Sharing Learning Stories

On Friday I attended the Sharing Learning Stories discussion group. The Sharing Learning Stories group (previously called Learning Through Story) focuses on how to effectively use story and the impact of storytelling/narrative on learning.

Chris Blakesley presented his research: The role of narrative in the design of an educational game. Chris realized that, students are disengaged --> narrative is an engaging phenomenon --> video games are an engaging type of design experience. This led to his question regarding how game designers work with narrative while making educational games.

Chris studied the game design and creative process of Citizen Science, which is a game developed to teach middle-schoolers about fresh water lake science (check out more games for change here). The game utilizes argumentation and decision making to achieve learning goals.

Here are a few of the key points he touched on in his presentation:

• The narrative embedded into the game acts as a sort of reward system that compels players to actively engage in the game and want to move forward to the next level.
• Character transformation is present throughout the game. The stories that develop as the game continues influences the change in the characters and the kids playing the games.
• The designers created multiple characters to enhance the narrative (i.e. villain, hero, etc).
• Chris explained how he used The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses to evaluate whether the story/game adequately developed each of the chosen lenses, or if more focus should be put on a certain lens. This helped him to explore the narrative structure and learning outcomes from a gaming perspective.

I think we can relate to a lot of what Chris discovered in the game/narrative process within our own digital storytelling. Ultimately, it was interesting to learn about other ways people are exploring narrative and the many directions and uses for narrative.


Upcoming speakers/topics:

March: Finn Ryan - Stories of Climate Change
April: John Francis - Planetwalker
May: Using Narrative Structure to Tell Your Story (proposed topic)