Digital Storytelling as an Inclusive Medium
Vanessa Virgiel, Beyond Space Program, The Forum for Cultural Engagement, Washington, D.C., USA
Do you remember the last time you asked your students to tell a story? Maybe it was when you gave your university class the assignment to share an experience and explain why it was meaningful to them, and they got to develop both their speaking fluency and practice narrative structures, verb tenses, and verb aspects. Maybe it was your elementary school students when you had them pair up and practice explaining what they would do if they were on a deserted island or had a million dollars—they got to develop their critical thinking skills in a fun way while honing their command of conditionals. These are the acts of storytelling, which is so much a part of the human experience of explaining our understanding, of predicting, of planning, and of sharing, that we teachers build lessons around it, though we don’t always categorize it as such. If you’ve ever asked students to construct their storytelling in a digital format—such as making a video for the class’s learning management system or a platform like Padlet or Flipgrid, then you’ve done… digital storytelling. Digital storytelling (DST) has many modalities, and its range affords many benefits to multilingual learners, including those who are dis/abled.
Multimodality and Universal Design
Digital storytelling may first evoke an image of student-made videos for you as it does for me, but in fact, the digitalization feature ensures that storytelling can incorporate many other media: online comics, Google Slides narration, animation, e-books, infographics, and so on. The wide range of forms that DST can take offers myriad possibilities for creativity, engagement, and flexibility. Aijaz (2025) notes that DST’s multimodal structure corresponds directly with Universal Design for Learning’s principles of offering multiple means of expression, engagement, and representation. Learners can choose modalities that allow them to express themselves with or without audio, with or without text, with or without imagery, in collaboration or individually, and with executive control of their final output. For dis/abled learners, this reduces barriers to participation (Towndrow & Kogut, 2020) and honors diverse voices through the how and the what of their stories.
Digital Storytelling and Communicative Options
The volume, “Storytelling, Special Needs and Disabilities: Practical Approaches for Children and Adults,” edited by Grove (2022), provides concrete examples of these affordances with details of previous classroom projects and applications for both analog and digital storytelling. One such is the use of student filmmaking with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools and strategies: Film as Observable Communication (FaOC) via the “My Film, My Story” framework. This framework provides meaningful access to individuals with complex communication needs while leveraging technology learners already use frequently. It is sequenced via a 3-step process:
1. Story collecting: (filming – operating the camera to capture relevant footage)
2. Story preparation: (post-production/editing the film with AAC using computer workstations and video editing software)
3. Story sharing: using the film with AAC (interactive group activities supported by self-created and highly personalised visual cues (p. 188)
Other platforms and modalities can also be used for some different communication needs and preferences, even if they are not typically considered AAC. I myself am partial to platforms like Plotagon. This free-trial animation software works on PCs and mobile devices (Apple and Android). Learners can select a setting (e.g., a restaurant, a classroom, a space station), two avatars, and then “direct” the animation using a selection of avatar gestures and sound effects, and either record their own voices or use the text-to-voice feature. As with any application, there are constraints. In this particular software, for example, there is limited avatar representation, and the interface might not be accessible to everyone, including those who use screen readers. In considering any and all digital tools and platforms for the classroom, these issues must be addressed to ensure inclusion beyond access. Nonetheless, this and other tools can often be readily adapted and incorporated into an inclusive classroom environment that supports your learners, with the caveat that digital tools and platforms are not merely technical choices.
Translanguaging and Identity
Speaking further on the aspect of representation, it is also worth noting that DST supports a translanguaging approach that honors students’ multilingual and multicultural identities. Linville and Vinogradova (2024) note that multilingual learners have the need and the right to tell their stories and share their experiences using their full linguistic repertoire, and that digital storytelling is a means to do that. It also has a sort of built-in scaffolding that allows learners to incorporate translingual practices in various ways: narration may be in one language, while captions are in another, or a code-mixing of languages in either. Learners can draft, construct, and edit their videos, comic books, slideshows, and more, allowing them to manage pacing while staying engaged in meaningful language practice and production. In this way, DST embeds support for learners who are at the intersection of dis/ability and multilingualism.
Conclusion
In Maya Angelou’s first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she wrote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” Dr. Angelou, who was once disabled by not being able to speak as a result of childhood trauma, was reflecting on storytelling as a liberating act that enables survival and connection. I do not include this quote to elevate the teacher’s role or to suggest that we expect students to share or process their trauma. Rather, it underscores the power of storytelling and the human need to conceptualize and narrate an experience and to have one’s story be heard. For some of our students, providing safe environments in which they can express their fears and experiences and connect with others through a narrative process like DST could indeed be a helpful way for students to share and to bolster their socio-emotional well-being. Given the challenges that societies often place on dis/abled and multilingual learners, a well-planned DST classroom activity may be a valuable addition to the syllabus or unit. I would extend this thought to say that storytelling provides a way to plan, anticipate, predict the future, dream, imagine a fictional world, and have some fun. Whatever your teaching context, I encourage you to check out the resources listed under the references and consider digital storytelling for your classroom.
References:
Aijaz, R. (2025). Empowering marginalized voices: Digital storytelling as a tool for inclusive higher education pedagogy. Journal of Tertiary Education and Learning, 3(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.54536/jtel.v3i3.5548
Angelou, M. (1971). I know why the caged bird sings. Bantam Books.
Grove, N. (Ed.). (2022). Storytelling, special needs and disabilities: Practical approaches for children and adults (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159087
Linville, H. A., & Vinogradova, P. (2024). Digital storytelling as translanguaging: A practical guide for language educators. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003295730
Towndrow, P. A., & Kogut, G. (2020). Digital storytelling for educative purposes: Providing an evidence-base for classroom practice. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8727-6
Vanessa Virgiel has taught English as an Additional Language for 10 years and is currently studying for her second master’s degree in Educational Technology at Western Governors University. She is a recipient of the 2025 Ron Chang Lee Award for Excellence in Classroom Technology from TESOL International.