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Part IV. Storytelling and Learning in the 21" Century ] 131
that breaks with the knowledge transfer approach of previous paradigms: it
posits knowledge as an individual construction rather than a reflection of
the objective world (Nahalka, 2002).
According to the constructivist view, pedagogical management is the task
of pedagogical communities, consisting of students, teacher(s), and family
members. The process of creating narratives through digital tools can be
understood in terms of the epistemological principles of constructivism, as
it takes place within a community in which knowledge is not transmitted
in a top-down manner from teacher to student but in a more democratic,
horizontal process. It is not the teacher who transfers the knowledge vertically,
but the students construct knowledge within the subject. The dominance of
the teacher is reduced, placing them in the role of an effective facilitator in
the teaching-learning process, managing students’ creative and interactive
work, as well as their experiential and emotional involvement.
Narratives created with digital tools, be they interactive digital stories,
memes, infographics, dashboards, or even digital stories, are artifacts that
can be imagined in a constructivist learning environment. The creation of
digital narratives can take different forms of learning organization. However,
whether these products are produced individually or in small groups, the
instructor provides the content and formal framework for students to express
themselves creatively.
Methods related to digital narrative construction, especially DST, are
processes through which a constructivist learning environment can be
implemented in the classroom (Smeda et al., 2014; Lanszki, 2016a). All the
characteristics of a constructivist approach to learning can be found in such
methods. In the preparatory phase, the instructor explores the students’ prior
knowledge of the topic: whether they have anchored knowledge elements that
can be further enriched with new information or whether a conceptual shift
is necessary in case of misconceptions. In addition, the teacher's task is to
create a learning environment in which the students individual, internal, and
constructive processes are given room to unfold. In their research, students
discover their own sources and put together fragments according to their
own internal logic. In order to do this, the students must become acquainted
with the interdisciplinary aspects of the topic and then write the text of the
narrative, drawing on their personal experiences and opinions based on
their prior knowledge and adding new knowledge. Students use the narrative
schema to organize the fragments, construct a specific logic based on the
principle of causality, and formulate a conclusion based on the narrative arc.
The digital narratives are (re)constructions, projections ofthe cognitive and
emotional state of the authors. The videos show which elements of a set of
information are considered relevant by each student and the logic that was
behind the organizing principle of the narrative was.
The whole creative process is accompanied by an evaluative reference
dialogue with the teacher, who, with his or her expertise, is the reference point