A phenomenological study: teachers’ experiences of using digital storytelling in early childhood education

Abstract

This study investigates how early childhood education (ECE) teachers incorporated digital storytelling in their classrooms and the challenges and successes that they faced in the process. After the teachers attended a digital storytelling workshop, in-depth phenomenological interview, observation and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Phenomenal data were collected from 5 kindergarten classrooms, each of which contained approximately 20 students and a teacher. The study presented examples that illustrated how ECE teachers had used digital storytelling to enhance learning. The results showed that an emphasis on specific points may assist teachers, parents, educational researchers and education policy-makers in using technological tools in young children’s learning environments.

Keywords:

• Digital storytelling
• early childhood education
• phenomenological research
• ECE teachers