LI TE RACY

New Tools for Interactive Fiction and

Engaged Writing
A P RI L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

ByMatthewFarber,Ed.D.,SocialStudiesTeacher,DoctorofEducationalTechnologyLeadership,Author,Adjunct

www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?)

ItwasatypicalTuesdayinmyseventhgradesocialstudiesclass.Only,it
wasn't.Icouldn'tcoaxstudentstostopwriting.Imadeseveralannouncementsto
saveandexportworktoGoogleDriveandtoputawaycomputers.Students
continuedtoporethroughthebooksandonlinesourcestolearnmoredetails
aboutmajorbattlesintheAmericanRevolution.Theclassbelldidnotseemto
fazeanyone.

Photocredit:BradFlickinger
Studentswereusinginteractivefictiontools
viaflickr(CCBY2.0)
(http://www.edutopia.org/blog/interactivefictionintheclassroommatthewfarber)
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/6659994021)

toreimagineAmericanRevolutionbattlesastextbasedadventures,writtenfrom
thesecondpersonperspective.Interactivefictionisessentiallyacomputerbased
versionofChooseYourOwnAdventure(http://www.cyoa.com/)books,inwhichthereaderhasagencyregarding
astory'smultiple,threadedoutcome.

WritingasaDesignChallenge
Ipresentedtheprojectasadesignchallengetostudents.Ratherthanhavingthemsimplyretellevents,I
encouragedthemtoblendinconspiracytheoriestocreateoriginalhistoricalfictionstories.Thatideacamefrom
mystudents.Theweekprior,foranotherproject,threestudentsaskediftheycouldwriteaColonialera
newspaperblamingmembersoftheIlluminati(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati)forcausingtheBoston
Massacre.Studentchoiceisoneofthe8ElementsofProjectBasedLearning
(http://bie.org/object/document/pbl_essential_elements_checklist),soofcourseIsaidyes!
TheIlluminatiasshadowconspiracyseemedtheperfectnarrativeshellforthisprojectbasedlearningunit.Were
theMinutemenortheRedcoatsresponsiblethe"shotheard'roundtheworld"?Orwasitsomeoneorsomething
else?IalsosharedaletteravailableontheLibraryofCongresswebsite,writtenbyGeorgeWashingtonand
warninghisfriendabouttheDoctrinesoftheIlluminati(http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?
ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw360395))).Uponseeingit,severalstudentsexclaimed,"Illuminati
confirmed!"

CodingStoriesWithTwine

MoststudentsusedTwine(http://twinery.org/)fortheirstories.AfewusedinkleWriter
(http://www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter/education/),anotherfreeapp.Twinehasbeenaroundforafewofyears,
originallycreatedbyChrisKlimas,withwhomIspokeinaNationalWritingProjectwebinar
(http://educatorinnovator.org/webinars/gamedesignacrossthecurriculuminteractivefictioningpart2/)thatI
organizedlastyear.Twineisopensourceandcompletelyfree.Weusedthelatestversion,Twine2.0
(http://twinery.org/2/#welcome),whichworksdirectlyinacomputer'sbrowser.
Ishowedstudentsthebasicsonourinteractivewhiteboard,andthenIshowedthemthelinktotheTwineGuide
wiki(http://twinery.org/wiki/twine2:guide).Each"page"ismappedonacanvas,likeaconceptmap
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map).TowriteinTwine,firstdoubleclickonaboxandthenenterintext.
Tocreateabranchfromthatbox,putchoicesintwobrackets(eachside)toturnthatpartofthetextintoalink:

Whenthestory"plays"(there'saplaybuttonatthebottomrightonthepage),thetextinthedoublebrackets
becomesblue,likeahyperlinkonawebpage.Clicking"stairs"or"adoor"jumpstoanotherthreadinthestory.
Studentswereapplyinglogicstatementstoauthortheirnonlinearstorylines.
Next,Iscaffolded(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_scaffolding)moreinstructions,buildingonwhat
studentshadmastered.IpointedouthowtheTwineGuideshowedawaytoembedinimages,aswellassounds
andmusic.Beyondwriting,studentswerenowapplyingremixprinciples
(https://elearning.psu.edu/drupal6/content/aed511/file/remix_article.pdf)(PDF)andbecomingmoredigitally
literate.Toembedanimage,theyusedGoogleSearchtofindanimageandcopythelink.Then,followingthe
TwineGuide,theycopiedandpastethatlinkintoasinglelineofHTMLcode.Thiscodegoesjustafterthetext
theywroteinabox.

Likeworkingwithothereducationaltechnologytools,thiswasn'taprojectabouthowtouseTwinerather,itwas
aninteractivewritingprojectsupportedwithauthoringtools.Thelearninggoalwasforstudentstohaveadeeper
experiencewithcurriculumcontent.Twinedoesinvolveasmallbitofsimpledebuggingtoensurethatthesyntax
ofHTMLcodeisproperlyspelled.Studentsneededtounderstandcodingtoaddrichnessandtexturetotheir
storiesusingloops,images,andsoundeffects.
TwinefilescanbesharedfromaDropbox(https://www.dropbox.com/)accountorfromafreehostingwebsite,
likephilome.la(http://www.philome.la/).IeventuallyembeddedallofthestoriesontoasharedGoogleDoc
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zi_S30rUGxIpCIkILncwRadxqLCSRLJAxkonbcPIY/edit)sothat
everyonecouldplay.

DecisionsandDilemmas
Duringtheproject,studentsbegantoaskmedeepquestionslike,"Canthereaderchangehistoricaloutcomes?"I
referencedothergamesthatuseddecisiontreesasamechanic,suchasTelltale'sMinecraft:StoryMode
(https://www.telltalegames.com/minecraftstorymode/),Bethesda'sblockbusterFallout4
(https://www.fallout4.com/agegate),andthebrilliant,emotionalLifeIsStrange
(http://www.lifeisstrange.com/agegate.php).Eachgamepresentsplayerswithchoicesthatservetodrivethe

narrative.Sometimes,however,playersarepresentedwithdilemmas,whichwouldhavelonglasting
consequences.Forexample,inTelltale'sTheWalkingDead
(https://www.telltalegames.com/walkingdead/season1/),playersareaskedtochoosebetweenwhichcharacters
tosave.
Ichallengedmystudentstopresentreaderswithseveraldifficultchoices.Manyauthoredtalesthatputreadersin
thepositionofdecidingtosacrificehimorherselfbysavingafellowsoldier.Oneteamofgirlswroteadetailed
storyaboutayoungsoldiersweptintothebattleatSaratoga(http://www.philome.la/MatthewFarber/saratoga
soldier/play).Thedifficultyoftheplayer'schoicesgrewasthestoryunfolded.
Historicalempathywasanoverarchingthemeinstudentwork.OneteamwroteataleaboutPaulReveresride
(http://www.philome.la/MatthewFarber/themidnightride/play).Interestingly,theplayerisnevertoldwhoheor
sheisuntilthegame'sconclusion.OnlythesamedecisionsthatReveremadein1775willresultinthewinning
outcome.(DownloadthefilefromDropbox.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3m38rfiwsijevk/Ananya%20%26%20Olivia%20(final%203).html?dl=0))
AnotherdetailedstorywasaValleyForgesimulation(http://www.philome.la/MatthewFarber/valleyforge
winter/play).Whileintheencampment,theplayermeetsMarquisdeLafayette,fromFrance,andBaronvon
Steuben,fromPrussia.TheplayeristhenpresentedwithchoicestranslatedintoFrenchandGerman,forwhich
theauthorusedGoogleTranslate(https://translate.google.com/).AsIplayedherstory,Irealizedhowconfused
thesesoldierswerenotonlyweretheyyoungandfarfromhome,buttheyalsohadtotakeordersinforeign
languages!(DownloadherfilefromDropbox.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xg5q6qpi18osvy/Illuminati%20Project%20A.S..html?dl=0))
(http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopiafarbertoolsinteractivefictionwritingstoryontwine.png)
(http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopiafarbertoolsinteractivefictionwritingstoryontwine.png)
Whentheprojectconcluded,manystudentsremarked,"Thiswasactuallyfun"acommentthatI'mnotusedto
hearingwhenitcomestowritingassignments.Intheend,onlysomeofthestudentsusedtheIlluminatihook.
ManyoptedtowriteoriginalstoriessetduringtheAmericanRevolution.
Interactivefictiontoolsenabledmystudentstoengagedeeplywithcontentinameaningfulmanner.What'smore,
theytookprideintheirfinishedwork.Whattopicsinyourteachingcouldyouenvisionstudentstellingwith
interactivefictiontools?Pleaseshareinthecommentsbelow.

Source:www.edutopia.org/blog/newtoolsinteractivefictionengagedwritingmatthewfarber
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