XplanaZine

The NY Times ran an article last fall on the use of story and fiction by educators to make learning more palpable and successful for their students. It’s a great idea — and one we’ve all used in the actual classroom — but how can story and narrative make the biggest impact in online learning?

Early on in the history of the Web, story and narrative we used actively in hypertext experiments like Becomings, The Neverending Tale, and The Jews Daughter. It was also seen as a teaching tool to help students understand the possibilities of collaborative work.

Then, as now, narrative had a certain “stickiness” to it. It was something that made students be interested longer and keep coming back. And with the explosion of gaming consoles and, now, online gaming, narrative is taking an even more prevalent role in the lives of young learners in particular.

But the question remains — how, in a practical sense, can educators and publishers alike respond to this growing wave (within five years up to 30-40% of all course materials will be accompanied by narrative support)?

Three years ago I began developing primitive concepts for including narrative in online teaching tools. The first two experiments were for textbooks by Heinle and Heinle. Temas (click on “Internet Activities”) told the story of a young girl trying to find out who her real parents were while Plazas (click on “Síntesis Activities”) is a sweet love story between two youths who have been separated for the last sixteen years). The purpose of those early attempts was to encourage students to learn culture, to pull them forward in the process and make them less conscious of the actual learning process that was taking place.

When I wrote the video script and supporting Web activities for Fortunas (click on “Fortunas”), I was taking a more ambitious approach to narrative by trying to provide a multi-textured and reinforcing structure through the use of video, audio, Web journals etc. Of course, Fortunas is also an interactive game environment (a la “Survivor”) so it was blessed from the beginning with extra cultural stickiness.

Today I am working on a host of projects that use narrative to instruct. In fact, it is my belief that for online learning models, narrative actually offers content creators the “AI” they need to foster real learning (as opposed to simple training) online.

We will see an increasing use of story, that’s certain. What is not certain is how stories will be used in online teaching in the future, and how effective the use of narrative will be. That is to say, it’s hard to tell if educators and publishers will follow the proven path of gaming or move forward with unproven models.

The real problem, for publishers in particular, is this — even if they accept the need to add narrative to their online offerings, how can they do so effectively to all of their existing content? This is an extension of the question, “How can we take out most popular books and increase their lifespan with effective online versions?”

We can answer the question about narrative by looking at the structural possibilities for stories in online learning materials. Essentially, there are three primary models for stories and course learning materials — independent, overlay, and integrated.

For older, more established products there are two options. Independent narratives (written independently of any particular learning materials) can be selected to provide general support for the core learning materials. These fictions and stories are developed generically to tie in to multiple courses and provide learners with a different perspective of the subject matter. An independent learning narrative that supports science or mathematics, for example, can be used with a variety of textbooks and in courses that offer different pedagogical approaches.

Overlay narratives (after-the-fact stories written to sync directly and particularly to specific traditional materials) can be crafted to support the core learning materials of a course and these are intended to give the student a new perspective but also attempt to tie that perspective directly to other course materials. A teacher or publisher has a textbook that has been in use for several editions and wants to keep it pretty much as it is. An overlay narrative can be used to “enhance” the book or traditional material and extend its appeal. For my money, these are the most difficult to write because of the many parameters that are dictated by the book. When I wrote the Temas narrative, for example, I had to adjust the plot (in very strange ways) to match the sequencing of culture as it already existed in the book.

Finally, integrated stories are those that are developed in conjunction with (at the same time as) other learning materials and that serve as the center or anchor for the entire course. These stories are intended to be immersive by nature (much more than simple perspective changers) and are woven seamlessly throughout the entire fabric of the course and its supporting materials. These are the easiest to write, the richest in terms of integration, and the most effective.

Writing integrated narratives, while seemingly an obvious approach to online materials, still requires some serious mind and teaching adjustments. Narrative, in all of these models, becomes a surrogate AI that, in part, takes the place of the traditional human mediator called the teacher. This evokes resistance and resentment is some, and caution in others. The thing to remember, however, is that the purpose of narrative in online learning is to provide a meaningful platform and framework for learning. It is not meant to be a substitute for teaching or learning themselves.