Fiction in the Realm of Digital Storytelling: An Examination of Young Children’s Fictional Digital Stories
Abstract: While digital storytelling traditionally focuses on non-fiction stories and personal narratives, this paper argues that fiction has a valuable place in the realm of digital storytelling. This study demonstrates that young children can successfully create a wide variety of fictional digital stories through computer coding and engage in a variety of valuable literacy practices in the process. Throughout their time with Scratch Jr children engaged in a variety of literacy practices that are connected to current educational standards This research utilized the concept of digital literacies as a theoretical lens that posits literacy skills goes beyond written language and also include digital and multimodal means of communication. In line with this digital literacies lens, the concept of writing was examined from a broader perspective of story creation that included writing, but also included visual and oral means of communication. The children authored/wrote multiple fictional digital stories in their story creation processes they engaged the used digital technology to communicate via written, oral, and visual information, which is recognized by current educational standards as being valuable processes for first- and second-grade children to engage in.
Presider: Erik Bean, University of Phoenix