Digital Storytelling in Early Childhood: Student Illustrations Shaping Social Interactions

Abstract

This study tests an instructional model designed to empower students in an early childhood classroom as emerging digital storytellers. Educators can use digital storytelling to support students’ learning by encouraging them to organize and express their ideas and knowledge in an individual and meaningful way while developing voice and facility in child–computer interactions. This work also helps develop traditional communication skills, fosters collaboration, and strengthens emergent literacy practices. Students develop enhanced communication skills by learning to organize their ideas, ask questions, express opinions, and construct narratives as they interact with others and computers in the creation of digital stories. The “Emerging Digital Storytellers” instructional model focuses on social-emotional development and finding student voice through writing and digital content construction in the early childhood educational context.

Development of Learning Methods through Songs and Movements to Improve Children’s Cognitive and Psychomotor Aspects

“…Based on the results of a needs analysis conducted by observing learning and questionnaires to Sunday school teachers, it was found that the majority of teachers still mostly use the storytelling method in teaching. Storytelling techniques that are done traditionally and with digital learning can develop communication skills, collaboration, and strengthen children's literacy practices (O'Byrne et al, 2018). In addition, storytelling can also increase learning motivation (Lee, 2012) and children's language skills and language abilities (Mokhtar et al, 2011).…”

Psychometric Study of a Scale of Measurement of the Digital Stories Creation Using Utellstory

“…The second factor, "contributions to the development of academic and socio-affective competencies" refers to the contributions of the digital stories related to the development of competencies linked to academic development, such as the development of oral and written language, the improvement of oral expression and communication, as well as the promoting of the acquisition of competencies related to the process of socialization of the individuals and the development of greater affectivity. These contributions have been evaluated and included in previous studies by previous researchers [17][18][19]. These studies have pointed out how the training in the use of these digital tools, such as the case of digital stories, contributes to the acquisition of competencies of the teachers-in-training, and how this also affects the students that these teachers will teach in the stages of early childhood education and primary education [20,46].…”

“…These studies referenced the advantages of digital stories [14][15][16], such as the improvement in academic, social and communication skills, imagination, creativity, critical thinking, expression, etc. [17][18][19]. Also, they help in the development of skills from the design, creation, and publishing of content, promoting collaborative and cooperative learning, which provides numerous benefits to teamwork: Initiative, responsibility, equality of opportunities, etc.…”

“…They say these digital narrations are a pedagogical tool, which promotes the student-centered learning strategies. This tool has the following features: (a) Student active participation, (b) reflexive learning, (c) project-based learning, and (d) effective technology integration.These benefits provided by the use of digital storytelling, related to the current importance of the use of an active, participative, and inclusive methodology, are fundamental, as they allow reaching the objectives proposed and the development of competencies that are needed for the comprehensive development of the student [19,20]. However, for this, it is indispensable that the teachers have the necessary qualifications, as they must possess the digital knowledge and abilities needed for adding these new digital tools to the classroom, to make the most out of their use [24][25][26].…”

Child-Centered Design: Developing an Inclusive Letter Writing App

“…Learning to write in multi-modal environments can also be a benefit. According to Mayer (2007), when children learned to write with different materials or on different surfaces, it helped to build fine motor skills and motivated them to write.…”