Anthea's PP

1. Case Study Title: Using digital
storytelling as a scaffolding technique
to improve academic literacy skills of
first-year ECP students
Anthea Adams, Business Faculty, CPUT

2. • Exploring my task
• Designing & developing learning activity
• Formative evaluation of prototype learning
activity

3.  Similarities University of Technologies
 Underprepared for higher education studies -
socially, economically & cognitively (Van
Schalkwyk, 2008)
 First-year Human Resource Management
students
 Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP)

4.  Students battle with the demands of
traditional literacy
 Entry-level subjects (Business Communication
Skills, Personnel Management & Business
Management)
 Complex texts, higher order thinking &
sophisticated writing skills (interrogate, make
judgements, present and criticize
arguments, defining problems & proposing
solutions) (Eberly Center, n.d.)

5.  ECP students‟ latent potential - therefore
significantly challenged - demands of
academic literacy skills
 The use of digital storytelling as a scaffolding
technique to improve the academic literacy
skills of first-year ECP students in the HRM
department

6.  Concept of affordances (Bower, 2008:6-7) - match
the teaching and learning challenges with the best
technological tool, namely digital storytelling
 A digital story is “anything that employs digital
technology to construct narrative” (Sylvester &
Greenidge, 2009:290)
 Digital storytelling enables students to “construct
narrative and expository texts (combining multiple
media images, voice, music, video, transitions, and
movement) (Skinner & Hagood,2008:19)

7.  Scaffolding technique to develop academic
writing skills (Cleary, 2008:254-261) such as:
• planning writing to achieve clarity, coherence
& cohesion
• drafting techniques (process approach of
writing) & peer feedback to structure
logical, coherent & cohesive texts

8. • revising and editing erroneous language &
sentence structure
• encoding and decoding academic & business
texts
• making meaning from texts

9. • developing content area vocabulary
• being aware of audience, purpose, register
and form (Sylvester & Greenidge, 2009:291)
Secondary aim - create an enabling
environment (develop multiple literacies such
as technological, visual, media and information
literacy)

10. • Student perceptions “an easy subject”
• Maintaining student interest
• Academic literacy - one of six modules in this
subject is usually covered during the first semester
• Throughout the year all lecturers at all levels of
study are required to address academic literacy in
their Teaching and Learning (T&L) activities

11. • First-year level skills are crucial for success in
all levels of study
• Covert assessment of academic literacy skills
• Assumptions
• Mismatch between traditional pen & paper
T&L activities & students‟ preferred learning
styles and interests

12. • Students‟ lack of basic computer skills
• HDHET (Higher Diploma in Higher Education
and Teaching) - challenged to actively
participate in scholarship of teaching (being
informed about & applying best T&L
practices)
• Educational opportunities for students &
myself - digital storytelling is an ideal
technological tool (educational goals)

13. • Individual & group paper-based assessments &
written tasks (written assignments, short projects
& oral presentations)
• Research topics –consulting various sources)
• Neglect - several drafts (formative assessments)
& visit Writing Centre
• Bus Comm Skills and PM - only two subjects
using paper-based integrated assessments &
tasks

14. • Personal narrative, one of two distinct models of
digital storytelling (Cachago, 2013)
• An adaptation - earlier collaborative work -
Fundani staff members & academic staff in the
Education Faculty at CPUT (Ivala et al., 2012)
• Several workshops - guide students in
developing digital stories
• Create personal stories based on topic „Myself‟
• Open-ended topic - individual digital stories
• Focus on various aspects (culture, likes and
dislikes, hobbies, family, friends, community,
etc.)

15.  Second semester - students develop their
digital stories in groups
 „Workplace diversity‟ & Occupational Health
and Safety‟ - ideal for collaboration
 Potential for collaboration of digital
storytelling - Teaching team - integrate three
subjects (Bus Comm Skills, PM & EUC)

16. • Workshop topics (story
mapping, scripting, locating and developing
visuals and audio & narrating stories)
• Bus Comm lecturer - focus on script writing
(elements of a digital story, incorporating figures
of speech, etc.)
• EUC colleague focuses on technological aspects
(downloading software and audio, selecting
effective transitions & storyboard presentation)

17. Middle conflict
Problem Solution
(tension)
(resolution)
Beginning End
(call to adventure)
(closure,learning)
Transformation
(Dillingham, 2001 & Ohler, 2003)

18. Middle conflict
Problem/change/event/s/incident/s/activi
ties
Solution/ spin-offs/results/consequences
Transformation
/change/development/growth
What new insights have I gained?
(Dillingham, 2001 & Ohler, 2003)

19. • Ivala et al. (2012) – advise other practitioners
- mindful of the following:
• technological challenges (availability of
software in computer labs on campus)
• Step-by-step planning of project
• Participation (interdisciplinary teaching team)
• Access to resources (e.g. headsets for
narration and scanners to scan pictures)

20. • Scheduled sessions in computer labs
• Scaffolding techniques
• Assistance from tutors and mentors
• Virus protection
• Research (e.g. similar contexts)

21. • On-going project - myriad of benefits
(lecturers & students)
• Benefits contribute - development of
graduate attributes (sought after skills in
industry)
• Capitalize on its opportunities for
interdisciplinary & student collaboration

22.  Boughey, C. n.d. Naming students‟ problems: An analysis of
language-related discourses at a South African University.
Grahamstown: Academic Development Centre, Rhodes
University.
 Bower, M. 2008. Affordance analysis – matching learning
tasks with learning technologies. Educational Media
International, 45(1):3-5.
 Cachago, D. 2013. Digital Storytelling Workshop. Cape Town:
CPUT.
 Cleary, S. ed. 2008. Communication – A Hands-On Approach.
Cape Town: Juta.
 CHECED 2013. CHECED ICT Course notes. Bellville.

23.  Condy, J, Chigona, A., Gachago, D., and Ivala, E. 2012. Pre-
service students' perceptions and experiences of digital
storytelling in diverse classroom. Turkish Online Journal for
Educational Technology (TOJET), Vol 11, 3.
http://www.tojet.net/articles/v11i3/11326.pdf
CPUT. 2010. Information Literacy.
 http://library.cput.ac.za/information_literacy/prephase.html
 [20 May 2013].
 Eberly Center, 2013. Why are students coming into college
poorly prepared to write? USA: Carnegie Mellon University.

24.  Gonye, J., Rugare, M., Dudu, W.T. & Sibanda, J. 2012. Academic
writing challenges at Universities in Zimbabwe: A case study of
great Zimbabe University. Journal of English and literature, 3(3):71-
83.
 Jacobs, C. Collaboration as pedagogy: Consequences and
implications for partnerships between communication and
disciplinary specialists.Southern African Linguistics and Applied
Language Studies, 28(3):227-237.
Jacobs, C.Transgressing disciplinary boundaries: Constructing
alternate academic identities through collaboration with „the other‟.
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology
Education,14(2):110-120.
 Matthews, V, 2013. Case Study Presentation at CHECED course, 22
May 2013. CPUT.
 Ohler, J. 2005/2006. The World of Digital Storytelling. Learning in
the digital Age, 63(4):44-47.

25.  Scheepers, J. & Jattiem, R. 2002. Communication for Personnel
Management. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
 Sylvester, R. & Greenidge, W. 2009-2010. Digital Storytelling:
Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers. The Reading Teacher,
63(4):284-295.
 Rose, D., Lui-Chivizhe, L., McKnight, A. & Smith, A. 2003.
Sacffolding Academic Reading and Writing at the Koori Center. The
Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 32:41-49.
 http://nvit.bc.ca/docs/scaffolding%20academic%20reading%20and%
20writing%20at%20the%20koori%20centre.pdf
 [20 May 2013].

26. Thank you!
Enkosi kakhulu!
Baie dankie!
Mercie!
Muito obrigado!