A systematic review of educational digital storytelling

Abstract Although Digital Storytelling (DS) has been popular in education since the 1990s, there is a lack of systematic review to inform how it has been applied and what has been achieved in the field. Most publications are either conceptual discussions or reports of implementations. This paper presents a systematic review of 57 studies on educational DS (EDS). Our analysis identified a continuous interest within the USA, where EDS originated, and increasing adoption in Asian and European countries, with usage across primary, secondary, and higher education levels. It was used as stand-alone pedagogy or in combination with other pedagogies, usually in the humanities and social science contexts. The review categorizes five orientations (appropriative, agentive, reflective, reconstructive, and reflexive) and eight types of outcomes (affective, cognitive, conceptual, academic, technological, linguistic, ontological, and social). Based on this synthesis, we discuss three issues: a linguistic conundrum, a rosy picture of positive outcomes, and a further expansion of the optimal reconstructive orientation. Possible reasons for these issues are explored, and directions for future studies are suggested.