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My digital storytelling project is a Choose Your Own Adventure, created using Microsoft PowerPoint. The project is appropriate for secondary students, ages 13-18, and adults will probably also enjoy reading it, too. The content is not appropriate for junior primary and would need parental permission for upper primary readers as there is, of course, a major plot twist that involves REDACTED.
The intended subject area is MYP Language & Literature (Year 3) and Reading for Pleasure in the library. One specific audience is Year 8 students (13-14 years old) and the text serves as an example to them of one type of text and platform that can be used in a unit where students must write a creative/fiction story using a platform of their choice. Suggested platforms for this Unit include Microsoft PowerPoint, Bitsy, zines, comics, etc. or one of their own choosing, by negotiation. It would also be appropriate to use as a text for the Year 9 Science-Fiction Worldbuilding unit, where students must read and analyse how the text meets certain benchmarks that signpost it as ‘science-fiction’ or speculative fiction. This text would be a welcome addition to the library collection for this ‘Worldbuilding’ unit, as its in-house production and ownership results in a text that is easily reproducible and able to be read by multiple readers at the one time.
The text meets other needs of the community through the inclusion of an audio version, use of a clean font, compact and uncluttered information on each ‘page’ though tight editing, judicious use of music, and a PowerPoint theme that reflects the genre. Although these considerations will not meet all students’ needs, there is scope within the structure and platform to add alternative fonts and design elements that students can access by choice and as needed.
I have been a judge of the Aurealis Awards since 2009, primarily judging the Children’s and Young Adult entries, and the Science-Fiction entries (for all ages) in 2014, and science-fiction and fantasy stories comprise most of the texts that I read for pleasure and for work. As a result, I’m confident that I have created a story that hits many of the signposts for this genre. Even the title, “Spaced Out”, reflects one of the most recognisable aspects of the sci-fi genre: Space, a setting immortalised by Roddenberry and Courage as ‘the final frontier’ (1966). In his series for The Great Courses, “How Great Science Fiction Works” (2016), Dr. Gary K. Wolfe quantifies the qualities of science-fiction writing by first enunciating to the viewer what science-fiction “is not”.
“It’s not hobbits, it’s not magic, it’s not angels or demons, or zombies, or werewolves, or sexy teenager vampires, or resurrected ancient mummies, or ghosts, or dragons. Okay, it might be about dragons, but not if they’re magical dragons.” (Wolfe, G., 06:59)
Wolfe continues by explaining the elements of science fiction, arguing that one of the basic requirements of science fiction is that the events of the story must be theoretically feasible.
“What we might consider as the first requirement of a science fiction story is that it should be possible. Things that we might actually create, places we might actually go, societies that might actually evolve.” (Wolfe, G., 08:56)
“Spaced Out” includes both these elements, as well as others such as the Law of Unintended Consequences – think of Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonriders of Pern” series (1968-2012) whereby the colonists of a far distant planet are unaware that the seemingly idyllic world has a moon that releases plant-devouring spores on a semi-regular basis – and technology that is possible but not extent (yet), albeit in a limited way, reflecting the limited time to develop and build the text.
The International Baccalaureate articulates a series of “Approaches to Learning” which are like the “General Capabilities” formulated for the Australian and Victorian curriculums. (MYP: From principles into practice (2014), p.97-104). The Approaches to Learning, or AtLs, recognise that effective learning relies on a series of skills that can be taught, practised, and mastered, and these are formalised under ten ‘clusters’ or broad headings: Communication Skills, Collaboration Skills, Organisation Skills, Affective Skills, Reflection Skills, Information Literacy Skills, Media Literacy Skills, Critical-thinking Skills, Creative-thinking Skills, Transfer Skills. Students developing a choose-your-own story like the one created for this assessment might be assessed on (or self-assess) the following skills:
There are more than 100 standards under the 10 clusters which creates enormous flexibility for teachers to teach, re-teach, and assess how students understand and apply the Approaches to Learning in their own work.
You can access the work on THIS BLOG POST. Good luck – it’s a pig of thing.
MYP: From principles into practice. (2014). International Baccalaureate Organization (UK).
Roddenberry, G., & Courage, A. (1966). Star Trek – Star Trek Opening. Genius. https://genius.com/Star-trek-star-trek-opening-lyrics.
Wikipedia contributors. (2022). Dragonriders of Pern. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragonriders_of_Pern&oldid=1109517336
Wolfe, G. K. (2016). How Great Science Fiction Works San Francisco, California, USA, The Great Courses.