Digital storytelling – individual meaning-making for heritage tourism

Experiential learning emphasises student-centred, collaborative and inclusive methods that are often difficult to implement in traditional teaching environments. In order to maximise the benefits of experiential learning, there needs to be a critical focus on developing creative pedagogies and innovative approaches. Student-led projects offer opportunities for students to engage in experiential learning (McGovern, 2018). Heritage, a complex and multi-dimensional concept, is often difficult for students to conceptualise and contextualise. Heritage evolves over time, is open to different interpretations and involves different stakeholders in its conservation and tourism development. The integration of digital stories as a summative assessment helps to enrich students’ critical understanding of the intricate dynamics involved in utilising and promoting heritage in tourism, compared to more conventional assessment methods such as reports and essays. Through the use of digital storytelling students are encouraged to personalise and contextualise key concepts related to heritage, thereby enhancing their independent and reflective approaches to knowledge construction and co-construction.

The process of creating and sharing digital stories requires students to construct, reconstruct, and evaluate their experiences, often incorporating their emotions and inviting deeper reflection. Additionally, digital storytelling challenges students to consider how they produce, explore, and promote their narratives, thereby enhancing problem-solving skills applicable to real-world contexts and contributing to their employability. While digital storytelling has been widely adopted in healthcare and nursing education (Gazarian, 2010; McGovern, 2018; Keune and Salter, 2022), its broader application across disciplines, such as social sciences and management studies, needs to be further improved. This paper highlights the use of digital storytelling as a creative and innovative pedagogical tool that facilitates and integrates student reflections and experiences to enhance a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of heritage tourism.