Digital storytelling for social and international development: from special education to vulnerable children

Abstract

This paper presents the digital storytelling for development model (DSD). DSD is a process model for supporting the implementation of digital storytelling activities within the broader framework of social and international development projects. DSD blends storytelling, visual arts and digital media to make a difference for vulnerable children, including children with special needs, and in development and integration projects. Vulnerable and special needs children often experience difficulties in communication with adults and peers, both as language difficulties and as inability to focus on personal feelings and thoughts, and consequently to express them properly. Removing such barriers is one of the main goals of special and social educational projects, and a key step towards integration and personal development. Digital storytelling offers an opportunity to tackle the issue, and DSD provides guidelines for implementing projects in this context by focusing on fiction, engaging all stakeholders and providing a high degree of flexibility. The paper presents DSD, and illustrates it with real cases, discusses its evaluation, and indicates ways to adapt it to different project settings.