“And though our dreams may be shattered to pieces, I will resist”: digital storytelling to analyse emotional impact of the pandemic on university students

Abstract

Covid-19 generated an important impact on the mental health of university students. In this context, a double need arises: to analyse the effects of this impact and to work on emotional education with this educational sector. This study is part of a broader educational innovation project focused on working on the emotional education of university students. In this case, our purpose was to analyse the experiences of university students (N=6) during the pandemic through Digital Storytellings. The results showed revealing aspects regarding the influence that the pandemic had on students: the shortcomings of virtuality in teaching, the development of coping strategies, the lessons learned from the pandemic, etc. Finally, it was set out a number of implications for higher education, like the promotion of emotional education plans, the optimisation of online educational resources, and increased teacher training in digital issues and emotional support.