Presentation at HELTASA 2012

1. Towards the development of
digital storytelling models for use
in resource-poor environments
and across disciplines to activate
student’ social and cultural capital
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Daniela Gachago, Eunice Ivala, Veronica Barnes, Penny Gill,
Joseline Felix-Minnaar, Jolanda Morkel and Nazma Vajat

2. Digital storytelling in Education
• Digital stories are short movie clips, created
with off-the-shelf equipment and software,
combining text, images, videos, music and
• Digital stories are short movie
narration (Lundby, 2008).
clips, created with off-the-shelf
equipment and software,
combining text, images, videos,
• Some very personal others more content
based (digitalmusic and narration2012).
narratives: Clarke & Thomas, (Lundby,
2008).
• Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
Digital storytelling in Education

3. Digital storytelling in Education
• Potential to transform pedagogical
practices and to provide opportunities for
• Digital stories are short movie
new knowledge building and identities (Scott
clips, created with off-the-shelf
Nixon, 2009).
equipment and software,
• Critical reflection
combining text, images, videos,
• Contextualising / and narration (Lundby,
music transfer of knowledge
2008).
between academic and community settings
• Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
Personal stories - purpose

4. Digital storytellingessayEducation
• Replacing traditional in assignments
• Particularly suitable approach for teaching
students•from non-traditional educational
Digital stories are short movie
clips, created with off-the-shelf
backgrounds,
equipment and software,
• and/or those for whom academic literacy and
combining text, images, videos,
plagiarism is a challenge (Barnes, Gachago, & Ivala,
music 2012). narration (Lundby,
2012; Clarke & Thomas,
and
2008).
• Authentic Learning opportunities (Herrington et al.
2010)
• Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
Content based stories - purpose

5. Digital storytellinginin Education
• Research mainly research rich
environments, focus on giving voice to
marginalised groups are short movie
• Digital stories
clips, created with off-the-shelf
• What’s equipment andstorytelling in
missing? Digital software,
resource poor environment videos,
combining text, images,
music and narration (Lundby,
2008).
• Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
Research on Digital storytelling

6. Get pc version from Daniela
1st year Industrial Design Students

7. • Diverse learners (age,
gender, race, economic
backgrounds)
• Diverse preparedness for
tertiary education
• Diverse access to
resources
Context of CPUT

8. Course Gender Age Race
name
F M Under 22-30 Over 30 White Black Coloured Indian
21 African
ArchTech 39% 61% 96% 4% 0% 0 54% 42% 4%
Nursing 89% 11% 11% 46% 43% 0 54% 46% 0
Design 44% 56% 72% 24% 4% 83% 2% 15% 0
Food 69% 31% 32% 60% 8% 23% 79% 16% 1%
Tech
Courses involved

9. Course Gender Age Race
name
F M Under 22-30 Over 30 White Black Coloured Indian
21 African
ArchTech 39% 61% 96% 4% 0% 0 54% 42% 4%
Nursing 89% 11% 11% 46% 43% 0 54% 46% 0
Design 44% 56% 72% 24% 4% 83% 2% 15% 0
Food 69% 31% 32% 60% 8% 23% 79% 16% 1%
Tech
Courses involved

10. • Bourdieu (1986): social and cultural capital
Digital storytelling in Education
determine students educational success
• Digital stories are short movie
• Slightly deterministic view of social
reproduction created with off-the-shelf
clips,
equipment and software,
• Critiques: how do students activate these
combining text, images, videos,
capitals?music capitals are we (Lundby,
What and narration talking
2008).
about? (Lareau & McNamara Horvath 1999, Yosso
2005) • Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
Social and cultural capital

11. Digital storytelling in Education
These differences in students’ cultural capital
reflect the legacy of Apartheid. In today’s South
• Digital stories are short movie
Africa, race and language still plays a significant
clips, created with off-the-shelf
role in determining educationalsoftware,
equipment and and economic
combining text, images, videos,
privilege, with white students speaking English
music and narration (Lundby,
or Afrikaans tending to be the most privileged
2008).
(Leibowitz et al 2010).
• Some very personal others
more content based (digital
narratives: Clarke & Thomas,
2012).
South African context

12. •• RIFTAL funded
RIFTAL funded
•• Collaboration between Fundani and
Collaboration between Fundani and
various academics
various academics
•• Exploring use of digital stories across
Exploring use of digital stories across
disciplines
disciplines
•• And with differently positioned students
And with differently positioned students
and for different learning purposes
and for different learning purposes
the Study

13. Mobile learning and digital stories

14. Mobile learning and digital stories

15. Courses involved

16. Courses involved

17. Courses involved

18. Courses involved

19. Courses involved

20. Course models of DST projects

21. 1st year ECP Nursing students

22. •• Mixed methods
Mixed methods
•• Quantitative survey, statistical tests
Quantitative survey, statistical tests
•• Focus groups for explicating findings
Focus groups for explicating findings
Methodology

23. 1. Do students’ backgrounds matter?
1. Do students’ backgrounds matter?
2. How do students perceive model
2. How do students perceive model
used (support etc)?
used (support etc)?
3. How did they enjoy the project?
3. How did they enjoy the project?
How happy are they with results?
How happy are they with results?
Findings

24. Findings

25. Findings

26. “… the whole time I had no idea what I was
going to do because I didn’t know this digital
story. I asked myself how are we going to do this
because we don’t have an idea.”
I used iMovie …but it’s similar to
PhotoStory …it’s got nice transitions…
you could use text sliding… with the
music you are able to fade out your
music & add in new music & transitions.
So I enjoyed it – I thought PhotoStory
was very limiting.
Findings

27. Findings

28. Findings

29. You guys really carried us throughout the
process, from the initiation when we had to do our
story development; you guys really gave us personal
attention to what our story was about. So I think from
the onset we, we were nurtured hey?
Just to review the outcome really, [lecturer
and facilitator role] so very little input
actually on how we were able to or going
to approach our subject matter.
Findings

30. … we don’t have Internet at home....it
was actually difficult –you have to do
something which you need the
Internet for… you may have a little or
no information … You couldn’t
contribute to your group work. …the
people who don’t know
computers … for sure sometimes
[we feel] as if we are
isolated…
Findings

31. Findings

32. Findings

33. “The moment I saw it coming I started
seeing mistakes, oh I could have done that
better. I could have done that better because I
saw especiallywhen I saw other
people’s videos, then I started seeing oh I
could have improved that and that but ja I was
proud, but not very proud.”
Findings

34. •• Product vs Process “What set digital
Product vs Process “What set digital
storytelling apart are really the process
storytelling apart are really the process
and the purpose””(Tacchi 2009: 171).
and the purpose (Tacchi 2009: 171).
•• Diverse settings with diverse students
Diverse settings with diverse students
need “high degree of versatility,
need “high degree of versatility,
adaptability, and flexibility in the
adaptability, and flexibility in the
format and practice of creating the
format and practice of creating the
stories”. (Clarke 2009: 151)
stories”. (Clarke 2009: 151)
Discussion

35. Burgess (2006, p. 210): “vernacular literacies –
skills and competencies that cannot simply be
reduced to cultural capital or an ‘artistic’
education, but that instead exploit
competencies built up through everyday
experience, especially experience [acquired]
as a mass media consumer.”
Vernacular Literacies

36. • Digital stories to cross the divide
between formal and informal learning
• Opportunity for students to draw on
alternative social & cultural
capitals, such as rich oral storytelling
tradition, rich life experience, or digital
literacies. (Yosso 2005)
Alternative social and cultural capitals

37. • Digital storytelling is viable in various settings
provided you chose the right model
• Use of technologies that are easily
accessible to students (mobile
technologies)
• Don’t underestimate resourcefulness of
students, but also provide necessary
support and resources where needed
Conclusions

38. 1st Year ECP Architectural Technology

39. CPUTstories YouTube channel

40. Barrett, H. (2006). Digital Stories in ePortfolios: Multiple Purposes and Tools. Retrieved January 25, 2011, from
http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/purposes.html
Bozalek, V. (2011). Acknowledging privilege through encounters with difference: Participatory Learning and Action techniques for decolonising
methodologies in Southern contexts. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 14(6), 469–484.
Burgess, J. (2006). Hearing ordinary voices: cultural studies, vernacular creativity and digital storytelling. Continuum: Journal of Medai & Cultural Studies,
20(2), 201–214. doi:10.1016/S0190-9622(06)01179-0
Clarke, M. A. (2009). Developing digital storytelling in Brazil. In J. Hartley & K. McWilliam (Eds.), Story Circle: Digital Storytelling around the world (pp.
144–154). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Clarke, R. G. H., & Thomas, S. (2012). Digital Narrative and the Humanities: An Evaluation of the Use of Digital Storytelling in an Australian
Undergraduate Literary Studies Program. Higher Education Studies, 2(3), 30–43. doi:10.5539/hes.v2n3p30
Donner, J. (2009a). Blurring Livelihoods and Lives: The Social Uses of Mobile Phones and Socioeconomic Development. Innovations: Technology,
Governance, Globalization, 4(1), 91–101. Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/80461/INNOVATIONS-4.1_Donner.pdf
Donner, J. (2009b). Mobile-based livelihood services in Africa: pilots and early deployments (M. Fernánd., pp. 37–58). Barcelona: IN3. Retrieved from
http://in3.uoc.edu/web/PDF/communication-technologies-in-latin-america-and-africa/Chapter_01_Donner.pdf
Lareau, A., & McNamara Horvath, E. (1999). Moments of social inclusion and exclusion: race , class , and cultural capital in family school relationships.
Sociology of Education, 72(1), 37.
Lundby, K. (2009). The matrices of digital storytelling: examples from Scandinavia. In J. Hartley & K. McWilliam (Eds.), Story Circle: Digital Storytelling
around the world (pp. 176–187). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mills, K. A. (2010). A Review of the Digital Turn’' in the New Literacy Studies. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 246–271. Retrieved from
http://rer.sagepub.com/content/80/2/246.full.pdf+html
Reitmaier, T., Bidwell, N. J., & Marsden, G. (2010). Field Testing Mobile Digital Storytelling Software in Rural Kenya, 283–286.
Reitmaier, T., Bidwell, N. J., & Marsden, G. (2012). Situating Digital Storytelling within African Communities, 1–17.
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Education. Retrieved from http://www.che.ac.za/documents/d000155/HE_Monitor_6_ITLS_Oct2007.pdf
Tacchi, J. A. (2009). Finding a voice: digital storytelling as participatory development in Southeast Asia. In J. Hartley & K. McWilliam (Eds.), Story Circle:
Digital Storytelling around the world. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
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References