As humans, our ability to tell stories, throughout time and history has provided us with common ground, connections, and bonds that have been passed down from generation to generation. Stories in themselves, have come to signify hope for people who would otherwise not have imagined the world of endless possibilities to exist. In addition, stories often present compelling emotional elements that appeal to a wide variety of senses. The advent and dissemination of the information and communication technologies (ICT) have further allowed for stories to be told through a plethora of sources.

Digital storytelling has consequently emerged as an effective and cogent approach that has been used in a variety of industries. In the field of education, digital storytelling has provided educators with an opportunity to transform the teaching and learning process into an engaging, interactive and relatable learning experiences. More recently, the approach has also been recognized as having enormous benefits when utilized in the development of e-learning courses (Neal, 2001; Smeda, Dakich & Sharda, 2010). In the lessons that follow I will review some common definitions for digital storytelling as well the 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling. Additionally, I will also explore the types of story-based instruction (techniques) and the implications of digital storytelling for learners, educators, and instructional designers.

References

Neal, L. (2001). Storytelling at a distance. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from eLearn Magazine, an ACM Publication website: https://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=566979&doi=10.1145%2F566970.566979v

Smeda, Najat, Dakich, Eva and Sharda, Nalin (2010) Developing a framework for advancing e-learning through digital storytelling. In: Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on e-Learning. Nunes, Miguel Baptista and McPherson, Maggie, eds. International Association for Development of the Information Society, Freiburg, Germany, pp. 169-176.