Digital Storytelling for Twenty-First-Century Competencies with Math Literacy and Student Engagement in China and Finland

Year 2018, Volume: 9 Issue: 4, 331 - 353, 16.10.2018

Hannele Niemi Shuanghong Niu Marianna Vivitsou Baoping Li

https://doi.org/10.30935/cet.470999

Cited By: 2

Abstract

The aim of this digital storytelling (DST) study was to investigate how students acquire twenty-first-century competencies, here focusing on active knowledge creation and collaboration in math learning. The study also examined how engaged the students were in DST lessons and what teachers’ perceptions of DST were as a learning method. DST was implemented in four Chinese and two Finnish classes with 10- and 11-year-old students. Data were collected quantitatively and qualitatively. The students assessed their learning experiences with structured questionnaires during and after the study. Students’ behavior was also observed, and the teachers were interviewed. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a linear regression analysis, and the qualitative data were analyzed using a content analysis. The study showed that the DST method guided students toward active collaborative learning; the students learned how to work in groups to produce new ideas, and they learned not only about math but also about how math relates to everyday life. The students were highly engaged throughout the study. Similarly, the teachers reported that the students displayed active knowledge creation and increased motivation and engagement. Results indicate that DST encourages students to apply new technology in their learning and supports students’ development in math literacy and twenty-first-century competencies.

Keywords

Digital storytelling, Twenty-first-century-competencies, Math literacy

References

• Ayotola, A. & Adedeji, T. (2009). The relationship between mathematics self-efficacy and achievement in mathematics. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 953-957. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2009.01.169
• Bandura, A. (1986). The explanatory and predictive scope of self-efficacy theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 4(3), 359-373. doi:10.1521/jscp.1986.4.3.359
• Binkley, M., Erstad, O., Herman, J., Raizen, S., Ripley, M., Miller-Ricci, M., & Rumble, M. (2012). Defining twenty-first century skills. In P. Griffin, B. McGaw, & E. Care (Eds.), Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 17-66). Dordrecht: Springer.
• Blas, N. & Paolini, P. (2013). Beyond the school's boundaries: PoliCultura, a large-scale digital storytelling initiative. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 15-27.
• CNNIC, (2017). China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Statistical report on internet development in China (January 2017). Retrieved on 08 October 2018 from https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201706/P020170608523740585924.pdf.
• Cole, M. & Cigagas, X. E. (2010). Culture and cognition. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of cultural developmental science (pp. 127-142). New York: Psychology Press.
• Derry, S. J., Pea, R. D., Barron, B., Engle, R. A., Erickson, F., Goldman, R., . . . Sherin, B. L. (2010). Conducting video research in the learning sciences: Guidance on selection, analysis, technology, and ethics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(1), 3-53. doi:10.1080/10508400903452884
• Domingo, M. G. & Gargante. A. B. (2016). Exploring the use of educational technology in primary education: Teachers' perception of mobile technology learning impacts and applications' use in the classroom. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 21-28.
• Dumont, H., Istance. D., & Benavides, F. (2010). The nature of learning: Using research to inspire practice, educational research and innovation. Paris: OECD.
• Griffin, P., McGaw, B., & Care, E. (2013). Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills. Dordrecht: Springer.
• Hakkarainen, K., Paavola, S., Kangas, K., & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2013). Sociocultural perspectives on collaborative learning: Towards collaborative knowledge creation. In C. E. Hmelo-Silver, A. M. O’Donnell, C. Chan, & C. A. Chinn (Eds.), International handbook of collaborative learning (pp. 57-73). New York: Routledge.
• Hull, G. & Katz, M.L. (2006). Crafting an agentive self: Case studies of digital storytelling. Research in the Teaching of English, 41(1), 43-81.
• Hull, G., Zacher, J., & Hibbert, L. (2009). Youth, risk, and equity in a global world. Review of Research in Education, 33(1), 117-159. doi:10.3102/0091732X08327746
• Hung, C.-M., Hwang, G.-J., & Huang, I. (2012). A project-based digital storytelling approach for improving students' learning motivation, problem-solving competence and learning achievement. Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 368-379.
• Jablonka, E. (2003). Mathematical literacy. In A. J. Bishop, M. A. Clements M. A., C. Keitel, J. Kilpatrick, F., & K. S. Leung (Eds.), Second international handbook of mathematics education (pp. 75-102). Dordrecht: Springer.
• Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago, IL: MacArthur Foundation and London: MIT Press.
• Kearney, M. (2009, December). Towards a learning design for student-generated digital storytelling. Paper presented at the The Future of Learning Design Conference. University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Retrieved on 08 October 2018 from http://ro.uow.edu.au/gi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=fld
• Lambert, J. (2013). Digital storytelling: Capturing lives, creating community. New York: Routledge.
• Lee, W. O. & P-L. Tan. (2018). The new roles for twenty-first-century teachers: Facilitator, knowledge broker, and pedagogical weaver. In H. Niemi, A. Toom, A. Kallioniemi, and J. Lavonen (Eds.), The teacher’s role in the changing globalizing world: Resources and challenges related to the professional work of teaching (pp.11-31). Leiden: Brill Sense.
• Lewis, S., Pea, R., & Rosen, J. (2010). Beyond participation to co-creation of meaning: Mobile social media in generative learning communities. Social Science Information, 49(3), 351-369. doi:10.1177/0539018410370726
• Machaba, F. M. (2018). Pedagogical demands in mathematics and mathematical literacy: A case of mathematics and mathematical literacy teachers and facilitators. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(1), 95-108. doi:10.12973/ejmste/ 78243
• Masal, M. & Yılmazer, G. (2014). The relationship between secondary school students’ arithmetic performance and their mathematical literacy. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 152, 619-623. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.253
• McGee, P. (2015). The instructional value of digital storytelling: Higher education, professional, and adult learning settings. New York: Routledge.
• Multisilta, J. A. & Niemi, H. M. (2017). Tools, pedagogical models, and best practices for digital storytelling. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of information science and technology (4th ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
• Niemi, H. & Jia, J. (2016). What are new ways to teach and learn in China and Finland? In H. Niemi & J. Jia (Eds.) New ways to teach and learn in China and Finland. Crossing Boundaries with Technology (pp.9 -18). New York: Peter Lang.
• Niemi, H., Harju, V., Vivitsou, M., Viitanen, K, Multisilta, J., Kuokkanen, A. (2014). Digital storytelling for 21st-century skills in virtual learning environments, Creative Education, 5(9), 657-671.
• Niemi, H., Kynäslahti, H., & Vahtivuori-Hänninen, S. (2013). Towards ICT in everyday life in Finnish schools: Seeking conditions for good practices. Learning, Media & Technology, 38(1), 57-71. DOI10.1080/17439884.2011.651473
• Niemi, H. & Multisilta, J. (2015). Digital storytelling promoting twenty-first century skills and student engagement. Technology, Pedagogy and Education. doi: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/1475939X.2015.1074610
• OECD. (2006). Assessing scientific, reading and mathematical literacy: A framework for PISA. Paris: OECD.
• OECD. (2010). Inspired by technology, driven by pedagogy: A systemic approach to technology-based school innovations, educational research and innovation. Paris: OECD. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264094437-en.
• OECD. (2013). Innovative learning environments, educational research and innovation. Paris: OECD.
• Pea, R. & Lindgren, R. (2008). Video collaboratories for research and education: An analysis of collaboration design patterns. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 1(4), 235-247. doi:10.1109/TLT.2009.5
• Pea, R. D. (2004). The social and technological dimensions of scaffolding and related theoretical concepts for learning, education, and human activity. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(3), 423-451. doi:10.1207/s15327809jls1303_6
• Penttilä, J., Kallunki, V., Niemi, H. M., & Multisilta, J. (2016). A structured inquiry into a digital story: Students report the making of a superball. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 8(3), 19-34. doi:10.4018/ijmbl.2016070102
• Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., & Barch, J. (2004). Enhancing students' engagement by increasing teachers' autonomy support. Motivation and Emotion, 28(2), 147-169. doi:10.1023/B:MOEM.0000032312.95499.6f
• Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 220-228. doi:10.1080/00405840802153916
• Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press. Saavedra, A. R. & Opfer, V. D. (2012). Learning 21st-century skills requires 21st-century teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(2), 8-13. doi:10.1177/003172171209400203
• Sadik, A. (2008). Digital storytelling: A meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 56(4), 487-506. doi:10.1007/s11423-008-9091-8
• Sandars, J., Murray, C., & Pellow, A. 2008. Twelve tips for using digital storytelling to promote reflective learning by medical students. Medical Teacher, 30: 774–777. doi:10.1080/ 01421590801987370
• Schleicher, A. (2015). Foreword. In Educational research and innovation: Schooling redesigned towards innovative learning system. Paris: OECD.
• Shelby-Caffey, C., Úbéda, E., & Jenkins, B. (2014). Digital storytelling revisited. The Reading Teacher, 68(3), 191-199. doi:10.1002/trtr.1273
• Starcic, M., Solomonides, I., & Volk, M. (2016). Engaging preservice primary and preprimary school teachers in digital storytelling for the teaching and learning of mathematics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(1), 29-50. doi:10.1111/bjet.12253
• Statistics Finland, (2016). Finnish residents use the Internet more and more often. Retrieved on 08 October 2018 from http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/sutivi/2016/sutivi_2016_2016109 _tie_001_en.html?ad=notify.
• Stewart, K. D. & Ivala, E. (2017). Silence, voice, and “other languages”: Digital storytelling as a site for resistance and restoration in a South African higher education classroom. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(5), 1164-1175. doi:10.1111/bjet.12540
• Suwardy, T., Pan, G. & Seow, P.-S. (2013). Using digital storytelling to engage student learning. Accounting Education, 22 (2), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284. 2012.748505
• Sukovic, S. (2014). iTell: Transliteracy and digital storytelling. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 45(3), 205-229. doi:10.1080/00048623.2014.951114
• Säljö, R. (2010). Digital tools and challenges to institutional traditions of learning: Technologies, social memory and the performative nature of learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 53-64. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00341.x
• Säljö, R. (2012). Schooling and spaces for learning: Cultural dynamics and student participation and agency. In E. Hjörne, G. V. d. Aalsvoort, & G. Abreu (Eds.), Learning, social interaction and diversity – exploring school practices (pp. 9-14). Rotterdam: Sense.
• Taylor, L. & Parsons, J. (2011). Improving student engagement. Current Issues in Education, 14(1), 1-33
• Uzunboylu, H., Arslan, C., & Yavuz, G. (2012). A study on mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs of prospective teachers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 5622-5625. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.484
• Vithal, R. & Bishop, A. J. (2006). Mathematical literacy: A new literacy or a new mathematics? Pythagoras, 64, 2-5.
• Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Wang, S. & Zhan, H. (2010). Enhancing teaching and learning with digital storytelling. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 6(2), 76-87.
• Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a socio-cultural practice and theory of education. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Whyte, J. & Anthony, G. (2012). Maths anxiety: The fear factor in the mathematics classroom. New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, 9(1), 6-15.
• Woodhouse, J. (2008, June 23-25). Story-telling: A telling approach in healthcare education. Paper presented at the Narrative Practitioner Conference. Wrexham, UK.
• Yang, Y.-T. C. & Wu, W.-C. I. (2012). Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement, critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study. Computers & Education, 59(2), 339-352. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.012