al que se conoce personalmente y se le concede crédito.

Desde la teoría constructivista el visionado de un relato se entiende como una actividad psíquica constante. La actividad psíquica que el espectador desarrolla, según Bordwell (1996, p.30-40), es: percibir y organizar los estímulos según sus patrones de significado; aplicar los prototipos existentes en su memoria a la información y revisar los procesos narrativos en busca de un sentido que confirme lo conocido o aporte nuevos conocimientos; y mediatizar el significado del relato en función de su propia biografía y contexto de vida. En el proceso de comprensión de los relatos, el espectador va más allá de la percepción motora, visual, sonora y estética, y de la decodificación del lenguaje audiovisual: tiene que procesar esa información y codificarla y para ello se sirve de los patrones preexistentes en su memoria, que pertenecen a su propia biografía. “Generalmente, el espectador llega a la película ya dispuesto, preparado para canalizar energías hacia la construcción de la historia y aplicar conjuntos de esquemas derivados del contexto y de experiencias previas” (Bordwell, 1996, p.34). Mediante los esquemas entendemos lo que ocurre en el mundo y lo que nos ocurre. Éstos se elaboran a partir de la experiencia personal y a través de la experiencia que el sujeto tiene del mundo y las relaciones que con él establece. Es a partir de los esquemas que el espectador reconoce en una película una historia de duelo o de superación, porque son prototipos de acciones y valores humanos (Bordwell, 1996, p.35).

Bordwell (1996) afirma que los espectadores occidentales interpretan los films de acuerdo con una cierta estructura o esquema maestro semejante al de los relatos, que nos permite clasificar los acontecimientos, relacionar las partes con el todo, comprender, recordar y resumir una narración.

Al intentar comprender un filme narrativo, el espectador intenta entender el ‘continuum’ fílmico como un conjunto de acontecimientos que ocurren en escenarios definidos y unificados por principios de temporalidad y causalidad. Entender la historia del filme es entender qué sucede y dónde, cuándo y por qué sucede (p.34).

Así, cuando un alumno visiona el relato de un compañero, toma como veraz lo que en él se cuenta, y almacena en su memoria parte de la información recibida. Pero lo que es más importante, interpreta la experiencia que aporta el relato en base a su propia memoria personal y su conocimiento del mundo. Y esa información que se procesa cognitivamente, se contrasta con los propios esquemas mentales, y éstos son modificados si la información aportada es significativamente diferente. El autor del relato digital comparte con el espectador sus experiencias, sus conocimientos y sus emociones, su visión del mundo y de sí mismo, le muestra cómo afrontó una situación determinada, qué aprendió, qué sintió, etc. El receptor del relato, al visionarlo puede llegar a experimentar las mismas o parecidas situaciones y emociones del narrador: el relato puede llevarle a recordar y revivir experiencias pasadas similares, puede situarlo ante nuevas experiencias y llevarlo a reflexionar sobre qué pensaría y/o sentiría en una situación similar, puede aportarle nuevos conocimientos que le hagan modificar sus esquemas mentales. Así, podemos afirmar que la recepción de un relato digital personal permite experimentar vidas ajenas: situaciones, pensamientos, creencias, emociones... A través del visionado del relato, el alumno receptor puede sentir y pensarse a sí mismo en experiencias análogas. El propio Lambert (2009, p.31) afirma que el relato digital hace posible que parte de los receptores cambien en su forma de pensar y sentir. Si esto es así, la recepción del relato se convierte una fuente vicaria de aprendizaje del Yo.

b. La recepción del relato digital como experiencia emocional

Baudry (1975), Metz (1979), Aumont et al., (2010), Morin (2001), Gubern y Prat (1979) plantean que el espectador de cine, en función de su capacidad perceptiva, su carácter, su


experiencia personal y su conocimiento del mundo pone en marcha procesos psicológicos que favorecen la implicación emotiva. Estos procesos son, sobre todo, la identificación y la proyección. La identificación lleva al espectador a asumir el personaje del relato como si fuera él, y a vivir sus emociones; el espectador hace suyos los atributos y características del personaje, situándose emotivamente en su lugar. Esa identificación puede ser positiva –el espectador se siente similar al personaje- o negativa –se siente en desacuerdo con el carácter y proceder del personaje-. La proyección hace que el espectador proyecte sus propios sentimientos sobre el personaje del relato, es una respuesta emotiva propia del suspense en las que el espectador posee información que el personaje desconoce, lo que le lleva a anticipar las situaciones o desenlaces a los que se enfrentará el personaje. Bettetini (1975) señala que la narración audiovisual interpela al espectador, lo incorpora a la historia del relato a través de su implicación psicológica activa y su respuesta emocional sobre las situaciones y los personajes. Lambert (2009) hace una afirmación similar al hablar de relatos digitales: afirma que la práctica de relato digital proporciona un espacio seguro para contar y escuchar historias “emocionalmente honestas”, historias que nos invitan a entrar en el corazón de narrador, cargadas de un contenido emocional que pueden sorprender al propio narrador y al oyente.

El alumno, al convertirse en espectador de un relato se implica emotivamente en él, suele establecer un proceso de identificación con el protagonista, que le lleva a vivir y sentir con él las emociones y sentimientos que se relatan. Lo cual se pone de manifiesto cuando tras el visionado del relato se abre un diálogo entre el autor del mismo y la clase. Es en ese momento que algunos alumnos manifiestan una identificación positiva con expresiones como: “yo viví una experiencia similar”, “yo haría lo mismo”, “nunca me he encontrado en una situación así, pero yo haría igual”; o bien una identificación negativa, sobre todo ante protagonistas de relatos que llevan a cabo acciones poco gratificantes, posicionándose ante las mismas con expresiones como: “yo no haría eso”, “no pienso así”. En cualquiera de ambos casos, al alumno receptor del relato, éste le sirve como experiencia vicaria emocional para pensarse a partir de las situaciones y/o emociones experimentadas, o para pensarse ante nuevas situaciones y/o emociones anticipando cuáles podrían ser sus reacciones y sentimientos. Hasta el momento, en esa puesta en común de los relatos no se ha constatado que se hayan dado proyecciones, no suelen incorporar suspense. Ello se debe a la característica del propio relato digital, que es creado y realizado directamente por el alumnado sin necesidad de conocimientos propios de las producciones cinematográficas.

IV. A modo de conclusión

La creación de un relato supone buscar en el pasado capítulos significativos que se quieran contar, y tomar conciencia de qué los hace importantes. Bucear en el pasado en busca de recuerdos y emociones concretas supone darles forma en torno a una historia que habla sobre nosotros. Supone enfrentarse a una serie de interrogantes que nos han de llevar a reflexionar sobre nosotros en torno a la historia que deseamos contar. Supone pensar en la audiencia a la que contamos el relato, y decidir qué imagen vamos a dar de nosotros y cómo, supone pues, tomar conciencia del ámbito personal y privado del Yo. Supone el montaje de un relato digital con el que en cierto sentido queremos persuadir al público.

La recepción de un relato supone una percepción cognitiva que sitúa el relato en un contexto vivencial, la experiencia personal del receptor, a través de la cual se reinterpreta el relato a la vez que se adapta a los esquemas mentales propios, modificándolos en ocasiones. Supone pues un proceso de aprendizaje para el alumnado, pues la nueva información suministrada por el relato se integra en su flujo de experiencias, pudiendo llegar a ser asimiladas como propias. Pero la recepción de un relato también supone una percepción emocional. La mirada del alumno receptor del relato toma posición ante lo relatado y penetra en los actos y sentimientos del personaje identificándose en algunos aspectos con él, viviendo o recordando junto a él una experiencia emocional vicaria.

Creemos haber mostrado que la creación y recepción de relatos digitales personales puede suponer un elemento de auto-reflexión para el alumno, le lleven a tomar conciencia de algunos sucesos importantes en su vida y le permitan construir fragmentos de su identidad. Y a la vez, que son vehículo de experiencia vicaria, lo cual permite adquirir conocimiento y sentir emociones a partir del visionado de otros relatos personales. Por lo que nos atrevemos a


concluir que la producción y recepción del relato digital personal, así utilizada, es una herramienta que ayuda al alumno a estructurar sus ideas en torno al Yo. Como señala Bruner (2003) “creamos y recreamos la identidad mediante la narrativa, [...] el yo es un producto de nuestros relatos y no una esencia por descubrir cavando en los confines de la subjetividad. ... está demostrado que sin la capacidad de contar historias sobre nosotros no existiría una cosa como la identidad” (p.122).

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Multimodal Discourse Strategies of Factuality and Subjectivity in

Educational Digital Storytelling

Patricia Bou-Franch

[email protected]

Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana

Universitat de València, España

Abstract

As new technologies continue to emerge, students and lecturers are provided with new educational tools. One such tool, which is increasingly used in higher education, is digital storytelling, i.e. multi-media digital narratives. Despite the increasing attention that education and media scholars have paid to digital storytelling, there is scant research examining digital narratives from a discourse-analytic perspective.

This paper addresses this gap in the literature and, in line with the belief that individuals make meaning through a range of semiotic devices, including, among others, language, sound, graphics and text, it aims to examine discourse strategies of factuality and subjectivity in historical-cultural digital narratives and their multimodal realisations.To carry out this study a corpus of 16 digital stories was compiled and analysed from a multidisciplinary framework which draws from studies on digital storytelling, computer-mediated communication, media studies, and multimodal discourse analysis. Results show that students/digital story tellers resort to a number of varied multimodal discursive strategies which are constitutive of their identity as capable students in an educational setting.

Keywords

Digital storytelling; Education; Multimodal discourse; Factuality; Subjectivity.


Estrategias discursivas multimodales, factuales y subjetivas en

el relato digital educativo

Patricia Bou-Franch

[email protected]

Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana

Universidad de València, España

Resumen

Las nuevas tecnologías ofrecen a estudiantes y profesores nuevas herramientas educativas. Entre éstas destaca el relato digital, una herramienta que se emplea cada vez más en educación superior. Pese a la gran atención que el relato digital ha recibido por parte de expertos en educación y en medios, existen escasos estudios de relatos digitales desde la perspectiva del análisis del discurso.

Este trabajo se hace eco de esta escasez y, partiendo de la premisa de que los individuos construimos el significado a través de variados medios semióticos que incluyen, entre otros, lenguaje, sonido, gráficos y textos, examina las estrategias discursivas, factuales y subjetivas, en narrativas histórico-culturales y su realización multimodal. Para desarrollar este estudio se recogió un corpus de 16 relatos digitales que se analizó desde un enfoque multidisciplinar que se apoya en estudios previos de relato digital, de comunicación por ordenador, estudios de medios de comunicación y análisis del discurso multimodal. Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes/narradores digitales recurren a una gran variedad de estrategias discursivas multimodales que contribuyen a formar su identidad de estudiantes capaces en el entorno educativo.

Palabras clave

Digital storytelling; Education; Multimodal discourse; Factuality; Subjectivity.


I. Introducción

As new technologies continue to emerge, students and lecturers are provided with new educational tools. One such tool, which is increasingly used in higher education, is digital storytelling, i.e. multi-media digital narratives.

Digital narratives constitute a hybrid social practice/action that shares features with traditional forms of oral/written storytelling, television documentaries, video games and research reports (Hartley and McWilliam 2009; Swales, 1990) and therefore combine the expression of emotion which is characteristic of the confessional disclosure of storytelling with the ‘authenticity of the documentary’ (Hartley and McWilliam 2009, p.5).

The social practice of digital storytelling originated in the CDS at California, directed by Joe Lambert, and was soon taken up by other institutions throughout the world that lent it support (e.g. BBC Cymru-Wales “Capture Wales” project and the work of Daniel Meadows) and turned it into an international practice used for various purposes. Recent research by media scholars places digital storytelling as a social movement within current debates on user-generated digital content, consumer creativity and productivity, and media participation (Hartley and McWilliam, 2009). Thus, the increase in participation of ordinary people in the media is taken (sometimes, overoptimistically cf. Chouliaraki, 2010) to foster the democratization of cultural production and social change (Bou-Franch in press; Turner, 2010). However, despite the attention that digital storytelling is attracting, there is scant research examining digital narratives from a discourse-analytic perspective (but see Rodríguez Ruiz, 2007).

In order to contribute to fill this gap, this paper reports on an ongoing project that seeks to unveil the discourse strategies and resources employed in a corpus of digital narratives. Specifically, it focuses on the expression of factuality and subjectivity in historical-cultural narratives produced within a classroom context in the University of Valencia. The object of interest is, then, educational stories that report on historical / cultural events or features.

An important premise underlying this study is that individuals make meaning not only through language but through a variety of semiotic resources including language, sound, graphics and text (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2001). Therefore, the study adopts a multimodal approach.

Against this backdrop, the aim of this paper is to examine strategies of factuality and subjectivity in historical / cultural digital narratives and their multimodal realisations.

II. Method

To carry out this study, a corpus of 16 historical / cultural digital narratives was compiled and analysed. The stories were approximately 6 minutes long and were produced by Spanish undergraduates of English Studies for the module ‘History and Culture of the English-speaking countries’, during the 2011 spring term.

Digital stories can be of different types, ranging from personal narratives or instructional stories to narratives that recount historical events (Gregori-Signes, 2008a/b; McLellan, 2006; Robin, 2006). Although there are many possibilities, uses and contexts for storytelling – and, therefore, it is difficult to provide one single, umbrella definition for all, -it seems evident that digital narratives are adapted to “fit the goals and ideologies of each of these contexts– from public service broadcasting to community activism and education.” (Burgess and Klaebe, 2009, p.155). The corpus of history and culture narratives in this study is no exception and, therefore, the stories are shaped by the academic context in which they were produced. Undoubtedly, the stories in turn shape and transform this context, which is open to new technological tools. The data are understood as part of the classroom genre, and therefore subject to the general constraints of academic discourse (Fairclough, 2003; Swales, 1990). A major factor shaping these stories was that they were generated for a grade, i.e. to fulfil an academic assignment. Once produced, students uploaded their stories to the class blog, thus complying with the current demotic movement which empowers ordinary people by granting them greater visibility. It must also be noted that a major challenge for story-tellers/students was that they were both learners of English as a second language and learners of History and Culture of the English-speaking countries.


The assignment was conceived as having a double objective, one related to knowledge of the module, which involved a factuality dimension, and the other concerned with creativity, and related to a subjectivity dimension. In order to meet the former, students faced the need to display their knowledge of a historical period, event or people through multimedia resources. For the latter, students faced the need to be creative and make their telling personal, original and/or entertaining. This paper explores the multimodal discursive means used to meet the needs to display knowledge and to be creative, i.e. multimodal discursive strategies of factuality and subjectivity.

The framework adopted is multidisciplinary, as it draws from prior research on digital storytelling, computer-mediated communication, media studies, and multimodal discourse analysis, and takes into account the social and technological affordances of electronic communication as well as the role of variability and the construction of social identities in the Internet (Androutsopoulos, 2006; Bou-Franch, 2011; Herring, 2007). Central to this study is the view that discourse statements make different types of epistemological claims, specifically, claims regarding the state of the speaker’s knowledge. In her study of television debates, Patrona (2005) adopts this view (cf. Almeida, 1992), and divides all statements into factual and non-factual. Factual statements are defined as intended “to be understood by the reader/hearer as describing an actual situation, i.e., an event or state which has already occurred or is occurring at the time the text is produced” (Patrona,2005, p.239). Non-factual statements, in contrast, are related to speculations and predictions and are characterized as not intended to be interpreted as descriptions of actual situations or events. In this study, the latter were related to subjectivity.

The data were qualitatively analysed following a three-step procedure. First, discourse statements were classified into factual and non-factual statements (Patrona, 2005). Second, multimodal discourse strategies were identified for each type of statement. And third, the placement of each statement within the organization of the story was also considered.

III. Results

The analysis revealed that all the stories contained factual and non-factual statements that could be related to the expression of factuality and the expression of subjectivity, respectively. The analysis of factuality revealed that tellers resorted to a number of multimodal discourse strategies which included the use of direct, unmitigated statements, use of specialized jargon and providing viewers with factual detail in the form of facts and figures, and the adoption of a traditional academic structure for the narrative. The study of subjectivity showed that tellers made their stories personal and creative through multimodal discourse strategies that presented the narrative in terms of a casual conversation among friends, or in terms of a trip that takes viewers through different places and cultural symbols. Other means included use of personal pronouns (first person), the establishing of criticism and semiotic contrast through the expression of opposite meanings via different semiotic modes, the employment of multimodal, personalized connectors, use of rhetorical questions and drawing from producers’ (and appealing to viewers’) previous knowledge of the filmmaking industry. In the next section the results are further explored and illustrated.

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IV. Discourse strategies of factuality and subjectivity

In facing the need to display their knowledge of the topic of the story, students found they had to convey information in a reliable way. As it has been shown by experts in different television shows (Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Bou-Franch and Lorenzo-Dus in press; Patrona, 2005), projecting a reliable attitude towards the facts that one is dealing with, increases the validity of propositions and portrays communicators as knowledgeable speakers (cf. Patrona 2005, p.243). Traditionally, experts in broadcast talk have resorted to specific discourse strategies in order to construct their knowledge and experience in a particular field. Discourse strategies range from the formulation of impersonal views, to the presentation of facts and figures, specialized jargon and use of a formal register (cf. Garcés-Conejos Blitvich et al. in press; Livingstone and Lunt, 1994; Locher and Hoffmann, 2006; Lorenzo-Dus ,2005; Patrona, 2005; Smith, 2010).


In the data under analysis, story tellers also resorted to such means in order to come across as reliable and knowledgeable experts, i.e. as capable students within the academic context. However, as the following examples show, they also made use of non-factual, subjective statements that made their telling original and entertaining.

In Example 1 below, storytellers use direct, unmitigated statements, which are delivered while three consecutive images zoom in and out, reinforcing the propositional, factual value of the discourse. Further, they employed music of the period being discussed, an Elvis Presley song, as background.

Example 129_ Those Crazy Days

Narrative voice over: “We were born in the early 50´s, when suburban life in the US urged people to settle down into a family life after The Second World War´s turmoil. The baby-boom of the 50´s brought an important increase to the US population, as we, the young people of the 60´s and 70´s would be the ones to march, to take a stand, speak out and not support our own country in a war we had no business being in the first place”

Image 1. Suburban life in the 1950s

Another discourse strategy of factuality was the use of specialized jargon, which enhances the expertise of the tellers. In Example 2, specialized jargon is used as the narrative fluctuates between formal and informal registers. The discourse takes the form of a multi-party dialogue, and appears casual. However, detailed facts - like exact dates and measures- are provided, facts which would very unlikely be provided in a ‘real conversation’. Hence, this example displays both discourse strategies of factuality and subjectivity.

Furthermore, these are used in combination with another discourse strategy of subjectivity which surfaced recurrently in the data: the taking on of new identities that placed students/storytellers as first-hand witnesses of 20th century history and/or as experts in different aspects of the culture of the English-speaking countries. In Example 2, below, tellers took on the identity of a group of American girlfriends on tour in New York; additionally, they created avatars that were displayed over the images. Further, the alternation of speaking turns was visually signalled by placing a symbol – a yellow diamond - on top of the speaking avatar. Each of the five turns in example 2 was uttered in unison with the following five pictures, which display their corresponding speaking avatars.

29 Relevant discourse strategies are given in bold. Most digital stories in the corpus can be found in the

author's class blog, http://www.historiayculturab2010.blogspot.com.es/


Example 2 _ US Architecture

Turn 1: Hey! Do you know the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 and it is one of the oldest

suspension bridges in the United States?

Turn 2: Yes! And this bridge connects New York City, Manhattan and Brooklyn by

spanning the East river.

Turn 3: And it was the longest suspension bridge the world with a main span of 486.3

meters.

Turn 4: But, the German John Augustus Roebling had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges

.

Turn 5: Their architectual style is neogothic, with characteristics pointed arches above the

passageways through the stone towers.

Image 2. Alternating speaking turns in multi-party dialogue

Taking on new identities allowed storytellers to tell their story from different angles and make their telling more personal, albeit in combination with a range of facts.

The following example comes from the narrative “Those Crazy Days”.


Example 3 _ Those Crazy Days

Narrative voice over: “I remember it like it was yesterday: the pacific protests, the burning of draft cards, the sit-ins, the unity among us fighting for the same cause, the peace, the love, the flowers, the music, the drugs...oh the drugs”

As can be observed in Example 3, the narrator uses the first-person, singular, pronoun, as she takes the identity of a young American in the Hippy Movement of the 1960s and 70s. As the narrative begins, to the rhythm of the Beatles’ “All you need is love” and black and white pictures of the period, which display the different values of the hippy movement, the story proceeds in a personalized fashion, with the speaker expressing her feeling of belonging in this youth group through her use of first-person, plural, pronoun.

In the following example (4), we find another version of the discursive process of personalization.

Example 4_ US Architecture

Narrative voice over: “My grandfather told me that the opening was during the Great Depression (1929) in the US. Because of this a lot of offices weren't used. The building wasn't profitable until 1950 when Roger L. Stevens paid 51 million dollars to buy The Empire State Building …“

In this example, the speaker resorts to use of third-person singular when she ascribes the source of certain information to a close family relation: it is her grandfather, the speaker recalls, who told her about The Empire State Building and the Great Depression of the 1930s. These strategies make the story more personal, close and vivid.

In another instance, factuality and subjectivity combine in different ways. Storytellers adopt a critical perspective through the semiotic contrast they achieve by simultaneously (1) displaying the title of their narrative in text format: “20th Century Ethnic Minorities: Fighting for Equality”, (2) their opening (spoken) statement which reinforces ideas of liberty: “America is known as the land of freedom and opportunities, those ideals brought a flood of people to the United States in the 20th Century“ – and (3), by using the questioning background music of the main theme of the Westside story musical, which is followed by the showing of black and white pictures of crowded ships of immigrants arriving in Ellis Island.

In example 5, storytellers further draw from another discourse strategy of factuality, i.e. the presentation of facts and figures in the form of specialized charts.

Example 5 _ 20th Century Ethnic Minorities: Fighting for Equality

Image 3. Population pie charts

Thus, example 5 shows two pie charts of current population groups in the US, drawn from data from the US Census Bureau, pasted over a picture of a contemporary crowded street – this was a still picture shown as close up and then zooming out, for greater communicative strength of the ethnic diversity in the US today.

Other creative graphs simultaneously conveyed factuality and subjectivity.


Example 6 _ Evolution of Rock Music

Image 4. Rock-based chart

This is the case of example 6, above, from the story titled “Evolution of Rock in the 2nd half of the 20th century”, which shows an original graph with motifs that evoke rock music, like black background, storm rays instead of arrows, and pictures of different instruments.

Other aspects of discourse organization were also involved in the communication of fact and creativity (cf. Simon-Vanderbergen 2007). In the story titled “Traditional dishes in the UK” (Example 7, below), discourse is organized in the classical, academic, five-paragraph essay with an introduction, different sections related to dishes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, use of academic discourse connectors and a concluding paragraph. Storytellers took the opportunity to make use of formal, academic connectors in combination with support images depicting the flags of the different UK countries and written text with the name of each country, thus enhancing the creativity dimension of their talk in multimodal ways:

Example 7 _ Traditional Dishes in the UK

“To begin with we will deal with England and its most popular dish: ‘Fish and Chips’ …”

“We’ll now turn to Wales …”


“Now let’s move to Scotland …”

“Finally, we will explain a little bit about Northern Ireland …”

Image 5. Visual connectors

Use of such academic discourse organization lent greater validity and credibility to their work. It must further be noted that there is another subjectivity component in these discourse markers: they are personalized through use of first person plural pronouns as in “we’ll now…” or in “Now let’s …” . These help students meet both factual and subjective task requirements.

Another resource that allowed a creative stand was the presentation of the whole narrative as a trip.

Example 8 _ Australia

“Hello folks, you have enrolled on a trip that is going to take you to the core of Australia”

Image 6. Narrative as trip

In the story titled “Australia”, above, tellers address the audience directly, through the opening sentence of example 8, which is uttered as the bus in the picture ‘travels’ around the country leading the story.

Further, in this story students take on different social identities: one is a historian, another is a fashion designer, while others become an expert chef, and a tour guide. These identities place the students as experts, a position from which they can inform viewers of various matters with authority and expertise.

A final pattern of discourse organization evoked viewers’ previous knowledge of the filmmaking industry and thus marked their work as a creative piece.


Example 9 _ Two Men, One Fate

Image 7. Visual reinforcement of Nazi threat

“Can you conceive a world controlled by Nazi Germany?”

The story titled “Two men one fate”, example 9, underlines the important work of F.D. Roosevelt and W. Churchill during the Second World War The narrative begins with an embedded short image of the famous, roaring MGM lion. After this typical beginning at the start of movies, tellers next make their main point through several discursive means. Firstly, they translate the story title into German (German text on screen), which is then read in both German and English. Secondly, tellers formulate a rhetorical question (“can you conceive a world controlled by Nazi Germany?”) and reinforce the idea of the Nazi threat posed in the question by showing a picture of Hitler. Through these means, tellers come across as persuasive and creative. Their point was that the world today is not controlled by Nazi Germany due to the efforts of two great men, Roosevelt and Churchill.

In a similar way, the story titled “Mad Men’s America”, which focuses on the history and role of advertising agencies in the 1960s US, has a double ending. One is creative and related to the movie industry, while the other is factual and related to the academic world. The former is achieved through the display of the text “Starring” followed by the names of all group members in a list format; this invokes the style in which filmmakers announce the credits at the end of a film. The latter includes all the references used in the production of the video clip and it is an obligatory final section of all academic work.

Image 8. Typical movie ending

V. Conclusion

The study of a corpus of students’ digital narratives for their History and Culture class revealed students’ ability to cope with new contents in their second language /culture. The analysis showed that stories fluctuated from the discourse of factuality to the discourse of subjectivity (cf. Patrona, 2005). It was argued that factuality allowed students to display their knowledge while subjectivity was employed to include the required dimensions of creativity and entertainment.


The analysis of multimodal discourse strategies in the data suggests their interdependence and the ways in which they reinforce each other. Importantly, students needed to attend to the need for factuality and the need for subjectivity to meet the educational requirements of the task. It is possible to argue, in this context, that their attitude towards, and presentation of, facts and of the whole story is constitutive of their identity as capable students in an academic setting. Stories have been argued to promote learning and personal involvement (Gregori 2008a/b; Lowenthal, 2009; McLelland, 2006). This paper has unveiled the ways in which this is achieved in the data.

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Copyright






“Playing with the Team”: The Development of Communities of

Practice in a Digital Storytelling Project

Peter John Westman

[email protected]

University of Wolverhampton

United Kingdom

Abstract

Since its emergence in the early 1990's, digital storytelling has been variously identified as a new media practice, a consumer and community-led movement, and a textual system. However, given its relative nascent status, there remains the need for further academic research focusing on the different forms it has assumed. During the spring/summer of 2011, I conducted an examination of Taking the Field (TTF), a digital storytelling project that aims to celebrate grassroots cricket in the UK through the construction of stories by village and county-level clubs. In contrast to most previous projects that aim to have the participants “speak” by constructing their own stories, TTF stories are researched and constructed by project staff with the assistance of the clubs.

My research centers on the experiences of two clubs in the project, Blaina CC and Spondon CC, through interviews and elicitation techniques with club and community members using the completed stories and the artifacts used in their construction. Through the theoretical framework of Gell's anthropology of art, I consider how digital stories act as objects that mediate social agency during their creation and how the structure of this type of project contributes to the formation of communities of practice in the 'performance' of collective identity.

.

Keywords

Community; Learning; Performance; Anthropology; Agency.


I. Digital Storytelling and the Taking the Field project

The Taking the Field (TTF) digital storytelling project is a two-year venture jointly run by the University of Glamorgan's George Ewart Centre for Storytelling and the Marylebone Cricket Club in St John's Wood, London. The latter, in addition to operating as a playing first-class club, is also the framer and guardian of the official Laws of Cricket globally. The stated aims of the project are to “to reflect the diverse nature of cricket in both the UK and Sri Lanka, as well as the character of cricket clubs and the communities they serve. It will chart the changes of both good and bad, experienced by clubs and communities over the past century."('About Taking the Field,'2011)

Over a six-week period in May/June 2011, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork with the TTF project manager, Ms. Emma Peplow, at their headquarters at Lord's Cricket Ground and with two participating clubs in the project. The first club, Blaina CC, is located in a small town in the former iron and coal producing areas of the south Wales valleys, and was the pilot club involved with the project. Their stories had been completed and uploaded to the project website. The other club, Spondon CC, is based in a village on the outskirts of Derby, and was just beginning to be interviewed by Ms. Peplow.

In the well-known Centre for Digital Storytelling (CDS) model, a digital story is a short (<5 minutes), narrated first-person story, created through the use of video and graphics (Lowenthal, 2009). Stories made by the TTF project differ slightly in that the project manager has editorial control, as she creates the stories by compiling and editing together interviews and photos collected from club members.

To date, a substantial amount of the literature on digital storytelling has focused on its potential for increasing participation and self-representation at the individual level. The definitions and descriptions ascribed to the practice embed it in the community media movement and the emancipatory strands of applied new media (Carpentier, 2009). However, the processes of institutional mediation in storytelling projects, like TTF, also require further examination. As Thumin observes, an inherent paradox is that “part of the very processes of institutional mediation shaping invited self-representations is an understanding of mediation itself, precisely, as something to be minimized in order for participants’ realities to come across (Thumin, 2009).”

As a composition of many different medias, digital storytelling is also a composition of different expressive practices. Technologies are meaningful acts of social engagement with the material world that express and contest social values and judgments. The experiential nature of technological practice allows for the production of knowledge, skills, and values (Dobres, 2000). The production of these artifacts and their use exists in socially constituted and materially grounded contexts, not in the abstract (Dobres, 2000).

The stories told through the TTF project therefore are not simply copies of 'existing' stories told in a new format, but entirely new artifacts created through their positioning in time and space. Narratives inevitably will involve selectivity, the rearranging of elements, re-description, and simplification in the reconstituting of events concerning the narrator's life or the history of the wider community (James 2006, Hinchman and Hinchman 1997). By participating in TTF, clubs are engaging in a 'performance', which necessitates embodied techniques (e.g. recollection and communication) that act as a platform for creating and expressing identity and differentiation (Dobres, 2000).

II. Gell's Theory of Art

My primary interest was in exploring how TTF digital stories, as effacious agents, acted to mediate social relations during the process of their creation. In positing that the cultural significance of objects and those who make and use them is situated in how technical acts and gestures materially unfold in a social milieu, my research questions were structured through the


analytical framework of Gell's anthopological theory of art, in which he argues that “art objects are the equivilant of persons, or more precisely, social agents.” (Gell, 1998)

As art object status is not institutional, nor aestehtical or semiotic, but rather theoretical, the anthropological theory of art merges with the social anthropology of individuals and their bodies (Gell 1998). Agency as a process involves indexes and effects, in which indexes stand in a variety of relations to artists, prototypes, and recipients (Thomas, 2001). Gell goes on to clarify these terms as follows within his art nexus (see Appendix I):

• Indexes: material entities which motivate abductive inferences, cognitive interpretations, etc.

• Artists: to whom are ascribed, by abduction, causal responsibility for the existence and characteristics of the index.

• Recipients: those in relation to whom, by abduction, indexes are considered to exert agency, or who exert agency via the index.

• Prototypes: entities held, by abduction, to be represented in the index, often by virtue of visual resemblance, but not necessarily (Gell, 1998).

III. The Process of Creating Stories

In applying Gell's art nexus to the CDS model, the relationship would be correctly expressed as [[Artist-A]->Index-A]-->Artist-P. The storyteller, as artist, is a patient with respect to the agency s/he exercises, as otherwise artistic agency cannot proceed (Gell, 1998). The embodied experience of creating a self-narrative, that is, the individual's bodily engagement with the material and social conditions associated with creating a digital story, helps allow them to explore themselves and their place in the wider social community (Dobres, 2000).

We again invoke Gell's art nexus in order to describe the more complex relations occurring during the creation of TTF digital stories. This expression, [[[Prototype-A]->Artist-A]->Index-A]-->Recipient-P, refers to a nexus of agent/patient relationships so that the recipient is the patient and the agent acting on him/her is the index. The digital story is an index of the “appearance” of the club, which is mediated by Ms. Peplow's performance in creating the index (e.g. types of questions, her perception of key themes, etc.) which mediates the prototype to the recipient (audience). In considering this entire expression, the ultimate source of agency would seem to rest with Ms. Peplow (prototype), as she is not seen as responsible for the compelling aspects of the story (the club's history, accomplishments, etc.) (Gell, 1998).

IV. Communities of Practice

Due to the unique structure of this project, I would argue that what emerges are communities of practice within the participating clubs. This concept, first proposed by Lave and Wenger, refers to groups formed by individuals who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor. There are three crucial characteristics for communities of practice: domain, community, and practice (Wenger, 2009).

• Domain

Communities of practice have an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. In this case, it is in the perpetuation of memories, values, and relationships relating to the club, that is, the club's 'identity', through the creation of digital stories as material artifacts. As a 'person', the club is a 'spread of biographical events and memories of events, and a dispersed category of material objects, traces, and leavings” (Gell, 1998). These objects are distributed throughout different individuals, and so although outsiders to the community may not necessarily recognize them as expertise, the collective competence of others is valued within the group. An example is former club members being asked to return and be interviewed (Wenger,1999).

• Community

Through the pursuit of their interest in the domain, community members engage in activities and discussions, share information, and help one another. By discussing memories, sharing photographs, and locating data, the historical archiving being undertaken entails a great deal of


communal interdependence, although they may not interact on a regular basis (Wenger,1999).

• Practice

Members of a community of practice are practitioners, and so they will develop a shared portal of resources (e.g. tools, experiences, etc.). This requires time and sustained interaction, and the development of shared practice may not be self-conscious. I believe that the reflexivity needed to participate in storytelling, in evaluating and assessing varying accounts and materials, contributes to the shaping of this practice. In this sense, certain people may be seen as skilled at remembering particular eras or at organizing old scorebooks, so that they take on roles as communal resources (Wenger, 1999).

Learning requires participating in the community of practice. This participation 'refers not just to local events of engagement in certain activities with certain people, but to a more encompassing process of being active participants in the practices of social communities and constructing identities in relation to these communities (Wenger, 1999). Although Ms. Peplow possess the technical abilities needed to produce a digital story, as someone entering the “culture” of the club, there is a need for her to see how the qualified practitioners of the club's culture behave in order to impart this when she later edits the stories (Brown et al. 1989). During the interview process, she is not directly participating (for the most part) in the 'performance', but at the same time, is learning a great deal from her position.

V. Conclusions

Digital storytelling is a useful topic through which to evaluate two concepts for understanding the broader social consequences of media (including new media) : mediatization and mediation (Couldry, 2008). Due to its complexity as both a narrative and social process, digital storytelling presents the opportunity to clarify the respective advantages and disadvantages of these concepts while attempting to form an understanding of the social life of digital stories themselves (Couldry, 2008). As Couldry observes,

Digital storytelling represents a novel distribution of a scarce resource – the ability to represent the world around us – using a shared infrastructure...People who have never done so before are telling personal stories through digital forms, storing and exchanging those stories in sites and networks that would not exist without the world wide web and which, because of the remediation capacity of digital media, have multiple possibilities for transmission, retransmission and transformation available to them (2008).

As the concept of mediation has a substantial history and has been used in multiple contexts (Couldry 2008), Silverstone's definition is most useful for our purposes:

Mediation, in the sense in which I am using the term, describes the fundamentally, but unevenly, dialectical process in which institutionalized media of communication (the press, radio and television, and increasingly the world wide web), are involved in the general circulation of symbols in social life (Silverstone, 2002, pp.762).

He clarifies this definition by observing that an understanding of mediation requires an examination of how processes of communication change the social and cultural environments that support them, the relationships formed by institutions and individuals to the environment, and the relationships to each other. Mediation is therefore a non-linear process (Couldry, 2008). Mediatization is “the processes through which core elements of a cultural or social activity (e.g. politics, religion, language) assume media form” (Hjarvard, 2007). Schulz breaks the term down into four processes: extension, substitution, amalgamation and accommodation. However, this in turn affirms a linear structure of transformation (Couldry 2008). Instead, I see mediation as a better tool through which to understand digital storytelling, since it permits the capture the range of dynamics within media flows, including those of production, circulation, interpretation or reception, and recirculation (Couldry, 2008).

Therefore, to consider the sociality of digital stories, it requires the acknowledgment that as a media they are articulated both as a technology of transmission and representational content (Couldry, 2008). Accordingly, this requires a discussion on how both the contexts and process


of story production for TTF relate to what are considered accepted practices and interpretative styles of digital storytelling in general. Furthermore, this approach necessitates understanding how the TTF project's outputs are circulated and exchanged amongst various stakeholders (Couldry, 2008). In order to acheive this latter objective, I observed activity on the TTF Facebook page and their recently unveiled website (see Appendix II).

By hosting the digital stories on its website and Facebook group, the TTF project hints at the possibility of participatory storytelling beyond the completion of the original artifact. The ability to post comments and construct conversations from these comments could lead to a future scenario in which “story drafts” are uploaded by institutions and then discussed and revised during the production process. Stories on similar themes, but by different authors, could also be situated side-by-side as a method to engage reflexivity. In the case of institutional storytelling, the producer is acknowledging his or her entry upon the world of the subjects, but is soliciting them to imprint directly upon the media aspects of their own community and culture. By permitting them greater access, the corrections, additions, and illuminations that only the subjects' responses to the material can elicit are made possible (MacDougall, 1998).

As future clubs may choose to produce their own stories, the idea of the quality outcome may be complicated as framed self-representations would be judged alongside the professionally produced outcomes on the TTF website. Individually-generated content may be perceived as more “authentic” or as less objective than that produced by the institution. This situation evokes Gell's assertion that “culture may dictate the practical and/or symbolic significance of artefacts, and their iconographic interpretation, but the only factor which governs the visual appearance of artefacts is their relationship to other artefacts in the same style (Gell, 1998).”

The outcomes of TTF are important because the representations of the clubs that are produced under the auspices of the project must therefore meet the standards of the supporting institutions and the expectations of the anticipated audience for a certainly quality of text. At the same time, it is also vital that the participants, as members of the audience, have a positive experience of working with the project and the institutions (Thumim, 2009). As Emma explains, participants will both self-edit and provide feedback directly to her to ensure a positive depiction:

“People didn't want to say anything that would offend people....These being cricket clubs, there's lots of stories they won't tell me which might be because I'm a woman and they won't tell me what they got up to on tour. They're aware its a public forum and its going up on the internet. There might be certain embarrassing stories they don't want told. There is that awareness that it's going on line and there may be that when you get something on line it's difficult to get rid of it. Everyone I've interviewed I've been able to put into a digital story They have corrected a few things that I've done. I've named people wrongly for example.”

Mitcham states that “technology is not so much the application as [it is] a form of knowledge, one persistently dependent on technical skill” (Mitcham, 1994). It can be said that the current and future participants in TTF will have varying levels of the technical skills needed to produce digital stories, and thus also distinct stores of knowledge as far as their comprehension of how these artifacts came into being. Consequentially, one must consider Gell's point that “the attitude of the spectator towards a work of art is fundamentally conditioned by his notion of the technical processes which gave rise to it, and the fact that it was created by the agency of another person, the artista” (Gell, 1992). An area that warrants further anthropological investigation is evaluating how the power of digital stories, as artifacts of 'historical record', stems from the technical processes they objectively embody depending on varying degrees of enchantment of technology (Gell, 1992).

By extending the theoretical framework of Gell's anthropology of art to the digital story, it has been shown these artefacts act to mediate social relations during their creation while also highlighting the processes and practices associated with different storytelling styles. Digital storytelling, as a technological practice, is not simply the activities and physical actions guiding the production and use of the story as artifact. It is an “unfolding of a sensuous, engaged, mediated, meaningful, and materially grounded experience that influences individuals and collectives to comprehend and act in the world as they do (Dobres, 2000).


Appendix I: The Art Nexus

(Gell, 1998, pp. 29)


Appendix II: TTF Facebook Wall Dialogues


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Carpentier, N. (2009). Digital Storytelling in Belgium: Power and Participation. In J. Hartley and K. McWilliam (Eds.), Story circle: Digital Storytelling around the World (pp. 188-204). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

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Dobres, M. (2000). Technology and social agency: outlining a practice framework for Archeology Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

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Technology. In J. Hartley and K. McWilliam (Eds.), Story Circle: Digital Storytelling around the World (pp. 252-259). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

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Individual Innovativeness Levels of Educational Administrators

Ahmet Naci Coklar

[email protected]

Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department

Faculty of Education

Necmettin Ebakan University, Turkey

Abstract

In the present study carried out with 190 educational administrators, the individual innovativeness of educational administrators was examined. As a result of the study, it was found out that the educational administrators considered themselves as early adaptors. It was also revealed that professional seniority was not important in terms of individual innovativeness and those educational administrators with professional experience of 10 years or over had the same level of innovativeness as those with experience below 10 years did. The results also demonstrated that educational administrators with experience below 10 years had the same level of individual innovativeness. In addition, the results obtained revealed a difference between the computer use frequencies of educational administrators and their individual innovativeness. In other words, it was found out that educational administrators using the Internet everyday were more innovative than those using the Internet a few times a week or a month. Depending on the results obtained in the study, various suggestions were put forward for applied and future studies.

Keywords

Educational administrators; individual innovativeness; new technologies in education; education and control.


I. Introduction

In today’s world, a new technology penetrates into our daily lives every new day. Technological innovations force individuals to renovate themselves. In order to be successful in business life, institutions and individuals should keep up with these innovations (Sabherwal, Hirscheim and Goles, 2001). Administrators directing especially the institutions are also supposed to keep up with the innovations. Among administrative processes, innovation is another important factor besides alignment and culture (Vishwanath and Chen, 2006).

It is especially important for educational administrators to become innovative so that innovations can be spread throughout institutions in educational industry expected constantly to have a dynamic and innovative structure. Administrators’ innovativeness in educational institutions will help such sharers of the educational process as teachers, students and parents to adopt and follow innovativeness. Depending on this importance, the present study investigated educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness with respect to different dimensions.

a. Individual Innovativeness Theory

Rogers gave inspiration to a number of studies regarding innovation and individual innovativeness (Brandon, 2008;Gillard, Bailey and Nolan, 2008; Jackson, Yi and Park, 2010; Janssen, Van De Vliert and West, 2004; Kilicer and Odabasi, 2010; Yuan and Woodman, 2010). Rogers defines innovation as “an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption” (Rogers, 2003). Individual innovativeness is defined as developing, adopting or implementing an innovation (Yuan and Woodman, 2010). Rogers (2003) states that in individual innovativeness theory, there is always new information within the social system and that this new information is processed by adopters (Rogers, 2003).

In the process of adaptation, adopters act upon their perceptions regarding the characteristics of the innovation. Although there are a number of contextual factors, some findings are influential on adopters’ decisions regarding adaptation to innovation. In other words, individuals are likely to have certain perceptions regarding a new technology that they have met in their social environments. These perceptions are quite important in terms of innovativeness. It is seen that individuals have different degrees of adaptation to innovation. In general, the population distribution of adaptation to innovation is expected to have almost normal distribution (Jackson, Yi and Park, 2010).

However, Rogers (2003) states that there is no normal distribution due to different determiners such as resistance to technology and material dimension regarding the innovation distribution; that in a society, there are not many innovative individuals; and that there is a bell-shaped distribution (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Categories of adopters’ individual innovativeness (Rogers, 2003)


As can be seen in Figure 1, Rogers (2003) stated that in the society, people demonstrate different responses to innovation depending on their personality traits. In line with these responses, the researcher divides individual innovativeness into five different categories from earliest to latest: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. In addition, the researcher determines the distribution of individuals in a society belonging to each category.

Accordingly, among all the individuals in a society, only 2.5% of them are in the category of innovative, 13.5% of them are in the category of early adaptors, 34% of them are in the category of early majority, 34% of them are in the category of late majority and 16% of them are in the category of laggards. Rogers (2003) explains the characteristics of people in this group as follows;

• Innovators- the risk takers willing to take the initiative and time to try something new. (What is it?)

• Early Adopters - tend to be respected group leaders, the individuals essential to adoption by whole group. (What problem will it potentially solve?)

• Early Majority - the careful, safe, deliberate individuals unwilling to risk time or other resources. (What problem will it solve now?)

• Late Majority - those suspect of or resistant to change. Hard to move without significant influence. (Does it work?)

• Laggards - these are those who are consistent or even adamant in resisting change. Pressure needed to force change. (Do I have to use this thing?)

It is important that individuals in the administrative position for groups be innovative and thus choose the directors of corporate or institutions – who will apply for the position of administrator - as innovators (Brandon, 2008). Depending on their psychological states, it is possible to determine the individual innovativeness of individuals (Rogers, 2003; Yuan and Woodman, 2010). In this respect, determining educational administrators’ innovativeness will help them play the leading role in innovation and changes in their institutions and will allow various studies to be conducted.

b. Literature Review

Studies on innovation and innovativeness in related literature date back to 1965 and 1970s, yet they have generally focused on the field of business. Most of these studies were carried out to determine the characteristics of adjustment to innovation and innovativeness in organizations (Damanpour and Schneider, 2009; Damanpour and Schneider, 2006).

It was also seen that some studies in related literature focused on a certain innovation. One study carried out with 142 teachers by Könings, Gruwel and Merrienboer (2007) examined teachers’ perceptions of innovations in learning environments with respect to such variables as years of teaching, gender and the number of courses taught. Besides these studies, in some other studies, a certain technology, technologies in general, was considered as an innovation parallel to technological developments. As an example, one study examined how features perceived as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) differed with respect to categories of innovativeness (Hsu, Lu and Hsu, 2007). Another study was conducted to investigate the innovativeness profiles of faculty regarding the adoption of new instructional technology into the instructional process (Hall and Elliott, 2003). Similarly, in another study, the relationship between the categories of innovativeness and technology use levels of faculty in computer use for instructional purposes (Sahin and Thompson, 2006).

It is seen in literature that studies related to innovativeness have a tendency towards the investigation of technology adaption parallel to technological developments. These studies examined individuals’ technology adaption and innovativeness with respect to the adopter innovativeness category based on the model of Diffusion of Innovation developed by Rogers(Lin, 2004; Sahin and Thompson, 2006; Vishwanath and Chen, 2006). In addition, it is seen that studies on innovativeness generally focused on educational change. According to the overall results of these studies, individual innovativeness influences educational change (Tondeur, Devos, Van Houtte, Van Braak and Valcke, 2009; Hannon, 2009). However, in related literature,


there is no research conducted to examine educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness.

c. Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine educational administrators’ individual innovativeness. For this purpose, the following research questions were directed:

1. What are the individual innovativeness states of educational administrators? 2. Is there a difference between educational administrators’ professional experience and

their individual innovativeness? 3. Is there a difference between educational administrators’ Internet use frequencies and

their individual innovativeness?

II. Method

a. Participants of the Study

The participants of the study were 190 educational administrators from seven different regions in Turkey in the academic year of 2010-2011. Among the participants of the study, 116 of them (61%) had professional experience of more than 10 years, while 74 of them (39%) had professional experience of less than 10 years. In terms of Internet use frequency, more than half of all the participants (56) used the Internet every day. Among the participants, 23% of them used the Internet a few times a week, while 21% of them used the Internet a few times a month.

b. Data Collection Tool

The data collection tool was made up of two parts. The first part covered such personal information about the educational administrators as their years of seniority, gender and years of their Internet use. The second part included items constituting the Individual Innovativeness Scale. The Individual Innovativeness Scale developed by Hurt, Joseph and Cook (1977) on the basis of Rogers’s individual innovativeness theory and adapted to Turkish by Kilicer and Odabasi (2010) was used. The scale was made up of a total of 20 items and four factors. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was found as 0.87. The necessary written and oral permissions were taken for the application of the scale in the present study.

c. Data Collection and Analysis

The measurement tool was applied by the researchers to the educational administrators participating in the in-service training process. The items constituting the individual innovativeness scale of the measurement tool were five-point Likert-type items. While transferring these items into the computer environment, such scoring as “1 –I strongly disagree”, “2- I don’t agree”, “3- I am not sure”, “4- I agree” and “5- I strongly agree” was used. For the scoring of the scale as a whole, the scoring system of “Individual Innovativeness Score = 42 + (total scores of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th and 19th items) – (total scores of the 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th and 20th items)” suggested by Kilicer and Odabasi (2010) for the scoring of the scale items was used. For evaluation, the evaluation criteria presented in Table 1 were used (Kilicer and Odabasi, 2010).


Evaluation Range Evaluation Criteria

80 and above Innovator

Between 69 and 80 Early Adopters

Between 57 and 68 Early Majority

Between 47 and 56 Late Majority

46 and below Laggard

Table 1. Evaluation criteria for educational administrators

In order to determine the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness, such descriptive statistics as arithmetic means, percentages and frequencies were used. In addition, for the purpose of determining whether the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness differed with respect to their professional seniority (less than 10 years, 10 years and more than10 years), independent sample t test was applied, and the analysis technique of one-way ANOVA was run to determine whether their individual innovativeness differed with respect to their Internet use frequencies (everyday, a few times a week and a few times month). The significance level of the data was taken as .05 for analysis. In addition, for the statistical analysis, the package program of SPSS 17.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used.

III. Findings

The results obtained for the evaluation of the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness with respect to different variables are presented under the following headings:

a. The Educational Administrators’ Individual Innovativeness

The educational administrators’ individual innovativeness mean score produced by the

Individual Innovativeness Scale was calculated as Χ = 71,54 and sd=9,24. It was also seen that the educational administrators were leaders with respect to individual innovativeness (69 ≤

Χ <80). In addition, the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness frequencies are presented in Table 2.

Levels of Innovativeness n %

1 Innovator 38 20,0

2 Early Adopters 81 42,7

3 Early Majority 62 32,6

5 Late Majority 9 4,7

8 Laggard 0 0,0

Total 190 100

Table 2. Distribution of educational administrators with respect to their levels of innovativeness

As can be seen in Table 2, a majority of the educational administrators considered themselves as early adopters (42,7%) and early majority (32,6%). In addition, 20% of them were found to be innovator. It was also revealed that only 4,7% of the educational administrators found themselves as late majority. Moreover, no educational administrator was found to be laggard.


The educational administrators’ responses to the items of the Individual Innovativeness Scale were analyzed considering their innovativeness as either positively or negatively worded. The results of the analysis for the items in each group are presented in Table 3.

Positively Worded Items Negatively Worded Items

Item No Items Χ sd Item No Items Χ sd

1 My friends ask me for suggestions or for information.

3,56 ,731 4 In general, I am careful about adopting new ideas. 2,69 ,983

2 I like trying new ideas. 4,24 ,699 6 I am skeptic about new inventions and new thoughts.

2,22

,965

3 I look for new ways of doing a thing. 4,21 ,694 7

I don’t normally give importance to new ideas until I see the majority of people around me adopt these ideas.

2,20 1,07

5

While solving a problem, I mostly develop new methods of solving that question if the answer is not clear.

3,92 ,700 10 I think I am one of the last among my friends to adopt a new thing.

1,84 ,829

8 I believe I am an effective individual in my group of friends.

3,76 ,786 13 I am reluctant to adopt new ways of doing a thing until I see these ways work.

2,29 ,940

9 I find myself creative and genuine in my thoughts and attitudes.

3,92 ,765 15 I believe it is best to have old way of living and to do things with the old methods.

1,83 ,883

11 I feel myself creative. 3,79 ,766 17

Before considering the innovations, I should see other people benefit from these innovations.

2,39 1,01

12 I like undertaking the leadership responsibilities of my group.

3,66 ,950 20 I am mostly skeptic about new ideas. 2,27 ,964

14 I find it exciting to be genuine in my thoughts and attitudes.

4,22 ,763

16 Uncertainties and unsolved problems are motivating for me.

3,75 ,871

18 I am open to new ideas. 4,39 ,725

19 Questions with unclear answers excite me. 3,85 ,931

Table 3. Educational administrators’ individual innovativeness

As can be seen in Table 3, the educational administrators’ responses to the positively worded

items in the scale ranged from Χ = 4,39 to Χ = 3,56 for the positively items and from Χ =

1,83 to Χ = 2,69 for the negatively worded items. High means of positively items and low means for negatively items are important for revealing that educational administrators have tendencies to become innovators. In addition, the educational administrators reported


themselves to be innovators with high means especially for such items as being open to new

ideas (Χ = 4,39), enjoying trying new ideas (Χ = 4,24), looking for new ways of doing things

(Χ = 4,21) and with low means for such negatively items as believing it to be best to do things

with the old methods (Χ = 1,83), being among the last to adopt new things (Χ = 1,84) and being skeptic about new inventions and new thoughts.

b. Educational Administrators’ Innovativeness with Respect to Their Professional Seniority

The study also examined whether the educational administrators’ innovativeness that had less than 10 years of professional experience and the educational administrators’ innovativeness who had more than 10 years of professional experience differed. The results obtained are presented in Table 4.

Seniority n Χ Sd df t P

Less than 10 years 74 71,93 9,06 188 .464 .643

10 years or more 116 71,29 9,38

Table 4.Educational administrators’ innovativeness with respect to their professional seniority

As can be seen in Table4, there was no difference between the educational administrators’ Innovativeness and their professional seniority [t(188)=0.464, p>.05]. The individual innovativeness scores of the educational administrators with less than 10 years of professional seniority (Χ=71.93) and those of the educational administrators with 10 years or more of professional seniority (Χ=71.29)were quite close to each other. It was also found out that the educational administrators in both groups could be said to be early adopters.

c. Educational Administrators’ Individual Innovativeness with Respect to Their Internet Use Frequencies

In the study, the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness was examined with respect to their Internet use frequencies. The results obtained are presented in Table 5.

Internet Use Frequency n Χ Sd Standard Error

A- Everyday 107 74,22 8,45 0,817

B- A few times a week 43 68,55 9,30 1,418

C- A few times a month 40 67,57 9,00 1,423

Overall Mean 190 71,54 9,24 0,670

Table 5.The educational administrators’ individual innovativeness scores with respect to their internet use frequencies

When Table 5 is examined, it is seen that the educational administrators’ mean scores with respect to their individual innovativeness ranged between 67,57 and 74,22. In order to determine the difference between the groups, one-way ANOVA was applied. The results obtained are presented in Table 6.


Source of Variance

Sum of Squares df

Mean Square f

p

(p<0.05)

Significant Difference

Between Groups 1782,167 2 891,083 11,592 ,001 A-B,

A-C Within Groups 14374,996 187 76,872

Total 16157,163 189

Table 6.The results of analysis regarding the relationship between the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness and their internet use frequencies

It could be stated that there was a relationship between the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness and their Internet use frequencies (Table 6). The educational administrators’ Internet use frequencies (everyday, a few times a week and a few times a month) influenced their individual innovativeness [F(2-187)=11,592, p<.05]. In other words, Internet use frequency was a predictor of individual innovativeness. The individual innovativeness mean scores of the educational administrators who reported that they used the

Internet everyday (Χ = 74,22) were significantly higher than those of the educational

administrators who reported that they used the Internet for a few times a week (Χ = 68,55) as well as those of the educational administrators who reported that they used the Internet for a

few times a month (Χ = 67,57). With respect to individual innovativeness, individuals using the

Internet everyday were in the group of early adopters(69 ≤ Χ <80) and those using the Internet for a few times a week and those using the Internet for a few times a month were in

the group of early majority (67 ≤ Χ <68). Although the individuals using the Internet for a few times a week had a higher mean than those using the Internet for a few times a month, the difference in-between was not statistically significant.

IV. Discussions

Surry and Furquhar (1997) mention two basic perspectives regarding innovativeness such as determinism (developer-based) and instrumentalism (adaptor-based). Such determinist characteristics as being quick, guiding the society, becoming a leader in using the technology and doing renovations in the process of production are considered important for administrators in business life. Today, the current rapid changes are influential on all areas such as technology, marketing techniques, bilateral relationships and institutional structuring. In addition, it is important for administrators to keep up with these changes and shape the staff and the institutions taking the current innovations into consideration. It is also important for administrators to be innovators in the field of education (Brandon, 2008; ISTE, 2009).The present study investigated the educational administrators’ innovativeness who are a part of the educational process and who inspect and help shape education. This study was conducted with 190 educational administrators from seven different geographical regions in Turkey.

The findings of the present study revealed that educational administrators were generally in the group of early adopters in terms of individual innovativeness. In addition, it was also found out that the frequency distributions of the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness scores were early adopters (42,7%), early majority (32,6%) and innovators (20%), respectively. Of all the participants, only 4,7% of them considered themselves as late majority, while none of the educational administrators found themselves as laggards. When compared to Rogers’s (2003) innovativeness categories, the educational administrators were found to be more innovative. The rate of innovators supposed to be 2,5% according to Rogers’s theory was found as 20%; and the rate of early adopters supposed to be 13,5% was found as 42,7%; the rate of early majority supposed to be 34% was found as 32,6%; the rate of late majority supposed to be 34% was found as only 4,7%; and the rate of laggards was found as 0%. In another study, Hall and Elliott (2003) determined the faculty innovativeness scores. In the study, 3% of the faculties were found as innovators; 10% as early adopters; 35% as early


majority; 35% as late majority; and 17% of the faculty were found as laggards. Depending on this, it could be stated that educational administrators’ innovativeness scores were higher than the faculty innovativeness scores. In addition, this difference could be attributed to the fact that the studies were carried out at different times. Considering the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness scores obtained in the study, it could be said that the educational administrators were appointed depending on the exam results they had taken in Turkey. Successful teachers who teach for a certain period of time without being officially punished in any way take the educational administrators’ exam. Those successful in the exam and appointed to the position of educational administrator take a number of related trainings (Boz, 2006). Flanagan and Jacobsen (2003) reported that school directors are leaders and that this leadership causes them to have difficulties in innovating themselves. In other words, it could be stated that administrative issues as well as the directives of the Ministry of National Education increase educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness (Boz, 2006).

The educational administrators’ individual innovativeness was examined with respect to their years of seniority. In related literature, the variables of professional seniority and age are reported to be influential on technology use (Reid et al., 2011; Chua, Der-Thang and Angela, 1999; Jegede, 2009). In addition, Hite, Williams, Hilton and Baugh (2006), in their study, found out that demographic information such as age and experience were related to administrators being perceived as innovative. Therefore, the present study investigated whether innovativeness changed with respect to professional seniority or not. However, no difference was found between the individual innovativeness scores of the educational administrators with less than 10 years of professional experience and those of the educational administrators with 10 years or more of professional experience. It could be stated that regardless of professional seniority, all the educational administrators had the same level of innovativeness.

In the present study, the influence of the technology use skill on the prediction of innovativeness was examined. For this purpose, the educational administrators’ individual innovativeness was examined with respect to their Internet use frequencies. As a result, it was found out that the Internet use frequency was an important indicator of individual innovativeness. The educational administrators using the Internet everyday were early adopters and more innovative than those who were in the group of early majority using the Internet a few times weeks or a month. New technologies such as the Internet, mobile technologies, LED TVs are important tools used in determining innovativeness. This constitutes the basis of the innovativeness categories mentioned by Rogers (2003). Individuals’ levels of innovativeness increase as they use technologies. In studies on ICT use, the Internet use frequency is reported to be the predictor of ICT use (Jegede, 2006; Jung, 2005; Sahin and Thompson, 2006). Consequently, it can be said that the ICT use frequencies of educational administrator increases, their level of individual innovativeness increases.

V. Conclusions When the results obtained in the present study are taken into consideration as a whole, it is generally seen that almost half of the educational administrators were in the group of early adaptors with respect to their levels of individual innovativeness. In addition, it was revealed that the educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness did not differ with respect to professional experience. Also, it was seen that as the educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness increased in parallel to their Internet use frequencies. The results that with respect to their innovativeness levels, the participating educational administrators were in the group of early adaptors and that their innovativeness levels did not differ depending on their professional experience could be considered important for the expectation that educational administrators are leaders in educational change. In addition, in related literature, it is reported that “manager characteristics influence the adoption of innovation” (Damanpour and Schneider, 2009). In other words, educational administrators constitute the source of human force that leads to spread of innovations into educational institutions and thus to educational change. Therefore, various in-service educational activities to be organized regarding innovation, innovativeness and creativity to increase educational administrators’ levels of innovativeness could help them develop a perspective of innovativeness. According to another result obtained in the study, the educational administrators’ more frequent use of ICTs could influence their levels of innovativeness. In


addition, it is emphasized in literature that the innovative image of an organization, individuals’ perception of innovation and the duration of individuals’ interaction with technology all influence their adoption or refusal of technological innovations (Brahier, 2006). Depending on this, it could be stated that one of the important variables that lead to educational change and innovation involves increasing and spreading the opportunities for educational administrators’ use of technology.

References

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Coklar, A.N. (2012) Individual Innovativeness Levels of Educational Administrators. In: Digital Education Review, 22, 100-110. [Accessed: dd/mm/yyyy] http://greav.ub.edu/der

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