by Luca Botturi

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Intergenerational storytelling
three facets of a new approach
Luca Botturi, ph.d.
Associazione seed, Switzerland
ALICE Final Conference
Bucarest, 24.10.2013

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web communication
social development
entrepreneurship
from 2007
social business
web development
employability
innovation projects
International cooperation
games
Lugano
services for non profit org
8 people (4 FTE)
experiential learning
digital storytelling

3. seed
stories & learning
• Let me tell you a story…
• Narration is a powerful way to convey knowledge and
stimulate learning [Egan, 1986; Bruner, 1990].
• Informal education:
– Stories are a key instrument
• Formal education
– Stories are used only in some spaces
– Common in pre-primary and primary education
– It disappears in “serious education”, excep for case studies

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storytelling
• Storytelling is the art of creating good stories well told
[McKee, 1997]
• Creating a story is a powerful learning process, at least
as much as telling stories
–
–
–
–
Studying the subject
Forging language
Achieving communication
Etc…
• This is not very much used in education, with some
exception
– Creative writing has only recently become a recognized
academic subject

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digital storytelling
• DS is the modern expression of the ancient art of
storytelling [Leslie Rule, 2008]
• Storytelling empowered by digital media:
– Images, audio, motion, etc.
– Technical features + expressive languages
• DS has been promoted in social projects
– Center for Digital Storytelling [Lambert, 2012]
– Digital Storytelling for Development [Botturi, Bramani & Corbino, in
press]

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24-10-2013
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24-10-2013
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what competences?
Stories
• Expressing experience
• Communicating
• Learning
• Imagination
Technologies:
• Motivating
• Enhancing expressive capacity
• Open source applications for
standard education
(MovieMaker/iMovie; Audacity;
digital camera)
Storytelling
• Understanding narrative
• Shaping stories
• Using media as an aid

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the process

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The Fat Countess
24-10-2013
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The Fat Countess
24-10-2013
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The Vietnamese Dinner
24-10-2013
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Children’s tales?
24-10-2013
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three facets
• Digital stories as a medium for intergenerational
dialogue
– For example, The Fat Countess
• Digital stories for crossing cultural bondaries
– For example, The Vietnamese Dinner
• Digital stories for integration and socialization
– For example, Children’s tales

16. seed
summary
• It works!
• Why?
– The story is the core
– The narration activity is the engine
– Digital media is a catalyzer
• (Digital) storytelling is a rich and multi-faceted activity,
– It can become a resource in intergenerational storytelling in
many different ways
– It requires more exploration and more careful observation

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contacts
Associazione seed
Via al Chiosso 8, Porza
CH-6952 Canobbio
Switzerland
www.seedlearn.org
luca.botturi@seedlearn.org
ALICE Final Conference
Bucarest, 24.10.2013