Introduction:

If we go back to our first module, I referenced the importance of storytelling or narrative in multimedia learning. We learn so much from stories. In this module, we are going to look at stories from two different angles: The Science of storytelling & the Process of storytelling. Before we do that, let’s take another look at why Storytelling in the Classroom Matters: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/storytelling-in-the-classroom-matters-matthew-friday (Friday, 2014).

The Science of Storytelling:

Alexander (2017)

Listen to Kevin Alexander’s introduction to storytelling podcast (to the right) and then read the following New York Times article which provides an accessible summary of the science that supports micro-narratives: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html (Paul, 2012)

This next article talks about why storytelling so effective in educational settings and should be one of your go-to tools in your pedagogical toolbox as a teacher: https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning (Biris, 2017)

OPTIONAL: If you want to dive into the details behind the speaker-listener brain coupling science please read this journal article titled, Speaker–listener neural coupling underlies successful communication (Stephens et al., 2017).

The Process of Storytelling:

There are many different frameworks for the storytelling process. The following video and articles will provide you with some useful, but overlapping suggestions for crafting memorable and engaging stories, and that can help you become a better storyteller in any medium you choose to tell stories to your learners. Some of the key suggestions are:

  1. Know your audience
  2. Tell a personal story
  3. Show, don’t tell
  4. Build up to a S.T.A.R. moment
    (Something They’ll Always Remember)
  5. End with a positive takeaway
  6. Know stories
  7. Choose the right medium
(Turner, 2016)

Different Types of Stories: https://www.sparkol.com/en/blog/8-classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engaging-presentations (n.d., 2020)

Storytelling Techniques: https://visme.co/blog/7-storytelling-techniques-used-by-the-most-inspiring-ted-presenters (Chibana, 2015)

As always, please remember to refer to the Principles of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2014) when you tell stories using more than one medium so that your stories can be as impactful and as memorable as possible for your learners.

Lab (asynchronous)

Create an Impactful Personal Story with Twine

Because almost all of you have already been introduced to Twine, a free software tool for creating interactive and nonlinear stories, in EDCI 336, we won’t come together in Zoom for an introduction.

In place of a synchronous lab, I would like you to use the suggestions and principles you’ve learned about storytelling to tell a personal story using Twine. Please integrate multimedia elements into your story and follow the Principles of Multimedia Learning as you weave them into your story. So please do the following:

  1. Refresh your Twine skills by browsing through this Twine tutorial:
  2. Think of an age-appropriate memorable story that you would like to tell, that could teach an important life lesson to learners in one of your future classes (possibly in an online practicum?).
  3. Think about what multimedia elements you could include in your story: photos, background audio, videos, etc.
  4. Use Twine to create either a choose your own adventure story with multiple branches, or a more linear story.
  5. OPTIONAL: If you would like to make your story publically available you can either post your story to your personal UVic webspace (instructions on how to do this are at the end of the Twine activities) or email your story to rmccue@uvic.ca if you would like him to put it on a web server so that you can link to it from your blog.
Play a Serious Game with a Storyline

Fake News is a media literacy multimedia game with a storyline where the player (aka a learner) tries to get as many social media followers as possible by spreading fake news. As you play the game think about the difference in experience your learners would have playing this game vs a more traditional teacher-led media literacy lesson: https://GetBadNews.com

Please read this short but important two-paragraph backgrounder about disinformation and the theory behind how the Bad News game tries to combat disinformation (2020).

Assignments:

Group Remix of a Multimedia Learning Principle due June 23 using edci337-remix category.

Bibliography:

8 Classic storytelling techniques for engaging presentations. (n.d.). Sparkol. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engaging-presentations

A good way to fight bad news. (2020). DROG. https://aboutbadnews.com/about-fake-news

Alexander, K. (2017). The Science of Storytelling [Mp3]. https://soundcloud.com/user-433569679/the-importance-of-storytelling

Biris, V. (2017, December 20). What Makes Storytelling So Effective For Learning? Harvard Business. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/

Chibana, N. (2015). 7 Storytelling Techniques Used by the Most Inspiring TED Presenters. Visual Learning Center by Visme. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://visme.co/blog/7-storytelling-techniques-used-by-the-most-inspiring-ted-presenters/

Friday, M. J. (2014). Why Storytelling in the Classroom Matters. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/storytelling-in-the-classroom-matters-matthew-friday

McCue, R. (2020). Intro to Image Capture & Annotation with TechSmith Capture. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IKz625yYxiEuvuBuZzxbzhlCcZ05-QBEiM8AIGooZ-E/edit

Paul, A. M. (2012, March 17). Your Brain on Fiction. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html

Stephens, G. J., Silbert, L. J., & Hasson, U. (2010). Speaker–listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(32), 14425–14430. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008662107

Turner, A. (2016, June 23). The Power of Storytelling in Teaching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FJD68y7LNo