Does a TPACK Lead to a Six-Pack?

Tackling the TPACK framework may, at first glance, seem daunting enough for someone who considers themselves on the stringy-to-wiry end of humanoid body types, but is it truly that daunting? Can struggling with TPACK lead to an impressive six-pack? (And by six-pack, I do mean of the muscular variety, although out of frustration with the TPACK model one might be led to reach for the liquid version.)

TPACK, of course, stands for “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge,” (which you probably knew anyways, although I didn’t).  I’m not sure what the “A” stands for… I suppose it’s just there because pronouncing “TPCK” without spitting on your neighbor is just too difficult. Explaining TPACK to your neighbor may be even harder than controlling your phlegm, but I will try anyways.

When a teacher is surrounded and immersed in technology, she or he must be very careful to hold on to their best teaching practices while, at the same time, making sure that the content is taught clearly and vividly. The knowledge to do tech, pedagogy and content at the same time, without throwing your back out or spitting on the front row, is TPACK in action. TPACK inaction is when you are surrounded by the technology, but so confused by it all, that you have no drive  whatsoever (hard or soft) and are unable to make use of the wonderful tools being developed to assist and amplify your teaching.

Here’s what I said in official language:

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK)

Technological pedagogical content knowledge refers to the knowledge and understanding of the interplay between CK, PK and TK when using technology for teaching and learning (Schmidt, Thompson, Koehler, Shin, & Mishra, 2009). It includes an understanding of the complexity of relationships between students, teachers, content, practices and technologies (Archambault & Crippen, 2009).

That’s from the wiki that has a “pedia” on the end.

When a teacher has done the tech-integration thing for a while, it becomes a second-nature-teacher-thing; as easy as eyes in the back of your head or recess duty. But when one is first starting out, like many of us, it’s best to start working on your TPACK beginning with the smaller weights… one class blog assignment a week or a class podcast at the end of a full unit of study. Once one skill is under your belt, you can add a few more, slowly working your way up to the multi-media, sound-and-lights extravaganzas to be submitted to the Cannes Film Festival review committee once they have been polished.

Building an impressive TPACK six-pack is just like most other challenges, best tackled one step at a time. But once a teacher has packed on the ability to handle the tech tools competently, then they can begin to try out the really creative approaches to education; ones that use the new technology in a completely new and original way. Jeff Utecht, in his popular “Thinking Stick” blog suggests that truly innovative tech-rich teaching creates new and different learning experiences for the students that would not be possible without the technology. To continue the “six-pack” analogy, only an athlete that has trained hard and developed muscles that can handle difficult challenges can attempt new, extreme sports that no one has attempted before. Only teachers who gain experience by daily using technology and slowly adding to their knowledge base can launch into creative and original uses of technology to teach curriculum in new and challenging ways.

Becoming a Polyglot; Adding Media-Speak and Tech-Speak

I recently went to see Martin Scorsese’s first film created for children called “Hugo,” based on the award-winning book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

The movie followed the book’s plot-line fairly closely and was a perfect vehicle for the partially fictional story which centered on one of film’s early pioneers, Georges Méliès. Scorsese claims that he decided to make the film after one of his children complained that they were not allowed to see any of his films, which often carry an “R” rating. When I discovered that Scorsese had started a visual literacy program for middle school students, everything seemed to fit together.

The program was created when Scorsese realized that kids needed to tools to interpret the  visual imagery that they are immersed in every day. “So much of today’s society is done visually, and even subliminally, for young people, that it could be dangerous. One has to know that it is a very, very powerful tool.” The director should know. He was not willing to let his own young children watch his powerful movies; the images and ideas that they presented were not appropriate to their stage of development. The awareness of other images that they were being confronted with on a daily basis, no doubt occurred to him at the same time.

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Mono, Bi or Multi-Media

A book can now be two-dimensional (just words on a screen), or three-dimensional (visually and in terms of extended content), or even multi-dimensional (and this is where things get really complicated). Multi-dimensional, multi-media books can have extended story lines in movies, television, graphic novels, interactive multi-player game platforms, toys and merchandizing. And the digital books themselves can be animated or enhanced with sound or video, with a wealth of embedded links to make the story richer and more complex.

Now that I am aware of all that could be done with the construction of original written content, I have to intentionally decide what should be done. In the creation of content and in the teaching of creative content, I need to be intentional with the tools that I select for each intended purpose.

Obviously, in teaching students how to create a digital story of their own, I should choose tools that are simple enough to be grasped quickly so that the actual writing and editing process remains at the forefront. Google Docs seems to lend itself well to this process, allowing the teacher to keep track of the students’ progress and to edit directly. If iPads are available in the classroom, then iBooks Author is another easy and intuitive tool for students to create their own polished-looking books that can be shared with other iPad users.

Here is an example of a story created using iBooks Author and presented in a PDF format for ease of viewing:

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Graphic, Novel Information

Our world seems to be bursting at the seams with information. There is too much to take in at once. And even when we do bite off a chunk of information that we think we can handle, the information is often too complicated or convoluted to be digested, let alone masticated in the first place. A well-organized and visually-appealing graphic which presents the pertinent information can make an attractive gourmet meal out of a jumble of ingredients.

Presenting real information and even fictional stories has become increasingly visual. While the comic book market is decreasing (at least in the U.S.) the graphic novel market is exploding. At the same time, consumers of information want to see the data presented in a visually-compelling way.

In Richard Byrne’s blog, “Free Technology for Teachers,” seven tools for constructing data visualizations are detailed. The first tool, Better WorldFlux, with its pre-entered data is an amazing example of how visually-intelligent graphics can quickly elucidate complex sets of data. I went to their site and experimented with the graphics by choosing just a few countries and data parameters. I could immediately see how Japan lagged behind most civilized countries in its inclusion of women in the legislative process and government, and how far ahead Norway was in comparison at the data starting point of 1987. Then, by scrubbing through the years to the most recent data set, I could see how far Japan had caught up in this area, so that it is almost in the average range now, and how Norway has remained in the lead among world countries in this aspect. Here is a snapshot of the percentage of women in parliament with data included showing ratio of girls’ to boys’ education in 1990:


One can see at a glance how far Japan lags behind the world average in this aspect and how progressive Norway is. If we scrub ahead using the year-indicator bar to 2010, we see that Japan has made considerable progress and is approaching the world average, while Norway still has a large proportion of women serving in the government.

For my own purposes, I use Google Web Analytics to keep track of trends in web traffic flowing to my website of free children’s sermon resources at www.kidsermons.com. I can compare the amount of web traffic for the current week with the traffic from two years ago, for example. I can see when the peak access times occur, and this can inform me as to when I should be posting the new children’s sermon for the following week.

The challenge for me is to find the correct tool and type of display for the information that one wants to clearly communicate. One of the best examples of visually displayed information that I have seen is the progression of economic and physical health of world countries over the years. While I have only begun to learn to use this tool, some are already masters of visual display. In one of the best demonstrations that I have seen, Hans Rosling shows how the general trend is toward richer and healthier countries worldwide. This is the type of visual information that can transform the world:

The World from 1810 to 2010

 

 

 

 

Communication Evolution or the Rise of Digital Storytelling

“What we do now with words, we’ll soon do with images,” says Kevin Kelly, (a “Wired” geek), in an ancient article published way back in 2008. And what he describes in his NY Times article, “Becoming Screen Literate,” has already come true. Kevin describes how technology shifts bend the culture and the ways in which we communicate and pass on our essential truths. Storytelling has gone from oral to print to photographic to video in the space of a very short span of our history.

The print advertisement was developed at M&C Saatchi, Melbourne, by creative director Steve Crawford, head of art Murray Bransgrove, art director Rebecca Hannah and copywriter Doogie Chapman, with photographer Christopher Tovo and retoucher Ed Croll.

And while we may consider the modern mash-ups and remixes a completely new type of storytelling medium, it is just another way in which storytelling reworks available material to create old stories in new ways. All art recombines and storytelling is no exception.

Storytelling has always been a visual art. The storyteller relied on her actions and expressions or on his masks and props. Storytelling has used puppets, music and actors since ancient times. Now we have so many visual choices to choose from that the prospect of telling a story can seem overwhelming. The story itself, is the most important component, of course, but now it has become obvious that the supporting visuals of storytelling can make or break the story itself.

Most would agree that “Star Wars” is a compelling story, but the truth is that George Lucas could not “sell” his story concept to any movie studio until he had engaged the services of a technically skilled and inspired artist named Ralph McQuarrie, (who has just recently passed away). Ralph drew some compelling illustrations to accompany George’s movie pitch, creating from his fertile imagination, the imposing menace of Darth Vader and the appealing innocence of C3PO. Accompanied by these compelling images, when Lucas pitched his movie to 20th Century Fox, it was immediately financed.

Teaching our students to visualize stories as they write them and then giving them tools to illustrate their stories in a rich variety of ways will equip them to communicate the story lines that the future longs to hear and, in some cases, needs to hear. Exercises in crafting original stories based on old, traditional themes can be as easy as interpreting a fairytale.

During a weekend workshop, we were challenged to create a lesson plan that resulted in the writing of an original digital story. In just a few hours, our team of three was ready. With the intention of encouraging students to write a modern version of an old fairytale, we hammered out a rubric and produced an example story. One told the story, while another quickly illustrated the action in storyboard squares, while the third wrote the lesson plan out in detail. The result was a book created in iBook Author that can be viewed on an iPad or exported as a PDF viewable on any laptop device. Here is our original fairytale sample:

Gretel and the StringFactory

Original fairytale

Another quick and easy way that students can create and share their stories is through Google Docs. The tools provided allow students to create simple drawings, import photos and artwork and even embed videos to accompany their text. Using Google Docs is also a great way to encourage collaboration between students on a story. Because the teacher can be included as an editor on the document as well, students can get immediate comment and feedback on their stories as they write. Here is an example, unfinished but quickly created for a short workshop on digital books that I offered last Friday during a teacher Pro-D work day at our school. The last few pages were added by various teachers as they experimented with the functions of Google Docs. Take a look at the result:

DustyMcHoofers

The PDF version does lack the functionality of the Google Docs version. It does not play the embedded video or show the WordArt “Water” disappearing, etc., it does show a basic sample of what can be produced in a very short time with a minimum of instruction and prep.

We are now ready to set our 4th graders loose to unleash their creativity within the generous and expanding boundaries of a wide range of storytelling tools. It will be exciting to see what they come up with.

 

 

 

A Powerful Point

An image-enhanced presentation can be a great way to grab the attention of your audience, or it can be a great annoyance. Presentational speakers using Keynote or PowerPoint can make a powerful point or they can frustrate their listeners with an onslaught of busy charts and diagrams or worse, slides that merely display the words as the presenter speaks them like a grating digital echo.

There are plenty of great examples of bad presentations and this gives comedians plenty of rich material to draw from. The reactions of the audience in this humorous demonstration gives us an indication that they have all had to suffer through many irksome PowerPoint presentations:

What not to do

Because I am needing to create a presentation on Storytelling next week during an in-house staff professional development day, the content of this week’s readings was especially compelling to me. Storytelling is a big part of my life and my teaching experience. A good story can often teach a lesson better than any well-documented explanation ever could. Students gain their deepest learning through stories and experiences that include a strong emotional connection.

So how do I convey this very important information while including instructions to future storytelling teachers? I could tell them some true stories that have shaped my story-centered philosophy of teaching. I could enhance those stories with visual aids that would make the stories about storytelling even more memorable. I could add music and stage directions. Apart from turning my presentation into a full-blown Broadway musical, I need to focus on how to get my message across with clarity and style. How do I make a powerful point and not merely a run-of-the-mill PowerPoint?

Daniel Pink makes a very good point in his book “A Whole New Mind” when he says that the current era belongs to those who can “think different,” (never mind the ungrammatical nature of that statement… its form also represents a deviation from the norm.) Because anyone can now “look it up,” the business world no longer values a mind that can recall facts and figures instantly. The need now is much greater for a mind that can take all of the available data and come up with a creative solution that has never been tried before.

And once a brilliant idea has been pulled out of the seething swamp of creative musings and has taken on a recognizable shape, how do you share it with the world?  Well, you could use the six fundamental aptitudes proposed by Mr. Pink to give your idea the attention it deserves: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. When all six of these elements are woven into a presentation, you have an idea worth listening to.

For me, the most difficult of these six is the first: Design. I know how to tell a story, but it is difficult for me to lay out a poster, drawing or a blueprint. Learning about some of the basic design basics, such as the “Rule of Three” has helped me, but it is still a struggle. I know what looks good to my eye, but I don’t necessarily know how to build it from scratch.

But I have to try. By next week, I will need to be able to explain the importance and structure of storytelling in a memorable and compelling way. For now, I can begin with templates provided by Keynote, but I hope to be able to go beyond that and use the visual as a launchpad of sorts for a more interactive audience experience so that we can “do” storytelling at the same time as we are learning the basics.

March 1, 2012:

Drum Roll…. Finished the Keynote presentation just in time. I will present a 40 minute workshop tomorrow on Storytelling; Traditional and Digital. I tried to keep the text simple and the images compelling. Of course, it is hard to get the complete content just by looking at the Keynote. It is meant to support what I am saying and showing to my audience. Here is a Quicktime of the Keynote to give you a brief idea of the workshop:

(Click the down arrow to advance to the next slide once the presentation loads.)

Storytelling; Traditional and Digital

The outline of the presentation runs something like this:

  • Oral and Digital Storytelling Workshop at CAJ; Friday, March 2    1:05 – 1:45
  • Storytelling and Education
  1. Why is storytelling crucial to education? Storytelling has been at the heart of education for thousands of years. Never meant to be a dry subject. Rich and memorable experience that weaves stories into all subject areas.
  2. Motivation; lighting the fire of learning desire
  3. “True story”; any time that students heard this phrase, they would truly listen
  4. Deep Learning; stories go deep, stay with us longer
  5.  Story about courage; Story of terrified MS girl with claustrophobia who was determined to enter the dark tunnel and cave at Yosemite.
  6.  Students construct personal meanings w story; engage emotional response for deeper retention and fire up the imagination
  7. Learning on the Highest level; creative construction of content
  8. Opportunities to create stories and projects that stretch the students limits
  • The Storytelling Teacher:   
If you can relate, they can relate; students listen and connect to true stories.
  • Find a story that applies to the concept that you are trying to teach.
    Example; Defining courage; Story of terrified MS girl with claustrophobia who was determined to enter the dark tunnel and cave at Yosemite.
    Model good storytelling techniques:
    a. Diction and volume
    b. Character and emotion
    c. Body language
    d. Visuals or music
  • 
The Storytelling Student
:  Synthesize a concept and create a story
  1. Example; students can practice storytelling and then watch and critique their own performance; results in 5th grade posted in link on library site
  2. Students can create original book using one of the tools listed at the end
  • Bloom’s Taxonomy
Presentation Empowerment
Learning how to use the tools effectively
  • Story-making Tools:
  1. Keynote
  2. PDF to FlipSnack; http://www.flipsnack.com/
  3. iBooks; http://www.apple.com/ca/apps/ibooks/?cid=jm
  4. Google Docs

 

  • 
Demonstrations:
  1. Keynote; Lady Ramona, Beloved of Beasts (original story formatted for the iPad)
  2. FlipSnack;
  3. Google Docs books

 

 

 

Image Frustration

Girl Reading; 1888; CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

The fifth graders have just begun a “Read-Aloud” unit in the library. They are required to choose a picture book of an appropriate length (around 5 min.) and read it out loud to the rest of the class with correct speed, clarity and expression. They must remember to show the pictures, especially when they are an integral and complimentary part of the story. It would be nice to remind the students visually of the reading requirements, so I set about looking for a Creative Commons image that would underline the importance of an excellent read-aloud.

I pictured a Keynote presentation where the proper and improper portrayals of read-alouds and public speaking would be visually illustrated, but I was stymied by the lack of free-use photos on the internet. I used various methods of searching, but finding good photos of bored kids or storytelling scenarios was frustrating. Even when I searched within the parameters of Creative Commons, the usable photos were always labeled, “All Rights Reserved.”

So I had to change my approach. I would get the students to create the images themselves and they would be responsible for producing a short video demonstration or a instructional poster for the library.

The rubric grades students on reading speed, clarity, expression and visibilty (which applies to the showing of pictures in a book.) The students could stage photos or videos to illustrate each and add their own graphics and lettering to further elucidate the point.

As they create this instructional material, the content will be further embedded in their minds to help them do better in the final evaluation. Creatively teaching a concept or skill is, after all, the deepest and most effective way to truly learn something.

I will post images and short clips to demonstrate the students’ progress as they complete the steps of the project. Stay tuned….

Presenting AUPs to Parents & Progeny

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Photo Source: http://blog.safetyweb.com/parenting-children-connect-via-video-playdates/

Working in the library at our school, I have seen many examples of both acceptable  and unacceptable use of computers. We have banks of computers in the library that students may come and use and various times of the day. Most of the screens of the computers are visible from the checkout desk, so it has been fairly easy to monitor. Some of the most common problems have been students going on Facebook or trying to watch YouTube videos which are not related to their education. It has become much harder to monitor students’ use of computers now that our school is going one-to-one beginning with this year’s senior class. Students often sit with their screen away from the desk and will sometimes play games or watch videos instead of concentrating on schoolwork. Students can be monitored remotely while on campus, and they all know that this is part of the computer use agreement. Still, they know that there is a good chance that they won’t be caught, and so far, the consequences for minor infractions are not clear or much of a deterrent.

It is important for every educational institution to have clear rules and regulations regarding computer use and internet access. As technology quickly changes, it is important to keep these guidelines updated. While our school does already have an AUP in place for middle school and high school students, accessible through the online student handbooks, more work needs to be done on these documents to make them more complete. Since there was nothing in place for elementary school, three teachers from our school, as part of the COETAIL cohort, collaborated on creating an Elementary Computer AUP, with a view to add to the existing information available to parents through the school website. Our AUP is viewable here:

CAJ Elementary AUP and Supporting Documents

We worked on outlining a few basic rules for computer use in the library and this will be added to our school’s guidelines for behavior. Most students know the rules pertaining to library computer use, but it helps to have those rules simplified, clearly stated and written down so that they can be referenced should any problems arise. The following “Library Use” topic under the heading “Technology Policies and Procedures” will be added to our staff information database called “Sophie” and will be linked to the student handbooks.

Here is the text that will be added:
Use of the library computers will follow the Computer Acceptable Use Policy.
The following are procedures specific to the library:

  • Use the computers only for schoolwork or educational endeavors. Approved computer games may be found here: http://community.caj.or.jp/library/games.php
  • Do not bring food or drink into the library as these may damage keyboards.
  • If sound must be enabled for computer use, headphones should be employed.
  • Students misusing the library computers may have their privileges revoked.

We also created an AUP Commitment Letter to be signed and returned by the parents of Elementary students at the beginning of the year. This letter is included in the document linked above. Realizing that most of the parents of grade school children have many questions and concerns regarding their computer  use and online presence, we are planning to hold a series of parent tech information workshops where parents can be shown exactly how their children will be using computers, the internet, blogging, etc. An outline of the first two planned workshops is included in the above document.

Because many parents have fears and questions about the safety and use of technology in the hands of their children, it is best to address these issues at the beginning of the year. Knowledge is power and it is also a great motivator to encourage parents to become more involved in their child’s education. With their parents gaining tech experience alongside them, students will be able to expand the boundaries of their learning far beyond the classroom.

Even the youngest elementary students are excited by the things that they can do with a computer and with the information that is available to them. They have such a curiosity about the world and they have such a diversity of interests. It is thrilling to me to see students as young as Kindergarten and First Grade take an intense interest in a range of subjects from slugs to bridges to poetry to singularities. Technology provides such a depth of resources for students of all ages; it is our responsibility as educators to help make the bridge to their quest as singularly safe and as poetically rich as possible.

Brand New, Brand Me?

“Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which we market ourselves to others.” This is the essence of an article by Dan Schawbel called, “Personal Branding 101; How to Discover and Create Your Brand.” What is my brand and what do I stand for? My current job is librarian, but my brand may have more to do with writing for children. Do I even need a brand? While one may question the need for self-marketing, if one tumbles into the adventure of looking for a new job, the value of having a personal brand may suddenly become apparent. An individual may already have a personal brand of sorts, in fact, and not even know it.

This topic interests me, not because I am currently searching for a new job, but because I am launching into the world of digital publishing and realize that, as an author, I am responsible for the promotion and branding of my books. If I want to sell books and reach an expanding readership, I have to build my brand. So far, my children’s sermon website, Kidsermons.com, does have links to purchase my books, but it exists mostly to give pastors a free resource for their time with the children on Sunday morning. The digital book I am currently working on, however, has no connection to the children’s sermon site and I realize that I will have to create another online presence that can highlight a new category of illustrated children’s books. I have a lot of work to do.

One shouldn’t wait to start building a personal brand until there is a desperate need, of course; it should be a process that sculpts itself over time. As soon as a person begins posting content online, in fact, a personal brand is already being developed. In talking with others about our digital footprints, I have often said that the internet makes it hard for someone to lead an anything-but-transparent life. Even previously posted blogs, websites and photos that have been purposefully removed can be looked up again through sites like the Internet Archive. Your digital footprint is pretty much permanent. As Dan says in his article, “transparency and authenticity are the only means to survive and thrive in this new digital kingdom,” so be careful where you step.

Even if you are building on an old “brand you,” there are many things you can do to help your image, as long as everything that you post is true and truly you. If your Facebook page has good, positive content, then that is a good start to “Brand You.” (Students should be reminded of the visibility and permanence of Facebook material before they enter high school as colleges can search these sites as part of their acceptance decisions.) But beyond Facebook, it is even more important to have a personal webpage or blog. While I have and maintain both, I realize that they do need a lot more work.

When I do a search of my name, Ruth Ingulsrud, on the web, I find 86,700 results. The first result to pop up references my wonderful sister-in-law, whose maiden name was Ruth Ingulsrud, and who is now the Chancellor of Kwansei Gakuin and goes by the name of Ruth Grubel. Most of the other references were mine, but I saw one important reference that was sorely out-of-date. I realized that I need to update my online resumé. To help with this process, I can use the helpful information found on another of Dan Schawbel’s pages on building the “Ultimate Social Media Resumé.” I don’t know if I will end up with the “ultimate” but I hope it will be better than what I currently have. I can do so much more now with the ability to embed video and photos and to include links to social networks and forums, blogs and wikis. I’m realizing that a personal brand does not create a brand-new you, but it can show your strengths and gifts in a brand-new way.

A Look at Linking or Hypercard Revisited

 

Inanimate Alice represents a paradigm shift in how we approach reading and writing instruction,” states an article posted on the National Writing Project website. I’m reading this piece that reviews and promotes a book it touts as “the leading example of this transmedia phenomenon is the born-digital story.” Really? Haven’t they ever heard of hypercard? Wow; maybe I’m just too old to be reading this article. Twenty-some years ago, I remember purchasing and playing with quite a few interactive stories with my three-year old son. He loved them. He could make different things happen in the stories by clicking on various choices. There were several options on many of the pages and the story had a variety of endings.

The stories used a very neat piece of software called “Hypercard” which was pretty simple but worked quickly and worked well. Amanda’s Stories was one of the early examples. The stories were simple, creative and interactive. Manhole was a more sophisticated later example. The brothers who designed Manhole went on to create Myst, a virtual, explorable world with countless adventure permutations. These are just a few early examples of transmedia storytelling which invite (and actually require) reader participation. Hypercard was simple enough for my four year old computer-loving son to make an interactive story of his own with some help from techie-hubby.

Here is one area where computers are encouraging more brain activity instead of passive consumption. This is encouraging. In the school library where I work, many students come after school to use the computers to access games. They tend to gravitate towards the less mentally-demanding games that involve shooting some sort of missile, balls or birds or what-have-you, at a moving target. Although I have explained to them again and again that the only games they are allowed to play in the library are educational ones, they still try to justify their choice by explaining that they have to aim correctly to shoot the object. “And is your brain working hard? Are you having to think to figure things out and solve problems?” I ask. “Not really,” they usually admit, and then they find a more challenging game that involves logic or physics puzzles like Civiballs, or teaches typing skills like Super Hyper Spider Typer, or encourages them to practice math problems like IXL Math.

I have started to set up links that they can easily access through the CAJ library site that takes them directly to games which exercise their brains. The typing links are up, but I have more to do in this area. It would be fun to set up some interactive computer stories accessible through the library website as well. In the past, students have requested “Choose Your Own Adventure” type stories, but we only have a few of these in the library. In paper form, they are a bit cumbersome and awkward to read, but the digital platform is perfect for this sort of thing. I expect to see more of these books with embedded, applicable links becoming available in the future, and would hope that many new offerings would become available that challenge readers to exercise many different skills and areas of learning: physics, biology, math, literature, history, etc. In order to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, for example, the reader would have to solve problems or figure out the optimal storyline choice. Interactive stories and texts that exercise the brain and teach curriculum would be a welcome addition to our school library and textbook resources.

Update:

Here are a few resources that I was guided to after posting this article … (thank you Lorraine Hopping Eagan) :

Interactive MathStory-Game:  http://www.kosjourney.com/

Blog about Transmedia:   http://www.transmediakids.com/

Robot Heart Stories project:  http://www.indiegogo.com/Robot-Heart-Stories

Laura Fleming’s Blog:  http://edtechinsight.blogspot.com/