The Emergent Properties of Multimedia Applications for Storytelling Pedagogy in a Distance Education Online Learning Community

This study analyzed pedagogical strategies for the use of multimedia technologies to teach storytelling via distance education to an online learning community. These strategies and technologies offer an alternate paradigm that moves away from text-based online learning to the more experiential-based instruction extant in real-time storytelling courses. The use of digital video recordings of storytelling performances was examined through analysis of discussion posts collected from students over a two-year timeline that revealed unexpected outcomes (emergent properties). The research suggests that there are value-added benefits in the use of multimedia and asynchronous individual/group learning experiences for teaching storytelling online. It also affirms a gap in online learning to experience the pleasures of real-time/live storytelling and the immediacy of the human communication feedback loop.