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

Abstract

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