This article documents a case study of storytelling pedagogy that took place in three undergraduate media production courses at Simon Fraser University. The case study investigates student engagement, self-cultivation, and personalization of the curriculum with stories of experience in response to the distraction and insatiable demands of technology. More specifically, the stories of experience are examined as a pedagogical reply to the alienating and dehumanizing effects of technological determinism by supporting the complex and unique nature of human learning. The case study illustrates that stories of experience can create rich and transformative educational environments that have the capacity to engage and motivate students to learn. Moreover, stories of experience add to a personalization of the curriculum which also promotes community building.

The current environment for undergraduate education is in a state of crisis. Technologization, presentism, and narcissism are identified as three crises that threaten to consume and colonize our individuality. For teachers and learners, this crisis is manifested through screen time that competes for attention and engagement. Almost every teen (96%) in the U.S. is on the internet every day and 46% report being online almost constantly, mainly on a smartphone with computers or gaming consoles. This speaks to a need for an approach to education that is more authentically human.

The review and analysis of in-class assignments that included stories of personal experiences demonstrate a human authenticity that motivates and engages students. This case study illuminates how our own stories may be a key to making post-secondary education relevant and engaging for students in an ever increasingly technologized environment.

Keywords: Storytelling, narrative, experience, pedagogy, self-cultivation.