Interactive Digital Storytelling Research Articles

Adapting the DIST-M Model for Designing Experimental Activities—A Theoretical Discussion from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

This study focuses on interdisciplinary approaches within mathematics and physics education. Secondary schools, particularly those specialized in scientific curricula, have opportunities to explore common topics between mathematics and physics; however, creating a coherent interdisciplinary educational experience is challenging. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective when designing learning sequences becomes imperative. The proposed approach harnesses the power of storytelling to engage students, emphasizing the interconnectedness of subjects and humanizing the evolution of scientific ideas. This study investigates the adaptation of the Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics (DIST-M) model for interdisciplinary storytelling learning sequences. It aims to explore how this model, initially developed for mathematics activities in a virtual environment, can be enriched with elements from inquiry-based learning models to integrate the experimental aspects of physics. The research presents a theoretical discussion grounded in the design of a learning sequence centered around the study of light, taking place in a non-virtual environment and approached from an interdisciplinary standpoint. It introduces hypotheses for adapting the DIST-M model to accommodate interdisciplinary storytelling sequences. One involves the incorporation of an additional phase within the DIST-M cycle, dedicated to consolidating, transferring to other contexts, and addressing variations in the concepts explored, proved, and refined in earlier phases.

Advanced interactive digital storytelling in digital heritage applications

Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) is a way of communicating information in the metaverse (Barbara and Haahr, 2022). In this paper we introduce the Advanced Interactive Digital Storytelling methodology (A-IDS), as a combination of IDS with gameplay elements. We show that applications created using this methodology offer unique immersive experiences of historical objects and events to museum visitors and online. In this paper, we describe it on a use case of the Trebinje Fortresses VR project. Austrian-Hungarian Fortresses around Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, are in decay, hardly accessible, and completely neglected. They can be explored in Virtual Reality through an application that combines Interactive Digital Storytelling narrated by officers who used to inhabit them with gameplays where the users become carrier pigeons in the first mission and get a task to accomplish in a fortress underground, in the second. If successful, they get the opportunity to explore digitized museum exhibits found in the fortress. The application is installed in the Trebinje Museum. The quality of user experience will be proven through an evaluation study.

Conversational agent in HCI a review

Nowadays, AI technology is developing rapidly and slowly covering all areas of life. AI facilitates different parts of our lives and provides us with a lot of help. For example, in learning, students can acquire knowledge more conveniently through AI, and buyers can find suitable goods more conveniently through AI when shopping. At the same time, more and more technology is used in the field of voice agents, which allows humans to enjoy a lot of better services. In this article, we will study to better understand "how to understand human natural language and how the repository of knowledge is built." In the article we build with examples and deep learning models (CNN and RNN) through databases. Through repeated research and analysis, we can find that there are some limitations in this paper, such as the single learning model and the insufficient elaboration of data analysis and signal system technology. But at the same time, we also found a lot of future application prospects that voice agents can develop, it can be applied in many fields, such as finance, medical care, education and so on. For example, in children's education, parents can use voice agents to set time limits and monitor their children's progress. Existing digital interactive storytelling systems have limitations in terms of available storybooks and hand-crafted issues. Voice agents are becoming more popular in everyday scenarios, and more users are adopting devices like Siri and Google Assistant. In the future, conversational agents are expected to play an important role in oral communication with users.

Storytelling as a Skeleton to Design a Learning Unit: A Model for Teaching and Learning Optics

Instructional design is an essential part of teaching practice: both researchers and teachers are engaged in finding strategies to deal with this complex work. We propose the use of storytelling as a skeleton to structure a long-lasting teaching unit, maintaining coherence and giving meaning to its various elements. We refer to an interpretation of storytelling for educational purposes as a role-playing game, drawing inspiration from the Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics framework. Designing a learning unit based on storytelling means integrating every moment of the teaching–learning process within the narrative: the teacher and students are all part of the same story, which motivates every activity carried out in the unit and contextualizes the tasks performed. Moreover, the assessment is also integrated into the narrative flow. In this study, we designed an exemplary Storytelling Learning Unit (SLU) model for the study of light, promoting modelling and argumentation skills in mathematics and physics. This unit, intended for ninth-grade students in an Italian scientific high school, was co-designed by the teacher of the class in which it will be implemented. This work particularly focuses on the design process. From reflection on the specific unit developed, general design principles for creating a SLU were hypothesized.

Exploring News Innovations, Journalistic Routines, and Role Perceptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Egyptian Journalists

ABSTRACT Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 Egyptian journalists, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has reconfigured news work and journalistic routines in Egyptian newsrooms. In so doing, the paper examines the various technical and logistical challenges encountered by Egyptian journalists as well as their changing role perceptions during the emergency health crisis. It further investigates the innovative practices adopted by newsrooms, on both the news content and newsroom levels, to overcome those challenges in terms of sourcing norms, news production routines, and storytelling formats. Findings demonstrate that Egyptian journalists struggled at the beginning of the pandemic, but started to find creative solutions to overcome the many practical and infrastructural challenges. The pandemic accelerated the digitization of editorial news production systems and the unprecedented adoption of news automation and artificial intelligence technologies. More dependence on interactive digital storytelling formats and data visualization tools was reported. Journalistic innovation occurred therefore as recombination of already existing products or services, but not new inventions. In terms of role perception, there was a shift to a more facilitative role, in which science and more quantitatively oriented forms of journalism play a central role.

A comic based interactive digital intervention to enhance facilitation skills of nurse mentors in public facilities – results of a pilot intervention in Bihar, India

ABSTRACT Background Various trainings are designed to educate nurses to become simulation educators. However, there are no good strategies to sustain their learnings and keep them engaged. We developed a series of 10 interactive digital storytelling comic episodes ‘ The Adventures of Super Divya (SD)’ to strengthen simulation educator’s facilitation knowledge, skills, confidence, and engagement. This endline evaluation presents results on the change in knowledge after watching the episodes and retention of that knowledge over 10 months. Objectives The objectives of this pilot study are to: 1) assess the change in knowledge between the baseline and post-episode surveys; and 2) understand the retention of knowledge between the post-episode and the endline survey. Methods A human-centred design was used to create the episodes grounded in the lived experience of nurse simulation educators. The heroine of the comic is Divya, a ‘Super Facilitator’ and her nemesis is Professor Agni who wants to derail simulation as an educational strategy inside obstetric facilities. Professor Agni’s schemes represent real-life challenges; and SD uses effective facilitation and communication to overcome them. The episodes were shared with a group of nurse mentors (NM) and nurse mentor supervisors (NMS) who were trained to be champion simulation educators in their own facilities. To assess change in knowledge, we conducted a baseline, nine post-episode surveys and an endline survey between May 2021 and February 2022. Results A total 110 NM and 50 NMS watched all 10 episodes and completed all of the surveys. On average, knowledge scores increased by 7–9 percentage points after watching the episodes. Comparison of survey responses obtained between 1 and 10 months suggest that the gain in knowledge was largely retained over time. Conclusions Findings suggest that this interactive comic series was successful in a resource limited setting at engaging simulation educators and helped to maintain their facilitation knowledge over time.

History education done different: A collaborative interactive digital storytelling approach for remote learners

Social interaction has been recognized as positively affecting learning, with dialogue–as a common form of social interaction–comprising an integral part of collaborative learning. Interactive storytelling is defined as a branching narrative in which users can experience different story lines with alternative endings, depending on the choices they make at various decision points of the story plot. In this research, we aim to harness the power of dialogic practices by incorporating dialogic activities in the decision points of interactive digital storytelling experiences set in a history education context. Our objective is to explore interactive storytelling as a collaborative learning experience for remote learners, as well as its effect on promoting historical empathy. As a preliminary validation of this concept, we recorded the perspective of 14 educators, who supported the value of the specific conceptual design. Then, we recruited 15 adolescents who participated in our main study in 6 groups. They were called to experience collaboratively an interactive storytelling experience set in the Athens Ancient Agora (Market) wherein we used the story decision/branching points as incentives for dialogue. Our results suggest that this experience design can indeed support small groups of remote users, in-line with special circumstances like those of the COVID-19 pandemic, and confirm the efficacy of the approach to establish engagement and promote affect and reflection on historical content. Our contribution thus lies in proposing and validating the application of interactive digital storytelling as a dialogue-based collaborative learning experience for the education of history.

An Interdisciplinary Design of an Interactive Cultural Heritage Visit for In-Situ, Mixed Reality and Affective Experiences

Interactive technologies, such as mixed-reality and natural interactions with avatars, can enhance cultural heritage and the experience of visiting a museum. In this paper, we present the design rationale of an interactive experience for a cultural heritage place in the church of Roncesvalles at the beginning of Camino de Santiago. We followed a participatory design with a multidisciplinary team which resulted in the design of a spatial augmented reality system that employs 3D projection mapping and a conversational agent acting as the storyteller. Multiple features were identified as desirable for an interactive experience: interdisciplinary design team; in-situ; mixed reality; interactive digital storytelling; avatar; tangible objects; gestures; emotions and groups. The findings from a workshop are presented for guiding other interactive cultural heritage experiences.

Dialogical interactions mediated by technology in mathematics education

This paper discusses the results of a research[1] that integrates Digital Interactive Storytelling (DIST), competence-oriented mathematical activities, and argumentation called DIST-M. The general aim is to support a reflective knowledge of mathematical concepts by implementing a digital educational device based on collaborative and dialogical activities proposed by researchers. Within a dialogical dimension of interactions (Bakhtin, 1981), argumentative practice is considered a social activity, where the acquisition and elaboration of new knowledge take place within a social space with multiple interlocutors in a dynamic process. The participants are engaged in constructing and negotiating mathematical meanings within a specific context. This dialogical approach to argumentation tends to create an authentic argumentative culture that is a system of implicit and explicit rules where the exchanges and interactions among participants require a joint elaboration of new meanings, within a given mathematical context, through a dialogical exchange. Learning and development result from a dialogical negotiation process during which new knowledge is developed and those already possessed are re-organized and systematized (Bakhtin, 1981; Vygotskij, 1978). In the current pandemic circumstances, technologies are the main tools to uphold the educational processes. Despite the fact that the DIST-M was implemented and tested before the Covid-19 era, its epistemic bases of dialogism mediated by technology could significantly keep alive the dialogic interaction in educational settings that have been heavily affected by the social distancing and promote mathematical thinking. The articles focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal n. 4,” Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
 
 [1] The research is funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research under the National Project “Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics: a competence-based social approach”, PRIN 2015, Prot. 20155NPRA5.

Synthesis of Problem-Based Interactive Digital Storytelling Learning Model Under Gamification Environment Promotes Students’ Problem-Solving Skills

The aims of this study were to synthesize and evaluate the efficiency of problem-based interactive digital storytelling learning model under gamifi-cation environment for promoting students’ problem-solving skills. This study was divided into two phases, (i)develop learning model by studying research and related documents and (ii) assessing the appropriateness of the model by nine experts in computer and education using a focus group method. In this current study, show the learning model consisted of three main components: preparation, learning activities, and evaluation and there were four parts of the learning activities, which are: problem-based learning, reflection of learning, interactive digital storytelling, and gamification envi-ronment. The results show that the overall suitability assessment of the de-veloped learning model was averaged at 4.56 (S.D.= 0.60), being at the most appropriate level. These results lead to a conclusion that the developed problem-based interactive digital storytelling learning model under gamifi-cation environment can significantly promotes students’ problem-solving skills. This learning model is suitable and can be applied to develop desired learners' achievements and skills.

Super Divya, an Interactive Digital Storytelling Instructional Comic Series to Sustain Facilitation Skills of Labor and Delivery Nurse Mentors in Bihar, India-A Pilot Study.

To improve the quality of intrapartum care in public health facilities of Bihar, India, a statewide quality improvement program was implemented. Nurses participated in simulation sessions to improve their clinical, teamwork, and communication skills. Nurse mentors, tasked with facilitating these sessions, received training in best practices. To support the mentors in the on-going facilitation of these trainings, we developed a digital, interactive, comic series starring “Super Divya”, a simulation facilitation superhero. The objective of these modules was to reinforce key concepts of simulation facilitation in a less formal and more engaging way than traditional didactic lessons. This virtual platform offers the flexibility to watch modules frequently and at preferred times. This pilot study involved 205 simulation educators who were sent one module at a time. Shortly before sending the first module, nurses completed a baseline knowledge survey, followed by brief surveys after each module to assess change in knowledge. Significant improvements in knowledge were observed across individual scores from baseline to post-survey. A majority found Super Divya modules to be acceptable and feasible to use as a learning tool. However, a few abstract concepts in the modules were not well-understood, suggesting that more needs to be done to communicate their core meaning of these concepts.

Interaction in eXtended Reality Applications for Cultural Heritage

Digital technologies in the modern era are almost mandatory for the presentation of all types of cultural heritage. Virtual depictions of crafts and traditions offer the users the possibility of time travel, taking them to the past through the use of 3D reconstructions of cultural monuments and sites. However, digital resources alone are not enough to adequately present cultural heritage. Additional information on the historical context in the form of stories, virtual reconstructions, and digitized objects is needed. All of this can be implemented using a digital multimedia presentation technique called digital storytelling. Nowadays, an integral part of many museum exhibitions is interactive digital storytelling. This paper gives an overview of the techniques and discusses different means of facilitating interaction on digital storytelling applications for virtual cultural heritage presentations. We describe the ways in which natural interaction and interaction via eXtended Reality (Virtual and Augmented Reality) applications for cultural heritage are made possible. Users will find the stories told through these applications educational and entertaining at the same time. Through user-experience studies, we measure the user edutainment level and present how users react to implemented interactions.

An Online Collaborative Approach for Fostering Argumentative Thinking in Mathematics

Many literature studies point out how the process that moves the student from personal reasoning to the arrangement of fruitful argument could help her in the development of mathematical argumentative thinking. Starting from the above assumptions, in this paper we investigate the interaction among teacher/researcher and students in a Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics (DIST-M) environment. The students, by interacting with their peers through the e-learning environment, explain their own reasoning and conjectures concerning the solution of an algebraic modelling problem. A qualitative analysis, starting from an experimentation with high school students, show how tools and participants (acting as mediators in the interaction with the DIST-M environment) contribute to improving the students critical mathematical thinking and to developing argumentative mathematical competence.

The Role of Teacher in DIST-M Activities

In this paper we analyse the role of the teacher in a Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics (DIST-M) activity. Involved in the story as a character (the Guru, a math expert), the teacher acts as a mediator in students’ problem-solving process. We analyse how the teacher may orchestrate the mathematical discussions to allow students achieve the foreseen educational objectives. We also investigate how to exploit technology to support this activity and increase the reach of her educational interventions by means of an ‘augmented reality dashboard’ arising from the collection of data from all students’ social interactions.

DEVELOPING A CO-DESIGN PROCESS MODEL FOR THE DIGITAL PRESENTATION OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE: A CASE STUDY OF “WARM INHERITORS DIGITAL DIABOLO”

Abstract. As digital technologies are becoming gradually integrated into museums and the preservation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), museums and the exhibitions of ICH are becoming more attractive and flexible. However, digital technologies may also bring some problems, such as cultural alienation. The participation of the inheritors and communities of ICH in the design of digital exhibitions could reduce such problems. The main contribution of this paper is a co-design process model for digital exhibitions of ICH. The study was conducted by the project, “Warm Inheritors Digital Diabolo”, which aimed to enhance the digital experience of diabolo by using virtual reality technology to implement interactive digital storytelling techniques. This project involved both designers and inheritors to realize the principle of respectful design. The results demonstrated the crucial role of inheritors and communities in the design process. This paper also offers some design recommendations.

Emergent Narratives in Remote Learning Experiences for Project Based Education

The University of Naples Federico II (Italy) offers a nine-month formative training program aimed at software development for the Apple technology ecosystem to ~400 learners per year and utilises the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) methodology as a framework for learning. As a collaborative and self-guided, inquiry-based learning method, it focuses on learners’ intrinsic motivation while working on real world problems organised in projects (Challenges in CBL) with an experiential and progressive approach to apply acquired knowledge in real world scenarios, ideate solution concepts and build innovative digital products. To overcome limitations of spiral curriculum or elaboration theory, the authors applied narrative theory to design the program’s educational experience for the academic year 2019/2020 as a cohesive journey within a communal learning environment with a coherent and connected structure of narratively driven learning Challenges. The authors present concepts to develop their approach further towards an emergent narrative experience design system to manage the educational journey as it develops, rather than scripting it. This paper evolves the authors’ Narrative Experience Design Canvas to model educational experience design that encourages unscripted, emergent narratives for experiential education with the goal of fostering learners’ engagement, agency and creativity. Derived in part by models developed for digital interactive storytelling or educational video games, it categorises the components for designing an educational experience that allows the learning progression to be driven by learners as co-authors and describes mechanisms that allow unscripted narratives to emerge based on intrinsic motivation. Additionally, the authors present considerations for synchronous and asynchronous learning to evolve their framework for application in blended or remote learning scenarios. Drawing upon findings for remote learning and experiential e-learning - ee-learning - presented by scholars as well as implications identified during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting switch to remote learning within the program at University of Naples Federico II in 2020, it is shown how combining narrative elements with experiential e-learning principles can result in increased engagement, motivation and sense of community in learners. Using the example of an individual learning unit - a Challenge - considerations from overall course design down to day-to-day learning activities within the course are presented. For the future, the authors indicate action points to develop this model into an Emergent Narrative System for designing narratively driven and experiential software development education programs and indicate areas of further research on learning activity design for blended or remote learning experiences.

Time Travel to the Past of Bosnia and Herzegovina through Virtual and Augmented Reality

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) has a very picturesque past. Founded in 11th century, it has always been a crossroads of faiths and civilizations. Extended Reality (XR) technologies can finally take us to time travel into this history, enable us to experience past events and meet historical characters. In this paper, we overview the latest applications we developed that use Virtual Reality (VR) video, Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR) for interactive digital storytelling about BH history. “Nine dissidents” is the first BH VR documentary, tackling a still tricky subject of dissidents in the Socialist Yugoslavia, artists and writers falsely accused, persecuted and still forbidden. “Virtual Museum of Old Crafts” aims to present and preserve crafts intangible heritage through Virtual Reality. “Battle on Neretva VR” is recreating a famous WWII battle offering the users to experience it and meet comrade Tito, the commander of the Yugoslav Liberation Army. “Sarajevo 5D” shows the cultural monuments from Sarajevo that do not exist anymore in physical form using Augmented Reality. Through user experience studies, we measure the user immersion and edutainment of these applications and show the potential of XR for the presentation and preservation of cultural heritage.

Storytelling for the foreign language classroom

AbstractAt a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can be modified to support their students in online or digital learning, existing teaching and assessment materials developed through European grant‐funded projects can provide valuable and ready‐to‐use resources. This paper reports on the published and forthcoming teaching materials developed by the FanTALES group for teaching multilingual interactive digital storytelling to low‐to‐high intermediate level learners, more specifically, the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment.

Improving Accessibility to Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation Using Virtual Reality

Presentations of virtual cultural heritage artifacts are often communicated via the medium of interactive digital storytelling. The synergy of a storied narrative embedded within a 3D virtual reconstruction context has high consumer appeal and edutainment value. We investigate if 360° videos presented through virtual reality further contribute to user immersion for the application of preserving intangible cultural heritage. A case study then analyzes whether conventional desktop media is significantly different from virtual reality as a medium for immersion in intangible heritage contexts. The case study describes bridge diving at Stari Most, the old bridge in Mostar Bosnia. This application aims to present and preserve the bridge diving tradition at this site. The project describes the site and history along with cultural connections, and a series of quiz questions are presented after viewing all of the materials. Successful completion of the quiz allows a user to participate in a virtual bridge dive. The subjective evaluation provided evidence to suggest that our method is successful in preserving intangible heritage and communicating ideas in key areas of concern for this heritage that can be used to develop a preservation framework in the future. It was also possible to conclude that experience within the virtual reality framework did not affect effort expectancy for the web application, but the same experience significantly influenced the performance expectancy construct.

Narrative Techno-enhancement: The Impact of The Digital Visual Effects (DVFx) in Creative Narrative Performance

Globalization of technology primarily in the field of film, media and communication studies has also impacted the creativity in visual presentation and storytelling. The occurrence of technological changes that involve creative work will undoubtedly lead to a new assessment of creativity. Hence, technology and creativity are likely to represent a new creative possibility and measurement in the field of film production. Digital Visual Effects (DVFx) provides new kind of creativity based on technology to the creative visual presentation and creative narrative enhancement. We have learned that story and narratives are the priorities that need to be secure in a movie; however, the spectacular element produced by using DVFx show the progress and development of technology used in the film production process, especially to the creative narrative. Hence the question that needs to address is; how these elements of technology integrated with the story and narrative filmmaking? Generally, this article will focus on the role and impact of DVFx as narrative techno-enhancement in the storytelling, and narrative presentation compared the technical visual presentation aspect. Precisely, this article analyses the impact on DVFx among professionals in Malaysia, India, and Australia’s film industries to enhance creative narrative performance. Narrative interstate relies on our understanding of the use of technology to create and convey stories. Presentation of stories also means communicating and transferring the meaning to the audiences. In addition to functioning as narrative techno-enhancement, DVFx opens the exploration of value in creative storytelling such as digital narrative and digital interactive storytelling for the audience in the 21st century. Keywords: Digital Visual Effects, Narrative, Digital Storytelling, Interactive, movies.