Creating Constructivist Learning Environments with Digital Storytelling Najat Smeda College of Engineering and Science Victoria University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February, 2014 To my mother, father, husband, mother-in-law and children, with all my love and respect ii Abstract In recent years the use of new technologies in educational systems has increased worldwide, as digital cameras, personal computers, scanners, and easy-to-use software have become available to educators to harness the digital world. The impact of new technologies in educational contexts has been very positive; new technologies have given educators the opportunity to enhance their knowledge, skills, and therefore enhance the standard of education. Researchers have found that student engagement, achievement and motivation are enhanced through integration of such technologies. However, education systems still face many challenges: one of these challenges is how to enhance student engagement to provide better educational outcomes.
It has become increasingly important to use innovative pedagogical models to engage learners. Digital storytelling is one of the innovative pedagogical approaches that can engage students in deep and meaningful learning. The mission of this research is to create a constructivist learning environment with digital storytelling. The research investigates the pedagogical aspects of digital storytelling and the impact of digital storytelling on student learning when teachers and students use digital stories.
This research develops a new e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) framework. This framework is based on the needs and capabilities of learners at various stages of learning. A multi-site case study has been conducted in one Australian school at primary and secondary levels. In selected classrooms, students and teachers have the opportunity to engage in innovative learning experiences based on digital storytelling.
In order to enhance the reliability and validity of the research, multiple methods of data collection and analysis have been used. Data was collected with qualitative and quantitative methods. Rubric evaluation has been used to collect quantitative data, while interviews and observation are used to collect iii qualitative data. Data collection was based on mixed methods research to evaluate if and how digital storytelling enhances teaching and learning outcomes.
The findings from this study suggest that digital storytelling is a powerful tool to integrate instructional messages with learning activities to create more engaging and exciting learning environments. It is a meaningful approach for creating a constructive learning environment based on the principles of teaching and learning. Thus, this approach has the potential to enhance student engagement and provide better educational outcomes for learners. iv Student Declaration “I, Najat Smeda, declare that the PhD thesis entitled “Creating Constructivist Learning Environments with Digital Storytelling” is no more than 100,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, bibliography, references and footnotes.
This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work”. Signature: Date: 19/2/2014 v Acknowledgements First, I would like to pray to the GOD, thanking him for everything, and asking him for forgiveness and support. My full respect and thanks to my family my mother, my father, my husband and to my brothers and my sisters for their love, support, prayers and confidence.
I would like to extend my deep thanks and gratitude to all the people who contributed to enrich my knowledge and improve my competencies. I extend my deep thanks to my principal supervisor Associate Professor Nalin Sharda, who guided me in this project, and provided me with valuable comments and advise, and to my co-supervisor Dr. Eva Dakich, without whose encouragement and support, this research would not have been completed. I am also grateful for the support I received from East Preston Islamic School; I would like to thank all the students and teachers who participate in this research.
I would like also to thank Dr. Diane Brown for copyediting the thesis according to the Australian Standards for Editing Practice (2nd edn., 2013) and, in particular, Standards D and E. Also I would like to acknowledge the support and help provided by Prof. Neil Diamond and Dr.
Ewa Sztendur for their statistical support during analysing the data. I would like to extend my thanks to my government, who made it possible, and offered me this scholarship to do my PhD and also the Libyan embassy staff for providing full support, solving all problems, and paving the way for a suitable study environment. Finally, I would like to thank all my peers, for all the fun we have had together in the last four years. vi List of Publications Smeda, N.
Developing A Framework for Advancing E- Learning through Digital Storytelling. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the IADIS Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems. Freiburg, Germany, pp. Digital Storytelling with Web 2.0 Tools for Collaborative Learning.
In Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources, A. Hershey: IGI Global, pp.Transforming Pedagogies through Digital Storytelling: Framework and Methodology. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Education & e-Learning (EeL) 2012 Bali, Indonesia, pp. The Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in the Classrooms: A Case Study.
Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, pp. The Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in the Classrooms: A Comprehensive Study. Paper accepted at the Smart Learning Environments Journal. vii Table of Contents Abstract.
iii Student Declaration. vi List of Publications. vii Table of Contents. viii List of Figures.
xii List of Tables. xv Chapter 1: Thesis overview .4 Overview of the thesis. 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review .5 Types of digital stories .2 Digital stories that examine historical events .3 Stories that inform or instruct .6 Existing models of digital storytelling .2 Adaptive Digital Storytelling.3 Storylining Suspense and Story Engine.5 Digital Storytelling Cookbook.6 Movement Oriented Design.7 Educational contributions to digital storytelling .8 Pedagogical benefits of digital storytelling .1 Personalised learning experience .3 Building digital literacy .6 Enhancing learning engagement.9 Digital storytelling: A constructivist approach to learning .10 Digital storytelling and curriculum .11 Teachers’ reflections on digital storytelling.12 Summary of the literature review. 41 Chapter 3: Overview of Method and Study Design .1 Definition of the case study .2 Advantages and limitations of the case study.3 Selection of a case study for this research .5 Implementation of digital storytelling in classrooms .2 Students and teacher roles .7 The e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) framework .3 Digital Storytelling Aspects.
63 Chapter 4: Engaging Primary School Students through Digital Storytelling .1 Digital storytelling in ESL class .2 Digital storytelling in library class .3 Using digital storytelling to enhance student engagement .1 Observation in ESL class .2 Observation in library class .4 The impact of digital storytelling on student outcomes .1 Evaluation of outcomes in ESL class .2 Evaluation of outcomes in library class .5 Primary school teachers’ reflections on digital storytelling. 109 Chapter 5: Engaging Secondary School Students through Digital Storytelling.1 Digital storytelling in an Art class .2 Digital storytelling in Science class .3 Digital storytelling in VCAL class .3 Using digital storytelling to enhance student engagement .1 Observation in an Art class .2 Observation in Science class .3 Observation in VCAL class .4 The impact of digital storytelling on student outcomes .1 Evaluation of outcomes in an Art class .2 Evaluation of outcomes in Science class .3 Evaluation of outcomes in VCAL class .5 Secondary school teachers’ reflection on digital storytelling. 169 Chapter 6: Cross-Case Analysis .2 Cross-case analysis of observation data .7 Modes of learning .3 Cross-case analysis of rubric data .1 Overall mean level of student scores.2 Overall performance based on evaluation criteria .4 Cross-case analysis of teacher interviews. 192 Chapter 7: Results and Discussion .2 Using digital storytelling to enhance student engagement .3 The impact of digital storytelling on student outcomes.
213 Chapter 8: Conclusion and Recommendations .4 Significance and contributions to knowledge .6 Recommendations for future research. 233 Appendix A: Classroom observation protocol. 234 Appendix B: The scoring rubric instrument. 238 Appendix C: Teachers’ interview schedule.
240 Appendix D: Information to participants. 242 Appendix E: Consent form. 246 Appendix F: Letter of approval from EPIC. 248 Appendix G: Parents’ consent form.
249 Appendix H: Examples of storyboard for ESL class. 250 Appendix I: Examples of storyboard for 3/4 class. 251 Appendix J: Examples from the students’ digital stories. 253 Appendix K: The e-Learning Digital Storytelling (eLDiSt) Framework.
255 xi List of Figures Figure 2.1 Creating Meaning and Emotional Movement (Sharda, 2005) .2 Story development process .3 Movement Oriented Design (MOD).1 The five levels of the eLDiSt framework .1 Class collaboration for ESL .2 Knowledge gain for ESL .3 Student roles for ESL .4 Teacher roles for ESL .5 Student engagement/instance for ESL .6 Student engagement/time for ESL .7 Technology integration for ESL .8 Modes of learning for ESL .9 Class collaboration for Years 3/4 .10 Knowledge gain for Years 3/4 .13 Student engagement/instance for Years 3/4 .14 Student engagement/time for Years 3/4 .15 Technology integration for Years 3/4 .16 Modes of learning for Years 3/4 .17 Overall scores for digital story quality for ESL.18 Student scores assigned by teachers for ESL .19 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 for ESL .20 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 3 for ESL .21 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 for ESL .22 Mean scores for criteria for ESL .23 Overall scores for digital story quality for Years 3/4 .24 Student scores assigned by teachers for Years 3/4 .25 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 for Years 3/4 .26 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 3 for Years 3/4 .27 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 for Years 3/4 .28 Mean scores for criteria for Years 3/4 .1 Class collaboration for Art class .2 Knowledge gain for Art class .3 Student roles for Art class .4 Teacher roles for Art class .5 Student engagement/instance for Art class .6 Student engagement/time for Art class .7 Technology integration for Art class .8 Modes of learning for Art class .9 Class collaboration for Science class.10 Knowledge gain for Science class .11 Student roles for Science class .12 Teacher roles for Science class .13 Student engagement/instance for Science class .14 Student engagement/time for Science class .15 Technology integration for Science class .16 Modes of learning for Science class .17 Class collaboration for VCAL class .18 Knowledge gain for VCAL class.19 Student roles for VCAL class .20 Teacher roles for VCAL class .21 Student engagement/instance for VCAL class .22 Student engagement/time for VCAL class .23 Technology integration for VCAL class.24 Modes of learning for VCAL class.25 Overall scores for digital story quality for Art class .26 Student scores assigned by teachers for Art class .27 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 for Art class .28 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 3 for Art class .29 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 for Art class .30 Mean score for criteria for Art class .31 Overall scores for digital story quality for Science class.32 Student scores assigned by teacher for Science class .33 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 for Science class .34 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 1 and Teacher 3 for Science class .35 Correlation between evaluations of Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 for Science class .36 Mean score for criteria for Science class .37 Overall scores for digital story quality for VCAL class .38 Student scores assigned by teacher for VCAL class .39 Mean score for criteria for VCAL class .1 Class collaboration for the five case studies .2 Knowledge gain for the five case studies .3 Student roles for the five case studies .4 Teacher roles for the five case studies .5 Student engagement for the five case studies .