Monday, April 23, 2012

34 GREAT TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING RESOURCES


Transmedia storytelling can be integrated into education, marketing, social change and other areas in a myriad of ways, but one thing it always offers--regardless of the arena--is choice.  Telling stories in different forms on different platforms opens the door to produce complex reflections, to take classic linear methods of expression and weave them into the tapestries of unique observations and understanding.  Rather than following the traditional path of beginning, middle, climax, ending, the story creator and/or reader is provided with the freedom and opportunity to devise multiple outcomes.

As mentioned in another blog I wrote for CyberWise.org (Transmedia and Teaching Native Multitaskers, 4/13/12), transmedia narratives touch on many areas in education on a global scale.  To help you navigate the often baffling labyrinth of its definitions and applications, I have assembled a list of 34 great transmedia storytelling resources below.  I hope these resources will serve as starting point for discovering practical ways to teach and utilize these demanding new literacy skills in our schools and in our lives.
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34 GREAT TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING RESOURCES



TRANSMEDIA OVERVIEW


This is a practical guide to transmedia storytelling for beginners. This book can be downloaded on your computer and is also available in print and on the Kindle at Amazon
@JWTIntelligence JTWL 2011 report “Transmedia Rising” takes a look at why this trend is bubbling up right now, how it’s significant for marketers and where it’s going, including a half-dozen case studies, insights from transmedia experts, and more.
To further highlight the problem with the term “transmedia” and the increasing chasm between storytellers and franchisers/marketers, Steve Peters started this collection of amazing amount of sometimes contradictory definitions, which should nicely illustrate the problem.
Transmedia in the Classroom has the potential to engage students and allow them to absorb information in a way that they have become accustomed to in their social lives and entertainment consumption. Through Transmedia, it is also possible that that schools will be able to save time and money and – in the long run – reduce inequalities in the school system.
Henry JenkinsOver the past few years, transmedia storytelling has become a hot buzzword in Hollywood and Madison Avenue alike--"the next big thing" or "the last big thing" depending on whom you ask. Last year, the Producer's Guild announced a new job title, Transmedia Producer, a decision that has more or less established the term as an industry standard. More and more companies are laying claim to expertise in producing transmedia content.
Graphic for Henry Jenkins 7 myths @budcaddell
If you happen to be one of the people who haven’t personally engaged in transmedia, congratulations.  The other 99.9% of us have adopted a true transmedia lifestyle where our personal stories have slices of our lives told to different people. Some of us have one, five, or a hundred transmedia channels covering Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, websites, social platforms, wireless networks, and more.
      This computer infographic by Steve Peters helps us understand if an initiative is or not a story Transmedia. 
      Transmedia storytelling (also known as multi-platform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies, not to be confused with traditional cross-platform media franchises, sequels or adaptations.

TRANSMEDIA THOUGHT LEADER REFLECTIONS 

Many children take it upon themselves to actively participate in this networked society in the form of wikis, blogs, or many of the other Web 2.0 tools available to them.  As students prepare to enter the workforce in which collective intelligence dominantes, it is the responsibility of all educators to create a classroom where knowledge is acquired not by a learner memorizing facts and data, but by a collective group working towards a common purpose. 
11. LearningWorlds
@get ideas From Entertainment to Education However, as is so often the case with technologies that take that journey from other contexts into education, the translation is not a simplistic one. In the case of transmedia, it is critical that we modify and redefine the concept in certain ways so that it can contribute as effectively as possible to students’ learning.
@getideas.org In 1883, the advent of distance education (or correspondence learning) introduced a new platform for learning using the medium of mail. By 1910, new technologies such as motion pictures and radio expanded platform choices. In 1924, Sidney Pressey introduced “automated education” that claimed clear educational benefits for learners interacting with machines. Machines, some believed, were beginning to make a shift from a previously passive learning experience for some to an active one, at least in the sense that it enabled a more individualized instruction.
@simonpulman Having already speculated at how a “Transmedia classroom” might operate, I’d like to turn to the issue of motivating change…
@larfleming @getideas 21st-Century Learners: Square Pegs in Round Holes Students today are too often a square 21st-century peg in a round 19th-century hole. Young children bring a natural digital proficiency to school that doesn’t mesh well with the traditional schooling model …
@getideas In education, one (the traditionalist) is afraid of what innovation will do to its examination results (even if the innovation might improve on them) while the others (the innovators) could often spend a bit more time fathoming out the real educational advantages of their latest adventure, beyond the vague “21st-century skills agenda.”
@getideas @ Immersive Transmedia Stories in the Cloud In the Cloud, children perceive a direct, one-to-one connection between themselves and the world they live in. The growing range of devices, platforms, and applications that exist in the Cloud offer possibilities for building narratives that are complex, real and educative in the widest sense. With the capacity to access what is in the Cloud using any device, anywhere, any time, and as the devices themselves become ever more mobile and user friendly, then all of us, not just children, will be able to create, access, and participate in increasingly immersive transmedia stories.
Jeff Gomez speaks @getideas

TRANSMEDIA NEWS 

Here's a surprise: Canada is awash in production dollars for transmedia. In the third and final instalment of our series on cross-platform production, Playback tells producers where the treasure is buried, and how to raise it from funders.
Transmedia Immersive University (TIU) is the first event transverse, multidisciplinary and educational scope, proposed in France about interactive fiction and scripts transmedia.
MIPBlog: What is TIU? Jérémy Pouilloux: Transmedia Immersive University is a project that is taking transmedia to France’s universities; an initiative I launched last year. The aim behind TIU is to encourage students to write transmedia material by supervising the production of their projects and then broadcasting these projects as part of a public event. This approach is supported by the expertise of more than 20 transmedia specialists working in France, including the producers of FDP, Fanfan2, Addicts, Detective Avenue, and Les Geeks, and brings together the leading transmedia figures from the various national broadcasters
Transmedia and the Micro-Economy First:  As social media goes beyond mere blogging and photo/video/music posts—‘Transmedia’ is swiftly moving to become a platform to integrate an "experience” into the marketing schema.
Transmedia Storytelling Around the World: Karine Halpern Transmedia Storytelling Around the World: Karine Halpern Interview with digital and cultural communications consultant Karine Halpern about Transmedia Storytelling , especially in France, and the question “Why Transmedia?”-
Tweet Marketers have always used stories to share information, change opinions and influence decisions. Now, as people create, consume and share brand stories in new ways, marketers need to go ...
TRANSMEDIA GAMING
Seth Priebatsch: Building the game layer on top of the world - There is no doubt that the brain has certain triggers that can be targeted by marketers and storytellers.  The concept of achievements (see, Xbox 360) and badges (Foursquare) rewards participants with a clear “action-and-reward” process.  In the future, it is inevitable that we will see virtual rewards for successfully participating or absorbing the various platforms of a Transmedia story.  At TEDxBoston, Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the "game layer," a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce.
@tstoryteller interesting example This video highlights the power to engage students through transmedia storytelling. For three weeks in Feb 2012, 600 students across Florida worked in teams of five to role-play c-level executives of a space cargo company.
Applied to the discipline of history, this blog on  using augmented reality’s immersive interface possesses the potential to improve student learning and influence the overhaul of the process of schooling. When one of their rockets crashes into a local town causing environmental damage, the students much decide how their company should respond.
Research has suggested the potential for using augmented reality (AR) games- location-based games that use wireless handheld devices to provide virtual game information in a physical environment-as educational tools. This paper discuss the MIT designed "Reliving the Revolution," which serves as a model for using AR games to teach historic inquiry, decision-making, and critical thinking skills.
ARIS is a user-friendly, open-source platform for creating and playing mobile games, tours and interactive stories. Using GPS and QR Codes, ARIS players experience a hybrid world of virtual interactive characters, items, and media placed in physical space.
@larfleming @edutopia Library media specialist Laura Fleming showcases Inanimate Alice, a new transmedia story with numerous free educational resources.
Inanimate Alice is 9 years old. Welcome to the world of Inanimate Alice, a truly digital novel that has taken the educational world by storm. The idea for Alice first came about in 2003 and the first episode was published in 2005. The story is told by Alice through 10 episodes, and thousands of teachers across the world use Inanimate Alice in their lessons and because of its multimodality across all aspects of the curriculum.

CONTENT AGGREGATORS FOR TRANSMEDIA LEARNING

Tracking Transmedia, Crossmedia, interactive & digital storytelling
Resources, design practices, innovative ideas using cross-media/transmedia methods in children's publishing and digital literacy as social action
A highly resourceful Wiki that serves as a simple place to collect and access      resources related to transmedia projects and concepts.
      This @TransmediaLA Wiki is a place with people share transmedia resources          
      with each other, as well as other resources including game publishing, social 
      media, technology, and writing. [licensed for non-commercial use only] - 
      Twitter: @transmediala