PRE-SERVICE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN DIVERSE CLASSROOMS

The purpose of this paper is to analyse an innovative teaching and learning practice in which pre-service student teachers at the CPUT used digital stories to reflect on their experiences of diversity in their classroom. Managing diverse classrooms is one of the main challenges for all teachers. Digital storytelling can help manage such classrooms. It facilitates the convergence of four student-centered learning strategies: student engagement, reflection for deep learning, project-based learning, and the effective integration of technology into teaching. A qualitative research approach was employed whereby twenty-nine written stories and a recording of a focus-group interview with purposively selected participants from the group was the data collection technique. The results indicate that the digital storytelling approach exposed the students to new media literacies which prepared them for the rich and diverse contexts which they will encounter in their teaching.