The Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in Teaching 21st-Century Skills and Abilities at a Junior High School

Abstract

Students should learn 21st-century skills and abilities through various school learning activities. We used digital storytelling to teach these skills as part of integrated studies at a junior high school, and investigated the students' consciousness of their ability compared to the results of previous research. Improvements were found in some items. The author analyzed every item from the viewpoint of 21st-century skills and abilities, and found that digital storytelling can develop students’ ability to use tools interactively. However, improvements were not found for every skill or ability. Therefore, an improved lesson plan was developed that uses a worksheet to raise the quality of learning activities. This research suggests the possibility of digital storytelling as a practical learning activity to foster 21st-century skills and abilities. Moreover, the author describes ideas for future research.