Digital Storytelling: Opportunities for Increasing Critical Thinking Skills in a 21st Century Classroom

Timothy B. Hoisington

July 9, 2011

A Masters Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree, Masters in Arts of Secondary Schools, at The Colorado College

Approved ____________________________Date _____________(Primary Advisor)

Approved ____________________________Date _____________(Secondary Advisor)

Digital Storytelling: Opportunities for Increasing Critical Thinking Skills in a 21st Century

Classroom

Timothy B. Hoisington

Colorado College MAT Candidate2010-2011

Lee DerrMR Supervisor

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Table Of Contents

Introduction …………………………………………………........ 4

Literature Review ………………………………………………. 16

Methods ……………………………………………………….... 26

School Demographics – 26

Introduction – 27

Approach to Methods – 32

Digital Story Evaluation – 37

Results……………………………………………………………39

Introduction – 39

Quantitative Data – 40

Qualitative Data – 41

Student Examples – 43

Discussion………………………………………………...…….. 50

Conclusion………………………………………………...……. 55

References……………………………………………….…..….. 57

Appendices……………………………………………………… 60

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IntroductionToday’s generation of students are being referred to as the “Net Generation” – a

cohort of people that has grown up with access to many new digital technologies. The

“Net Generation” consists of learners that were born in the 1980’s and after when newer

technologies such as computers became available (Oblinger, 2005). The students that

have grown up during this new age of technology have had access to a variety of different

resources that former generations did not. The availability of TV, videos, computers,

video games and other forms of digital technologies has not only changed what kids do

outside of school, but also their performance in an academic setting. Today’s students are

much more visually literate than previous generations, and learn much more effectively

with visual images (Oblinger, 2005). Studies have shown that with this new generation

of students, “the understanding of pictures or icons develops at an earlier age than the

ability to read words” (Greenfield, 2009 p. 70). Today’s digital technologies facilitate the

development of visual literacy skills that are needed in the 21st century, and helps prepare

them to take advantage of the media-rich environments, and skills needed for the many

different professions (Greenfield, 2009).

The technological skills that kids develop growing up in the “Net Generation” are

skills that older generations simply don’t have. Growing up in a world that not only

encourages the use of technology, but surrounds them with the technology allows

students growing up in this new age to develop unique processing skills. For instance,

studies have found that kids growing up in the “Net Generation” are able to multitask

more effectively (Barnes, 2007; Greenfield, 2009), and they have increased visual

intelligence, which can be particularly beneficial to science and technology (Greenfield,

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2009). However, due to the constant flashes of images that these kids see on television

and video games they require a much more engaging, interactive and fast paced

environment to learn (Oblinger, 2005).

Kids growing up in the “Net Generation” are often, “more comfortable in image-rich

environments than with text” (Oblinger, 2005 p. 2.7). They are constantly stimulated by

real time media such as radio, television, and film which causes them to have minimal

time to reflection on what they are seeing and hearing. Studies have shown that the ability

to reflect on the material that is learned is associated with inductive problem-solving

competence (Greenfield, 2009). Video games are so stimulating that they often punish the

viewer for stopping to reflect on the situation (Greenfield 2009). Reflection usually

requires reading, and reading has significantly declined with the “Net Generation.” One

study found that by the time someone growing up in the “Net Generation” was 21, they

will spend twice as much time playing video games (10,000 hours) as they spend reading

(5,000 hours) (Oblinger, 2005). They will spend an addition 200,000 hours on email,

20,000 hours watching TV and 10,000 hours on their cell phones (Barnes, 2007). The

newer technologies that have become available have undoubtedly come at a cost –

reading.

The challenge that educators face today is how to take advantage of the skills that the

digital media has given to today’s students, in order to develop 21st century skills.

“Students on average retain 10 percent of what they read but closer to 30 percent of what

they see” (Oblinger, 2005 p. 2.14). Studies have shown that video games can help

students learn the process of the scientific method (Salazar, 2011). When students play

video games they must become familiar with the landscape before solving a problem that

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is presented in the game which is similar to formulating a hypothesis based on

background knowledge. The video games also help with the 21st century skills of,

“critical thinking, problem solving, iterative design, creativity, collaboration, digital

media literacy” (Salazar, 2011). AMD Changing the Game is an initiative of the AMD

Foundation which is currently working on teaching students science, technology,

engineering and math (STEM) skills by allowing them to design video games

(Gershenfeld, 2011). The advantage to teaching today’s students using video games is

that the students are interested in the technology, and learn important 21st century skills

while having fun doing it.

Through understanding the differences in which students learn, it is possible to take

advantage of technological resources in the school setting to develop the 21st century

skills of problem solving, information processing, and critical thinking through a science

curriculum. Today, 21st century programs are being developed around the United States,

which seek to integrate computers into the curriculum in order to motivate students to

learn and develop the necessary skills they need for entering the workforce when they

grow up. The world is constantly changing with new technologies, so it is important that

teachers constantly change the way they teach in order to give their students the

necessary tools upon graduation.

21st century programs are a relatively new, since the resources available to implement

a program that utilizes computers became available very recently. Throughout the 1980’s

schools that could afford to buy large numbers of computers often put them in a central

laboratory in which students used the computers once or twice a week (Penuel, 2006).

Teachers reported that when the computers are in labs they are not used very often

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because of scheduling conflicts as well as the time it takes to transport the students to the

lab (Penuel, 2006). The labs were also found to be used solely to deliver information in a

way that does not require critical thought (Barrios, 2004). Computers are more beneficial

when they are incorporated into the learning environment. 1:1 laptop initiatives are when

each student is provided a computer in the classroom. These initiatives have become

more prevalent in the United States as the cost of computers decreased, because schools

are now able invest in more computers. Studies showed that when the computers are

more available to the students and teachers they become more of a supplemental tool

which can be entwined into the 21st century classroom (Penuel, 2006). The lighter weight

of laptops and availability wireless networks helped with their feasibility in the

classroom, and the, “the earliest initiatives in the U.S. began appearing in the mid-1990’s

(Penuel, 2006 p. 30). Every year 1:1 laptop programs are appearing in new schools

around the globe, and they continue to rise in popularity as the costs of buying laptops

goes down, and the world continues to become more reliant on technology.

1:1 computer initiatives have many advantages in the 21st century classroom. With

24 hour access to computers, students are given the resources to obtain information

whenever they want, which allows them take ownership over their learning. Students can

generate questions and get answers more quickly than searching through textbooks.

Giving each student a computer allows them to solidify many 21st century skills, and it

allows them to utilize the resources that are available in the technologically rich world

that we live in today. Using laptops as resources, students can collaborate with other

students and teachers to help them gather information in a more independent way. The

computers allow teachers to adopt a more hands off approach to teaching in which they

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are able to guide the students to obtain the information instead of traditional methods of

providing them with the information.

A national organization that promotes the use of 21st century skills is the

Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.p21.org). The organization stresses the

development of: critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration,

and creativity and innovation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills defines critical

thinking skills as the ability to: Use various types of reasoning, analyze how parts of a

whole interact with each other, make judgments and decisions, and be able to solve

problems (www.p21.org). Through building a framework which weaves essential 21st

century skills into the curriculum and standards, students will become more engaged in

what they are learning, and ultimately develop many important skills that are relevant to

the world they live in. In addition to the core subjects that schools teach in their

curriculum, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills proposes that teachers incorporate the

following 21st century interdisciplinary themes into the curriculum:

Global Awareness Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy Civic Literacy Health Literacy Environmental Literacy

(http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf)

With regards to outcomes, the 21st century classroom focuses on the integration of

technology in the development of workforce skills (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Modified from www.p21.org. Learning outcomes from a 21st century classroom

Although there have been many

proponents to the use of technology in

classrooms to promote 21st century

skills, some people are skeptical about

the effectiveness of implementing a 1:1

laptop program in a classroom. Critics

argue that the large investments in

computers should be redirected

elsewhere because the computers are

“oversold and underused” and they do

not have much of an effect on learning

(Penuel, 2006, p. 333). Sometimes teachers are not adequately trained to use computers,

so they may try to avoid using them. When computers are implemented into programs it

is important that teachers have, “technological pedagogical content knowledge” and they

understand, “how to use various technologies, and how those technologies can be used

well to teach and learn the content” (Zucker, 2008).

Critics of 1:1 laptop programs argue that, “the hyperlinked nature of the World

Wide Web promotes more or less aimless wandering, or browsing, which lacks utility

when seeking specific information (Gay, 2001, p. 259)” A survey conducted in 2002 with

responses from over 90,000 teachers, indicated that computers were usually used for low-

level learning when they were put in a teacher-centered environment (Lowther, 2008, p.

197). Others argue that especially with young learners, students lack the self-regulation

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methods to use the computers effectively, which could hinder their learning (Salovaara,

2005). The challenge that teachers face is figuring out how to use computers as a

technological tool rather than allowing computers to take over the classroom. If laptops

can be used to supplement the classroom discussion about topics, they can have the

potential to enhance learning. However, if teachers fail to separate the subject matter

from the technology, computers can have a negative impact in the classroom (Beatham,

2009).

In 1996 Bill Clinton gave a speech in which he announced, “We know, purely and

simply, that every single child must have access to a computer, must understand it, must

have access to good software and good teachers and to the Internet, so that every person

will have the opportunity to make the most of his or her life” (Goldfarb, 2002, p. 8). Six

years later the No Child Left Behind Act was passed by George W. Bush, which put an

increased focus on student performance in the classroom. The bill is based on standard-

based education reform in which states set high academic standards for schools. Each

state performs a yearly statewide test. Schools then receive their Adequate Yearly

Progress reports that show how the school or district is performing according to the

standardized tests. The Enhancing Education Through Technology Program was created

along with the No Child Left Behind Act and provides funds to schools by looking at the

schools performance from year to year. The funds are used to help schools utilize

technology in order to improve teaching and learning. The Enhanced Education Through

Technology Program led to many different programs that utilized technology within the

schools.

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The No Child Left Behind Act paved the way for further discussions about

teacher accountability. One idea that came up was a “Pay for performance” plan in which

teachers are paid according to their effectiveness in the classroom. Although discussions

about this idea have been going on since 1867, it is only recently that schools have started

to implement the concept into schools (Springer, 2010). The district in which the action

research was conducted began implementing a new program the year of this study called

the “Effectiveness and Results Pay-for-Performance Plan,” which seeks to pay teachers

according to their performance in the classroom. The system varied from other systems,

because the teachers’ salaries are based on annual evaluations as well as the academic

progress of the students. Within the Pay-for-Performance plan teachers needed to perform

better each year in order to receive raises in salary. Under the new system, teachers could

advance nine different levels from “novice” to “master” in which they could exceed the

traditional system’s highest paid position by over 20,000, and make 90,000 a year

(Mitchell, 2010). The superintendent of the district was quoted saying, “in almost any

district in Colorado, even if your evaluation is not satisfactory, unless you are removed

from the classroom, you will get a raise. That is the key question – if you’re not

proficient, why should you get the same exact advancement as a proficient teacher”

(Mitchell, 2010)? The district saw a turn around in the academic performance of the

students after the superintendent took the superintendent job. The success was accredited

to the open door policy in which principals were encouraged to observe teachers in their

classrooms 8-16 times a year (Mitchell, 2010).

The philosophy of holding teachers more accountable had worked so far in a

district that is made up of predominantly lower income students. There were fears

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Figure 2: Modified from Day (2005). Computer use based on family income and ethnicity.

however that the new “E and R” Pay-for-Performance Plan could handcuff teachers in

what they were able to teach. The “E and R Plan” required the district to conduct

assessments of the students every three and a half weeks. While the teachers did not

know the questions that were on the tests, they were given curriculum maps, which

helped to guide the teachers in what material should be covered by the assessments. They

were also given item maps which outlined what each test question was going to be on.

The study was conducted in a

21st century science classroom. The

classes that were taught to the students

in the program were: Math, Science,

Economics and Globalization, Critical

Thinking, Information Processing and

Chinese. Within the program there were

two sixth grade classes, two seventh

grade classes and two eighth grade

classes, which were divided according

to math scores. Since language arts was

not part of the program, it was the

obligation of all of the teachers to teach students reading and writing in addition to their

own standards. The students within the district were from primarily Hispanic lower class

families. Studies have shown that Hispanic families and low socioeconomic families have

the least accessibility to computers in the United States (Figure 2). The 21st century

program provided computer access to many students who would otherwise not have

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access to computers. Each student was provided with a computer and access to wireless

internet among other resources. Using the laptops to supplement instruction, the goal of

the program was to teach students important 21st century skills along with the content

within the curriculum.

The research was conducted with the two eighth grade classes. The classes

participated in a week long project in which they created a digital story about a concept

that is being covered in class. The goal of giving students a digital story project was to

teach students 21st century computer skills by helping them understand the content more

critically, as they organized it into a story. Students worked in groups, and had to

collaborate together to plan a digital story. The students had to create a 2-3 minute digital

story in which they used their own narrative elements to describe a given science

concept. The major difficulty in attempting this research was the amount of time I had to

conduct the project. Digital storytelling has been conducted successfully in many

classrooms; however these classrooms did not have assessments being conducted every

three and a half weeks. The “E and R plan” creates a classroom that does not give a lot of

flexibility within the curriculum, and the students had to be given strict deadlines to

complete the project. One possibility to solving this problem is “front loading,” the

curriculum and covering the material at a fast pace at the beginning of the unit. By front

loading the curriculum, I had a week for the students to complete the project before the

next assessment set and the next month’s curriculum.

There are many advocates for implementing digital storytelling into today’s

curriculums. A digital story is defined by the Center for Digital Storytelling as: A short,

first-person video-narrative created by combining recorded voice, still and moving

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images, and music or other sounds (www.storycenter.org). Some proponents advocate for

an entire curriculum to be based on digital stories. Roger Schank (2002) proposed that

high schools clean out their entire senior year curriculums in favor of a Story Centered

Curriculum (SCC). SCC’s could potentially provide students with the skills needed to get

jobs after school, because they are goal-based projects (Schank, 2002). These curriculums

could enhance students 21st century skills by giving them the tools needed to succeed

after school. In a curriculum with so many assessments throughout the year, it would be

extremely difficult to teach students an entire unit using digital stories, however I believe

that digital stories could effectively teach students a segment of a specific unit. Digital

stories could effectively teach the students the material that is covered in class, while also

contributing to the development of important 21st century skills such as critical thinking.

Digital storytelling has the potential to influence students’ 21st century skills

because it gives students ownership over the material they are covering. Students are

motivated to produce digital stories because they are able to put it in their own language

which they can relate to. When students create a digital story, they must use critical

thinking to not only find the material needed for the digital story, but also to organize the

story into something that other students can understand (Anderson, 2010). Students must

use the 21st century skills of collaboration within their groups, to research and organize

the story. Students inevitably have to assign different roles to accomplish the goal of

finalizing the story. Within this classroom, the teacher and the computer become more of

a guide, while the students are the ones who have to actively put the information together

on their own.

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In a world that is dominated by new technologies, it is important that teachers

begin to give students the necessary tools to succeed once they enter the workforce. In

this study, I used the ENGAGE model, (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate)

to teach students a specific unit using digital stories. Sarah Davison (2009) was able to

use the ENGAGE model effectively to create a digital story project with her second

graders on a trip to the zoo. The same model can be used with eight graders, in which

they are given a topic that is in the science standards, and they elaborate on what they

learn using a digital story. The utilization of digital stories within the curriculum can help

students develop the important 21st century skills of information processing, collaboration

and critical thinking. Digital story projects not only teach students the science content

that they need to know, but also the skills that they need to be successful in today’s ever

changing world.

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Literature Review

As the world continues to become more technologically advanced, schools have

begun to realize the importance of integrating 21st century skills into their curriculum.

The No Child Left Behind Act created an education system in which schools were held

more accountable for the success of the students. At the same time, the No Child Left

Behind act also started programs such as the Enhancing Education Through Technology

Program which was created to fund technology rich programs for schools that are

successfully increasing test scores of their students. Educators are realizing the

importance of teaching students the skills needed to succeed beyond their schooling even

in secondary education. In the four years of implementing the 21st century program at the

middle school in which the research was done, test scores of students in the program

showed positive results in their content knowledge relative to the rest of the school

(figures 6, 7, 8). In addition, the 21st century skills that the students were taught, helped

them with critical thinking, collaborative learning, and information processing. There is a

lot of evidence that supports digital storytelling as an effective method of teaching

students these skills, while also helping them obtain content knowledge.

Stories have the ability to connect people emotionally to a certain subject much

more than any other type of media. When someone tells a good story the listener becomes

entranced by the material and wants to learn more about it. The curiosity that is invoked

in a good story can be utilized to teach students different material in class. “A good

teacher is not one who explains things correctly, but one who couches explanations in a

memorable (ie, an interesting) format” (Schank, 1990, p. 15). Students are never going to

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remember everything a teacher says, however if a teacher is able to invoke curiosity in

learning the material they have succeeded. Students will retain the information they learn

only if they find some interest in what they are learning.

“Storytelling is the most original form of teaching” (Sadik, 2008, p. 489). Stories

are human’s traditional ways of passing down information from generation to generation.

Before people had pencil and paper, it was one of the few ways to pass down information

in an effective way, because it captured the audience’s attention. A lot of people’s

conversations rely on the telling of stories, and in a way, “each of us ‘authors’ her own

story” (Davis, 2004 p. 1). With each experience, people create some sort of narrative,

which takes on the form of a story. “Experience is distilled into narrative, and the

narrative itself becomes a tool which shapes memory and mediates future experiences”

(Davis, 2004, p. 2). The narrative reflects the perception of different events. This

narrative is an unconscious emotional response to the different things that people

experience, which shapes how and what we learn. Storytelling is one of the first ways of

communication that a child learns growing up, “At an early stage speech accompanies the

child’s actions and reflects the vicissitudes of problem solving in a disrupted and chaotic

form. At a later stage speech moves more and more toward the starting point of the

process, so that it comes to precede action” (Davis, 2004, p. 1).

As kids grow up, they become better able to tell stories and respond to others’ stories

with their own related stories (Schank, 1990). People learn over time that telling stories

not only helps them relate to others but it also helps them prove a point. “Stories illustrate

points better than simply stating the points themselves because, if the story is good

enough, you usually don’t have to state your point at all; the hearer thinks about what you

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have said and figures out the point independently” (Schank, 1990, p. 12). Learning about

new material involves building on previous material that one has learned in the past. The

process of compiling information involves relating stories from the past to new

information in the present. Thus, stories are the basis in which students learn material.

Creating a learning environment in which stories are incorporated into the curriculum can

help to engage the learner in the material, and allow them to become more connected to

what they are learning about.

Traditionally, stories have been made up completely of speech in which the audience

must listen intently to what the storyteller has to say. “In classrooms of the past, visual

encoding of material was ignored in favor of verbal presentation” (Clary, 2010, p. 34).

Now with new forms of media, the storyteller can create a visual narrative to complement

the oral narrative using a digital story. As discussed previously in the paper, today’s

students are much more visually oriented. Studies have shown that using visual aids with

students improved learning by up to 400% (Burmark, 2002, p. 10). With the creation of

new technologies and computers, storytelling has evolved into a multimodal process in

which the audience not only listens to what is being taught, but they also see what is

being taught. This forces students to use different parts of their brain which gives way to

long term memory. Advocates of digital stories believe that stories “can combine aural

and visual modes with text thereby deploying not merely the left hemisphere of the brain

which helps us decode language” (Jetnikoff, 2009, p. 58). Since the world is moving into

a more conceptual age, it is becoming more important that students are able to use the

right sides of their brains in order to understand the big picture of what they are learning

(Jetnikoff, 2009). Studies have shown that the, “verbal language offers the possibility to

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better communicate the temporal and sequential characteristics of phenomena whereas

visual language facilitates the communication of spatial and simultaneous characteristics

of the experiential world” (Marquez, 2006, p. 223). The use of digital storytelling allows

students to be creative and use different forms of communication which utilizes different

parts of the brain. The different types of language they are forced to use helps them

develop 21st century skills, and a more complete understanding of different concepts that

they learn in the classroom.

The digital storytelling movement was started in the late 1980’s by the two

cofounders of the Center for Digital Storytelling, Joe Lambert and Dana Atchley (Robin,

2008). These two individuals started the organization in Berkley, CA and now provide

services to assist individuals, organizations, and institutions to create their own digital

stories (www.storycenter.org). Since the creation of digital storytelling in the 1980’s, it

has evolved into a variety of different forms. Robin (2008) describes three different ways

in which digital storytelling is used: personal narratives, stories that inform or instruct,

and stories that examine historical events. While some stories tell about personal

experiences, others may convey instructional material or recount history. Similar to

movies, digital stories can try to invoke an emotional response or they can be informative

or entertaining. Digital storytelling shows many similarities to other forms of media such

as video games and television, because it uses visual cues to tell a story. However, digital

storytelling is different, because the images are controlled by the narrator of the story.

“Digital storytelling lacks the immediacy of computer games, with their ready-made

realistic backgrounds and possibilities for action, but digital storytelling allows

substantially greater freedom of authorship. By controlling both the images and sounds in

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their narrative portrayals, youth can use digital storytelling to control what previously has

been a cool medium to portray their own experience” (Davis, 2004, p. 3).

Perhaps the biggest impact that digital storytelling can have on learners is the

development of 21st century skills. Studies have shown that digital storytelling can have a

major impact on critical thinking as well as technology skills (Gregory, 2009; Ohier,

2006; Sadik, 2008). Media literacy is a major technological skill that can be developed in

digital storytelling (Ohier, 2006; Sadik, 2008; Robin 2008; Zukowski, 2008). Media

literacy can be defined as a person’s ability to critically analyze what they watch, hear,

and read. Media literacy takes on a broad range of skills and Robin (2008) discusses how

digital storytelling can help develop: digital literacy, global literacy, technological

literacy, visual literacy and information literacy. Digital storytelling has the ability to let

students think for themselves and create their own interpretations of different events. In a

world that surrounds students with different forms of media, it is important for students to

learn the ability to think for themselves. Ohier (2006) states that digital stories help the

students see the, “persuasive nature of the electronic culture in which they live” (p. 47).

One of the major problems that today’s generation faces, is the ability to reflect on

what is learned. As kids in the “Net Generation” are immersed in an age where visual

images are constantly thrown at them, they have very little time to reflect on what they

are seeing and learning. Reflection has been found to be linked with inductive problem

solving competence, an important skill of the 21st century (Greenfield, 2009). Similar to

reading, digital storytelling allows students the time to reflect on what they learn, and

gives them time to problem solve what exactly they want to portray to the audience. One

study found that, “students did not just report facts and concepts connected to the subject,

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but reflected on their own thoughts and engagement with the subject, visually and

aurally. Students learned to think and write about people, places, events, and problems

that characterized their individual life experiences or others’ experiences (Sadik, 2008, p.

502). A major 21st century skill that digital storytelling helps is the process of thinking

critically and problem solving in order to create unique insights about what they learn

about the material, or even themselves.

Reading is an important skill that is under developed with many kids; however

reading alone does not provide students with the range of skills necessary for the 21st

century. Students must also learn to collaborate and communicate their ideas to people,

and reading lacks the medium to express ideas orally. While reading a textbook helps to

relay facts to students, and allows students to reference and clarify information, textbooks

can be hard for kids to conceptualize. “New digital tools have the potential to minimize

conceptual errors caused by the two dimensional limitations of textbooks” (Howell, 2003,

p. 40). Reading provides a form of communication in which students gain information

without having to express what they learned. 21st century skills require students to

actively generate and communicate information, but a lot of today’s media simply

provides the information without requiring a response. “People today are used to being

entertained by good storytellers. The most common media of these storytellers are

movies and television. But these are passive forms of storytelling. We are used to such

passive story listening. Books are passive too, after all. We have been content to lie back

and be entertained for centuries” (Schank, 1990, p. 242). The act of telling a story and

communicating with someone or a group is an active process in which the storyteller

must be constantly engaged in the topic that is being discussed. In a world in which

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getting jobs depends on one’s ability to interview with people, and relate relevant

experiences to an occupation, it is important that kids are able to tell stories, and

communicate their knowledge to others. “Conversation is no more than responsive

storytelling” (Schank, 1990, p. 24). Success in the 21st century depends on one’s ability to

converse with people and tell stories.

In 2007 the US Department of Education reported, “‘no significant differences in

student achievement between the classrooms that used the technology products and

classrooms that did not” (Robin, 2008, p. 225). While digital storytelling has the potential

to have many positive impacts on student learning, there are educators that are concerned

with its feasibility of implementation. The biggest fear is that the students are going to

know more than the teachers. Technologies such as computers are a relatively new

phenomena, so many of the older teachers that did not grow up with these technologies

are not familiar with them. The fear of using technology, a term coined “technophobia,”

is very prevalent in today’s schooling since computers are such a new technology that

many students in the “Net Generation” have grown up with (Jetnikoff, 2009). Teachers

worry about implementing computers into a curriculum, because many of today’s

teachers lack the technology skills of the younger generations.

There are many concerns with the application of digital storytelling into a curriculum.

Many teachers fear that the students will not connect the objectives of the stories to the

subject matter and that the information that they present will be off topic. These teachers

believe that the students will not use many different types of information from the

internet, and the stories will not effectively teach the students the material (Sadik, 2008).

Once the material is put into the story, studies have also found that students have

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Figure 3: Modified from Robin (2008)

difficulties with the timing and integration between audio and image tracks (Sadik, 2008).

The creation of a digital story is undoubtedly a difficult task to get students to do,

especially in class that requires students to complete the project within a certain window

of time. Students must not only learn the material that they will put into their digital

story, but they must also learn how to use the technology at the same time, which can be

time consuming. With so many different factors to consider in the classroom the process

of educating students through digital storytelling is undoubtedly a daunting task. Figure

3, modified from Robin (2008) shows many of the different tools and skills students must

integrate when they create a digital story

Although teachers

voice many concerns

about the implementation

of digital storytelling in

the classroom, many

studies have shown that

using stories to teach

content can be an

effective way to get

students to learn and

reflect on the material. Although teachers may not be as technologically literate as the

students, there are other skills that teachers have that can help guide students through the

digital story process. These tools that teachers have are techniques that can be applied to

both printed and digital stories. They include, “semiotics, narrative structure, visual

23

grammars, command of story devices and techniques” (Jetnikoff, 2009, p. 57). While it is

helpful if teachers are more technologically literate then their students, the computer

programs that are used to create digital stories are often straight forward, and students can

often learn the technology as they create the story (Jetnikoff, 2009). The use of

storyboards can also provide structure to a classroom and help them organize their story

in an effective way. Storyboards are a way of helping students graphically organize what

they are going to put into their story before they start creating it. Some researchers

suggest that students create a story map in which they outline the important aspects of the

story that they are going to implement before they add the digital medium (Zukowski,

2008). This allows teachers to analyze whether or not the project will be successful, and

helps them guide the story in the right direction. If a curriculum based on digital

storytelling is well thought out, in which students are given clear objectives and

expectations it is possible to generate an effective digital story.

There have been many studies that have shown positive effects on implementing

digital stories into math (Sadik, 2008), history (Sadik, 2008), English (Jetnikoff, 2009),

science (Davison, 2009), and even religion (Zukowski, 2008) curriculums. History has

been seen as the easiest of the subject to implement digital stories into a curriculum,

because the subject matter is almost entirely based on storytelling. Since subjects such as

science and history require students to search for lots of different types of information to

put into their digital stories, these two subjects, “are likely to have a convincing effect on

student activity and engagement in developing their stories” (Sadik, 2008, p. 501). The

digital stories are able to get students to become much more media literate, and

challenges them to think about what they are analyzing. Storytelling holds a lot of

24

promise for subjects such as math and science, because these subjects have many

obstacles that prevent reflection (Sadik, 2008, p. 501). Traditional methods of teaching

math and science often focused on providing students with facts and having students

memorize information using drill and kill techniques. Incorporating digital storytelling

into a science curriculum is very promising, because it forces students to reflect on the

material they learn, and it allows them to think more critically about the information that

they gather.

Computers have created new ways of educating students in today’s society. They

provide new tools that can allow for new ways of teaching the material. “As we have

become a part of a larger and larger society, some of the individuality of the storytelling

and receiving process has been lost. We all get fed the same stories (on television), we

must learn the same stories (in school), and wind up believing the same stories.

Computers, oddly enough, offer the prospect of increased individuality” (Schank, 1990,

p. 243). Using digital storytelling in a technologically equipped classroom can have

tremendous effects on student learning if teachers are able to create well planned ways of

integrating it into the curriculum. The important part of implementing digital storytelling

is for teachers to act as facilitators and guides in the classroom in order to allow students

the freedom to generate their own ideas. As society moves into a new age, it becomes

more important for students to learn 21st century skills of critical thinking and

information processing in order to succeed in today’s workforce. Digital storytelling can

successfully help to develop these skills, which will help students become successful

adults in a society that is constantly changing and adapting.

25

Methods

School DemographicsThe study was focused on the effect of digital storytelling on students’ ability to

think critically about science material. The sample size of the study was two 8th grade

science classes at a middle school in Colorado. Students at the middle school consisted of

primarily low socioeconomic backgrounds. In the fall of 2009, 84.6% of the students had

reduced lunch plans at the school (www.cde.org). The percentage of free and reduced

lunch students for the 21st century program is secure and cannot be viewed, however the

principle, estimates that it is slightly lower in the mid 70’s. Many of the students were

from diverse backgrounds and in 2009, 89 (20%) of the students at the middle school

were listed as ISL students. There were 25 gifted and talented students in the school, and

19 of them were in the 21st century program. In the fall of 2009, there were 440 students

in the school – 8 were Native American, 22 were Asian, 96 were African American, 224

were Hispanic, and 95 were Caucasian students (www.cde.org). The students in the 21st

century program consisted of 2 Native American students, 7 Asian students, 29 African

American students, 40 Hispanic students, and 34 Caucasian students (Figure 4). The

gender ratio at the middle school is almost 50% and 224 were males, and 216 were

females. In the 21st century program, 54 of the students were male and 59 of the students

were female. Out of the 173 students that were on ILP’s at the middle school, 22 of them

were in the 21st century program. In 2009, there were 26 students with IEP’s and only one

of the students was in the 21st century program. The 21st century program was not a gifted

program; however it did require students to be at least partially proficient in reading when

entering into the program. The students had to take the initiative to fill out an application

26

to get into the program, so the students in the 21st century program had a tendency to be

more motivated than the students in the regular education programs.

2 8

30

40

32

Team 21 Demographic Information

1 - American Indian/Alaskan Na-tive2 - Asian3 - Black/African American4 - Hispanic5 - White

Introduction

21st century class periods were 49 minutes long except for Mondays in which they

were 42 minutes long. The science classroom could hold up to 26 students. The

classroom was fairly small, which made it difficult to run labs effectively. There were no

windows in the classroom. The room was equipped with a Smartboard, two whiteboards,

and a projector. There was a sink located in the back of the room, which could be used

for labs. The students sat at tables with two students per table. The tables were often

connected in clusters throughout the room so that 4-6 students sat together. There was not

enough space in the room to fit an additional table for students to sit, so there could not

be more than 26 students. One of the 8th grade classes had 20 students, and the other class

had 26 students. These classes were tiered depending on student math scores for tracking

Figure 4: Demographic information for the 21st Century Program

27

purposes. The students that were placed in the lower math classes tended to struggle with

science in addition to math. The students spent the entire day with each other except

during “exploratories” in which they went to different elective classes. The students in

the lower math class tended to be more disruptive, and required a more structured

environment.

The study group consisted of two 8th grade classes in a 21st Century Program. The

program was first implemented four years before. Each student was supplied with a Dell

laptop with a restricted take home policy. The only day students were allowed to take the

computers home was Wednesdays. The students were able to connect wirelessly to the

schools wireless internet. The students did not have restrictions on the websites that they

could access, however if a teacher caught them off task on the computer they took the

computer away from the student. Within the program there were two 6th grade classes,

two 7th grade classes and two 8th grade classes, which were divided according to their

math CSAP scores. Many of the 8th grade students had been in the program since 6th and

7th grade. Out of the 46 students in the 8th grade, 35 of them were in the program the year

before. The 21st century program was not a “gifted” program and did not accept students

based on skill level. The only requirement to get into the program was that the students

score the equivalent of high partially proficient on the reading section of the Colorado

Student Assessment Program (CSAP).

There were 112 students enrolled in the program. The students in the 21st Century

program were primarily Hispanic students (35%), while Caucasian students (28%) and

African American students (26%) made up the other large populations of students. There

were only two Native American students and seven Asian students in the program. The

28

Figure 5: Student reported computer use

study was conducted on the two 8th grade classes. There were 15 boys and 21 girls in the

class. Demographic information for the 8th grade is displayed in table 1:

Some of the

students had never used

a computer before

coming to the school

(7.5%) (Figure 5). At the

end of the unit students

were given a survey in

which they answered questions regarding how long they had used computers and how

often they used computers after school (Figure 5). The majority (37.5%) of the students

had been using computers for seven or more years, but many of the students began using

computers upon entering the program.

Many of

the students were

familiar with the

process of digital

storytelling,

because they had

created a digital

story the previous

year on mitosis.

0 --> 1 1 --> 2 3 --> 4 5 --> 6 7 or more05

10152025303540

7.55

25 25

37.5

Student Computer Use

Years using a computer

Precent

29

8th grade Number of students

American Indian/Alaskan Native 1

Asian 2

Black/African American 10

Hispanic 13

White 20

Table 1: 21st Century demographic information for 8th grade

However, some of the students were new to the program, and were relatively new to

using computers. There was a wide range of students within the 8th grade classes. Many

of the students were high achievers and there were six gifted students in the 8th grade.

Many of the students who were not motivated were in the lower math class. The reading,

writing and math scores of the 8th grades previous year’s CSAP scores showed that the

students were fairly representative of the levels of achievement in the state of Colorado.

In the graphs, the 21st century program is represented by the green columns (figures 6, 7,

8). Due to personal property rights the name of the school and the district that the

research was done has been blacked out.

The eighth graders were chosen for the project because they were the most mature

class, and were most suitable for a technology driven classroom. Many eighth grade

students have a tendency to lose focus as they look towards high school, so digital

storytelling provided them with an exciting project in which they could express

themselves and be motivated to learn the material. The eighth grade classes were the last

two periods of the day, which allowed for reflection on the classes after school.

Reflecting on the classes helped with observations made during the class which was

important information for the qualitative data in the study. Since both classes were

required to learn the same material, digital storytelling was implemented in both

classrooms.

30

Figure 7: 8th grade CSAP writing scores from the previous year. “U” means unsatisfactory, “PP” means partially proficient, “P” means proficient, “A” means advanced and “NS” means not scored

Figure 6: 8th grade CSAP reading scores from the previous year. “U” means unsatisfactory, “PP” means partially proficient, “P” means proficient, “A” means advanced and “NS” means not scored

Figure 8: 8th grade CSAP math scores from the previous year. “U” means unsatisfactory, “PP” means partially proficient, “P” means proficient, “A” means advanced and “NS” means not scored

Approach to MethodsThe digital story project was conducted in student pairs that were decided by the

teacher. Depending on the class there were ten or thirteen topic questions assigned

throughout the class (appendix C). The topics were based around the district standard in

31

which students must “identify tools and technologies that are needed to explore space.”

Topic questions were based around astronomy issues in which space technologies were

needed to find out more about it. The groups were given a week to create a digital story

relating to an astronomy topic. Before students were allowed to start researching, the

teacher gave the students a brief explanation of what a digital story is. It was also

explained that they would be creating a documentary of their topic so that they knew how

the story should be narrated. Using www.youtube.com the teacher showed students video

clips that helped students distinguish between a documentary and an advertisement.

Students commenced by researching their topic; primarily using websites

provided by the teacher. Next, they were provided instruction in developing a script to be

organized into their documentary. The script was organized into a story storyboard,

which outlined how their documentary was going to be structured. A storyboard as

defined by Ohier (2006) is “is an ordered presentation of drawings or photos that each

summarize a major story event.” The storyboard summarized each of drawings and

content that they were going to discuss in the digital story. The storyboard helped them

organize their information so that it connected the different pieces of information that

they had researched.

The students used Dell laptop computers to create their digital story. They used a

program that worked with Windows called Microsoft MovieMaker to create their digital

stories. Students were familiar with MovieMaker since many of them had done projects

the year before. However, as the students proceeded, many of them faced problems with

the MovieMaker software, and some groups were permitted to switch to an interactive

PowerPoint. As students demonstrated that they had sufficiently researched their topics,

32

and provided and developed an organized storyboard, they were allowed to begin putting

everything together with their computers.

Shortly after giving the students the project it became apparent that students were

struggling with how to organize their digital stories. Students were simply told to create a

2-3 minute documentary based around their topic and the rubric, and it became clear that

they needed more structure in order to outline their story map. On the second day of the

project students were given an outline of how the story should be organized (Table 5).

The structure of the documentary was explained as a series of steps which were similar to

writing a short constructed response (paragraph) in the form of a video. Structuring the

documentary in this way helped students understand how the documentary was supposed

to be put together, and gave them clearer expectations of the project.

Documentary Section Time

Introduction 5-10 secondsEssential Question 1: What is the topic and what is its importance to the field of astronomy?

45 seconds

Notes, DiagramsEssential Question 2: How is the technology used to analyze your topic (How do we know about your topic)?

45 seconds

Notes, DiagramsEssential Question 3: What are some implications for further research into your topic?

45 seconds

Notes, DiagramsConclusion 5-10 secondsTable 5: Research outline for the students. Presentations were required to be 2-3 minutes in length

In order to integrate different types of narrative techniques, students were given

access to a digital cameras, camcorders, and microphones which they could share among

the class. They were also allowed to import music tracks into their digital stories as long

33

Figure 9: Modified from Robin (2005)

as it did not impede the narration of the story. The order in which students conducted

their storytelling methods was based around Robin (2005)’s four step approach to

integrating digital stories into learning (Figure 9). The teacher followed these steps when

establishing expectations for what needed to be accomplished for each day of the project.

Students were shown different sites on which they could access information for

their projects. The sites were posted in a word document to googleapps© so that the

students could always have access to them. Each topic that was assigned to the student

groups was posed as a question, which students sought to answer (see appendix A). For

each topic they had three essential questions which they were required to answer (see

rubric appendix B). Additionally, before conducting the research, students were

familiarized with the rubric that provided a framework of expectations for their digital

34

story. The rubric was also posted as a word document to googleapps© so that students

could become familiar with it. The rubrics were modified from Sadik’s (2008) twelve

attribute scoring rubric for digital stories (Figure 10).

Students were given the entire week to complete the storytelling project and were

allowed to do extra work at home if they needed to. Because of the middle school

assessments every three and a half weeks, it was important that students completed the

documentaries in a timely manner. In order to complete the stories, deadlines were

created for finishing different parts of the assignment. Students were given two days to

conduct research, and at the end they were graded according to how much they had

completed. The research grade was worth 20 points and those who received less than 15

points were told to call home at the end of class to notify their parents that they were

falling behind on the assignment (Table 3). They were given a day to add the narration to

the story and two days to put everything into a movie.

Research Grading Rubric0 points Has not researched the topic5 points Minimal work and/or has copied and pasted

information10 points Notes were in own words BUT they did not

answer all 3 essential questions15 points Essential questions were answered however need

to include more detail and/or diagrams and picture20 points Sufficiently answered essential questions with

diagrams and picturesTable 3: Research grades given to the students to make sure they were using their time effectively. Anyone receiving below at 15 had to call home to notify their parents that they were falling behind

The attributes from Sadik’s (2008) rubric were integrated into a technology and a

content rubric (appendix B and C). The rubrics were used to produce a grade at the end of

35

Figure 10: Modified from Sadik (2008) grading rubric for digital stories

the week for the projects. In addition, students were assessed on the effects of digital

storytelling on their 21st century skills – specifically their ability to collaborate, reflect on

the material, and problem solve.

In order to track gains in knowledge related to the astronomy topics the students

were given clicker tests to test their knowledge at the beginning and the end of the digital

storytelling process. There was a clicker question for each topic, and the clicker tests

were administered the day before students researched the topics, and the day after

students finished presented their stories. The questions on the clicker tests were multiple

choice questions that challenged students’ ability to comprehend the material in a more

critical way (Appendix D).

At the end of the year students were given a survey using

www.surveymonkey.com (appendix E) to test how much content they learned.

Additionally, the survey sought to compare how much students learned from a

traditionally taught astronomy unit compared to the digital story unit. The survey

36

included post test questions from the astronomy unit taught using the digital stories as

well as a physics unit which was taught without the use from the digital story. At the end

of the survey, qualitative data was collected when students were asked questions about

their digital stories to give insights into how successful they thought the digital

storytelling project went. In order to triangulate the data, observations were conducted

throughout the week that focused specifically on students’ ability to collaborate with

material, reflect, and problem solve.

Digital Story EvaluationOnce students had completed their projects, there was a signup sheet in which

students signed up for different days to present their documentaries. Students who scored

the highest on their research grades were the first to choose what day they wanted to

present on. The students were graded according to the rubrics, and the documentaries

made up approximately 25% of their total grade for the class. It was important to allow

students to assess other students work during the presentations, because it ensured that

they would pay attention as their classmates presented their research. Students were given

feedback sheets to assess their peers using the rubrics which were passed out at the

beginning of each class. After groups presented their digital stories the presenters

answered 1 to 2 questions before their classmates assessed them using the rubrics. The

feedback sheets included a grade based on the rubrics as well as one thing they liked and

one thing they thought needed to be improved. The feedback sheets were then handed to

the presenters which helped the groups understand what they did well and what they

could improve on.

37

Students presented their digital stories in front of the entire class by plugging their

computer into the projector. During the presentations the other students filled out the

evaluation sheets. The teacher sat in the back of the room and graded students according

to the content and technology rubrics. Three groups presented each day and presentations

lasted for four days. The maximum amount of time allotted to each presentation was

three minutes long. The timer began once students hit play on their digital stories. After

all groups had presented, the time remaining at the end of each class was used to

transition students into the physics unit which followed the astronomy unit. The students

who were not prepared to present during their time slot were deducted points for turning

their assignments in late, but were allowed to email the teacher their digital story up to

the end of the quarter.

38

Results

Introduction

Data was collected using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Student

presentations were scored according to a rubric. Clicker tests provided quantitative data

to assess if students not only learned their topics but also the other students topics.

Throughout the projects observations were made on student performance. At the end of

the unit students were given a survey from www.surveymonkey.com, and they were also

given district standardized tests. The results that were gathered show that digital

storytelling did help students understand the material that they were learning in a more

critical way.

In order to triangulate the data, pre and post test scores from the astronomy unit

were compared to pre and post test scores of a physics unit, which was taught without a

digital story. The physics unit was taught directly after the astronomy unit. The pre tests

were administered at the beginning of the units and the post tests were given in the survey

at the end of the unit. District assessment scores were also analyzed at the end of the unit.

Since the first half of the astronomy unit was taught without a digital story, district

assessment questions were organized according to what students learned during the

digital story and what students learned in a traditional classroom setting (Appendix F).

Two classes participated in the digital storytelling project. The classes were tiered

based on math CSAP scores. The lower math group scored 8% lower on the clicker pre

test and 14% lower on the clicker post test than the higher math group. Students in the

higher math group received an average grade of an 85% on their digital stories while the

39

lower group received a 77% on their digital stories. Additionally, when looking at their

assessments the higher math group scored 61% on astronomy related questions while the

lower math group scored 43% on astronomy related questions. For the purpose of the

study, data from both classes were combined into one data set.

Quantitative Data Analysis

The trends from the overall data were convincing and were supported by the

quantitative data that was gathered throughout the study. At the beginning of the project,

students scored an average of 38% on the astronomy clicker test. By the end of the study,

they scored 57% on the clicker test. Compared to the regular physics unit that was taught

afterwards, these gains were 14% higher (Figure 11). What was even more encouraging

was the fact that 53% of the students who initially got their topic question wrong during

the pre test got their questions correct during the post test (Figure 12). Although students

scored only 57% on the entire post test, 80% of them got their topic questions correct on

the post test.

Comparing the astronomy unit taught traditionally to the unit that was taught

using the digital story the data also showed that students gained more knowledge from

the digital story unit. The questions that covered standards which asked students to use

higher level thinking such as “describe, design, research, or develop” were categorized as

topics learned in the digital story unit while other questions which required students to,

“construct a model, use models, or recognize” were categorized as questions addressed in

the traditionally taught astronomy unit (see appendix F). When comparing student scores

on the two types of questions students scored higher on the questions that were covered

40

in the digital story part of the unit (55%) compared to the unit taught without a digital

story (50%) (Figure 13).

In order to analyze if the digital stories were helping students understand the

material, it was important to correlate the grades that they received from the teacher, to

how well they performed on their astronomy tests. The class average for the digital

stories was 81%. Students were then separated into those who received above and 81%

and those who received below an 81%. Both populations of students averaged 38-39% on

the astronomy pre test, however when analyzing post test scores, the students who

received above average grades on their digital story scored 9 points higher (Figure 14).

Additionally, district assessment scores were correlated to the students scoring above and

below 81% on their digital stories (Figure 15) and on average those scoring above 81%

scored an entire 13 points higher astronomy related questions in the district assessment.

Qualitative Data Analysis The qualitative data that was collected throughout the project supported the

quantitative results in the study. The qualitative data was collected through survey

responses as well as observations in the classroom. A lot of the observations will be

discussed in the next chapter. From observing the students throughout the week, it

became clear that students were thinking more critically about the information that they

were studying. Student questioning was a big indicator of higher level thinking and

student questions transformed from “what is this?” to “how does this work?” Students

were more engaged in the content they were learning compared to the regular astronomy

unit, and many of them created some impressive digital stories.

41

The survey responses showed that the students enjoy doing their own research in

a self guided way. Of the 40 students that participated in the survey 27 of them enjoyed

the freedom they had to do their own research (Figure 16). One of the students elaborated

on their answer saying, “I learn a lot more through serious individual research, the

productivity also depends on how much I already know about the topic and how

interesting it is.” Another student added, “Really like how the project was formed,

could've of used a little more organization though.” The negative opinions about the

documentary were usually because they did not like their topic or their partner, and they

felt like they had to do most of the work.

Students were also asked questions regarding what they learned from creating the

documentary and the majority (82.5%) agreed that they learned about their topic (Figure

17). Most of the students did not agree that they learned from other groups topics (55%).

At the end of the survey when students were asked about what they liked and what they

thought could have been improved, one student said, “I liked having the ability to create

such a unique project but I didn't really get much information out of other's videos.”

Another student added, “I would have given us more time to research ALL topics,

because I didn't learn much from the others' presentations.”

Students were also asked to compare the astronomy unit taught without the digital

story to the unit taught traditionally. Students clearly liked using the computers to learn

the material on their own. When asked to compare the two units one student said, “I got

to learn new things the teacher never taught us so that help me get a better perspective.”

Another student said, “I learned a lot more then because I got to learn things by going and

42

researching by myself.” Although many of the students preferred the astronomy unit over

the traditionally taught unit, the majority (65%) responded that the traditionally taught

unit prepared them better for the district assessments (Figure 18).

Of the 40 students who participated in the survey, 15 of the students spent time to

give feedback at the end of the survey on what they liked and disliked about creating the

documentary. The 15 responses were categorized into 7 different themes which can be

observed in table 4. Four of the students suggested using a different movie program, due

to the fact that MovieMaker did not work on some of the computers. One student liked

the fact that they didn’t have to personally speak when they presented what they found,

and that it made it easier for them to present on the material. The results indicate that the

students enjoy a student centered classroom in which they find the information on their

own. One student said, “I liked that it helped us learn without listening to a teacher talk

all day but it needed more organization.”

Student Examples

Many of the student presentations were well thought out and they used a variety

of different narration techniques. Some students used voice narration, some used text,

some used spliced video clips from the news and many combined several techniques

throughout the story. Many of the images used in their presentations did a great job of

complimenting what they were discussing in the documentary. Some examples of

students work are shown below:

43

Essential Question: What is dark matter and why do scientists think it exists?

Essential Question: Does water exist on other planets/moons?

Essential Question: What is the threat of an asteroid hitting the earth and what scientists doing to predict it?

44

Physics Pre Test

Physics Post Test

Astronomy Pre Test

Astronomy Post T

est0

10

20

30

40

50

6051

56

38

57

Astronomy and Physics Pre and Post Tests

Perc

ent A

nsw

ered

Cor

rect

Figure 11: Comparison between the pre and post tests of the astronomy unit taught using a digital story and the physics unit taught without using a digital story

Pre Test CorrectPost Test Incorrect

Pre Test Incor-rect

Post Test In-correct

Pre Test Correct Post Test Cor-

rect

Pre Test In-correct

Post Test Cor-rect

% of Students Answering Topic Ques-tion Correct

4.44

15.56

26.67

53.33

Figure 12: Percent of the students who answered their topic questions correct pre and post. The green and purple represent the students who go their topic questions correct during the post test (80%)

45

Que

stion

s 14,

15,

29,

30

Que

stion

s 35

Que

stion

s 4, 6

, 18

Que

stion

33

Que

stion

31

Que

stion

38

Que

stion

s 21,

24,

25

Que

stion

20

0

20

40

60

80

100

45.556 55.5

84.468.9

48.9 43.760

Astronomy District Assessment Scores Categorized

Digital Storytelling Unit

Regular Unit

Questions on the District Assessment

Percent Correct

Figure 13: Percent of students answering the district assessment questions correct related to the regular astronomy unit (traditionally taught) and the digital storytelling part of the astronomy unit. Class average for the digital storytelling questions was 56% and 50% for the questions related to the traditionally taught astronomy unit

Figure 14: Pre and post test scores of the students who scored above and below 81% on their digital storytelling projects

46

Above 81% Below 81%0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 66.6

48.4

56.9

48.6

Average District Assessment Scores for students receiving above and below an

81%

Digital Storytelling QuestionsRegular Astronomy Unit Ques-tions

Perc

ent C

orre

ct

Figure 15: Scores on the district assessment tests for students scoring below and above 81% on their digital story. Assessment scores are divided based on regular astronomy unit questions and digital storytelling unit questions. Students who scored above 81% on the digital story scored an average of 61% on astronomy related questions; students scoring below 81% scored an average of 48% on astronomy related questions

I learn

ed m

ore fro

m documen

tary

I was

more inter

ested

in th

e conten

t

I learn

ed m

ore rea

l world

applica

tion

I enjoye

d the f

reedom to

do my o

wn resea

rch0

5

10

15

20

25

Compared to the rest of the astronomy unit:

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither disagree or agreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Num

ber o

f res

pons

es

Figure 16: Student survey responses comparing what they learned during the digital story astronomy unit compared to the regular astronomy unit

05

1015202530

From the documentary:

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Num

ber

of r

espo

nses

47

Documentary

The rest of the astronomy unit

Haven't taken assessment0

5

10

15

20

25

30

10

26

4

What prepared you best for the district assessment tests?

Num

ber o

f res

pons

es

Feedback Number of ResponsesEnjoyed Research 7

Figure 17: Student responses regarding the digital storytelling astronomy unit

Figure 18: Student responses discussing what prepared them better for the district standardized tests

48

More Time 5Different Partners 5Different Movie Program 4More Structure 3Liked Topics 3Didn’t Learn From Other Presentations 2

Table 4: Free response feedback organized: “What did you like, what could be improved?”

Discussion

49

This paper offers a new way in which teachers can utilize technology to create a

student centered classroom that encourages students to understand information in a more

critical way. Digital storytelling offers a solution to the problems that many teachers face

in many 1:1 laptop initiatives in which the computers are used as the technological task,

rather than a tool help students access the information (Beatham, 2009). The results from

this paper show that students grew academically throughout the digital storytelling

process; however there are some improvements that could be made for in the future.

One of the biggest problems encountered during the digital storytelling process

was the software chosen for the digital story. MovieMaker is a great program that is

simple and easy to use; however many of the students that had received new computers

during that school year had a different “image” than the older computers. The new image

restricted the students’ ability to use several programs including MovieMaker. Many of

the students were unable to use the program and had difficulty finding free programs that

would allow them to accomplish a similar task. Several of the students resorted to

creating an interactive PowerPoint which served a similar purpose, but it lacked some of

the special effects that were available with MovieMaker.

Students also had a difficult time completing the digital story with the time

constraints of the project. The district had very strict standards on what needed to be

covered during each month, so students were on a tight schedule to finish their stories.

Some of the students processed information slower than other students, and although they

used their time effectively every day, it took them longer to put everything together. Of

the 15 students who gave feedback at the end of the survey, 5 of them wished they had

more time to create their stories (Table 4). Giving students more time to work on the

50

digital stories would greatly enhance the work that the students produce, and it would

allow them to get deeper into the content that they research.

Although only two students gave feedback that they didn’t learn from others

presentations (Table 4), that was probably the weakest part of the project. During

presentations there was a lot of time wasted, which could have been put towards

producing their stories. The presentation format was not structured very well and it took

too long for all of the groups to present. When students were presenting their stories, the

rest of the class was evaluating the stories; however the format was not very engaging

allowing students to not pay attention. The advantage of a digital story is that students do

not need to be in front of the class to present what they learned. The stories can be

converted to windows media files, creating accessible video content to be shared at

stations around the room. The presentation format would have been much more effective

if all of the groups presented on the same day. Digital storytelling groups could open their

presentations on their computers and spread throughout the room. Since they do not need

to stand in front of their computer, they could evaluate other presentations while people

are evaluating theirs. If the presentations were structured this way, more time could have

been devoted to creating the stories, and it could make students more engaged in the

presentations, since they would be in control of starting and stopping the presentation.

In student centered projects such as a digital story it is very important to set clear

expectations of what the final product should look like. Several of the students who gave

feedback (3) believed that the project could have been organized more clearly (Table 4).

A day after giving the students their assignment, it became very clear that many of the

students had no idea how to structure a documentary. The next day an outline of how

51

long each section should be (Table 5) was given to the students, which helped the

students understand what they needed to accomplish, however even that was not enough

structure for many of the students. Students would have had a better understanding of

what the final product should look like if they were given several examples of

documentaries before letting them go. If the teacher had created their own documentary,

and shown it to them they would have had a better understanding of the expectations, and

how the documentary should be organized. Providing them with more background

information and guided websites before starting the project, would have also helped them

access and synthesize the information more quickly.

The way in which students were assessed could have been improved. While the

clicker tests provided good quantitative data, the questions were multiple choice which

restricted student answers. It would have been interesting to get free response answers to

different topic questions to get a broader understanding of how well they understood the

topics. It became difficult to assess whether the students understood different topics,

because some groups did not answer the clicker question in their digital stories. Clicker

questions sought to ask students important aspects of the different topics; however some

groups covered their topic thoroughly without addressing the clicker question. A solution

would be to let students create their own test questions surrounding their topic. The

drawback to this solution is there would be no pre test.

Throughout the project observations were made which allowed for a greater

understanding of the many different possibilities for future research for the project. The

most interesting observations I made during the project were of the gifted students in the

class. I gave those students the most difficult topic questions and it was fascinating

52

watching them construct their stories. While a lot of the other students needed structure

for their presentations, these students thrived without the structure, because it gave them

a lot of freedom to construct the story in their own unique way. The gifted students liked

the challenge of researching difficult topic questions and it was interesting watching them

construct their digital stories. While the other students in the class wanted to research

their projects in several steps, the gifted students didn’t write many things down the first

day, and simply familiarized themselves with the topic. Once they had gotten a grasp of

what they were going to talk about, they did lots of research about the entire topic and

broke it down into sections at the end. Future studies which look at how gifted students

tackle projects such as a digital story could be interesting.

Another interesting group of students were those who enjoy learning in more

traditional ways and thrive in very structured environment. One of the students in

particular was very goal driven and enjoyed structure in the classroom. When comparing

the traditionally taught part of the astronomy unit, to the digital story part of the

astronomy unit he wrote, “I typically learn more by teacher lectures than individual

projects.” Later on when asked what he liked and what could have been improved he

wrote, “It was not planned out as perfectly as it should have been.” These types of

students struggled in this type of environment. He had a lot of difficulty collaborating

with his partner throughout the project and coming up with a plan. Although he is one of

the top students in his class and usually turns in work on time, he turned the project in

three weeks late. It would be interesting to compare students who thrive in traditional

classroom settings, and get a better understanding of what makes this type of project so

difficult for them.

53

As I expected, many of the students thought that the astronomy unit that was

taught traditionally prepared them better for the district assessment (65%) (Figure 18).

The digital story project helped students develop a lot of high level thinking skills;

however the district assessments were testing students on how well they could recite the

astronomy content. Throughout their research, I witnessed students using high level

critical thinking skills to research and understand the concepts that were surrounding the

topic. The digital story project challenged students to create the meaning on their own,

which involved reading through different materials and finding the information that made

sense to them. Similar to the problem with the clicker tests, the district assessments asked

students questions that were very focused and did not allow students to expand on what

they knew about different topics. While the assessments successfully tested their

knowledge of what the district thought was important to know, it did not necessarily test

the full range of knowledge that they had gained from the astronomy unit.

Conclusion

54

Overall the digital storytelling project went well. The data supports the idea that

students grew throughout the project and learned the material as they completed their

digital stories. The topic questions were well thought out, and the majority of the students

enjoyed their topics. The rubric and topics questions were effective, because they were

formulated as essential questions which helped to guide students to the information that

they needed to find. While the project was successful, it is clear that there are many

things that could be improved in the future. In order to get more conclusive results, it

would be beneficial to test student knowledge in a traditional classroom compared to one

centered around a digital story. The major challenge is finding an assessment method that

allows students to expand on what they know. It becomes difficult to assess the extent of

student knowledge when students are asked specific multiple choice questions. Digital

storytelling helps students not only learn content, but it helps them develop 21st century

skills which are extremely difficult to measure. The skills that are developed such as

problem solving, teamwork, and researching material, can be nonexistent in a traditional

classroom. As classrooms become more complex, it becomes more difficult to evaluate,

and put a value on the learning that is happening in the classroom.

The data provided in this paper does not address all of the possible variables,

however it does provide some encouraging results that show that students can learn

content in a student guided classroom centered around digital stories. Computers are a

relatively new technology in today’s world, and teachers continue to find new ways of

teaching their students. Digital storytelling has tremendous possibilities in the classroom

today because the computer is used as tool to help students access the material (Beatham,

2009). The story helps students investigate the material on the computer and synthesize

55

the information into something that makes sense to them. In a world in which technology

has become prevalent in students lives, reading has taken a backseat to other forms of

media which do not allow students to reflect on what they are learning. Digital

storytelling gives students access to the technology that the students enjoy using, while it

also pushes them to reflect on the material, which is important in developing long term

memory. Digital stories allow today’s tech savvy students to utilize their technological

skills to construct a story that makes sense to them, and is fun for them. Education has

reached an interesting crossroads, because with the boom in technology in the last twenty

years, today’s students construct meaning in such different ways than the majority of the

people who are teaching them. The challenge that teachers face is how to teach students

the material in a way that engages the students in what they are learning, and makes sense

to them. One possibility is utilizing digital storytelling in the classroom.

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AppendicesAstronomy

Content Rubric Mastery (4) Proficient (3) Emerging (2) Novice (1)

59

EQ 1: What is the topic and

what is its importance to the

field of astronomy?

--Demonstrates a clear understanding of the topic--Connects the topic to the

scope of astronomy and how it is important

historically--Information is gathered and organized in a logical

progression--Provides reliable information from numerous sources

--Meets time requirement

--Demonstrates an understanding of topic

--Connects the topic to the scope of astronomy

--Information is gathered and organized in a

understandable progression--Provides reliable

information from several sources

--Meets time requirement

--Demonstrates a general understanding of the topic

--Connects the topic to related astronomy topics--Information is gathered and understandable but is

disconnected--Provides information

from sources but may not be reliable

--Does not meet the time requirement

--Demonstrates a lack of understanding of the

topic--Disconnected facts about the topic are

provided--Information is gathered, however it is difficult to

understand what the topic is

--Provides disconnected information from unreliable sources

--Significantly misses the time requirement

EQ 2: How is the technology used to analyze your topic (How do we know about

your topic)?

--Describes multiple technological evidence of the topic (space missions,

space stations…)--Explains how the

technology helps scientists understand the topic

--Provides many visuals to explain the technological

devices used--Makes it clear that

without the technology available the topic would

be nonexistent

--Describes technological evidence of the topic

(space missions, space stations…)

--Explains how technology helps us understand the

topic--Provides several visuals

to explain the technological devices used

--Makes it clear that the technology that is used

furthers our understanding of the topic

--Describes technology but the evidence is unrelated to

the topic--Explains how technology

is used in astronomy--Provides few visuals to

explain the technology that is used

--It is unclear what technologies further our

understanding of the topic

--Technological evidence is limited and unrelated to

the topic--Explains how

technology is used but it does not connect to the

topic--Provides no visuals to explain the technology

that is used--Provides no evidence

that the technology furthers our

understanding of the topic

EQ3: What are some

implications of further research into your topic?

--Describes several technologies scientists plan

to use in the future to increase knowledge of the

topic--Provides a timeline of

when the new technologies will be completed/used

(dates…)--Creativity makes

predictions on the impact of the topic on future

research--Discusses the feasibility of accomplishing future

technological advancements of the topic and its potential impact on

society

--Describes a technology scientists plan to use in the

future to increase knowledge of the topic

--Provides a general idea of when these technologies

will be completed/used--Creatively discusses

implications of the topic on today’s research

--Discusses the feasibility of accomplishing future

technological advancements with the

topic

--Describes technologies that scientists plan to use in the future in the field of

astronomy--Provides a vague idea of when these technologies will be completed/used

--Discusses implications of future research but it is off

topic--Discusses feasibility of

accomplishing future technological

advancements but it is off topic

--Describes technologies that will be used in the future but there is no

connection to the topic--Provides no reference to when these technologies will be completed/used

--Discusses no implications of future

research--There is no mention of

the feasibility if accomplishing future

technological advancements

Appendix A: Rubric used to grade the content the digital stories. Students were given 3 essential questions which they needed to answer in their stories.

60

61Technology

RubricMastery Proficient Emerging Novice

Hardware(digital

cameras, camcorders,

webcams, flip videos, etc…)

□Demonstrates use of equipment

properly.□Uses most

functions and keys of equipment

properly.□Operates and

positions equipment.

□Downloads footage or images in a timely manner.

□Incorporates many visual elements (point of views,

similarity, monochromatic).□Uses many or the

simple rules of composition (background, proximity).

□Mostly demonstrates use

of equipment properly.□Uses most

functions and keys of equipment

properly.□Operates and

positions equipment with some assistance□Downloads

footage or images in a somewhat timely manner.

□Incorporates some visual elements (point of views,

similarity, monochromatic).□Uses some of the

simple rules of composition (background, proximity).

□Somewhat demonstrates use

of equipment properly.

□Uses some functions and keys

of equipment properly.

□Operates and positions

equipment with lots of assistance.□Downloads

footage or images, but not in a timely

manner.□Incorporates few visual elements (point of views,

similarity, monochromatic).□Uses few of the simple rules of composition (background, proximity).

□Minimal understanding of

how to use equipment properly.□Lacks

understanding of the functions and

keys of equipment.□Minimal

awareness of how to operate and

position equipment.□Minimal

awareness of how to download

footage or images.□Lacks

understanding of how to incorporate

visual elements (point of views,

similarity, monochromatic).□ Lacks knowledge of how to use the

simple rules of composition (background, proximity).

Software(Power Point, MovieMaker,

Video editing)

□Demonstrates use of programs

properly.□Easily navigates programs using many features□Teaches

himself/herself and others many new elements of the

program.□Demonstrates a

clear understanding of the program

during presentations.□Uses many appropriate elements□Saves and

retrieves documents in an orderly, timely

fashion.□Uses creativity

□Effectively applies technology to demonstrate

learning.□Troubleshoots

without assistance.

□Demonstrates use of programs

properly, but may need help at times.□Navigates the program using some features□Teaches

himself/herself and others some new elements of the

program.□Demonstrates an understanding of

the program during presentations.□Uses some appropriate elements□Saves and

retrieves documents in a

somewhat orderly and timely fashion.

□Uses some creativity

□Applies some technology to demonstrate

learning.□Troubleshoots

with some assistance.

□Demonstrates use of programs

properly, but needs much assistance.□Navigates the

program using few features□Teaches

himself/herself and others few

elements of the program.

□Demonstrates somewhat of an understanding of

the program during presentations.□Uses few

appropriate elements□Saves and

retrieves documents in a

disorderly, untimely fashion.

□Uses little creativity

□Applies little technology to demonstrate

learning.□Troubleshoots

with a lot of assistance.

□Lacks understanding of

how to use programs properly.

□Minimal awareness of how

to navigate programs.□Lacks

understanding to teach

himself/herself and others any new elements of the

program.□Minimal

understanding of programs during presentations.□Uses minimal

appropriate elements□Lacks

understanding of how to save and

retrieve work in an timely fashion.□Lacks creative

awareness□Technology

awareness is not reflected in

learning□Lacks

understanding to troubleshoots

Appendix B: Rubric used to grade the technology use in the digital stories

Essential Questions:1. What is dark matter and why do scientists think it exists? 2. What is dark energy and why do scientists think it exists? 3. What is the evidence that black holes exist and how do they from? 4. What is the potential for space tourism in the future and what are some concerns? 5. How do solar flares affect the human population and what are ways that we can predict when

they are going to happen?6. What are some ways in which humans are trying to connect with distant civilizations and what

are the challenges of doing this? 7. Does water exist on other planets/moons? 8. One earth there are many environments in which we are finding living things where we didn’t

think life could exists – could life potentially live outside of “habitable zones” – where and how could life exist?

9. There is evidence that asteroids have hit the earth and had severe impacts on our climate. What is the threat of an asteroid hitting earth and what are scientists doing to predict it?

10. What are some ways in which scientists have learned about comets? Knowing what comets are made of how could humans utilize them?

11. What are some difficulties that we face when we try to land on other planets? How is technology used to gather data once landing on a planet and what precautions need to take place before sending a spaceship to another planet?

12. What are some ways in which space technologies impact our everyday lives? 13. Venus has a very thick atmosphere, how do we know its surface looks like, what are some

difficulties of landing on Venus and what are some ways in which scientists are going to find out more about Venus?

Appendix C: Essential questions for the astronomy research project

62

63

1) Dark matter is material that: a) doesn’t emit lightb) appears only in the shadow of the sunc) can only be seen from spaced) all of the above

2) How does dark energy affect how scientists see distant supernovae?a) appear darkerb) appear brighterc) appear smallerd) doesn’t affect

3) How do black holes form? a) a red dwarf explodesb) a medium mass star implodesc) a white dwarf explodesd) a supergiant star implodes

4) What are some ideas people have to help create space tourism?a) space stationsb) space elevatorsc) space hotelsd) all of the above

5) How can solar flares affect the human population?a) cause global warmingb) cause widespread firesc) disrupt radio communicationsd) destroy telescopes

6) How are humans trying to connect with distant civilizations? a) Televisionsb) broadcasting radio signalsc) sending flashes of lightd) sending astronauts to distant galaxies

7) What is the biggest factor that inhibits water from occurring on the surface of different planets?a) the soil/substrateb) atmospheric pressurec) geologic activityd) lack of hydrogen and oxygen

8) According to NASA what is/are the potential source(s) of colonization of living things outside of earth? a) Marsb) Europa (Jupiters moon)c) Titan (Saturns moon)d) all of the above

9) Asteroids have the potential to hit earth and cause significant changes to the earths climate. Of the 100,000 asteroids that scientists are currently tracking approximately how many orbit the inner solar system?

a) 50b) 200c) 20,000d) 50,000

10) Why do tails of comets always point away from the sun? a) the solar wind pushes the gas and dust awayb) the orbits are always away from the sunc) its gravity pushes the dust away from the sund) because the ice melts on only one side.

11) Which is NOT a difficulty to landing on other planets? a) descending toward the planetb) landing on the surfacec) obstacles on the surfaced) solar flares damaging electronics

12) Which of the following is not a space technology that impacts our everyday lives?a) weather forecastsb) cell phonec) hand held transceiver (walkie talkie)d) gps units

13) Venus is covered by a dense layer of clouds about 40 miles thick so how do we know what its surface looks like? a) only when the clouds clearb) radar mappingc) sent down rovers to explore the terraind) telescopes

Clicker Quiz

Appendix D: Clicker quiz – bolded questions are the answers

64

Student Survey1. Your name

2. I am A boy A girl3. I am in 8A 8B4. I would rate my technology skills

Novice Emerging Proficient Mastery

5. How many years have you used a computer

0-1 1-2 3-4 5-6 7 or more

6. Rate your knowledge of

Novice Emerging Proficient Mastery

Hardware Software

7. Outside of school I use the computer

0-1 hours per day

1-2 hours per day

2-3 hours per day

3-4 hours per day

4 or more hours per day

8. When I use a computer at home I most often

Play games

Do research

Do homework

Read the news

Chat online

Use social networks

9. From the astronomy documentary I:

Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

Learned a lot about my topic

Learned a lot about the astronomy topics presented by other students

Learned a lot about astronomy

10. Compared to the rest of the astronomy unit that was taught without a digital story

Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

I learned more from creating the astronomy documentary

I learned more applications of the material (how it related to the real world

I enjoyed the freedom to do my own research

11. What prepared you better for the science assessment sets?

The astronomy documentary The astronomy unit without the digital story

Appendix E: Questions that students answered through www.surveymonkey.com

65

District Standards Covered During the Astronomy UnitDigital Story

E.3: Evidence Outcome b - Describe methods and equipment used to explore the solar system and beyond Multiple Choice: 33

E.3: Evidence Outcome c - Design an investigation that involves direct observation of objects in the sky, and analyze and explain results Multiple Choice: 31

E.3: Evidence Outcome d - Research, critique, and communicate scientific theories that explain how the solar system was formed Multiple Choice: 38

E.4: Evidence Outcome a - Develop, communicate, and justify an evidence-based explanation using relative positions of Earth, Moon, and Sun to explain the following natural phenomenon: Multiple Choice: 21, 24, 25

E.4: Evidence Outcome b - Analyze and interpret data to explain why we have seasons Multiple Choice: 20

Regular Unit E.3: Evidence Outcome a - Construct a scale model of the solar system, and use it to

explain the motion of objects in the system such a planets, Sun, Moons, asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets Multiple Choice: 14, 15, 29, 30

E.4: Evidence Outcome c - Use models to explain the relative motions of Earth, Moon, and Sun over time Multiple Choice: 4, 6, 18

E.3: Evidence Outcome f - Recognize that mathematical models are used to predict orbital paths and events Multiple Choice: 35

Appendix F: District standards covered in the regular astronomy unit and the unit taught with the digital story

66