Reading as a transmedia experience: A case study in a school in Médio Tejo

Abstract

The expansion of technology has strongly changed the way we interact with others and the world around us. Education is not unaware of this new paradigm and must find new ways of teaching appropriate a context in which mobile devices and social networks are part of the daily lives of our students and can therefore contribute to changing the educational paradigm we live in today. Technology can make a significant contribution to increase students' motivation by making them more confident and critical, for example by creating experiences in immersive learning environments, such as Transmedia Storytelling. The use of these environments can contribute to the creation of new strategies to promote reading at school, as exemplified by the study presented in this article. In order to verify the impact that a transmedia path can have on students' motivation, in reading, and in the improvement of pedagogical practices, a case study was carried out in a middle and secondary school in the Médio Tejo region, where Transmedia Storytelling potentialities were explored while applied in the classroom environment, in the Portuguese subject, in 7th grade classes. 39 students participated in this study. The story that was worked on was “Alice in Wonderland”, recommended by the National Reading Plan. At the end of the study, the students and teachers were highly motivated and recognized that the pedagogical pathways used by Transmedia Storytelling can contribute significantly to the students' motivation, autonomy and improve their learning capabilities.