Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T18:31:11.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Digitising the wisdom of our elders: connectedness through digital storytelling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2018

Simone Hausknecht ,
Michelle Vanchu-Orosco  and
David Kaufman
Simone Hausknecht*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
Michelle Vanchu-Orosco
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
David Kaufman
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Digital storytelling provides older adults with an opportunity to become digital producers, connect with others through story and explore their life history. The authors report on the results of a digital storytelling project for older adults. The study investigated the experiences and perceived benefits of older adults who created digital stories during a ten-week course and explored the reactions of story viewers to the digital stories they viewed during a special sharing event. Eighty-eight older adult participants in Metro Vancouver who attended one of 13 courses offered were included in the study. Most of the participants were female and over half were immigrants. Results from the focus group interviews demonstrated a rich array of reported social and emotional benefits experienced through the process of creating a digital story within the course. Three main themes emerged: social connectedness through shared experience and story, reminiscence and reflecting on life, and creating a legacy. Viewers who attended a ‘Sharing Our Stories’ event reported that the stories were meaningful, well constructed and invoked a range of emotions. The researchers conclude that digital storytelling may help digital storytellers increase connectedness to others and to self. Additionally, this connectedness may extend over time through the process of examining the past to create a digital story that can serve as a legacy to connect to future generations.

Keywords

digital storytellingolder adultsseniorslegacysocial connectednessreminiscence
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 39 , Issue 12 , December 2019 , pp. 2714 - 2734
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agosto, DE (2013) If I had three wishes: the educational and social/emotional benefits of oral storytelling. Storytelling, Self, Society 9, 53–76.Google Scholar
Birren, JE and Deutchman, DE (1991) Guiding Autobiography Groups for Older Adults: Exploring the Fabric of Life. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Bohlmeijer, E, Roemer, M, Cuijpers, P and Smit, F (2007) The effects of reminiscence on psychological well-being in older adults: a meta-analysis. Aging and Mental Health 11, 291–300.Google Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, GM, Buys, L and Lovie-Kitchin, J (2006) Learning and active aging. Educational Gerontology 32, 271–282.Google Scholar
Bruner, J (2004) Life as narrative. Social Research: An International Quarterly 71, 691–710.Google Scholar
Burgess, J (2006) Hearing ordinary voices: cultural studies, vernacular creativity and digital storytelling. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 20, 201–214.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, JT and Patrick, W (2008) Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Cannuscio, C, Block, J and Kawachi, I (2003) Social capital and successful aging: the role of senior housing. Annals of Internal Medicine 139, 395–399.Google Scholar
Cattan, M, White, M, Bond, J and Learmonth, A (2005) Preventing social isolation and loneliness among older people: a systematic review of health promotion interventions. Ageing & Society 25, 41–67.Google Scholar
Choi, NG and Di Nitto, DM (2013) Internet use among older adults: association with health needs, psychological capital, and social capital. Journal of Medical Internet Research 15, e97.Google Scholar
Christiansen, A (2011) Storytelling and professional learning: a phenomenographic study of students’ experience of patient digital stories in nurse education. Nurse Education Today 31, 289–293.Google Scholar
Chung, SK (2007) Art education technology: digital storytelling. Art Education 60, 17–22.Google Scholar
Davis, A and Weinshenker, D (2012) Digital storytelling and authoring identity. In Ching, C and Foley, B (eds), Constructing the Self in a Digital World (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 47–64.Google Scholar
Diener, E, Emmons, RA, Larsen, RJ and Griffin, S (1985) The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49, 71–75.Google Scholar
Fang, Y, Anson, KC, Wong, A, Fung, HH and Wu, J (2017) Information and communicative technology use enhances psychological well-being of older adults: the roles of age, social connectedness, and frailty status. Aging and Mental Health 1–9. Published online: 04 Aug 2017. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1358354.Google Scholar
Forsman, AK, Nyqvist, F, Schierenbeck, I, Gustafson, Y and Wahlbeck, K (2012) Structural and cognitive social capital and depression among older adults in two Nordic regions. Aging & Mental Health 16, 771–779.Google Scholar
Hausknecht, S, Schell, R, Zhang, F and Kaufman, D (2015) Older adults’ digital gameplay: a follow-up study of social benefits. In Helfert, M, Holzinger, A, Ziefle, M, Fred, A, O'Donoghue, J and Röcker, C (eds), Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 198–216.Google Scholar
Hausknecht, S, Vanchu-Orosco, M and Kaufman, D (2017) Sharing life stories: design and evaluation of a digital storytelling workshop for older adults. In Costagliola, G, Uhomoibhi, J, Zvacek, S and McLaren, BM (eds), Computer Supported Education: 8th International Conference, CSEDU 2016, Rome, Italy. Revised selected paper. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 497–512.Google Scholar
Hewson, J, Danbrook, C and Sieppert, J (2015) Engaging post-secondary students and older adults in an intergenerational digital storytelling course. Contemporary Issues in Education Research 8, 135–142.Google Scholar
Hibbin, R (2016) The psychosocial benefits of oral storytelling in school: developing identity and empathy through narrative. Pastoral Education 34, 218–231.Google Scholar
Kaufman, D, Sauvé, L, Renaud, L, Sixsmith, A and Mortenson, B (2016) Digital gameplay by older adults: patterns, benefits, and challenges. Simulation & Gaming 47, 475–489.Google Scholar
Keyes, CLM (1998) Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly 61, 121–140.Google Scholar
Kim, A and Merriam, SB (2004) Motivations for learning among older adults in a learning in retirement institute. Educational Gerontology 30, 441–455.Google Scholar
Klaebe, HG, Foth, M, Burgess, JE and Bilandzic, M (2007) Digital storytelling and history lines: community engagement in a master-planned development. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia: Exchange and Experience in Space and Place, VSMM 2007. Brisbane, QLD: Australasian Cooperative Research Centre for Interaction Design.Google Scholar
Lambert, J (2006) Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. Berkeley, California: Digital Diner Press.Google Scholar
Lambert, J (2010) Digital Storytelling Cookbook. Berkeley, California: Digital Diner Press.Google Scholar
Loe, M (2013) The digital life history project: intergenerational collaborative research. Gerontology and Geriatrics Education 34, 26–42.Google Scholar
Manchester, H and Facer, K (2015) Digital curation: learning and legacy in later life. E-learning and Digital Media 12, 242–258.Google Scholar
McAdams, DP (2001) The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology 5, 100–122.Google Scholar
McAdams, DP and McLean, KC (2013) Narrative identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science 22, 233–238.Google Scholar
Meléndez Moral, JC, Fortuna Terrero, FB, Sales Galán, A and Mayordomo Rodríguez, T (2015) Effect of integrative reminiscence therapy on depression, well-being, integrity, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in older adults. Journal of Positive Psychology 10, 240–247.Google Scholar
Miller, S and Pennycuff, L (2008) The power of story: using storytelling to improve literacy learning. Journal of Cross-disciplinary Perspectives in Education 1, 36–43.Google Scholar
Ochs, E and Capps, L (1996) Narrating the self. Annual Review of Anthropology 25, 19–43.Google Scholar
Ohler, J (2006) The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership 63, 44–47.Google Scholar
Opperman, M (2008) Digital storytelling and American studies: critical trajectories from the emotional to the epistemological. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 7, 171–186.Google Scholar
Pasupathi, M (2001) The social construction of the personal past and its implications for adult development. Psychological Bulletin 127, 651–672.Google Scholar
Rook, KS (1990) Social relationships as a source of companionship: implications for older adults’ psychological well-being. In Sarason, BR, Sarason, IG and Gregory, RP (eds), Social Support: An Interactional View. New York: John Wiley, pp. 219–250.Google Scholar
Rule, L (2010) Digital storytelling: never has storytelling been so easy or so powerful. Knowledge. Quest 38, 50–56.Google Scholar
Ryff, CD (1995) Psychological well-being in adult life. Current Directions in Psychological Science 4, 99–104.Google Scholar
Saldaña, J (2012) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
Schell, R, Hausknecht, S, Zhang, F and Kaufman, D (2016) Social benefits of playing Wii Bowling for older adults. Games and Culture 11, 81–103.Google Scholar
Seligman, M (2012) Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being / Martin E.P. Seligman. (1st Free Press trade pbk. ed.).Google Scholar
Sherlock, A (2013) Larger than life: digital resurrection and the re-enchantment of society. The Information Society 29, 164–176.Google Scholar
Stacey, G and Hardy, P (2011) Challenging the shock of reality through digital storytelling. Nurse Education in Practice 11, 159–164.Google Scholar
Stenhouse, R, Tait, J, Hardy, P and Sumner, T (2013) Dangling conversations: reflections on the process of creating digital stories during a workshop with people with early-stage dementia. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 20, 134–141.Google Scholar
Theurer, K and Wister, A (2010) Altruistic behaviour and social capital as predictors of well-being among older Canadians. Ageing & Society 30, 157–181.Google Scholar
University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre (2014) Nindibaajimomin: Creating and Sharing Digital Stories on the Legacy of Residential Schools – Guide 2. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Available online at http://nindibaajimomin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Guide2-Planning.pdf.Google Scholar
Vivienne, S and Burgess, J (2013) The remediation of the personal photograph and the politics of self-representation in digital storytelling. Journal of Material Culture 18, 279–298.Google Scholar
Wallace, J, Wright, PC, McCarthy, J, Green, DP, Thomas, J and Oliver, P (2013) A design- led inquiry into personhood in dementia. In Conference Proceedings CHI 2013: Changing Perspectives, Paris. New York, NY, USA: ACM, pp. 2617–2626.Google Scholar
Waycott, J, Vetere, F, Pedell, S, Kulik, L, Ozanne, E, Gruner, A and Downs, J (2013) Older adults as digital content producers. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY, USA: ACM, pp. 39–48.Google Scholar
Weinstein, LB (2004) Lifelong learning benefits older adults. Activities, Adaptation & Aging 28, 1–12.Google Scholar
Xie, B (2007) Older Chinese, the internet, and well-being. Care Management Journal 8, 33–38.Google Scholar