• Realised that the digital world was the world in which young people now live and that education has to reflect that.
Today’s students are surrounded by media and sometimes they know how to work with them much better than their teachers. And therefore it is very important to “go with the times”. And learning through movies is one of the possible ways to bring education near to students. Klara, Czech Republic • Were inspired by the idea of the story as an educational tool, for a range of subjects.
We have to use digital storytelling in every topic, it’s such a good way to teach something. We can use digital storytelling in primary and secondary education. We can also use it in museums, in higher education, public health, healthcare, international development, religious training, libraries. Gülsah Uysal, Turkey And the answers to our questions 1. How does the opportunity to create a digital narrative allow pupils, students, teachers, storytellers to tell unheard stories? • Some stories were familiar but they were told by someone who had actually experienced it (e.g. Think), some students and pupils shared stories they had never told before. The creation of the digital stories invited them to reflect critically and voice their societal and political position within the group and within Europe (e.g. Being Greek in Erasmus, Hooliganism, Our Erasmus experience). 2. Can digital storytelling be used as a didactic tool even by teachers who are no digital natives? • The response from the students and the teachers’ feedback prove beyond any doubt that digital storytelling can have numerous uses in school education.
• The students appreciated the fact that one of their fellow students instructed them and his teachers on the use of Movie Maker. 3. How does digital storytelling engage students, pupils and teachers? • Students as well as pupils were highly involved during the creation of their stories and saw many opportunities to use digital stories as didactic tools (e.g. they made digital portfolios and one Greek student has planned to use it in his STEM education. The primary school teacher wants to try out using it in other subjects and as a means of flipping the classroom). 4. How does digital storytelling contribute to the acquisition of the European key competences? • Communication in the mother tongue: students and pupils shared their personal stories, negotiated and discussed, they wrote scripts and storyboards. • Communication in foreign languages: the students and pupils used English, which is not their mother tongue, for listening, speaking, researching, reading and writing. In listening to personal stories and in creating digital stories in international groups, they also practised intercultural understanding. The pupils highly appreciated the fact that they had the chance to improve their English in an international context. • Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology. “The Summer Book” is situated in a remote island in the Gulf of Finland exploring survival skills. Linking to make culture we asked pupils, students, teachers to reflect on the importance of understanding nature to live either on a remote island or in town, in a suburban area: spatial thinking. We also asked our storytellers to link their narratives in a visual map sequencing and interlinking their digital design: logical thinking. Some students used scientific metaphors as story frames.
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