The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the learning environment where digital stories are used as a learning material on the motivation, academic success, retention, and students' opinions. The study was carried out with mixed method which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approach. The study was implemented in Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Education Faculty Turkish Education Department. Participants included 61 students, 31 in experimental group and 30 in control group. To analyse the quantitative data; descriptive statistics, Student's t test and Paired sample t test were used. In analysis of qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews, content analysis was performed. Study results showed that digital stories have a positive effect on the academic achievement, motivation and retention in the experimental group. In addition, the students in the experimental group were found to report a positive opinion on the application of digital stories.