Enriching Middle School Students’Learning Through Digital Storytelling:A Multimodal Analytical Framework

Purpose This study investigates middle school students’learning experiences through digital storytelling,applying a multimodal analytical framework to uncover patterns in digital stories.This study explores how participants engage in pedagogical activities,reflect on their learning experiences,and articulate their voices through digital stories.Design/Approach/Methods Employing qualitative case study methods,we purposefully selected three 12-year-old female students at an urban school in the northern US.Analyses of digital stories and other data sources(interviews,classroom observations,and reflective journals)show that the students were engaged in both teaching and reflection.Findings The findings describe(1)participants and their learning experiences,(2)students’representational and interpersonal constructs as used in their digital stories,and(3)their participation as teachers as well as learners.Originality/Value Our multimodal analytical framework illuminates how students express themselves through digital stories.Our discussion focuses on students’learning,their identity development,the effectiveness of the analytical framework,and pedagogical implications.

U.S.Preservice Teachers Learning With Multilingual Learners in Korea Through Educational Technology:Bringing Heteroglossic and Global Approaches to TESOL Teacher Education

Purpose This study aimed to explore how educational technology influenced a preparatory teacher education program using heteroglossic and global approaches.Design/Approach/Methods The researchers drew upon the theoretical framework of multilingual digital storytelling(MDST),which emphasizes the intercultural awareness attributes of multilingual learners(MLs)and takes a heteroglossic perspective in linguistic pedagogy.This qualitative case study examined the experiences of 11 U.S.-based preservice teachers(PSTs)and 12 MLs elementary students in Korea in the MDST project of a TESOL methods course.Findings The findings showed that PSTs and MLs enhanced their appreciation for educational technology,multilingualism,and intercultural awareness.Although the project aimed to decenter English as a hegemonic language,both PSTs and MLs maintained traditional discourses that privileged English over MLs’home language and targeted literacy correctness in written English only,moving away from the heterogeneous goals of the course project.PSTs and MLs also faced challenges in navigating technological tools,which negatively affected their perception of the project.Originality/Value This study contributes to heteroglossic approaches in preparatory TESOL teacher education programs and improves the understanding of challenges in educational technology use for global multilingual exchanges to promote global citizenship.