What questions (or answers) have formed in your mind in relation to digital storytelling?
The concept of digital storytelling appearing to be promoted as an entity that is non-linear (Handler Miller, 2020) was problematic to me at first. I wondered what impact that had on getting the desired message across to students, on not being able to control the narrative to ensure learning outcomes were met. However, upon further consideration, I surmised that the commentary wasn’t saying it had to be non-linear, but that there had to be the option of the learner participating in the digital storytelling process in a non-linear fashion.
Divergence from the linear in the form of artefacts or objects as triggers for purposeful actions within the digital storytelling environment (for example, clicking on an icon and collecting the resultant information, changing the direction of the story, accessing a feedback/forward mechanism, etc.) is one way (maybe the easiest way, from an authorial point of view) to do this.
Raybourn (2016) comments on this being an integral part of the shared experience of learning in that it provides an opportunity for distributing cognition during the debrief after an activity involving digital storytelling. Where two people have triggered different experiences of the text through their choices as the protagonist or player, collaboration results in improved understanding of the text and the outcomes of the lesson.
How do social media, video and narrative games fit into the mix for you?
For me, social media could perhaps be considered the most user-driven non-linear digital storytelling platform. Without the user interaction, the narrative stalls; with each piece of feedback the confirmation or rejection of the author’s content determines the direction the narrative takes next. Depending on the platform used for distribution, video could be said to be the same if it is being released gradually in a serial format. Then narrative games such as Fallen London or The Witcher or Assassin’s Creed have a limited number (albeit a very large one) of predetermined outcomes, whereas narrative games that come under the banner of MMORPGs (massive multi-player online role-play games) such as World of Warcraft have a predetermined number of outcomes in terms of the NPC interactions and battle statistics, but the role-playing element has limitless opportunities for interactions between player characters.
What are the most important connections to learning overall?
In terms of providing learning opportunities for students via the prescription, suggestion, and/or consumption of digital storytelling, the connections are many but there are three key ones. It would seem that their use has the potential to broaden student literacy skills through the process of defamiliarizing the reader with the traditional reading process and then relearning and rehabitualising within the digital media landscape (Monsen, 2016). Then there is the empowerment and amplification of minority voices (Mathews, 2014) as both models and driving force for creating digital stories. Finally, there is the importance of modern orality and expressing one’s own narrative as a facet of creating a shared experience and in building a social culture of learning (Raybourn, 2016).
References
Matthews, J. (2014). Voices from the heart: The use of digital storytelling in education. Community Practitioner, 87(1), 28-30. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/voices-heart-use-digital-storytelling-education/docview/1474889132/se-2
Miller, C. H. (2019). Digital storytelling 4e : A creator’s guide to interactive entertainment. Taylor & Francis Group. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=5981894&ppg=44
Monsen, Y. (2016, December 16). Brave new literature; Digital textuality, technology, and cyborgian humanity. Medium. https://medium.com/publishizer/brave-new-literature-digital-textuality-technology-and-cyborgian-humanity-5d8f40bf3094
Transmedia Storytelling. (2016, January 26). Ep 71: Learning in the wild with transmedia storytelling: How to use transmedia storytelling for informal and blended learning [Audio podcast]. Podomatic. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/transmedia/episodes/2016-01-26T05_46_28-08_00