Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study

PoliCultura is a collaborative digital storytelling program for schools (K-12), which has gathered so far more than 41,000 students. It is an example of authentic learning experience, for a number of reasons, including the fact that students are required to do a “professional” work that will be made...

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Main Author: Nicoletta Di Blas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Forum of Educational Technology & Society 2022-04-01
Series:Educational Technology & Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.j-ets.net/collection/published-issues/25_2#h.b4595arqenr0
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author Nicoletta Di Blas
author_facet Nicoletta Di Blas
author_sort Nicoletta Di Blas
collection DOAJ
description PoliCultura is a collaborative digital storytelling program for schools (K-12), which has gathered so far more than 41,000 students. It is an example of authentic learning experience, for a number of reasons, including the fact that students are required to do a “professional” work that will be made public in the frame of a competition. The paper investigates whether PoliCultura can foster creativity, by analyzing all the “stories” submitted to the competition in 2020 using a literature-based creativity rubric, with positive results. The analysis of the teachers’ pedagogical reports sheds light on the key factors for promoting creativity, which are, for the teachers: to be a facilitator of the activity, to promote collaboration, to “open up” to external support and stimuli beyond the classroom and to foster the students’ individual talents. Guidelines for designers of educational tools are drawn too: provide a clear path while at the same time allowing a wide degree of freedom, keep the threshold low and plan for the teacher to be at the center-stage.
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spelling doaj.art-eb986ca3a42d4983b37adcd1c0f273382022-12-22T02:24:14ZengInternational Forum of Educational Technology & SocietyEducational Technology & Society1176-36471436-45222022-04-0125280104Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-StudyNicoletta Di Blas0HOC-LAB, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, ItalyPoliCultura is a collaborative digital storytelling program for schools (K-12), which has gathered so far more than 41,000 students. It is an example of authentic learning experience, for a number of reasons, including the fact that students are required to do a “professional” work that will be made public in the frame of a competition. The paper investigates whether PoliCultura can foster creativity, by analyzing all the “stories” submitted to the competition in 2020 using a literature-based creativity rubric, with positive results. The analysis of the teachers’ pedagogical reports sheds light on the key factors for promoting creativity, which are, for the teachers: to be a facilitator of the activity, to promote collaboration, to “open up” to external support and stimuli beyond the classroom and to foster the students’ individual talents. Guidelines for designers of educational tools are drawn too: provide a clear path while at the same time allowing a wide degree of freedom, keep the threshold low and plan for the teacher to be at the center-stage.https://www.j-ets.net/collection/published-issues/25_2#h.b4595arqenr0authentic learningcreativitydigital storytelling
spellingShingle Nicoletta Di Blas
Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
Educational Technology & Society
authentic learning
creativity
digital storytelling
title Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
title_full Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
title_fullStr Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
title_full_unstemmed Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
title_short Authentic Learning, Creativity and Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Lessons from a Large-Scale Case-Study
title_sort authentic learning creativity and collaborative digital storytelling lessons from a large scale case study
topic authentic learning
creativity
digital storytelling
url https://www.j-ets.net/collection/published-issues/25_2#h.b4595arqenr0
work_keys_str_mv AT nicolettadiblas authenticlearningcreativityandcollaborativedigitalstorytellinglessonsfromalargescalecasestudy