ABSTRACT

This chapter explores how stories in general support learning, considering the learner as one who both listens and creates or makes in 21st-century contexts. Nonaka and Takeuchi attribute listening as a key component in the socialization of knowledge within a workplace culture. Yet the value of listening within an instructional dialogue or discussion may not be fully appreciated in fast-paced, multi-media saturated and action-oriented culture so averse to contemplation or reflection. Stories that resonate with a learner, whether exchanged with a colleague or heard in a formal learning environment, involve interaction between individuals and require inner reflection. Learning declarative knowledge action-oriented culture requires that the learner can identify what is distinctive about the information being learned given context in which it is presented. Learning non-declarative knowledge requires the opportunity to identify common characteristics across examples. The digital storyteller must understand digital culture and identity, and the affordances of the tools used to craft and disseminate the product.