Methodology & Implementation

In this research proposal, two cycles of action research are planned. During the first cycle, which will last approximately six months, teachers of the 1st Experimental Primary School of Thessaloniki (those who will be interested at that particular time) and the 1st Experimental High School of Larisa will be involved. This first cycle will be a pilot study. The teachers of the two schools will be trained, and then they will evaluate in practice the lesson plans designed by the project team. Any proposed modifications to the lesson plans will be evaluated and incorporated. In addition, this pilot study will offer us an initial batch of digital stories, which will allow us to examine the functionality of the digital hub. These teachers, in cooperation with the project team, will process the data of the pilot study and assist in the enrichment of all the material that will be used for the second cycle of action research.

In the second cycle, 60 additional teachers from primary and junior high schools will be involved, 30 from the area of Thessaloniki and 30 from the area of Larissa. The teachers of the “pilot” schools will continue to implement the program and will be part of the learning/practice community that will be created, with an expanded role. The 60 teachers will attend digital storytelling training workshops at the two physical hubs and will then apply the lesson plans of the pilot study in their classrooms over a period of nine months. The program will conclude with the evaluation, reflection and dissemination of the digital stories themselves but also of the entire educational experience, through the organization of two seminars and the digital hub.

Because digital stories, by default, may have a personal character (accounts of family history or personal experiences), the parents of the students who will participate in the program will first be informed. Part of the training of the teachers will also be on the issue of student privacy protection during the digital story production process. In the case that student digital stories are uploaded to the digital hub, parental permissions will be secured and/or pseudonyms will be used for the student creators, while no indication of their schools will be provided.