e course guide

Course guide

Digital Storytelling as a Learning Tool in

the Foreign Language Classroom

Marianthi Kotadaki, M.Ed.

ELT School Advisor

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Digital Storytelling as a Learning Tool in the Foreign Language Classroom

Marianthi Kotadaki (M.Ed.), School Advisor

Introduction

A digital learning generation

Teaching a foreign language to "digital generation" students in today’s classrooms

requires at least the teachers’ alertness to and flexibility in integrating technological

advances in their classrooms. Major language learning theories promote learner- and

learning-centred approaches, which promote the learners’ active and holistic

involvement in authentic language acts. The development of the students’ productive

(speaking and writing) and collaborative skills is placed at the heart of contemporary

teaching as a key factor for the shaping of communicatively efficient world citizens.

Storytelling and Digital Storytelling

Oral and written language production is intrinsically linked to the human ability to

narrate and frequently constitutes a product of collaborative action. Storytelling is an

effective means for oral and written expression. Traditions, beliefs, cultural norms and

history passed from generation to generation through fables, myths and story-based

rituals, which were meant to teach and entertain, but they were also essential to

people’s identity and survival. Stories are the reflection of our experiences. Therefore,

they can be used to teach lessons, to motivate an audience toward a learning goal. They

are ideal for attitudinal training because when an audience is motivated, they no longer

need to be persuaded, they are inspired to take action. In educational contexts, telling or

writing a story can make learning more effective, as it enables learners to process and

remember information Therefore, it is a demanding cognitive skill, the development of

which requires a strategic process.

Over time, new media have opened new worlds of storytelling possibilities. Digital

storytelling has emerged and developed over the years as a powerful tool for enhancing

learning results. Digital storytelling “…refers to using new digital tools to help ordinary

people to tell their own real-life stories” (Wikipedia). It is defined as the production of

narrative speech enriched with digital multimedia, such as images, audio and video.

Embedding a particular theme or viewpoint in multimedia technology as a modern

channel of sharing personal recounts is considered a contemporary form of self-

expression and, as such, it is adopted for a variety purposes in social, academic and

occupational environments.

Digital stories can be digital documentaries, computer-based narratives, digital essays,

electronic memoirs, interactive storytelling and plenty more narrative types which

embed a variety of multimedia, including graphics, audio, video, and Web publishing.

Pioneer in the field, British photographer, author, and educator Daniel Meadows defined

digital stories as “short, personal multimedia tales told from the heart.” The beauty of

this form of digital expression, he maintained, is that these stories can be created by

people everywhere, on any subject, and shared electronically all over the world.

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Digital Storytelling in EFL/ESL language teaching and learning

Digital Storytelling has over the years evolved into a powerful learning tool in a variety

of educational contexts. The ability to produce effective narratives presupposes the

implementation of significant skills and literacies, such as receptive and productive

language skills, digital and transmedia literacy and collaboration skills.

Integrating Digital Storytelling in the EFL/ESL classroom can generate interest, attention

and motivation for the "digital generation" students, whose analytic and synthetic

language skills, creative talents and communication abilities can be activated and

enhanced by learning to organize and present their ideas in a coherent, linguistically

appropriate and individually meaningful way.

The process of constructing, sharing and evaluating personal narratives can boost the

students’ emotional intelligence and social learning appealing at the same time to their

diverse learning styles, making, in this sense, the Digital Storytelling process a valuable

experience of ownership and accomplishment for both teachers and students.

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About the e-course

‘Digital Storytelling as a Learning Tool in the Foreign Language Classroom’ is an

intensive 4-week-long e-course which introduces prospective English language teachers

into the concept, the process and the pedagogical value of Digital Storytelling. Through

actively engaging in the strategic procedure of creating a digital story, the participants

experientially explore the merits of this pioneering approach for language learning.

The major aims of the course are:

• to investigate the elements of storytelling as a specific genre,

• to present the main principles underlying the production of narrative speech,

• to investigate the elements of Digital Storytelling as a teaching and learning

approach,

• to investigate the contribution of digital storytelling to the production of

authentic and structured spoken and written language,

• to raise awareness of the pedagogical value of integrating digital storytelling in

teaching and learning,

• to investigate the contribution of digital storytelling to the development of

collaboration skills through cooperative creativity,

• to enable the participants to develop collaboration skills through the exchange of

ideas and experiences,

• to enable the participants to actively explore a new pedagogical approach, so that

they may eventually integrate active learning in their teaching,

• to enrich the participants’ academic and pedagogical knowledge and skills and

• to reinforce the participants’ digital literacy, as well as their use of ICT for their

professional development.

The present e-course offers a combination of academic studying, digital training and

personal creativity, so that it may become clear that every means or approach that is

linked to teaching needs to be theoretically underpinned, actively trialed and reflectively

implemented.


Marianthi Kotadaki

The course is structured in

weeks. The infographic below presents an overview of

The infographic was created



E-course structure

is structured in four (4) units thematically distributed in four respective

The infographic below presents an overview of the units’ structure.

The infographic was created with Canva

(https://www.canva.com)

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distributed in four respective

structure.

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The e-course content per unit

Each unit explores a specific topic area related to Digital Storytelling. Participants study

the material and do a small number of assignments per week.

Each week’s content may include:

a) PowerPoint presentations including the key theoretical background on the topic

under focus, with links to websites and other multimodal resources (videos, articles,

infographics, etc.),

b) topic-related research articles for further study and use for assignment completion,

d) documents in doc(x), pdf, or jpeg form to use in particular assignments.

The structure of each unit is as follows:

Week 1

Storytelling becomes Digital Storytelling

This week’s

focus

Study material Assignments Assessment

• Definition and

elements of

storytelling.

• Definition,

elements and

process of Digital

Storytelling.

• Storyboarding

and its

significance in the

creation of digital

stories.

• Pedagogical value

of Digital

Storytelling.

• Examples of

digital stories.

• Research article

on Digital

Storytelling.

• PPT presentation

including the key

theoretical

background on

the topic.

• Set of images to

use as prompts

for story writing.

• Story grid to use

as a guide for

scriptwriting.

• Storyboard

template to use in

Assignment 2.

Assignment 1:

the participants

write the scenario

of a short story

inspired by a

number of

pictures.

Assignment 2:

the participants

create the

storyboard of

their written

scenario

completing a

blank storyboard

template.

1. The participants

get 1 point for

each

appropriately

completed

assignment. An

assignment is

considered

appropriately

completed if the

criteria set in the

instructions are

fully met.

2. The participants

get 1 point for

their contribution

to the self-

assessment quiz.

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Week 2

Tools for Digital Storytelling: text, image and sound

This week’s focus Study material Assignments Assessment

• Presentation of

image and sound

tools (image and

sound libraries,

image and sound

editors).

• Presentation of

multimedia tools

which combine

text, image and

sound (Storybooks

and Comic Strip

creators).

• Tutorials for tools

in video and/or

book form.

PPT presentation

including image

and sound

libraries and

editing tools and

brief

descriptions of

digital storybook

creators

(Storybird,

StoryJumper,

Liitle Bird Tales)

and comic

strip/book

creators

(Toondoo,

Pixton,

Storyboard

That).

Assignment 1:

the participants

use any of the

recommended

digital storybook

creators and

information from

their written

scenario to

create two pages

of a digital

storybook

combining text,

image(s) and/or

sound.

Assignment 2:

the participants

use any of the

comic strip

creators and

information from

their written

scenario to

design a one-

panel scene

related to their

story.

The participants

get 1 point for

each appropriately

completed

assignment. An

assignment is

considered

appropriately

completed if the

criteria set in the

instructions are

fully met.

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Week 3

Tools for Digital Storytelling: entering the world of multimedia

This week’s

focus


• Presentation of

specific

multimedia tools

for Digital

Storytelling

including image,

sound and

animation

(VoiceThread

presentations,

Photostory 3,

Moovly and

Windows Movie

Maker).

• Tutorials for tools

in video and/or

book form.


including brief

descriptions of

the multimedia

tools

(VoiceThread

presentations,

PhotoStory3,

Moovly and

Windows Movie

Maker).

Assignment 1:

the participants

select one of the

presentation

tools to create a

one-slide scene

of their story

combining text,

image and sound.

Assignment 2:

the participants

use Photo Story

3 to create a 3-

picture

slideshow using

information from

their story

scenario and

their own

recorded voice.

Assignment 3:

the participants

select either

Windows Movie

Maker or Moovly

to create an

animated scene

based on their

story scenario.

The participants get

1 point for each

appropriately

completed

assignment. An

assignment is

considered

appropriately

completed if the

criteria set in the

instructions are fully

met.

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Week 4

My digital story

This week’s

focus


• Methodology of

digital story

assembling.

• Definition and

significance of

evaluation rubrics

used in Digital

Storytelling.

• Creation, self-

evaluation and

dissemination of

the created digital

stories.

• Task-based

investigation of

the integration of

Digital

Storytelling in

EFL/ESL teaching

and learning.


including the key

theoretical

background on

assembling,

editing and

evaluating digital

stories.

• Sample

evaluation

rubric.

• Research article

on the

integration of

Digital

Storytelling in

EFL/ESL

teaching and

learning.

• Lesson plan

template.

Assignment 1:

the participants

create their

digital stories

using their

preferred

multimedia tool

and share them

with their peers

on a Padlet wall.

Assignment 2:

the participants

assess their

digital stories

using an

evaluation

rubric.

Assignment 3:

the participants

design a short

lesson plan to

embed Digital

Storytelling in

the foreign

language

classroom.

1. The participants get

1 point for each

appropriately

completed

assignment. An

assignment is

considered

appropriately

completed if the

criteria set in the

instructions are fully

met.

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Forum

To resolve any queries or issues that may arise, or simply to express their views, the

participants use the course forum. Contribution to the forum is considered valuable for

overcoming individual or group difficulties, as well as for the enhancement of peer

communication and, therefore, it is strongly advised.

Important information

1. Participants need to have acquired basic ICT skills and to be willing to

experiment creatively with new ICT tools.

2. Experimentation with the multimedia tools and applications is largely dependent

on adequately fast internet connection speeds.

3. Participants are expected to demonstrate a will for communication and

collaboration.

4. It is important that the participants go through the study material before

proceeding to the assignments.

5. All contact is made online through the forum, where there are possibilities for

general discussion, peer interaction and communication with the trainer.

6. Questions on the assignments and other issues are discussed only online so that

collaborative development and problem solving may be promoted.

7. All assignments are compulsory. There are no deadlines set for assignment

submission, or any other restrictions about time allocation, therefore,

participants are free to manage their study or assignment completion time as

they wish, provided that all assignments should have been successfully

completed by the end of the course.

8. Careful reading of the assignment instructions reduces the likelihood of

misunderstandings or errors.

9. Compliance with the e-course regulations and assignment specifications as well

as decent peer communication, are essential for the smooth flow of the course.

10. The e-course certificate is granted to the participants who have carried out all

assignments correctly and in accordance with the specifications set by the

assignment instructions and/or those provided by the trainer.

e course guide

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