Sustainability
The proposed hubs will be under the supervision of the Laboratory for the Study of Reading and Writing in Education and Society (EMAGEK) of the School of Primary Education of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, which is directed by Professor Venetia Apostolidou, the project’s leader. Specifically, the Thessaloniki Hub will be located in the EMAGEK Lab while the Larisa Hub will be located in the Computer Lab of the 1st Experimental High School of Larisa. The digital Hub will be connected to the EMAGEK website (readwrite.eled.auth.gr).
All three hubs are considered as a tool for research and are aimed at connecting the Lab with the educational community. As such, they will continue to function as part of the Lab after the completion of the project. Teacher workshops on digital storytelling will be held periodically, while educational visits by school classes will be possible at the EMAGEK Hub.
Impact
The systematic utilization of digital storytelling as an educational tool by 60 teachers in the context of the present project will first of all be a promising field of original scientific research, bridging in practice all levels of education in the field of literacy studies. It will create a dynamic community of learning and practice whose members will be involved in educational action research and will later act as multipliers of the project’s findings, not only for the dissemination of digital storytelling but for the dissemination of best practices in general. This is due to the fact that the lesson plans that will be created for the purposes of this project will not only incorporate digital storytelling but also innovative teaching practices in general. The project will promote the connection of school practices with students’ extracurricular literacy practices, thus bridging the gap that currently exists between school and society.
