Designing Narratively Driven Learning Activities for Blended Learning Experiences

Abstract

University of Naples Federico II (Italy) conducts a formative software development training program for the Apple technology ecosystem using the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) methodology. To overcome shortcomings of spiral curriculum principles, the course design adopts a Narrative Experience Design approach to let the learning progression be driven by learners as co-authors and support unscripted, emergent narratives for experiential education to foster learners' engagement, agency, and creativity. In consideration for synchronous and asynchronous learning modalities, the authors developed a systematic approach for narratively driven learning activity design for application in blended or remote learning scenarios. In this paper, the authors present their activity design process to compose learning activities with narratively sequenced atomic elements to address different learning dimensions. Through a collaboration tool-based Learning Activity Design Canvas for blended or remote learning, the authors further contribute towards a comprehensive framework for designing educational experiences for project-based education.