Digital Storytelling Room: Further information
‘Digital stories are the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling’ ~ Ironside, 2013
Storytelling is one of the oldest arts in the world. Digital stories build on traditional storytelling approaches by combining narrative pedagogy through the use of videos, audio, voice, text, still images, and music (Levett-Jones, Bowen & Morris, 2015). One of the strengths of digital stories is that they require visual and auditory processing and, because visual information is processed 60,000 times faster than narrative (Porter, 2006), they are a highly effective way to learn.
Unfolding digital stories convey tacit and sometimes unappreciated elements of practice (Swap et al., 2001), promoting a strong emotional resonance and feelings of empathy (Haigh and Hardy, 2011). They also provide learners with a powerful and effective way to learn, remember and reflect. Digital stories can make difficult content more understandable (Robin, 2011), provide students with a reflective learning experience (Christiansen, 2011; Sandars & Murray, 2009), and assist in the development of altruism (Quaintance, Arnold & Thompson, 2010) and cultural sensitivity (Davidson, 2004). Importantly, digital stories lead to positive changes in healthcare students’ attitudes and enhanced levels of empathy, ultimately transforming and humanising the delivery of healthcare (Sandars & Murray, 2009; Gabriel & Connell, 2010).
To fully realise the learning potential of digital stories, learners need opportunities to collaboratively reflect on and discuss them (Bruner, 1986). These in-depth discussions provide a bridge, linking abstract concepts to personal and professional experiences, and exposing learners to different perspectives, insights and world views.
In structuring the digital stories in the Virtual Empathy Museum, we were influenced by the German dramatist Gustav Freytag’s (1883) five stage approach, as illustrated in this image:
Freytag’s image depicts how effective stories build toward a climax and then resolve, ending with the denouement where the strands of the story are drawn together and explained. In our digital stories the denouement also takes place in the group discussions and reflections that following the videos.
The authentic and meaningful digital stories we have provided share the journeys of people from different vulnerable, and often stigmatised, groups. They are designed to elicit empathic humility, imagination, perspective taking, and concern, ultimately leading to empathic communication and enhanced person-centred care.
References
Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press;
Freytag, G. (1883). Techniques of the drama: An exposition of dramatic composition and art. Translation by MacEwan, E. Chicago, US: Scott, Foresman & Co.
Levett-Jones, T. Bowen, L. & Morris, A. (2015). Enhancing nursing students’ understanding of threshold concepts through the use of digital stories and a virtual community called ‘Wiimali’. Nurse Education in Practice. 15, 91-96
Haigh, C. & Hardy, P. (2011). Tell me a story – a conceptual exploration of storytelling in healthcare education. Nurse Education Today, 31 (4), 406-411.
Swap, W., Leonard, D., Shields, M. & Abrams, L. (2001). Using mentoring and storytelling to transfer knowledge in the workplace. Journal of Management Information Systems. 18 (1), 95-114.
Ironside, P. (2003). Trying something new: Implementing and evaluating narrative pedagogy. Journal of Nursing Education. 24 (3), 121-128.
Porter, B. (2006). Beyond words the craftsmanship of digital products. Learn Lead Technology. 33(8),28-31.
Quaintance, J., Arnold, L. & Thompson, G. (2010). What students learn about professionalism from faculty stories: an ‘appreciative inquiry’ approach. Academic Medicine Journal. 85(1), 118-123.
Christiansen, A. (2011). Storytelling and professional learning: A phenomenographic study of students’ experience of patient digital stories in nurse education. Nurse Education Today. 31(3), 289-293.
Sandars, J. & Murray, C. (2009). Digital storytelling for reflection in undergraduate medical education: a pilot study. Education in Primary Care. 20(6), 441.
Robin, B. (2011). Educational uses of digital storytelling. Retrieved November 16, 2018 from: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/
Davidson, M. (2004). A phenomenological evaluation: using storytelling as a primary teaching method. Nurse Education in Practice. 4(3),184-189.
Gabriel, Y. & Connell, N. (2010). Co-creating stories: collaborative experiments in storytelling. Management & Learning. 41(5), 507-523.