“We’ve never tried that before, it’s bound to be good.” Inspired by this quote from Pippi Longstocking, students studying early years education embarked on a digital story-reading experiment.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the children from Willibrord School were unable to visit the university this year. Instead, the lecturers – Dr Barbara Darr in her ‘Cultural Literacy’ seminar and Renate Schmitz-Gebel in her ‘Creative Writing’ practical project – placed their trust in their students’ courage. And it was a success: in just two weeks, they managed to produce their own read-aloud videos and an audio play whilst working from home in virtual groups. The results were ready to be shared in no time at all: “The group work went really well. The fact that the video recordings aren’t perfect, and that the sound and picture are a bit shaky at times, is to be expected in these times. We’re glad that the reading day didn’t have to be cancelled and could take place digitally,” said Dr Darr.
Schmitz-Gebel emphasised: “Our aim was to connect with the children digitally, to bring them joy and to inspire them to come up with their own stories.” So, alongside the well-known dragon Kokosnuss, the children were introduced to a talking record player, the elephant Chai, Princess Hanna and Franz Fuchs – all of whom feature in the stories the students had written together especially for this day. As well as the stories being read aloud, there were also creative, writing and art activities to inspire the children. The students are now eagerly awaiting the feedback from the classes at Willibrord School.
As part of the practical projects at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, further seminars are also taking place this winter semester under the supervision of Dr Marjan Alemzadeh, Professor of Education specialising in early childhood education, collaborations with primary schools in the Kleve district are taking place this winter semester, with the aim of developing teaching units for primary schools – for example, in the fields of ‘STEM’ or ‘philosophising with children’ – that promote inquiry-based learning amongst the children and support primary schools with distance learning.
