The Lived Experience of Children and Teenagers from the Online Storytelling of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young of Kurdistan Province during the Corona Crisis Epidemic

The aim of the present study was to discover the lived experience of children and teenagers from online storytelling in the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young of Kurdistan province during the corona crisis. This study with a qualitative method and a phenomenological approach and the research field included all children and teenagers who are members of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young and members of the Storytelling Association of Kurdistan Province in the year 2021 and the participants included 22 members of online storytelling workshops during the Covid-19 pandemic. They were selected based on the purposeful sampling method. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and the Attride-Stirling approach was used to analyze the interviews. Based on the results, a total of 18 major themes including positive attitude; Familiarity with proverbs and folklore stories; filling free time; learning storytelling skills; optimal use of corona restrictions; Ability anytime anywhere; strengths of online storytelling; development of interactive features; Self Confidence; less stress than the face-to-face course; Satisfaction with trainers; Weakness in interactive communication; Weaknesses of online storytelling; The stress of live storytelling; low interest and enthusiasm; conditional interest; The superiority of face-to-face storytelling and the superiority of online storytelling were identified and named. By using storytelling techniques and by stimulating the audience's imagination and mutual influence, the art of online storytelling can be used to fill the free time of teenagers and young people.
Keywords: lived experience, online storytelling, in Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young of Kurdistan province, Covid-19.
 
Introduction
For centuries, stories and storytelling have been the best way to express the wishes and common language of humans to explain signs and meanings and transfer spiritual values from one generation to another (Bustamante, 2002)). Among the fields where digital has widely entered, storytelling is an attractive activity, and it is necessary to examine the advantages and disadvantages of online storytelling in various platforms as an alternative to traditional storytelling (Gregory & Cahill 2009). Online storytelling has many uses and benefits for teaching children and adolescents, emphasizing their multiple learning needs and styles, helping them to collaborate, express themselves, be creative and think logically, and at the same time strengthen digital skills (Ghosn, 2002). As a result, by using online storytelling, the educational and educational skills of the 21st century such as virtual literacy, innovative thinking, effective communication and high productivity for living and working in the digital age and meeting the needs of the global economy can be strengthened among children and adolescents. Leoste et al, (2021) state that storytelling and playing are important for the development of children's language, cognitive and social skills, and using robots as characters in digital storytelling will further develop children's creativity, teamwork and other 21st century skills. Saretepeci (2021) also concluded that parents also found digital storytelling activities fun and attractive. Maureen et al, 2020) found in a research that when storytelling is combined with game-based activities, it can be an effective stimulus for early literacy and both storytelling conditions significantly increase children's literacy and digital literacy skills. Smeda et al (2014) found in a research that digital storytelling is a powerful tool for combining educational messages with learning activities to create more engaging and exciting learning environments. In a research, Nakhda and Javadi (2013) concluded that due to the lack of consideration of the concept of digital storytelling in Iran so far, the awareness of the staff of children's and teenagers' libraries about the conditions of implementing digital storytelling in the Internet environment is a worthwhile issue.
In this regard, and considering the epidemic of Kovid-19, the center for the intellectual development of children and adolescents has taken advantage of this capacity and organized online storytelling courses. As a result, the main goal of conducting this research was to answer the question, what is the discovery, understanding of the meaning and lived experience of the members of the storytelling association and the participants in the online storytelling workshops of the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents of Kurdistan Province in the year 2021 and at the same time as the epidemic of the coronavirus crisis?
 
Materials & methods
This study was conducted using a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. The field of research was all children and teenagers who were members and trained in online storytelling workshops on the site of the Intellectual Education Center of Kurdistan province in 2021. The participants in the research were 22 members of the age group of 6 to 16 years of Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young of Kurdistan province and the selection was based on theoretical and targeted sampling among boys and girls through online storytelling workshops and using the Instagram social network during the Covid pandemic. In this research, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and information. In this research, Attride-Stirling's proposed approach was used to analyze the text of the interviews.
 
Result
Based on the coding results related to interview questions, there are a total of 18 major themes including positive attitude; Familiarity with proverbs and folklore stories; filling free time; learning storytelling skills; optimal use of corona restrictions; Ability anytime anywhere; strengths of online storytelling; development of interactive features; Self Confidence; less stress than the face-to-face course; Satisfaction with trainers; Weakness in interactive communication; Weaknesses of online storytelling; The stress of live storytelling; low interest and enthusiasm; conditional interest; The superiority of face-to-face storytelling and the superiority of online storytelling were identified and named.
 
Discussion
Online storytelling is an enjoyable activity for children and teenagers in the Corona situation, and it gives people the opportunity to provide children with entertainment in a special way, and as a result, children have a positive attitude towards online storytelling. Considering that filling free time is one of the concerns of parents, especially mothers; Online storytelling courses have filled this free time with the help of enjoyable and favorite activities of the child in the center of intellectual development. On the way to reach this goal, with the supervision and guidance of parents and educators of the intellectual development center in online courses, according to the interests and ability level of children and teenagers, it is possible to make appropriate planning for children's free time. Also, considering that information and communication technology and the use of today's technologies have destroyed the physical boundaries and physical presence of people, this theme was one of the themes of online storytelling.
Cultivating the essential skills of children at this sensitive age is also one of the goals of online storytelling courses. After participating in the course, members of the center can improve their self-confidence after learning storytelling skills with the help of coaches and parents and overcoming their weaknesses. The lack of necessary infrastructure such as the readiness of instructors and members of the center to tell stories virtually, insufficiency in the Internet network and connection problems, low knowledge of technical skills of members and their parents, the time-consuming nature of learning in an unfamiliar and new virtual environment, the inequality of geographical areas and access to online equipment and Internet access equipment, disruption and stoppage in the process of online storytelling is due to the presence of various stimuli, including those mentioned by the participants in the research, which caused a negative attitude and view towards holding online storytelling courses.
Based on the results, it is suggested that a special section in the center of intellectual development under the title of online storytelling section with specialized forces related to online storytelling in line with the continuous holding of courses as well as more cooperation and interaction with kindergartens and educational centers with regard to the effect of stories on learning at the disposal of the center Intellectual development should be launched.