Middle School Teachers’ Use of Digital Storytelling as an Instructional Strategy in Response to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts

MSERA Presentation

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher practice in using digital storytelling as an instructional approach to the new Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts.  Over a six-week period, I followed two middle school language arts teachers through their initial planning, the implementation and the assessment of student-created digital stories within a unit of instruction centered on S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders (1967).   Student projects focused on analysis of theme, characterization, conflict or setting in the novel. In addition to using digital storytelling software, students worked independently and collaboratively using a wiki site, Google Docs, Schoology, Zotero, Symbaloo, and TodaysMeet. 

I used qualitative case-study methodology for this investigation.  My data collection included three-part semi-structured interviews with teacher participants to capture insights at each phase of the project, notes and video footage from nine classroom observations, and notes from informal conversations with teachers and students.  Additionally, I had access to teacher-created artifacts, relevant correspondence between the teachers, student work in progress, collaborative/peer review environments, and students’ final digital stories.

I organized the data according to five research questions: 1) How do teachers approach instructional planning for a reading/writing unit that incorporates digital storytelling? 2) What instructional strategies do teachers use in a reading/writing unit that incorporates digital storytelling? 3)  How do teachers help students acquire the technology skills needed to produce a digital story?    4) How do teachers monitor and assess student learning during and after a unit on digital storytelling?  5) What are the challenges of implementing a reading/writing unit that incorporates digital storytelling? 

My study findings support the viability of Wallace’s theoretical framework for understanding teaching with the Internet (2004), particularly in the areas of pedagogical context and disciplinary context. The implications of the study reinforce the efficacy of collaborative planning and problem-solving when designing instruction that incorporates student use of digital tools and Internet resources. 

Additional Research on Digital Storytelling

Research supports the use of digital storytelling to strenghten reading, writing, and thinking skills.  Several studies suggest the viability of this medium for use in English language arts, social studies and science instruction.  Below are links to studies that examine student learning and teacher practice in digital storytelling:

University of Illinois:  Digital Storytelling Research

University of Houston:  Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

Stony Brook University:  Digital Storytelling and Multimodal Literacy

Prarienet Community:  Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

Researching and Evaluating Digital Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool