Digital storytelling activities in supporting writing skills of gifted primary school students: An action research

The aim of this research is to find out how activity based digital storytelling affects writing, digital storytelling skills and writing motivation of gifted students. In this research, which is designed as an action research, the researcher was the practitioner and also the conductor of the research. The research was conducted in the first semester of the 2018-2019 academic year in the Science and Art Center, where talented students were studying. The study group consisted of 13 gifted students consisting of two mixed (3rd and 4th grade) groups attending the support training program. The first group consisted of 7 students; 5 girls and 2 boys. 5 of these students were 3rd grade and 2 of them were 4th grade students. The second group consisted of 6 students, 2 girls and 4 boys. 2 of these students were 3rd grade students and 4 of them were 4th grade students. The implementation of the action plan took 10 weeks. The action plan was implemented in both groups, and the development of each student was assessed in itself. The data were collected by Student Information Form, Technology Usage Level Determination Form, 6 + 1 Analytical Writing and Evaluation Scale, Writing Motivation Scale (WMS), Digital Storytelling Evaluation Rubric, interview forms, researcher and student diary. According to the results of the study, the action plan applied improved the writing skills of the students. It was observed that the writing skills of the students improved according to the scores of the students during the pre-evaluation and final evaluation and application process. It was seen that the digital story formation skills of the students improved during the pre-evaluation and final evaluation and application process. It was determined that activity-based digital storytelling activities improved the students' writing motivation and positive attitudes towards writing, the aim, the sharing of the writing and the effort against writing which were the sub-dimensions of the scale. It was observed that the students did not show any progress in the failure loading subscale. According to the opinions of the students, it was determined that with the activity-based digital storytelling activities, the students learned how to write the text types, they liked writing and they found the studies entertaining and these studies improved their writing skills. In addition, it was that writing activities make writing easier, develop imagination, and digital storytelling studies also helped to see and correct errors in writing, to write more attentive and carefully, to develop technological skills, to improve pronunciation and intonation. In this study, in which action research was used, as the results are not generalized, the activity-based digital storytelling studies can be applied with different methods and the results can be investigated. Additionally, application oriented research can be increased to improve the writing skills of gifted students.