Digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for enhanced learner engagement / Nor Nadia Raslee

This article provides an overview of Digital Storytelling as an instructional tool in the language classroom. Digital Storytelling as an educational tool can be very engaging as students can learn and practice their language skills. Additionally, Digital Storytelling targets both spoken and written language production through the iterative stages which are brainstorming, storyboarding, scriptwriting, rehearsing and presenting. Language teachers can adapt Digital Storytelling to be an instructional tool at every level since the complexity of the task can be modified through the story being told, and the language difficulty. The underpinning framework in Digital Storytelling is multimodal literacy which dictates technological advancement in digital media and mobile technology has led to the empowerment of students in multitasking aptitude. Similarly, in relation to Digital Storytelling, the iterative processes between the five stages empowers students in multimodal literacy. In the creation of digital stories, students will generally go through these processes: brainstorming, storyboarding, scriptwriting, rehearsing and presenting. These processes are valuable to the learning experiences of students, especially in enhancing their spoken and written language skills. Hence, as an educational and instructional tool, Digital Storytelling can be an adaptable and entertaining approach that can help students to enjoy the language learning process.