Digital storytelling has been used to enhance online learning and engagement in higher education (Robin, 2006). Its use in improving the digital literacy of students (Hava, 2019) and their digital citizenship (Wu & Chen, 2020) has also been explored. This presentation examines the opportunities presented by integrating business and management cases with technology through the implementation of contemporary storytelling and experiential pedagogy in under-graduate management courses. It provides recommendations on how to engage learners through linkages between real-world, current stories and the subject matter being taught (Lambert & Hessler, 2018) including how to use digital tools to enable greater student participation. It illustrates the practical benefits and challenges associated with the use of current (contemporary), real-world cases to increase engagement and student participation in an online learning community through the Learning Management System (LMS) and Zoom online conferencing.
This presentation provides practical examples of solutions to common classroom problems that arise when integrating technology and subject content particularly when student engagement is at risk or with larger cohorts. These include attendance, language and digital literacy. It also explores the use of appropriate stories and the media reports surrounding them. Methods of integrating these events into the subject matter are also explored. The teaching insights from this approach show increased levels of student engagement with the subject matter and improved classroom dynamics. An increased willingness by students to read external articles is also observed as a result of the storytelling. Suggestions of good practice approaches to teaching and learning in the context of digital storytelling are examined and their impact on assessment administration is considered. The presentation includes a description of the Learning Management System (Blackboard and Moodle) and online video conferencing platform (Zoom) with regard to integration into the storytelling pedagogy.