Primary School Teacher Candidates and 21st Century Skills

• Published in: International journal of progressive education 2020-04, Vol.16 (2), p.157-174
• Main Author: Cigerci, Fatih Mehmet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 21st Century Skills; Foreign Countries; Information Literacy; Instructional Effectiveness; Media Literacy; Multimedia Materials; Preservice Teachers; Primary Education; Skill Development; Story Telling; Student Attitudes; Technological Literacy; Writing (Composition)
• ISSN: 1554-5210
• DOI: 10.29329/ijpe.2020.241.11

In this study, the aim is to determine the effect of digital storytelling on the primary school teacher candidates' 21st century skills. Since digital storytelling contains many skills like information, media and technology skills, communication and collaboration skills, group works, etc within itself, it can be defined as a good way for individuals to gain and develop 21st century skills. A digital storyteller, during the process of making his/her digital stories, is to research and access information, analyze, evaluate and give decision on what s/he has researched, solve problems, use his/her creativity, be capable of using technology, applications and/or programs and have digital, technology, visual and information literacy. In order to collect data, "21st Century Skills and Competences Scale Directed at Teaching Candidates," digital storytelling rubric and structured interviews were used. According to results of the study, posttest scores of the candidate teachers' on 21st Century Skills and Competences Scale were higher than those of on the pretest. There was a meaningful difference between digital storytelling rubric scores the teacher candidates got from the three digital stories and the scores got higher on every following digital story, which can be said to support the result that the posttest scores of the candidate teachers' on 21st Century Skills and Competences Scale were higher than those of on the pretest. This situation is also supported by the fact that the scores obtained from the digital stories explain the variability of the scores on 21st Century Skills and Competences Scale by about 40% and that the scores obtained from the digital stories are the predictor of 21st century skills and competences of the teacher candidates. The participants also mentioned at the interviews that digital storytelling contributed to their 21st century skills development.