Art Technology Integration:
Digital Storytellying as a
Transformative Pedagogy in
Primary Education
Victoria Pavlou
Abstract
The emergence of new media provides new tools for promoting critical thinking and
creativity in an environment that encourages collaboration, co-authoring and sharing ideas
and artworks with audiences. Embedding new media in art lessons and integrating art with
other disciplines not only promotes visual competence but also transversal competences
necessary for the future lives of children. Despite the many benefits that this process
entails, there is still no broad integration of new media in art lessons or art integration
through technology in primary schools, as teachers are often oblivious of the new
possibilities and means of engaging children. However, there is a need to embrace today’s
dominant culture of communication if we really want to prepare children for the future. This
article is about art technology integration in the primary classroom. It discusses ways of
studying important real-life issues with children and of bridging the gap between school life
and daily life. It reports on two case studies with sixth grade classes (11–12 years old) that
engaged in a stop motion animation project to communicate messages that were important
to the children. Children shared powerful stories, anchored in real-life contexts and
developed critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity skills. The findings
contribute to the discussions about arts integration that are grounded in empirical
qualitative data. The implications of the study move beyond the art subject itself and
highlight how generalist teachers can embrace interdisciplinarity and art integration, and
view art as transformative pedagogy in the curriculum.
Keywords
art integration, technology-enhanced learning, digital storytelling, stop motion animation, twenty-
first century learning, transformative pedagogy
DOI: 10.1111/jade.12254 iJADE (2019)
© 2019 The Author. iJADE © 2019 NSEAD/John Wiley & Sons Ltd