University teachers’ digital stories of sustainable development: A method of learning to teach

In order to help teachers teach sustainability more effectively, we need more knowledge about both their understanding of suitable pedagogical methods and their own positioning in regard to sustainable development. This qualitative research focuses on how teachers see themselves as educators of sustainability and how they experience creative methods such as digital storytelling in supporting their learning. Interviews were carried out with nine university teachers during a staff training course on sustainable development and how it is best taught and learnt. Findings indicate that teachers’ positioning in regard to the teaching of sustainable development varied according to their discipline and their understanding of its four dimensions, namely ecological, social, economic and cultural. Digital storytelling thus proved to be a promising method for supporting holistic learning and teachers’ self-positioning in regard to education concerning this complex domain. However, some restrictions exist in relation to resource-taking and teachers’ need for additional support.

Kindergarteners building a library of their own

This study investigates how children can develop information literacy (IL) skills even before they learn how to read and write. In the project we used a combination of participatory observation and action research-inspired trialling of digital tools. Kindergarteners were given iPads and access to the app Book Creator to create their own digital stories. The electronic books were gathered and made available to the other children in the class, making a custom local digital library for the kindergarten. This article suggests a new way of considering IL as an emergent literacy, or even perhaps emergent information literacy.

An Aging Nursing Workforce: Thematic Analysis from the Nurstory Project

Background Nursing in the United States of America is an aging workforce. This study sought to better understand the lived experience of aging nurses. Because nurses work in systems where other forms of interpersonal power dynamics may influence internalized and external stereotype an approach based on intersectional theory was applied. Methods A qualitative thematic narrative analysis of an existing data set of first-person digital stories in the Nurstory project, authored by a group of nurses, was the data source. An emergent coding method was applied. The collection of five digital stories were analyzed. Results All stories were first person accounts of experiences that represented their internalized reflections and elements of ageism in how their age interacted with their work environment. Dominant themes included: 1) Role constriction 2) Strength 3) Tired and (re)Tired 4) Age perceived and 5)Loneliness. Conclusions These aging nursing stories add to the contextual layers of the aging healthcare workplace and aging nursing workforce. These individual experiences offer a nuanced understanding of the internalized responses to aging and ageism. These stories highlight socially constructed and socially reinforced attitudes that are complicated by the personal and occupational expectations of nurse’s work, their role and embedded hierarchies in healthcare. Stories such as these are important individual and collective indicators of lived experiences that offer a deeper understanding into the intersections of social identity and aging, that when listened to, can offer insight and a way forward in addressing the stereotype, discrimination and social inequities of ageism.

Turning Windows into Mirrors: Digital Stories as a Teaching Strategy to Explore the Apprenticeship of Observation in Pre-Service Teachers

This article shares the critical reflections of a teacher educator who utilised digital stories as a teaching strategy in a professional development module for final-year pre-service teachers. Action research, through a participatory narrative inquiry approach, was employed, and data were gathered from digital stories, scripts, and reflective essays. The findings suggest that a platform was created for students to collaboratively share their perceptions, beliefs, and memories regarding teaching as a profession and to reflect on the impact that this lived experience had on their developing professional identity and ideas of good practice. Suggestions are made for recognising autobiographical stories as essential to all facets of teacher education and for acknowledging the influence of the apprenticeship of observation on individual pre-service teachers and on teacher-training programme curriculums.

DIGITAL STORYTELLING AS A TEACHING METHOD IN ADULT EDUCATION - THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ITS EFFECTIVENESS AND WORKING MEMORY

<p>In recent years, technology has been growing rapidly. The impact that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and associated teaching tools have on the learning process is already significant, and this is expected to grow further in the future. Digital Storytelling (DST) is a combination of interaction and learning at the same time and it could prove to be an excellent teaching method at the disposal of the educator. The present study is an attempt to examine the impact of the method in adult education, providing that the learners are the creators of digital stories. In addition, the current research is an attempt to examine the relationship between learners’ Working Memory and the impact of DST on their learning performance. The research has been conducted in a public vocational training institute. The findings revealed that DST is an effective learning tool in adult education that can improve learners’ performance. In addition, the findings suggest that the method is more effective in learners which have higher working memory rates than others.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0987/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>