Examining a Primary Education Approach Using Digital Storytelling: Chinese Industrial Heritage as a Vehicle to Support Learning

Digital storytelling has emerged as an innovative approach that integrates technology with education, demonstrating growing research and practical value in cultural heritage preservation. This study focuses on China’s industrial heritage and conducts empirical research with primary school students (Years 1–6) to examine how digital storytelling enhances engagement in industrial heritage education in particular, but also how industrial heritage reflects and links to wider cultural and historical issues. The research analyzes six key educational dimensions: learning interest, functional preferences, content comprehension, supervisory expectations, creative expression, and willingness to participate. Hypothesis testing revealed significant positive correlations among these dimensions (p < 0.05), and the overall regression model explained 51% of the variance in students’ willingness to participate (R2 = 0.51). Grade-level analysis further demonstrated distinct developmental patterns: younger students preferred gamified interactions with parental supervision, middle-grade students gradually shifted toward personalized learning approaches, and senior students focused more on value-driven and inquiry-based content. A temporary decline in interest and willingness around Year 5 highlighted a key transitional period requiring targeted scaffolding for abstract and creative learning tasks. Based on these insights, the study innovatively proposes a “Sapling Growth” educational framework that systematically combines digital storytelling technology with children’s cognitive development patterns. This progressive three-stage instructional design achieves dynamic alignment between teaching content and students’ cognitive abilities. The framework integrates cultural depth with interactive features, establishing a theoretical pathway to enhance learning processes, strengthen cultural identity, and promote sustainable industrial heritage preservation, while providing a foundation for interdisciplinary integration across educational technology, cultural heritage conservation, and child development fields.