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Engaging second language (L2) students in multimodal academic writing that leverages multiple semiotic resources has the potential to foster their awareness of audience, purpose, and other rhetorical features. This case study explores L2 students’ engagement in a multimodal digital storytelling (DST) project. The study reports on how DST was integrated into an undergraduate writing curriculum and how students’ engagement in multimodal composition fostered their rhetorical awareness and influenced their perceptions of academic writing. The findings suggest that the process of transmediation (a process of translating meaning from one sign system into another) facilitated students’ revision, directing their attention to rhetorical features of writing. Creating digital stories enabled students to make sophisticated and deliberate rhetorical choices to bolster their arguments and transmit their messages effectively. Students exhibited positive attitudes toward the integration of multimedia. The results suggest that thoughtful integration of DST and multimodality have unique affordances for L2 students’ writing development.

Digital storytelling has made its way into second language classrooms due to its great potential in promoting linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes increasingly recognized by second language educators. However, the links between digital storytelling and second language learners' willingness to communicate still remain largely unknown. The present thematic review first presents an introduction to digital storytelling and then elucidates its critical roles in promoting second language willingness to communicate traced to four aspects: creating ample opportunities to practice the second language, negotiating aspired identities, engaging learners with cultural and multimodal resources, and constructing communities of shared interests. Finally, directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creative and innovative reflective methods are important to prompt and sustain alternative and novel ways for teachers to consider their professional identity and practice. Digital storytelling is one such method that enables the sharing of valued events including narratives of lived experience. This paper reports on a case study investigating teacher use of digital storytelling to promote reflection and pedagogical awareness in support of immigrant and refugee children's developing sense of belonging. The case study is part of a larger funded project aimed at strengthening the identity and belonging of refugee and immigrant children in early childhood education. In the case study, four early childhood education teachers in an education and care centre planned and created their digital narratives, reflected on the process, and considered the opportunities and implications for integrating digital storytelling in their practice. A range of qualitative data were collected through observations (notes, photographs, video recordings), focus group interview, and teacher created artifacts. Thematic analysis identified that teachers valued their experiences with creating their own digital stories in identifying and affirming their values and identities as teacher practitioners, and in thinking more deeply about coming to belong. They recognised the transformative potential of digital storytelling in promoting understandings of belonging, facilitating reflective practice and identifying relevant belonging-based pedagogical strategies. They recommended other staff and parents could undertake a similar process, predicting that this would enable even stronger reciprocal connections between staff, parents and children to facilitate greater understanding of children's cultural backgrounds and home experiences as a basis for establishing more targeted belonging-based pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital storytelling (DS) has increasingly been incorporated as a pedagogical tool to engage EFL learners for active language learning. However, little is known about how EFL learners make self-initiated use of multifarious resources available to them for engaging in the DS practice behaviourally, cognitively, affectively and socially. This 10-month-long study, informed by a dynamic and holistic approach, focused on an in-depth exploration of the dynamics and underpinning mechanisms of EFL learner engagement with the DS practice, as well as the alignment between their engagement and writing performance. Data were collected from multiple sources including learning journals, semi-structured interviews and DS products, and analysed using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Results revealed structural and temporal patterns regarding EFL learners' behavioural, cognitive, social and affective DS engagement, which were found largely attributable to various individual and contextual factors. Also prominent in our observation were marked individual differences in terms of the patterns, processes and outcomes (in the form of writing development) of learners multifacetedly engaging in the DS practice. Pedagogical suggestions accommodating the dynamic, multifaceted and individual nature of learner engagement are provided for the design and implementation of DS-based tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tutelage of our mentors as scientists included the analogy that writing a good scientific paper was an exercise in storytelling that omitted unessential details that did not move the story forward or that detracted from the overall message. However, the advice to not get lost in the details had an important flaw. In science, it is the many details of the data themselves and the methods used to generate and analyze them that give conclusions their probative meaning. Facts may sometimes slow or distract from the clarity, tidiness, intrigue, or flow of the narrative, but nevertheless they are important for the assessment of what was done, the trustworthiness of the science, and the meaning of the findings. Nevertheless, many critical elements and facts about research studies may be omitted from the narrative and become hidden from scholarly scrutiny. We describe a "baker's dozen" shortfalls in which such elements that are pertinent to evaluating the validity of scientific studies are sometimes hidden in reports of the work. Such shortfalls may be intentional or unintentional or lie somewhere in between. Additionally, shortfalls may occur at the level of the individual or an institution or of the entire system itself. We conclude by proposing countermeasures to these shortfalls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual article discusses how a digital storytelling (DS) project encouraged inner, interpersonal, and intergroup peacebuilding between members of one Midwestern community in the United States. The article reports on a DS project where (1) multilingual participants explored themes of multilingualism and migration as they produced DS in a week‐long workshop and (2) community members viewed and responded to these DS in a series of public showings. The DS process helped create opportunities for connections across linguistic and cultural differences and provided a multimodal platform for multilingual community members to share their stories of migration and belonging. The process of DS production facilitated inner peacebuilding as multilingual speakers reflected upon internal conflicts related to multilingualism, migration, and their sense of belonging. Further, workshop participants were empowered to express their multilingual experiences, and their DS revealed continued searching for inner and interpersonal peace. During public showings, community members viewed the DS and then responded to prompts about migration, multilingualism, and belonging. Their answers revealed emotional responses, eagerness to understand multilingual experiences, and the desire to create harmonious relationships among community members. The authors believe that sharing the stories of multilingual speakers and hearing their experiences in their own words is a powerful tool for peacebuilding—rooting out conflict and striving to create a happy, healthy, and prosperous community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's digital age, where consumers are bombarded with messages and have short attention spans, brands face the challenge of standing out. This paper proposes a paradigm shift for brands: viewing every interaction as a potential media opportunity. Drawing from case studies like Nike, Stella Artois and Glassdoor, it illustrates how brands can leverage routine interactions with their target audiences to craft compelling narratives, adapting to evolving consumer expectations. This paper suggests a practical model for identifying and maximising these media touchpoints, emphasising the importance of storytelling and authenticity. As technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) continue to evolve, the role of branding and marketing is poised for transformation, with new possibilities emerging to engage audiences in innovative ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disparities in vaccine confidence and uptake among racial and ethnic minorities have resulted in a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 in these populations. Social media campaigns have shown promise in public health promotion and behavioral interventions. In January 2022, an academic-community partnership launched #Vax4Community, a 6-month social media campaign centered around the use of digital storytelling videos. The campaign purpose was to decrease vaccine hesitancy, combat vaccine misinformation and disinformation, and increase vaccine confidence within three distinct target communities: the justice-involved population, South Asian residents, and public housing youth in the metropolitan area of New York City (NYC). Our approach included the production and dissemination of digital storytelling videos featuring personal vaccine experiences from target populations. We evaluated key performance indicators (KPIs) of the campaign, including post impressions, reach and engagement across social media platforms, and shares from partner organizations. Overall, we received 1,910,662 post impressions, 699,722 unique users reached, and 2,880 post engagements across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and 147 shares from 48 partner organizations. Social media campaigns require strategic design in branding, messaging and outreach channels and could serve as an important tool to disseminate emotionally relatable content and trusted information to prime target populations to respond more optimally to public health interventions. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of creating and disseminating these digital stories and the KPIs of the social media campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating technology into the classroom to facilitate learning outcomes is essential to preparing the next generation of macromarketers given the pedagogical importance of multiliteracies and digital storytelling. StoryMaps was the platform for a semester-long project of a global business course in which students created and presented a digital story of how a chosen company should be resilient in the face of changing and interconnected macro factors, as well as the societal and sustainability implications of its decisions. The quantitative and qualitative findings of the student outcomes are reported, including their learning about the complexity of multiple stakeholders and ethics and sustainability in business. The implications for how technology can be used to incorporate macromarketing into the business classroom are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health disparities for Native/Indigenous youth are perpetuated by systemic bias and racism. Both the scientific literature and media play a role in maintaining disparities by telling stories through narrative or numbers that invalidate Indigenous knowledge and ways of systematic investigation, intervention, and communication regarding health and well-being. Youth were mentored by Indigenous artists to develop culturally relevant digital stories that speak to community wellness efforts, strengths, and resilience in regard to substance abuse and suicide prevention (from youth perspectives) to target root causes of health disparities by shifting narrative power to decolonial Indigenous philosophies. Together, we developed an intervention that targets the underlying root causes of health disparities by transforming the very structures upon which health interventions hinge. The realm of communication is one of these structures that is ripe with possibilities for new conceptions that uplift strength-based narratives through digital media. We created an intervention that emphasizes possibilities through positive images of Indigenous people, effectively addressing community issues by building community-based narrative power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation explores the potential of integrating digital storytelling (DST) within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course specifically designed for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) preparation. The study employs a randomized controlled trial methodology, involving 89 EFL learners divided into two groups. The primary objective is to assess the effectiveness of DST intervention on three key variables: L2 speaking skills, speaking self-regulation, and speaking anxiety. A pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up design is implemented to capture the longitudinal effects of the intervention. Data analysis utilizes Linear Mixed-Effects Models (LMM) to account for the repeated-measures nature of the study. The LMM incorporates both fixed effects (group, time, and their interaction) and random effects (participant intercepts) to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the intervention's impact. Preliminary findings suggest that the incorporation of DST may yield positive outcomes in L2 speaking skills, speaking self-regulation, and speaking anxiety. This research aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence on the efficacy of DST as a pedagogical tool within IELTS preparation contexts. The findings hold potential value for language educators and practitioners seeking to enhance speaking proficiency and foster a more positive learning environment for learners experiencing anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe European Landscape Convention of 2000 identifies landscape education as a fundamental action for the protection and enhancement of landscapes. Pedagogical literature emphasizes that landscape education should aim to foster a positive attitude towards the landscape and should be pursued through education “in” the landscape, conducted via field-based experiential strategies. This study examines the impact of a landscape education approach on the attitudes of primary school teachers in training towards the landscape. A quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test was conducted, involving an experimental group (N = 102) in an outdoor digital storytelling lab and a control group (N = 114) in an indoor edition. Pre-test results showed no significant differences between the two groups in attitudes toward rural/natural landscapes, urban landscapes, and active engagement with the landscape. Post-test results revealed significant increases in scores only for the experimental group. These findings suggest that active, field-based landscape education can promote an appreciation of landscapes among future teachers. Future research should investigate whether teachers can promote similar attitudes in their students using analogous teaching strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing demand for culturally responsive and contextually appropriate evaluation tools that can promote transformative change in the African development space. One way to address this demand is by adapting the existing Western-based evaluation theories to ensure that they are sensitive to the African settings. This protocol describes how the realist evaluation, which is a Western-based approach, would be implemented in a manner that respects the indigenous research principles. The study would be positioned within the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) programme – a research capacity strengthening initiative. Methods and Analysis: A multiple case study design will be used, specifically targeting three purposively selected research projects. Initial programme theories (IPTs) will be elicited through review of the ARISE programme documents, focus group discussions with project level stakeholders and beneficiaries and review of published literature. Qualitative methods will then be applied to test the IPTs. Interviews with the Principal Investigators (PIs), research collaborators, PIs' mentors, finance and grants management (research support) staff and partners; (b) participant observation with the PIs and (c) storytelling sessions with the masters/PhD trainees. Retroductive theorising will be applied in data analysis. Deductive reasoning will seek to identify Contexts, Mechanism and Outcomes (CMOs) that are aligned with the IPTs. New CMOs will be inductively identified. The indigenous principles will be infused in different stages of the evaluation. Conclusion: This study will be the first of its kind to explore how the realist evaluation approach can be indigenised in an African setting. Tensions and incompatibilities between the realist evaluation approach and the indigenous research principles will be reported as part of the study results. An 'indigenous-inspired realist evaluation' framework will be suggested based on the reflections on the evaluation methods and processes which could be tested and refined by researchers in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This arts-based research explores the role and impact of digital storytelling in supporting young adults with diabetes in China to face diabetes-related stigma and promote resilience and well-being. Twenty participants with diabetes recounted their experiences across three workshops and shared their perspectives on digital storytelling through semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that digital storytelling, as a health intervention, facilitates a comfortable environment for participants to articulate the traumatic impact of diabetes stigma. It encourages collective support and fosters a reinterpretation of the diabetes experience, enhancing participants’ capacity for future health management. The results also highlight the limitations of digital storytelling, particularly concerning its accessibility and transparency. Participants’ experiences underscore the need for careful consideration of these challenges to maximize the therapeutic potential of digital storytelling in the context of chronic illness management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we share insights from Raíces y Rutas, a digital storytelling workshop series which brought together Latinx immigrant families to share stories, make connections and build agency. Using popular education methods, we created a space for participants to engage in deep, communal thinking and theorizing. Participants developed the trust and confidence needed to share challenging experiences and politicized funds of knowledge using multimodal methods. Participants were able to shape the narrative that they wanted to be told about their lives. We argue that spaces like this need to be more readily available to immigrants and immigration-affected youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior literature has shown that brands can use digital storytelling (DST) to reduce uncertainty among consumers and thus increase sales. As such, it is important to understand the elements of storytelling and its role in marketing a product. Extant studies have not explored the elements of DST in terms of the technological convenience of the consumer. This study, therefore, examines the mediating impact of DST elements through factors such as perceived efficiency, social interaction, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was employed as a theoretical base for the study. A sample of 305 respondents who had made an online purchase were shown a digital story of a known brand. The results indicate that the elements of storytelling significantly impact the factors of the UTAUT model. Further, these factors mediate the relationship between DST and two dependent variables (behavioral intention and perceived brand image). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing prevalence of health and illness narratives on digital platforms, research examining the social psychological processes involved in these storytelling environments remains scarce. This paper addresses this research gap by conducting a mixed-methods study of digital storytelling within the UK's healthcare context, focusing on online consumer reviews of the medical memoir, Do no harm: stories of life, death and brain surgery (Marsh, 2014). Utilising computer-assisted text analysis methods of LIWC-22 and the Sketch Engine, linguistic cues for cognitive, affective, social and perceptual processes are identified in a corpus of online consumer reviews. A subsequent qualitative analysis, based on 'narrative modulation' (Huang, 2024, 2020), investigates the role of these processes in constructing and developing storylines across the user reviews. Finally, the study explores how consumer reviews in the form of 'small stories' challenge canonical narratives in the UK's healthcare services. This research advances the field of narrative studies by emphasising the role of social psychological processes (Chung and Pennebaker, 2019) in modulating emerging, evolving and counter narratives in digital storytelling. The findings reveal an instrumental role of social psychological processes, as signalled by linguistic cues, in shaping narrative threads in online user reviews. This study not only develops narrative modulation as a valuable concept for narrative analysis, but also underscores its effectiveness when combined with computer-assisted text analysis tools for in-depth examinations of narrative data. Furthermore, it provides critical insights into digital storytelling in healthcare contexts, promoting knowledge transfer across narrative studies, stylistics, social psychology and medical humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"NarraCubes: A Virtual Dice Simulator to Incorporate Storytelling in Physics Classes" is an article discussing the creation of a digital tool designed for educational use in high school and undergraduate physics classrooms. The tool, developed at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, aims to integrate storytelling into physics courses by simulating dice rolls. The article explores the challenges faced in using traditional story dice in physics classes and introduces NarraCubes, a virtual storytelling dice simulator, as a solution. Student feedback on NarraCubes was positive, with many finding it useful for teaching physics and expressing interest in future adjustments to the tool." [Extracted from the article]

Technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented virtuality (AV) based on head-mounted display (HMD) have made immersive interactive narrative experience possible. To investigate the differences between HMD VR and HMD AV for interactive storytelling, an app entitled the Extended Journey has been designed, developed and deployed on both VR headsets and optical see-through (OST) mixed reality (MR) headsets. Subsequently, a within-subjects design experiment with sixty participants was conducted to measure different factors of user experience in HMD VR and HMD AV conditions. Additionally, a between-subjects design experiment with 62 participants was conducted to evaluate narrative immersion and presence. Quantitative results from the experiments reveal that HMD VR narrative had statistically significantly better narrative immersion, presence, enjoyment and perceived affinity of computer-generated (CG) characters compared with HMD AV narrative in the context of galleries and museums. Based on Sundar's Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability (MAIN) model, we proposed and validated that sense of being-there and interaction mediated the relationship between immersive media modality and narrative immersion as well as empathy. Qualitative data and behavioral tests showed that young people have a higher preference for HMD VR over HMD AV, but for specific use scenarios, there is still a certain possibility of choosing HMD AV due to security and space limitations. These findings have theoretical implications for the psychology of VR and AV, and practical applications for HMD-based immersive narrative in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a case study of three educational digital storytelling (EDS) projects in which researchers use intercultural identity management theory (IMT) as a framework to investigate student claims of transformation within short-term study abroad courses. Across three separate hybrid digital production and intercultural communication courses with study abroad requirements, instructors noticed a pattern of students sharing similar sentiments that they experienced significant changes in beliefs, attitudes, or identity, with some even describing being “transformed” by the course experience. Analyses of multimedia student communications revealed that conducting interviews provided a discursive way to practice IMT agency. Furthermore, planning and editing digital stories prompted students’ consideration of intercultural identity transformations as they viewed self-depictions of intercultural communication experiences. Exploration into the EDS learning process reflects that of established IMT phases, lending support to how EDS projects can provide pedagogical guidance for instructors seeking IMT awareness as part of the short-term study abroad experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional multimedia experiences are undergoing a transformation as generative AI integration fosters enhanced creative workflows, streamlines content creation processes, and unlocks the potential for entirely new forms of multimedia storytelling. It has potential to generate captivating visuals to accompany a documentary based solely on historical text descriptions, or creating personalized and interactive multimedia experiences tailored to individual user preferences. From the high-resolution cameras in our smartphones to the immersive experiences offered by the latest technologies, the impact of generative imaging undeniable. This study delves into the burgeoning field of generative AI, with a focus on its revolutionary impact on image generation. It explores the background of traditional imaging in consumer electronics and the motivations for integrating AI, leading to enhanced capabilities in various applications. The research critically examines current advancements in state-of-the-art technologies like DALL-E 2, Craiyon, Stable Diffusion, Imagen, Jasper, NightCafe, and Deep AI, assessing their performance on parameters such as image quality, diversity, and efficiency. It also addresses the limitations and ethical challenges posed by this integration, balancing creative autonomy with AI automation. The novelty of this work lies in its comprehensive analysis and comparison of these AI systems, providing insightful results that highlight both their strengths and areas for improvement. The conclusion underscores the transformative potential of generative AI in image generation, paving the way for future research and development to further enhance and refine these technologies. This article serves as a critical guide for understanding the current landscape and future prospects of AI-driven image creation, offering a glimpse into the evolving synergy between human creativity and artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital storytelling (DST) is an educational strategy that has been shown to be capable of developing a wide range of skills. The focus of this review is to examine the relationship between this strategy and the development of 21st-century skills, a highly relevant notion in today's educational systems. The findings combine qualitative evidence regarding DST and its influence on developing 21st-century skills. A meta-aggregative approach was utilised to analyse the results of 18 selected studies. The results suggest that 1) no matter the characteristics of the DST activity, there will always be 21st-century skills at play when creating a digital story; 2) the relationship between DST and 21st-century skills is solid and clear; and 3) there is a notable influence on critical thinking, creativity and collaboration skills. Finally, design principles and recommendations for practitioners are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world of film and TV animation has witnessed a revolutionary transformation with the combination of Expression transfer and digital virtual Human technology. This paper delves into the superior methodologies and technological improvements in the discipline of animation production, especially specializing in how those technology are redefining the requirements and practices of animation in film and television. Expression transfer technology, a groundbreaking approach in animation, entails the transfer of facial expressions from real actors to lively characters. This technique not most effective enhances the realism of lively characters but additionally lets in for a extra nuanced and emotive performance, bridging the space among conventional animation and stay-action performances. Digital Human era, however, entails creating extraordinarily practical virtual representations of people. Those digital humans aren't mere caricatures or stylized variations however are reasonable in appearance and movement, way to advancements in motion seize, 3-D modeling, and synthetic intelligence. The mixture of those technologies is main to a new technology in animation where characters aren't only visually stunning however also exhibit a depth of emotion and realism previously unimaginable. This paper explores diverse case research and applications of these technology in current animation, highlighting their effect on storytelling, person improvement, and viewer engagement. It also addresses the demanding situations and moral considerations in employing these technologies, which includes retaining artistic integrity and the capacity for misuse. The research concludes with a forward-searching attitude on how Expression transfer and digital digital Human technologies are set to redefine the future of movie and television animation, presenting new opportunities for creative expression and narrative intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital storytelling (DST) has been widely adopted as a pedagogical approach to English language teaching. However, a few studies have focused on examining primary school students' experience of learning to create digital storytelling of English as a foreign language. To fill the gap, this study reports on an innovation in the use of genre-based digital storytelling in a primary school English classroom in Indonesia. In this project, pupils were engaged in a collaborative project to create digital stories. They carried out a series of DST tasks, such as finding a story theme, developing a story, revising the story, and presenting the story digitally. This case study found out that student participants could build students' story literacy, (2) foster students' literacy development of digital tools, (3) develop students' story drafting engagement, and (4) promote students' digital storytelling making and publication. The study suggests that primary school students can be engaged in genre-based digital storytelling to learn English and build their technological literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Beyond the Virtual Horizon: Safe Navigation of Extended Realities" discusses the transformative potential of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). It emphasizes the importance of ethical, privacy, and security considerations in the adoption of XR across various industries. The text underscores the necessity of robust governance, regulation, cybersecurity measures, and data privacy to ensure safe and beneficial development and use of XR technologies. It also highlights the significance of adhering to regulatory standards and industry-specific compliance requirements to safeguard user data and create reliable XR experiences in sectors like healthcare, education, and finance, while promoting responsible and ethical use to protect sensitive information and foster inclusivity. [Extracted from the article]

This article shares our experience of pivoting a place-focused participatory research project with children in rural China who have migrant parents from an in situ design to an online design during the COVID-19 pandemic. In redesigning the project, we shifted the photovoice component online, and substituted digital storytelling for go-along interviews. We found that the use of cell phone-supported photovoice and storytelling techniques not only provided significant flexibility in engaging children, but also empowered them to take an active role in presenting their viewpoints. Our experience demonstrated the potential for these virtual methods to increase confidence and participation among child participants, while allowing for a meaningful collaborative process between the children and researchers. Although we recognize that the data lacks the observational dimensions inherent in field-based place research, the online platform and associated digital technologies nonetheless enabled both children and researchers to capture meaningful aspects of children’s lives in everyday places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are an important evaluation technique for both examinations and learning activities. However, the manual creation of questions is time-consuming and challenging for teachers. Hence, there is a notable demand for an Automatic Question Generation (AQG) system. Several systems have been created for this aim, but the generated questions failed to meet the requirements for student assessment effectively. Consequently, research in education technology, natural language processing, and KG development technology to support the AQG systems is still in its infancy. In this paper, the innovative integrated AQG framework for creating MCQs with difficulty levels is presented. The improved KG is first built as a source for question generation through corresponding queries. The distractors or wrong choices are generated by proposing a unified difficulty ranking mechanism, which includes the hybrid technique of WordNet-based and Linked Data (LD)-based semantic similarity together with property filtering score. Furthermore, the syntactic feature i.e. part-of-speech is utilized for the best distractors generation. The experimental results of the proposed unified difficulty ranking mechanism demonstrate an accuracy of 94% on the KG test dataset and 75% on public datasets. The accuracy of distractors' correctness is 60% on the test dataset while it is 72% on the public dataset. The results highlight the efficiency of the proposed unified difficulty ranking mechanism for automatic MCQs generation in the digital storytelling domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of the use of digital storytelling on academic achievement, critical thinking dispositions, co-regulation, and narrative skills of 10th grade students. To this end, the study was conducted using a semi-experimental design with a convenience sample. The participants consisted of 64 students (33 in experimental and 31 in control group) who were studying in a high school. After the groups were trained, a two-week pilot study was conducted by forming collaborative groups among the students. This was followed by eight weeks of main implementation, during which students presented their projects to the class every two weeks. Following the digital story presentations in the experimental group, feedback was provided by the course instructor and peers. In addition, rubric scores were generated by the researchers for each digital story. Academic achievement test, critical thinking disposition scale, co-regulatory skills scale, and digital story evaluation rubric were used as data collection tools at the end of the process. Independent samples t-test, repeated ANOVA, and regression analysis were performed on the collected data. According to the results, digital story activities had moderate positive effects on students' academic achievement and critical thinking, and high positive effects on co-regulation. In addition, the narrative skills of the students in the experimental group increased significantly over the weeks with a difference of 27.44 points. There was also evidence that storytelling ability was a significant predictor of academic achievement and that this ability increased significantly over the weeks. The results showed that the collaborative creation of a digital story by the students had a positive effect on their academic achievement and the development of their skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Study Design Results Conclusion This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the digital storytelling (DS) method in increasing human papilloma virus (HPV) awareness.The study was conducted in the gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinic of a state hospital between April and December 2023. The universe of the study consisted of women who applied to the outpatient clinic between these dates and volunteered. A total of 80 women who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study (n = 40 for each group). Data for the study were gathered using Personal Introduction Form and Human Papilloma Virus Knowledge Scale. Repeated measures ANOVA method was used to determine the difference between the pre‐training, post‐first training and post‐second training measurement scores according to the intervention and control groups. For significant ANOVA results, measurements with differences were compared pairwise using Bonferroni correction. All statistical analyses were examined at the p < 0.05 significance level.Socio‐demographic characteristics and HPV awareness levels of women in the intervention and control groups were similar before training (p > 0.05). After the activity conducted with the digital story method in the intervention group, the HPV awareness levels of women in this group increased significantly (p < 0.05). Considering the development in each group, an increase in posttest scores is observed in both groups. However, when the increase amounts in each group in the intervention and control groups were examined, it was determined that all awareness levels increased more in the intervention group. In the intergroup comparison, it was determined that the mean measurements of general HPV knowledge, general HPV vaccine knowledge, and knowledge of the current HPV vaccination program of women in the intervention group at the first and second follow‐ups after the training were higher than those in the control group.The DS method was effective in raising HPV awareness given to the intervention group. Health professionals and researchers can benefit from DS in providing health education and consultancy services such as HPV awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is home to a large youth population, defined in South Africa as aged between 18 and 34 years. In working to transform our unequal society, we need to take diverse youth voices, including young people at university, into account regarding what matters to them. To enable their voices, the paper recounts a participatory storytelling research project with students in the educational space of one South African university. Using individual and collective digital storytelling, participants produced an archive of everyday stories, which then comprised a data base for them to analyse social in/justice issues and themes and co-create knowledge from the ground-up, with their emergent ideas categorised in a social injustice map. Through the iterative action learning and reflective process, participants developed their critical awareness of injustices and enhanced their sense of their own epistemic agency to contribute to change. Both the project process and the formation of intersecting capabilities for the co-creation of substantive reparative knowledge about social injustices and fairness were advanced through the project. Finally, it is suggested that these two capabilities might be applied to young people globally as crucial for contributions to epistemic agency and for making more just future societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study illustrates digital storytelling (DS) as an open-ended learning environment, which is one of the ways of preparing pre-service teachers (PST) to practice computational thinking (CT) in their future teaching. An 8-week teacher training program was organized and presented. The study aims to investigate the program's impact on the PST's CT skills, CT-integrated DS design skills, and their perspectives. A study group of fifty-two second-year PSTs took part in the Instructional Technologies course. An embedded mixed-method design was used. The CT scale was used as a pre-test and post-test to examine the development of the PST's CT skills for quantitative data collection. The qualitative data comprise the CT-integrated DS projects developed by the PST during the training and the reflection reports they wrote at the end of the training. The paired samples t-test was used in the analysis of quantitative data. The DS projects were evaluated using the rubrics with the story/storyboard, DS, and CT skills dimensions. Reflection reports were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the PST's CT skills after the training program. The qualitative findings show the PST's perspectives on CT definitions, the perceived benefits of CT and DS, and the use of DS to promote CT. The qualitative findings also present evidence for the CT-integrated DS design skills of the PST. Therefore, the study presents early findings showing that CT components could be integrated with DS and used in teacher education effectively without any pressure to use programming tools. The study also shows how DS is gradually integrated with the CT components as a suggestion for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the efficacy of a freely available arts-based intervention used to tackle Child Criminal Exploitation. A digital, interactive story (Cold Chips & Money) was used in school and youth settings in Hampshire, England with 1,451 young people aged 11–13 in 2021 as part of a project of the same name. Its use has continued since. I was and continue to be the Project Lead and oversaw the development of the story, the supporting resources and the evaluation framework. I worked with a project facilitator and evaluator throughout. Cold Chips & Money was designed to help students understand, recognise and manage external influence and pressure. The story and supporting resources which included a lesson plan and access to the project evaluation lead, enable professionals to have conversations with young people about how they can keep themselves safe, as well as how they can support one another to resist unwanted attention that might lead to exploitation. The resources relate directly to the PSHE Association Key Stage 3 Core Theme Relationships: Social Influence section R42–47. The development and use of the resources was planned to complement multi-agency work on Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines and had input from multiple professionals. Project evaluation evidenced a significant increase in awareness of county lines, and the issues surrounding it. Teachers stated that the interactive storytelling format was effective at and provided the opportunity to facilitate in-depth dialogue around the cause and effect of the decisions we make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating meaningful interaction can be challenging for communication partners of persons with intellectual disabilities and hearing impairment (IDHI). To elicit moments of interaction and communication, the sensory-enhanced interactive storytelling technique (SEIS-T) has been developed within clinical and educational practice for people with IDHI and their communication partners. SEIS-T uses custom-made storybooks, referential objects and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Although many positive communicative moments with SEIS-T have been mentioned by practitioners, scientific research regarding this approach is limited. The present study aimed to alleviate this by examining changes in communication patterns and engagement of children with IDHI over the course of 10 repeated SEIS-T sessions and comparing the results to regular storytelling sessions. Six children participated in a multiple-baseline study. An event-sampling method was applied to analyse videos of the reading sessions, with respect to the children’s verbal and nonverbal communicative acts (role, form and complexity), and their attention to the storytelling. Non-overlap of all pairs (NAP)-analysis was used to test differences between the baseline and intervention phase for each participant. Promising improvements were seen in the frequency and variety of communicative acts by the children and in their focused attention during storytelling, when employing the SEIS-T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by the current scholarly conversations surrounding linguistic racism, this paper investigates anti-racist translingual practices within the context of a college multilingual writing classroom. Fusing translingualism and critical race theory, the paper underscores the significance of translingual digital storytelling as a critical and creative practice of counter-storytelling. Based on a case study of the translingual digital stories created by nine multilingual international students, the paper explores the potential of these stories in combating linguistic racism and inferiority complexes. I begin by framing the issue of linguistic racism within multilingual education, emphasizing the perils of racial marginalization and discrimination experienced by multilingual international students. I then explore how the multilingual students in this study have utilized a range of linguistic repertoires and multiple modalities to document and resist their lived experiences with race and racism. Based on my analysis of the students’ digital stories, I conclude this paper with pedagogical implications for integrating translingual digital storytelling into anti-racist teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript examines multimodal storytelling as community inquiry for an urban high school class of 30 first‐ and second‐generation bi/multilingual immigrant students, most of whom maintained transnational connections. We share how these students, in an A.P. Research class, engaged in community‐based inquiry and utilized various multimodal artifacts from a university cultural heritage collection, including a field trip to the cultural heritage archives, to analyze signs and symbols. We asked: How did students engage with semiotic resources and approaches to support inquiry about their school and neighborhood communities? Findings showed that students drew upon their linguistic and cultural experiences to analyze signs and symbols, yet in their digital storytelling presentations some student groups chose signs and symbols that reified stereotypical views of their neighborhood despite their insider status in the local community. We offer recommendations for using cultural heritage artifacts to advance multimodal meaning‐making in teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital storytelling is a participatory media creation process. To illustrate how digital storytelling may be used as a method within the culture-centered approach to health communication, this paper presents a case study analysis of two 2-day digital storytelling workshops in collaboration with a local harm reduction organization that supports people who use drugs. Storytellers used the communicative space of digital storytelling to confront stigmatizing cultural and institutional narratives related to substance use. Storytellers also demonstrated how harm reduction work engendered a sense of purpose and an alternative to punitive drug policies. However, storytellers felt that stories produced for the harm reduction community could be misunderstood by outsiders, limiting the potential of the stories for advocacy communication. Overall, we find that digital storytelling as a method within the culture-centered approach has potential to elevate the experiences, understanding, expertise, and goals of communities that have been excluded from health communication. The digital storytelling method will have the most value as a critical narrative intervention if the principles and reflexivity of the culture-centered approach are foundational to the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-mediated communication has become ubiquitous and digital multimodal learning has been increasingly integrated into second language education. Drawing on the concepts of transmediation and interpretant in social semiotic theories, this study explores the potential of digital storytelling (DST) in promoting EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) through transmediation. A DST workshop was offered to 69 undergraduate students in China, and the workshop was intentionally designed to consist of prescript writing, video making, and postscript writing, which induced transmediation. Data sources included DST videos produced by the participating students, their prescripts and postscripts, and interviews, with a micro-level analysis conducted on two focal students. The results showed that the participants' L2 WTC significantly increased in the writing of the postscripts than the prescripts. Three interpretants generated through transmediation were identified to be associated with students' increased L2 WTC: expanded retrospective narratives, deepened perception, and evoked sentiments. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications for implementing DST projects as a fine example of multimodal composing practices in promoting EFL learners' L2 WTC and multimodal communicative competence are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family support plays an important role in promoting resilience and health among transgender and/or nonbinary youth (TNBY), but family members often experience barriers to supporting their TNBY, including minority-adjacent stress stemming from exposure to structural stigma and antitransgender legislation. TNBY and their families need effective family-level interventions developed using community-based participatory research (CBPR), which integrates community members (e.g., TNBY, family members, service providers for families with TNBY) into the intervention development process to ensure the resulting intervention is relevant and useful. Informed by findings from the Trans Teen and Family Narratives Project, we used CBPR to develop the Trans Teen and Family Narratives Conversation Toolkit, a family-level intervention designed to educate families about TNBY and facilitate conversations about gender. The toolkit was developed across 1.5 years (June 2019 to January 2021) using four integrated phases: (1) content development: digital storytelling workshop with TNBY; (2) content review: digital storyteller interviews and user focus groups; (3) content development: study team content synthesis and website development; and (4) content review: website review by TNBY, family members, and mental health providers, and intervention refinement. This article outlines the intervention development process, describes strategies employed to navigate challenges encountered along the way, and shares key learnings to inform future CBPR intervention development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about upcoming conferences and calls for papers related to the study of time. It highlights the "Real-Time History" conference, which focuses on the significance of "living archives" in contemporary history. The article also mentions two future conferences: the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Memory Studies Association, which discusses memories in transit, and a conference on narratives of temporality. These conferences aim to foster interdisciplinary discussions and explore the complexities of temporal experiences in various fields of study. [Extracted from the article]

The research aims to explore the pedagogical benefits of the digital storytelling tool on the acquisition of visual literacy among higher education learners, as well as their personal attitudes during the process of completion of the specific task. Two main questions were asked: "Does digital storytelling support the development of key skills related to visual literacy?" and "Do the learners feel sufficiently engaged and motivated in the specific pedagogical tool of digital storytelling?" A qualitative approach was used using the method of direct observation and a survey with free-text answers. As in our case, Digital story is intended for students studying audiovisual disciplines in higher education, we have significantly raised the performance and assessment criteria so as to be adequate to the level of professional training to be covered by the relevant academic degree. The subjective evaluations of the students clearly showed a positive attitude towards the learning process, and the objective teaching observations brought out the presence of achievements in an upward direction. The important teaching conclusions are that, in a pedagogical aspect, Digital story fulfilled its purpose - to assist in a light and fun way to master audiovisual technical and creative skills at a high professional level, to engage learners with course content, to have a lasting impact on higher order visual literacy skills, to effectively develop visual thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Critical Connections Multilingual Digital Storytelling Project through the lens of Language Policy and Planning (LPP) and considers the situation of heritage language learning within the policy on language education. We present our project as grassroots policymaking in practice and demonstrate how, through deep and meaningful collaboration, researchers, teachers, parents/carers, and students can exercise bottom-up agency to address key issues in learning languages and developing multilingual literacy. Our interdisciplinary approach embeds interculturality within all stages of the language learning process creating spaces that foster empathy, activist citizenship, and possibilities for a more sustainable future. We interrogate our Critical Connections Project and argue that this approach to LPP provides an alternative model of interculturally oriented critical cosmopolitan education which validates multilingual identities. We show how digital technology, virtual communities, and a growing concern for social justice have shaped the project and discuss how we adopted a critical ethnographic approach. In looking at purposes, principles and means in our project, the digital stories themselves are analysed and presented as vibrant data. To conclude, we engage specifically with the implications of our research for heritage languages and LPP. Finally, we make a series of recommendations for heritage language planning and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The text explores the advancements in Human-Machine Interaction (HMI), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotics, focusing on integrating AI, robotics, and immersive technologies like AR, VR, and XR. It discusses the role of AI in enhancing robotic capabilities and the challenges related to ethical use, data privacy, and biases in AI algorithms. The document also presents research contributions on topics such as human-robot interaction, augmented reality in museums, AI speaker interaction, and adaptive human-robot collaboration for individuals with disabilities. It emphasizes the importance of transparent AI systems, user-friendly XR technologies, and ethical considerations in HMI research for responsible development and deployment of intelligent machines. Additionally, the text addresses the impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest, highlighting increasing deforestation rates, loss of biodiversity, and the role of indigenous communities in protecting the region. It calls for international cooperation to address environmental challenges and stresses the importance of sustainable development and conservation efforts to preserve the Amazon for future generations. [Extracted from the article]

[Objective] Large language models (LLMs) have excelled in various fields, including natural language understanding, multimodal generation, and human--computer interaction. These advancements have transformed traditional teacher education, especially in improving the digital teaching abilities and literacy of teachers. Interviews with 28 experimental teachers at our university revealed several challenges: limited opportunities for digital skills training, training content lacking digital and informatization knowledge, primarily offline training methods with limited approaches, and insufficiently rich training resources that do not align closely with the needs of experimental teachers, resulting in poor transferability. This article explores how LLMs can address these issues and improve the digital skills of experimental teachers in universities. [Methods] As information technology evolves, so does the approach to teacher digital skills education. This study combines theoretical and practical research methods to analyze the current digital skills of experimental teachers and the characteristics of LLMs. It examines the opportunities, challenges, and responses for using LLMs to enhance the digital skills of university experimental teachers. [Results] Research has found that LLMs offer new opportunities and challenges for enhancing the digital skills of experimental teachers. They can enrich digital skills, diversify scenarios and methods, optimize transfer effects, enhance environmental contextualization, and enhance the intelligence, precision, and fairness of evaluations. However, improper use of LLMs can lead to technical limitations and security risks. To mitigate these risks, a governance system involving multiple stakeholders is necessary. [Conclusions] LLMs significantly enhance the digital skills of experimental teachers in universities but also present quality, integrity, infringement, ethical, and privacy risks. To resolve these challenges, national entities should strengthen comprehensive regulatory systems. Relevant enterprise entities should accelerate the planning of digital skill enhancement and new infrastructure and consolidate a reliable and controllable technological foundation for LLMs. Social organizations should monitor LLM developments, develop tutorials to improve teachers' digital skills, raise risk awareness, and promote ethical norms and legal knowledge. Universities should conduct research on LLM governance and teaching technologies. Experimental teachers should actively participate in digital skill enhancement activities, continuously improve their artificial intelligence literacy, and use LLMs in teaching activities in a standardized and safe manner. Students should improve their artificial intelligence literacy, follow national laws and academic norms, and uphold academic ethics. By leveraging a multiagent approach, we can maximize the governance efficiency of LLMs in education, thereby better enhancing the digital skills of experimental teachers in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effectiveness of digital storytelling in enhancing communicative competence—encompassing both linguistic and narrative skills—and fostering inclusivity in a multicultural primary classroom in Genoa, Italy. The quasi-experimental intervention spanned four months and involved eight lessons designed to engage students from diverse cultural backgrounds, particularly those with migratory backgrounds. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted to evaluate linguistic proficiency, narrative competence, and educational inclusion. The results from the Italian language proficiency test demonstrated that second-generation students typically performed at the B1 level, while students with more recent migratory backgrounds scored lower. However, narrative competence showed notable improvements among A2+ level students, who outperformed their peers in certain dimensions despite linguistic challenges. Observational rubrics used throughout the intervention revealed increased classroom inclusivity, active participation, and cultural exchange. Despite limitations related to the sample size and intervention duration, the findings suggest that digital storytelling can significantly enhance communicative competence and promote a more inclusive classroom environment. Future research should investigate the long-term effects of digital storytelling on multilingual classrooms and its broader applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses interactions between pairs of children (aged 4–5) together with their teacher during digital storytelling activities in preschool to explore how children express and negotiate their agency and how teachers respond to it. Theoretically, agency is understood as relational and situated meaning that it stems from, and it is shaped by participation in interactions in specific sociocultural settings. Data include 140 h of video recordings in which participants (10 children and 2 teachers) recreate a familiar story using the application Book Creator. The findings show that, even in these activities that were designed by the researcher and the teachers and had a preliminary framework, children expressed their agency by altering the story plot, negotiating the meaning of their drawings with peers, and exploring the design characteristics of the digital tablets. The teachers and digital tables (including the application) mediated the dynamic process of children's agency. The study concludes by emphasizing a responsive teaching approach that opens up for and encourages children's agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]