Research Paper: Storytelling

Hand 1
Macey Hand
Amy Wilson
Class
October 28, 2020
Storytelling for Education: A Critique
For as long as humanity has existed, storytelling has been, and will always be, a mainstay of imagination, morality and education. From visual depictions on caves to avatars and digital objects on screens, stories are still powerful to make a difference and spark creativity and imagination among people of different ages, genders, cultures and races. The unprecedented progress in IT innovations has introduced, however, shifts in ways stories are understood, shared and promoted. In contrast to more conventional forms of storytelling, where a storyteller presented and shared a story with an audience physically present, digital storytelling forms and contents are remodeling the storytelling practice in numerous innovative ways. Indeed, conventional ways of storytelling are increasingly giving way to digital, or digitized, stories: these once conventional forms are “repackaged” into new digital forms. To place digital storytelling in context, a close examination is required of current practices. To do so, a rigorous examination of current-state-of-practice-and research is necessary. For current purposes, sample stories are examined in order to explore ways such stories could be used in, and perhaps outside, classroom settings to inculcate certain values, lessons or principles in approachable, learner-friendly ways. This critique aims, accordingly, to examine “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan and “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, using an educational/didactic storytelling approach, in order to explore ways to share embedded values, lessons or principles using modern, digital storytelling forms and methods in and out of classroom settings.
Hand 2
Traditionally, literacy has had a deep-resonating effect in and beyond classrooms. For one, “literacy,” as a concept and practice, has many meanings and applications and, as such, has proven useful in several learning contexts. Today, literacy assumes whole new meanings beyond simple reading and numerical ones. Specifically, literacy in the 21st century means, in addition to conventional meanings, digital knowledge. That is, gaining knowledge and skills in using digital devices and applications is an essential competency students and learners must have in an age defined more by digital communication and constant interactions at a global scale. Unsurprisingly, a growing body of research emphasizes digital literacy development among learners in classroom settings, particularly during early childhood (Maureen, van der Meij and de Jong 374; Yuksel-Arslan, Yildirim and Robin 430). Moreover, digital knowledge could become a leverage to more conventional ways of storytelling in class. That is, by using appealing multimedia effects that are particularly appealing to younger learners in early childhood, in classroom settings, conventional, or older, forms of storytelling – and for that matter stories – could be repackaged in digital forms in order to share lessons and values 21st century children are more receptive to in more appealing, digitized ways. To put matters into perspective, a practical example is helpful.
In “The Lesson,...