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110 | Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education vocabulary does not allow for precise expression or when verbal expression is may be too painful. According to Lanszki and Horvath (2017), DST can be seen as a participatory version of classic narrative autobiography research, where the facilitator-researcher creates a framework in which participants can work together to (re)construct their life stories. Matthews and Sunderland (2013) analyzed thousands of digital stories to observe how well they can be used to obtain data on the quality of life, socio-economic and socio-cultural status of different social groups or on particular social phenomena. It was found that biographical data, perspectives, and reflections observably appear in digital stories Not only verbally but also visually. This can be seen in the way that the creators of the narratives present their living conditions. Digital stories can also be regarded as data corpora and are therefore valuable sources for qualitative sociological and anthropological research, as they reveal life situations and social structures that cannot be authentically revealed by other methods. Eglinton, Gubrium, and Wexler (2017) define DST as a qualitative, transformative, arts-based research tool. It is qualitative in that it makes ethnographic study possible, and is arts-based in that it involves participants in text and image creation. It is also transformative in the sense that the process of DST causes changes in the participants. The participants articulate their identities, reflect on their roots, and realize their potential for action. They become aware of their own agency and their capacity for social action; in this sense, DST can also be viewed as a democratic action. DST is an excellent tool for creators to express themselves and articulate their collective group identity. The method is also a critical, participatory research tool, as the discourses and reflections that take place during the creative process allow participants to develop a critical attitude towards their own situation and circumstances. The process is participatory, as the narrators interact with their peers to construct their individual creations. In terms of data, dialogues taking place during these workshops can be just as important for researchers as digital stories. According to Lambert (2002/2013), DST can help anyone become and remain ‘somebody. In the discursive process of DST, listening and making space for the silenced is an act of “[...] making room for the nobodies in mind to find their somebody at heart so they feel like anybody else” (Lambert, 2002/2013, p. 4). Digital stories created in first person play an important role in helping participants to experience agency. In the process of DST, the narrator, feeling agency, consciously interprets the phenomena taking place in his or her environment and then influences them in order to achieve specific goals. The narrator becomes aware of his or her social situation when creating a multimedia text, and tries to develop a solution and a socially constructive action plan using a narrative schema. This process is aided by the feedback provided by the co-creators and the facilitator.
