digital-storytelling
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- PaperLanguage Teaching Research22 Jul 2026
AI-Assisted Digital Storytelling in EFL Teacher Education: A Qualitative Case Study of Digital and Multimodal Literacy Development
Bessie Mitsikopoulou
A qualitative case study examined how EFL student teachers used generative AI tools (text-to-image, video editors, speech synthesis) to collaboratively design digital stories. Analysis of 69 reflective papers found that algorithmic limitations prompted students to become critical designers of meaning, with the human element remaining essential for narrative coherence.
Original abstract
This qualitative case study explores how English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers engaged with generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in the collaborative design of digital stories within an advanced undergraduate course in 2024. During the semester, participants critically evaluated and applied various AI applications, such as text-to-image generators, automated video editors and speech synthesis tools, to support different stages of multimodal story production, including script drafting, visual design, audio narration and video editing. Drawing on a corpus of 69 reflective papers (approximately 75,000 words), the study examines how student teachers integrated visual, auditory and textual elements to achieve multimodal cohesion and narrative coherence. The analysis focuses on participants’ practices and strategies for aligning modes, maintaining consistency across media, and adapting to the constraints of AI-generated content. Findings indicate that the project’s primary pedagogical significance lay not in technical efficiency but in the productive ‘friction’ generated by algorithmic limitations, which led participants to move beyond passive tool use and become critical designers of meaning, demonstrating sophisticated multimodal awareness. While AI supported rapid content generation, the human element remained the narrative’s essential ‘emotional glue’, ensuring affective resonance and coherence. Overall, the study suggests that experiential engagement with AI-assisted composition may enable future educators to move beyond functional skills and develop into critically reflective architects of digital narratives.