Eroğlu, A. & Okur, A. (2021). Students’ opinions on the use of digital storytelling in Turkish course. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 8(4). 2248-2265. Received : 13.05.2021 Revised version received : 13.07.2021 Accepted : 14.07.2021 STUDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE USE OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN TURKISH COURSE1 Research article Corresponding Author: Aysun EROĞLU (0000-0003-1047-8748). Kafkas University, Turkey 24aysun@gmail.com Alpaslan OKUR (0000-0002-2868-063X) Sakarya University, Turkey aokur@sakarya.edu.tr Aysun EROĞLU is a lecturer of Turkish Language Education at Kafkas University in Turkey. Alpaslan OKUR is a professor of Turkish Language Education at Sakarya University in Turkey. Copyright © 2014 by International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET). ISSN: 2148-225X. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without written permission of IOJET. 1 This study is a part of the first author's doctoral dissertation written under the consultancy of the second author. mailto:24aysun@gmail.com mailto:aokur@sakarya.edu.tr https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1047-8748 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2868-063X International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2249 STUDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE USE OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN TURKISH COURSE Aysun EROĞLU 24aysun@gmail.com Alpaslan OKUR aokur@sakarya.edu.tr Abstract The purpose of this study is to seek into middle school students’opinions on the use of digital storytelling in Turkish course. In this research, phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study group was composed of 18 students in the 7th grade of a private middle school affiliated to the Central District of Kars. Semi-structured interview form and personal information form were used as data collection tools. The interview form contains 7 questions. Content analysis was employed for the analysis of the interviews. As a result of analysis it was concluded that students found this process entertaining and instructive students did not have any challenges at all; they enjoyed creating music and recording sounds. But they wanted more different types of music, and more variety in text fonts and visuals. In short, it can be said that the opinions of the 7th graders learning digital storytelling about the process are positive. Keywords: Digital storytelling, middle school students, qualitative method, interview technique. 1. Introduction In the 21st century, with technological developments, there are obvious changes in most areas of human life. Education is one of these areas. It is seen that the qualifications of the teachers who enforce education, the skills expected from the students, the educational environments, and the tools used in education are reshaped with technological developments. For example, in a study conducted by MEB Education Research and Development Department (2011), “21. Century Student Profile? " among the answers given to the question is "should know technology". Another sample is that the Turkish Lesson Curriculum (Grades 1-8) underlines the effective use of technology in courses compared to the old curriculum, and underlines the ability of students to adapt to technological developments and to acquire these skills (MEB, 2019). In the competence section of the same curriculum, it is seen that it is referred that students should have digital competence (p.3-4) as one of the skills they will need in their personal, social, academic, and work lives both nationally and internationally. In parallel with the developing technology, it is expected that children of the 21st century should keep up with the 21st century. It is requested that developing technology should be used accurately and efficiently. They are supposed to do that not only in one course or field but also in multiple domains (MEB, 2019). It means that a student in the new system should not be confined to just learning how to read and write, and grammar in a Turkish course. Since digital storytelling contributes to both students’ skills to write stories traditionally and their skills to use technology, it helps students with certain gains expected by the new curricula. Therefore, it is aimed in this study to examine opinions of the 7th graders who take Turkish courses learning digital storytelling about the process been shaped. mailto:24aysun@gmail.com mailto:aokur@sakarya.edu.tr Eroğlu & Okur 2250 It is important to use digital storytelling in Turkish courses, mother tongue teaching courses, language teaching. Because the root of digital storytelling is based on the traditional story writing process. The traditional stories are available in all grades 1-8 in the Turkish lesson program. Writing stories is one of the ways students explain themselves. However, digital storytelling is important because students who have difficulties in writing can explain themselves with photographs, pictures, music, and voices in addition to text (Foley; 2013; Vasudevan, Schultz, & Bateman, 2010). What keeps this study updated is that It is to examine the opinions of the 7th graders who take Turkish courses learning digital storytelling that contributes to 21st-century skills in the curriculum organized in parallel with developing technology. Therefore, this study is expected to both fill the academic gap in the field and to ensure that digital story applications, whose history does not date back very far, progress systematically and by the requirements of the age. It is hoped that the results obtained from this study will make an academic contribution to the history of digital storytelling, be included in the curriculum as an activity, and be applied in courses. 2. Literature review 2.1. Digital storytelling Although there are different definitions of digital stories, definitions are generally gathered around the idea of combining the art of storytelling with multimedia elements such as painting, sound, and video (Robin, 2006). Because of digital storytelling, students can use music, sound effects, video, and more to create multimedia presentations that improve their creativity, collaborative learning, and technology use skills (Frazel, 2010). The new generation of storytelling starts with digital storytelling, and these digital stories are created on a computer using pictures, sometimes adding music and sound files (Hett, 2012). Digital storytelling was first created by Joe Lambert and Dana Atchley as a non-profit arts organization in Berkeley, California, in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, the Digital Media Center was opened in San Francisco with the participation of Nina Mullen to these two names, and then the name of this institution was changed to Digital Storytelling Center (Center For Digital Storytelling-CDS) in Berkeley in 1998 (StoryCenter; Chung, 2007; Robin, 2008). According to Robin (2006), there are many different types of digital storytelling; however, it is possible to categorize them into three large groups: 1. Personal narrations, 2. Historic documentaries (stories expressing the dramatic events and helping us understand the past), 3. Stories are composed to inform the audience about a special concept or application or to teach that. The following seven elements are cited as a useful starting point for getting started with digital storytelling: 1. Point of View: What is the writer’s point of view about the topic? 2. A Dramatic Question: A question to be answered at the end of the story. 3. Emotional Content: Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way. 4. The Gift of Your Voice: A way to personalize the story to help the audience to understand the context. 5. The Power of the Soundtrack: Music or other sounds that support and embellish the story. 6. Economy: Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2251 7. Pacing: it is associated with the economy but especially with how slowly or quickly it progresses (Robin, 2006). The following six steps are suggested in the process of creating digital storytelling: 1. Writing the story/script: The story is written, the scripts are revised according to the suggestions, and then finalized. 2. The student records the story with her/his own voice. 3. Images related to the story are searched and found from various sources. 4. Sound and visuals are combined. 5. Transition effects and background music can be added. 6. Once digital storytelling is created, it is presented or shared (Barrett, 2009). In the digital storytelling creation process, it makes this process that digital stories include these elements and that they are created by the proposed process is efficient, effective, and fun. In this study, these elements and this process have been paid attention to. Also, the digital storytelling in this stud is meant to add visual, music, sound, and effects related to the story text to the process that starts with creating a story text in a Turkish lesson and combining them. 2.2. Using digital storytelling in Turkish courses Digital storytelling can be utilized very easily in Turkish, social studies, life studies, painting, music, mathematics, science and technology, literature, geography courses, or interdisciplinary studies (Demirer, 2013; Hett, 2012; Karakoyun, 2014). When we analyze the use of digital storytelling in Turkish courses, it has been found that students' listening skills (Ciğerci, 2015; Türe Köse, 2019; Verdugo & Belmonte, 2007), speaking skills (Shrosbree, 2008; Soler Pardo, 2014; Razmi, Pourali, & Nozad, 2014), reading skills (Çiftci, 2019; Şentürk Leylek, 2018) and writing skills (Çıralı, 2014; Dayan, 2017; Gündüz, 2019; Soler Pardo, 2014; Stojke, 2009; Uslu, 2019; Yamaç, 2015) might be developed. Digital storytelling, which is easy to use for both writing and speaking practice, can be a great tool to motivate students to use language effectively and efficiently both inside and outside the classroom (Reinders, 2011). The impact of digital storytelling on students' story writing skills, writing anxiety, writing self-efficacy, and writing attitudes in the 6th-grade Turkish course (Baki, 2015), the impact of using digital storytelling in Turkish course on academic achievement, motivation, and permanence (Özerbaş & Öztürk, 2017), the effect of 4th graders’ writing skills in Turkish course (Dayan & Girmen, 2018), the effect on students' literacy skills and viewpoints in learning Turkish (Yılmaz, Üstündağ, Güneş, & Çalışkan, 2017), Turkish teacher candidates' metaphorical perceptions towards digital storytelling (Eroğlu, 2020), the effect of attitude towards story writing (Eroğlu & Okur 2020) have been investigated, and positive results have been obtained. 2.3. Research questions The problem statement of this research has been determined as follows: “To what extent have opinions of the 7th graders learning digital storytelling about the process been shaped? Sub-problems consist of interview questions directed to students after the experiment that lasted for twelve weeks. Sub-problems are: a) How do the 7th graders learning digital storytelling evaluate this process? b) What has challenged the 7th graders learning digital storytelling in this process? Eroğlu & Okur 2252 c) What have the 7th graders learning digital storytelling want to be included in this process? d)Are there any stages the 7th graders learning digital storytelling like in this process? e) Are there any stages the 7th graders learning digital storytelling don’t like in this process? f) Is it more enjoyable for 7th graders learning digital storytelling to write a story or create a digital story? g) Should digital storytelling be used in Turkish courses according to the 7th graders learning digital storytelling? 3. Methodology Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods, has been employed in this study where the opinions of the 7th graders learning digital storytelling about the process has been investigated. For, a phenomenological study focuses on how people describe what they have experienced (Patton, 2014). Phenomenology aims at the situations that we are aware of but do not have a detailed understanding of (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). Since the data source should consist of the individuals who have experienced the situation the research focuses on and can express it in this study, this research has been conducted with a data source composed of students who have learnt digital storytelling. Also, the purposeful sampling technique has been used to examine students' views to a deeper extent. Since a sub-group will be defined with a small homogeneous sample, the homogeneous sampling, one of the purposeful sampling techniques, has been used (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). 3.1. Study Group The study group is composed of 18 students in the 7th grade of a private middle school affiliated to the Central District of Kars Province. The research was carried out in the 7th- grade Turkish course during the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. Before the research, permission from the ethics committee and governorship was obtained, and the study aim and process were explained in detail to the school administration and relevant teachers. The reason why 7th graders were included in this study is that they have fully acquired the ability to create a story text in accordance with Turkish course curriculum and gained a certain technology literacy that can help them use photoStory3 program in line with IT course curriculum. 18 students, composed of 9 males and 9 females, have participated in the study. All the students participating in this study have internet connection, computers and smartphones at home. As the research was conducted in a school where families with a certain socio-economic level send their children, it is considered that all students have internet connection, computers, and smartphones at home. 3.2. Data collection tool In this study, semi-structured interview form and personal information form were used as data collection tools. The interview form was developed by the researchers. After the process of learning digital storytelling, the students were interviewed in order to gain a deeper understanding of their feelings and thoughts about the process. For, it is aimed through interviews to understand unobservable things like experiences, attitudes, thoughts, intentions, interpretations, mental perceptions, and reactions (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). In other words, an interview is performed in order to find things (feelings, thoughts, experiences) that cannot be directly International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2253 observed in people (Patton, 2014). Accordingly, an open-ended 9-question interview form was created with a literature review. The questions were emailed to two Turkish Education experts. With the rearrangements from the experts, two questions were removed from the pool, and the final version of 7 questions was formed. The personal information form was created by the researchers. It is a form that includes information such as the gender of the students, whether they have internet connection, computer, and smartphones at home. It is available in the directive in the first part of the form that the personal information of the students will not be shared with anyone, and the requested information will only be used for this study. An e-mail address was also sent to students who wonder about the result of the study. The instruction was also read out to the students. Students who wanted to ask questions were given the right to speak. 3.3. Collection and analysis of the data Data were obtained from interviews with the students. The students were individually asked open-ended questions consisting of 7 questions. The interviews lasted for 5-8 minutes considering student individual differences. The interviews were recorded on the tape recorder. It was shared with the student that the interviews would only be used for this study and that their personal information would be kept confidential. Before starting the interview, a few minutes of conversation about daily life took place in order for the students to feel comfortable. Students who did not feel comfortable were not forced to join the interview. The sound recordings were deciphered and saved in a word file. Interviews were conducted to reveal the unobservable feelings and thoughts of the students participating in the formation phase of digital storytelling. To this end, the interviews recorded on the tape recorder were decoded, transferred to the word document, and saved. Content analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis approaches, was employed for the analysis of the interviews. The content analysis aims to reach concepts and relationships that can explain the data collected (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). For this purpose, interrelated concepts and themes are gathered, and comprehensible comments are made. For Patton (2014), content analysis, which is more preferred in the studies based on interviews, is an effort to make sense of any qualitative data aimed at determining the basic consistencies and meanings by taking the voluminous qualitative material. 3.4. Research process After the permissions of the ethics committee and the governorship were received, the implementation process started in the spring term of the 2018-2019 academic year. The study was conducted in a private middle school affiliated to the central district of Kars Province. It was an essential criterion for the school to have the technological tools and equipment needed to create a digital story. In the first week, the school principal was interviewed, and the purpose of the research and the application process were explained to her in detail. In the second week, the researchers met the teachers, and explained the study. In the third week, 7th graders’ classrooms and computer laboratories were examined. It was noted that the smart boards worked, the teachers’ and students' computers in the laboratory operated, and there were necessary headsets in the school. In the fifth week, a seminar on digital storytelling and the PhotoStory3 program was provided to the students by the researchers. An exemplary digital story was presented in the classroom. The students were asked to bring a flash / usb memory next week. In the sixth week, they were asked to create a text for writing a story about a place they visited or wondered about. It was requested that this text should be maximum 400 words. While the students were creating their texts, the researchers uploaded the presentations about digital storytelling and the PhotoStory3 program to their flash Eroğlu & Okur 2254 memories. Thus, the students were able to rewatch the presentations at home. The texts of the students who started to create them in the classroom were evaluated in the classroom, and they made the necessary arrangements according to the feedback. In the seventh week, they were asked to collect the visuals related to their stories. They were taken to the computer laboratories to perform it. They collected photos and pictures related to their stories from websites that provide free right to use. They were asked to save the photos and pictures they collected in the files they created with their names on the computer and upload them to their own flash memory. Therefore, the images were backed up. In the eighth week, the students were distributed flowcharts. In this flowchart, they were asked to note which visuals they would use, what they would dub on which slide and what effect and music they would like to use in their stories. They were reminded that they had to create 3-5-minute-stories, and they were requested to calculate how many seconds each slide should pause. While the students were creating the flow chart, the researchers checked the diagrams by constantly walking among the students, and helping the ones in need of help. They were requested to bring their flowcharts the further week. In the ninth week, the students were asked to open PhotoStory3 on their computers in the computer lab. Headsets were distributed to the students. It was ensured that they started their storytelling process with whatever sentence / sentences, visuals, effects they wanted to place on the first slide, which means whichever is on the first page of the flow chart. Students were reminded that they could dub the texts on the slides, change the font sizes and colours, play on the visuals, use the effects they like, and finally create the music in the instruments and tones they wanted. They were asked to save the story they created. In the tenth week, they were enabled to complete the missing parts of their digital stories and fix the places they wanted and finalize them. In the eleventh week, the digital stories created by the students were shared in the classroom. Starting with the volunteer students, digital stories were presented. Turkish teacher also accompanied this process. Students who wanted to speak about digital storytelling were allowed to share their opinions. In the twelfth week, the students were interviewed to share their feelings and thoughts about this process. In addition, the students were provided to create their digital stories according to Barrett’s (2009 ) six-stage digital storytelling process guide and the seven elements suggested by Robin (2006) mentioned in the introduction section. The program used in the process is PhotoSotry3. It is a free program for Windows users. A person can add photos and write over the text about the visual, make formal changes on the text, use filters for photos, add transition effects, dub the text of each slide before moving on to the next slide, and finally upload ready-made music or create his/her own music with this program. One of the reasons why this program is preferred is that it is free, and another reason is that it contains all the elements that will be used for digital storytelling. 4. Findings In this section, the findings of the data collected and analysed are indicated in the following tables. The findings are ranked according to research sub-problems. The findings related to the first sub-problem: “How do the 7th graders learning digital storytelling evaluate this process?” In line with the first sub-problem, the students were asked “What would you like to say about your digital storytelling process?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 1. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2255 Table 1. The findings related to the question: “What would you like to say about your digital storytelling process?” Answers Frequency An entertaining process 7 An instructive process 5 An easy process 4 A complicated process 2 Total 18 As is indicated in Table 1, it is seen that the students' ideas about the digital storytelling process are classified. It was revealed that the students found this process entertaining and instructive. Moreover, while some students evaluated this process as easy, two students stated that this process was complicated. S2 “At first it seemed ridiculous to me. I wasn't keen to do it at all when you first arrived, but after doing it I realized it was a lot of fun.. I really liked it.” S4 “I thought it was difficult but turned out to be easier than I supposed. I had made a heavy weather of it.” The findings related to the second sub-problem: “What has challenged the 7th graders learning digital storytelling in this process?” In line with the second sub-problem, the students were asked “What has challenged you during digital storytelling process? Can you please explain?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 2. Table 2. The findings related to the question: “What has challenged you during digital storytelling process? Can you please explain?” Answers Frequency None 11 To write a story 4 To make music 2 To collect visuals 1 Total 18 As can be seen in Table 2, the students' answers about the challenges they had during storytelling process are indicated. A vast majority of the students realized that there were no Eroğlu & Okur 2256 challenges during this process. However, there were some students who had difficulty in writing a story, making music and collecting visuals. S6 “Well, I had a bit difficulty in making font music in the program. I don’t mean the ready-made music, but the adjustment of the rhythms to make our own music. But it was beautiful when it was over.” S14 “I kind of had difficulty in organization in writing the story.” The findings related to the third sub-problem: “What have the 7th graders learning digital storytelling want to be included in this process?” In line with the third sub-problem, the students were asked “What have you wanted to be included in this process? Can you explain it?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 3. Table 3. The findings related to the question: “What have you wanted to be included in this process? Can you explain it?” Answers Frequency More alternatives in making the music 6 Different text fonts 6 Different effects 5 Ready-made visuals 1 Total 18 As can be seen in Table 3, the students' answers about what the students wanted during storytelling process are indicated. Most of the students stated they wanted more different types of music, and more variety of text fonts and visuals. A student also exclaimed that he wanted to select images from a ready-made visual pool. S11 “The music types offered by the program were not so good. I mean there was not a wide range of music, I wish there had been more. However, the other features of the program were great.” S1 “There should have been more text fonts as well as the colours. I think there should have been more alternatives.” The findings related to the fourth sub-problem: “Are there any stages 7th graders learning digital storytelling like in this process?” In line with the fourth sub-problem, the students were asked “What have you enjoyed most during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?”, and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 4. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2257 Table 4. The findings related to the question: “What have you enjoyed most during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?” Answers Frequency Music 6 Voice recording 4 Visual collection 3 Effects 2 The process itself 2 Story writing 1 Total 18 As can be seen in Table 4, the students' answers about the stages they have enjoyed during storytelling process are indicated. A majority of the students stated that they had fun creating music and recording sounds. However, other students also stated that they enjoyed the whole process and writing stories dealing with effects while collecting visuals. S3 “I had a lot of fun while recording our voice. I really enjoyed dubbing and listening to a text I wrote. I was able to preview while dubbing, and I really liked deleting the recording when I didn’t like and record my voice again.” S5 “When I was writing the story with my sister. My sister’s help.” The findings related to the fifth sub-problem: “Are there any stages the 7th graders learning digital storytelling don’t like in this process?” In line with the fifth sub-problem, the students were asked “What haven’t you enjoyed during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 5. Table 5. The findings related to the question: “What haven’t you enjoyed during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?” Answers Frequency None Music 11 3 Effects Voice Recording 2 2 Total 18 Eroğlu & Okur 2258 As can be seen in Table 5, the students' answers about what they haven’t enjoyed during storytelling process are indicated. A majority of the students stated that there was nothing they didn’t like. A part of the students exclaimed they didn’t like music, effects, and voice recording. S15 “Let me think. Hang on a second… Well, there were not many alternatives of the pictures, shapes and colours. I mean the effects. There should have been more alternatives, I didn’t like that part. That’s why, I left my pictures as they were.” DÖ16 “Music. I think there should have been more variety of music. We could have done it better if we had had more music options.” The findings related to the sixth sub-problem: “Is it more enjoyable for 7th graders learning digital storytelling to write a story or create a digital story?” In line with the sixth sub-problem, the students were asked “Which do you think is more enjoyable: to write a story or create a digital story? Can you explain?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 6. Table 6. The findings related to the question: “Which do you think is more enjoyable: to write a story or create a digital story? Can you explain?” Answers Frequency To create a digital story 15 To write a story 3 Total 18 As can be seen in Table 6, the students' answers about which they would prefer among writing a story and creating a digital story during storytelling process are indicated. Almost all of the students stated that they preferred the digital storytelling. They stated that while creating a digital story, they recorded sound, found photographs, created music while writing stories, which means, they worked harder but had more fun. S17 “Creating a digital story because students become happier when technology is integrated in their courses. I mean we both have fun and learn. For me, creating a digital story.” S5 “For me, writing a story. My sister helps me more if I have a story writing assignment, so we can spend more time together.” The findings related to the seventh sub-problem: “Should digital storytelling be used in Turkish courses according to 7th graders learning digital storytelling?” In line with the seventh sub-problem, the students were asked “Do you think digital storytelling should be used in Turkish courses? Can you explain the reason why?” and classification of their answers is displayed in Table 7. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2259 Table 7. The findings related to the question: “Do you think digital storytelling should be used in Turkish courses? Can you explain the reason why?” Answers Frequency Yes 15 No 3 Total 18 As can be seen in Table 7, the students' answers about whether to use digital storytelling in Turkish courses at the end of the digital storytelling process are indicated. Almost all of the students stated that digital storytelling should be used in Turkish courses at the end of this process. “S7 “I think yes, because the lesson attracts students’ attention more. I mean it would be good.” S8 “I think no. If we do that, what is the point of having a teacher? A teacher also adds notes at times, but we can only get what we listen in a digital storytelling. A teacher can provide some additional notes. It is better that a teacher explains. It can be rather used as a more informative tool.” 5. Conclusion and Discussion In this part of the research, results related to the opinions of the 7th graders learning digital storytelling about this process are mentioned. These results were discussed with similar and relevant studies in the literature. In addition, primary recommendations have been made based on the results obtained. Considering the first sub-problem, the students were asked ““What would you like to say about your digital storytelling process?”, and it was concluded that many of the students found this process entertaining and instructive. This result is in parallel with other studies in the literature (Baki, 2015; Butler, 2007; Ciğerci, 2015; Copeland ve Miskelly, 2010; Demirer, 2013; Di Blas, Garzotto, Paolini ve Sabiescu, 2009; Dinçer, 2019; Kahraman, 2013; Karakoyun, 2014; Saritepeci, 2021; Yavuz Konokman, 2015; Yılmaz, 2019; Wang ve Zhan, 2010; Al Khazaleh, 2021). Ciğerci (2015) found in his study that prior to the digital storytelling process, students had a negative attitude towards Turkish lesson, which also negatively affected their academic success, but thanks to the activities based on digital storytelling, the students developed a positive attitude towards Turkish lesson, and that digital storytelling had a positive impact on lesson participation, motivation and academic success. In line with the second sub-problem, the students were asked “What has challenged you during digital storytelling process? Can you please explain?”, and it was found that a majority of the students did not have any challenges at all. This result is similar to other studies in the literature (Demirer, 2013; Küçükoğlu, 2019; Sadik, 2008; Sheneman, 2010; Yee and Hargis, 2012). One of the reasons why the students did not have a serious problem during this process is considered to be PhotoStory3 program used. It is thought that it is effective that the program includes everything that digital storytelling needs, such as adding visuals, making use of effects, dubbing, and creating music. This inference is also supported by other studies Eroğlu & Okur 2260 conducted (Baki, 2015; Demirer, 2013; Sadik, 2008; Sheneman, 2010; Yee and Hargis, 2012). In line with the third sub-problem, the students were asked “What have you wanted to be included in this process? Can you explain it?”, and most of the students stated they wanted more different types of music, and more variety in text fonts and visuals. It can be said that this result is related to the PhotoStory3 program used. Although the program used offers the convenience of dealing with each stage of digital storytelling with a single program, it is limited to certain fonts, effects and instrument sounds. Similar results were obtained in other studies using the PhotoStory3 program (Baki 2015; Demirer, 2013; Sadik, 2008). In line with the fourth sub-problem, the students were asked “What have you enjoyed most during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?”, and a majority of the students stated that they enjoyed creating music and recording sounds. This result is in parallel with the other studies in the literature (Demirer, 2013; Karakoyun 2014). However, only one student stated that s/he didn’t like voice recording feature. When s/he was asked about the reason, s/he told that s/he did not like her/his own voice. Wang and Zhan (2010) also reported that they had a similar problem in their study, and some participants who did not like their voices did not want to use their own voices. In line with the fifth sub-problem, the students were asked “What haven’t you enjoyed during digital storytelling process? Can you explain?”, and a majority of the students stated that there was nothing they didn’t like, but it was realized that a part of the students exclaimed they didn’t like music, effects, and voice recording. It was revealed that these students stating they didn’t like music and effects had told so due to the limited alternatives for instrument sounds and effects of the program, and two students who answered this question as “the sound recording stage” gave these answers because they did not like their own voices. According to the literature, few students did not like this process since they couldn’t like recording voice (Demirer; 2013; Yavuz Konokman, 2015), had time management problem (Demirer, 2013; Dogan, 2007; Dogan, 2012; Duveskog, Tedre, Sedano and Sutinen, 2012; Kulla-Abbott, 2006; Sadik, 2008; Wang and Zhan, 2010; Yüksel, 2011). Robin (2006) emphasized that the educators concerned with this time management problem should be aware that it will take time while creating this activity because it is an activity with different stages, and therefore they should be patient. It should not be forgotten that the time will be shorter, and more qualified stories will be created as more practice will be performed (Yamaç, 2015). Since this study was conducted by the researchers from the beginning to the end of the process, it was adhered to Barrett (2009)’s six-stage story-telling process, and Robin’s (2006) seven elements that should be included in digital storytelling. However, there were some students who had difficulty in the last element, which is the speed. They had trouble calculating how many seconds each slide would be paused. These problems were noticed in the flow chart stage created to detect these problems. This time shortage problem was attempted to be minimized with the arrangements made by the researchers during the process of creating a flow chart. In line with the sixth sub-problem, the students were asked “Which do you think is more enjoyable: to write a story or create a digital story? Can you explain?”, and nearly all answered as the digital storytelling process. This is supported by the fact that they found the digital storytelling process entertaining and instructive. This result is similar to the other studies in the literature (Demirer, 2013; Dogan, 2007; Dogan, 2012; Hung, Hwang and Huang, 2012; Jakes and Brennan, 2005; Kahraman, 2013; Reinders, 2011; Yang and Wu, 2012). When three students who preferred to write stories were asked about the reason, it was realized that two of them were the students who did not like their voices, and one thought International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(4), 2248-2265. 2261 s/he would spend time with his/her sister whenever s/he had a story assignment, depending on his/her sister’s help while writing the story. In line with the seventh sub-problem, the students were asked “Do you think digital storytelling should be used in Turkish courses? Can you explain the reason why?”, and almost all of them wanted it to be used in Turkish courses. It is seen in the literature that students are in favour of the use of digital storytelling in courses (Baki, 2015; Brown, Bryan ve Brown, 2005; Çetin, 2021; Demirer 2013; Lammers, 2012; Robin, 2008; Sadik, 2008). In addition, it was noticed that three students who did not like it to be used were those who preferred to write stories in the sixth sub-problem. In brief, it can be said that the opinions of the 7th graders learning digital storytelling about the process are positive. 6. Suggestions As a result of the research, the suggestions for the researchers and the education- instruction world depending on the results obtained are listed below: 1. 7th graders were included in this study, and it was revealed that students had positive views on digital storytelling. Similar studies can be conducted at different grades of education in order to reach more comprehensive results of the topic and to compare the research outputs on a multi-dimensional basis. 2. This research was conducted with students who took Turkish language course with digital storytelling and it was found that they had positive views. It can be investigated whether they will have the same opinion in other courses. 3. Interviews, one of the qualitative research methods, were used in this study. 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