Rethinking Literacy Through
Transmedia Storytelling
Katy Lumkin
Inspire Innovate 2013 Cathie Howe

Who are we?
Katy Lumkin
Head Teacher eLearning National Partnerships
Liverpool Girls High School
www.liverpool-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
Cathie Howe
Professional Learning & Leadership Coordinator
Manager Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre
www.macict.edu.au

Edmodo
www.edmodo.com
Edmodo Code: 8vtua7
Please log in and join this Edmodo Group using
the code.

Meaningful Learning
…increases engagement
J. Hedberg

What is Transmedia Storytelling?
Transmedia enhances a central story idea with a
variety of components that provide additional
information.
H. Pence (2012)
At basic level, transmedia
stories are told across
multiple media platforms.
H. Jenkins (2006)

Unique Elements of Transmedia
1. Internet has both enabled and expanded the possibility for
audience participation
2. Audience expect to play a meaningful role
3. Transmedia stories provide opportunities for audience to
contribute and participate
4. Story unfolds across multiple media platforms with each
media making its own contribution to the unfolding of the
story

Why Transmedia Storytelling?
• Many are now actively involved in a participatory culture where
there are relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic
engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s
creations, and some type of informal mentorship (H. Jenkins 2006)
• Audiences no longer passive consumers (E.Spaulding 2012)
• Smart environments and participatory
audiences have blurred the relationship
between creators and audiences (Jenkins
2006)
• Audiences now co-producers and
involved interpreters of the storyworld
(Shirley 2011)

Melbourne Declaration
on Educational Goals for Young Australians
“All young Australians become successful
learners, confident and creative
individuals, and active and informed
citizens.
Successful learners have the essential skills
in literacy and numeracy and are creative
and productive users of technology,
especially ICT, as a foundation for success
in all learning areas.”

Transmedia & the BOS Syllabus
for the New Australian Curriculum: English
Respond to and compose texts
 compose imaginative and informative texts that show evidence of developed ideas
 present a point of view about particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage, and
reflecting on the viewpoints of others (ACELT1609)
 create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected
authors (ACELT1798)
 experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts,
for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice (ACELT1800)
 compose increasingly complex print, visual, multimodal and digital texts, experimenting with
language, design, layout and graphics
 use a range of software, including word processing programs, learning new functions as required
to create texts (ACELY1707, ACELY1717)

ICT Capability
Creating with ICT
Generating ideas, plans and processes
Generating solutions to challenges and learning area tasks
Communicating with ICT
Collaborating, sharing and exchanging
Managing and Operating ICT
Uses ICT efficiently and ergonomically
Selecting hardware and software

Critical & Creative Thinking Capability
• Identifying, exploring and clarifying information
• Generating innovative ideas and possibilities
• Reflecting on thinking, actions and processes
• Analysing, synthesising
and evaluating information

Transmedia Storytelling @ LGHS
Proof of Concept (4 weeks duration)
24 x 40 minutes lessons
Inspired by Shaun Tan's picture book:
The Red Tree
Year 7 (29 students)
Multicultural comprehensive girls' high school
located in the south western suburbs of Sydney
with over 87% CALD
Reference: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Red-tree-barking-gecko.jpg

Project Outline

Work Sample: Backstory
Reference The Red Tree by Shaun Tan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrmMFFpKxgw
The Red Tree Backstory LGHS 2013

Work Sample: xtranormal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkYjsoeW1yI
Year 7 English Liverpool GHS: Joanne, Aallyah and Chelsea

Work Sample: Postcards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkYjsoeW1yI
Year 7 English Liverpool GHS: Lia

Work Sample: Postcards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkYjsoeW1yI
Year 7 English Liverpool GHS: Lia

Edmodo: Collaboration & Critical Reflection

Teacher Reflections (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnZTeygH14o
Head Teacher English Liverpool GHS: Judith Harris

Simple Guidelines for Transmedia Projects
• Consider which media platforms would be best for
meeting the learners needs and style
• Extend the learning beyond school and into the
community
• Engage learners - the more invested in the storyworld
they are, the closer they will feel to the content
• Allow for learning in real life settings
Laura Fleming

Example Transmedia Components
1. Prequels and sequels
2. Story slice points (e.g. backstory, development of a minor character,
etc.) told in other ways e.g.
i. online diary
ii. graphic novels
iii. series of emails
iv. alternate reality game
v. cut-scene video
vi. animation
vii. blog posts
3. Serial narrative broken up and distributed across multiple platforms
4. Retelling a story in a different historical period or national context

Transmedia Storytelling @ MacICT
Research Project
Transmedia Storytelling:
Weaving a Storyworld Web
1. Proof of concept project: Liverpool Girls HS
2. First iteration: three Year 3 classes
3. Test framework we created for implementing
transmedia storytelling
4. Second iteration: Year 10 - incorporate social media
5. Teacher Professional Learning Workshops and Student
Boot Camp Excursions

21st Century Literature = Engagement
“Developing a narrative over multiple platforms while
interweaving learning outcomes creates transformational
learning experiences.
Participants engage, inform, inspire, connect and collaborate
over content. It is this interconnectedness that fosters a
dialogue which connects learners around the world. This global
interconnectivity allows for the collaborative sharing and
proliferation of knowledge.
Transmedia storytelling exemplifies learning in the 21st century.”
Laura Fleming

Example Transmedia Stories
39 Clues
Inanimate Alice
The Lizzie Bennett Diaries and Blog Post
Spaceheadz series
The Search for WondLa
The Amanda Project
The Magnificent 12
Pottermore
World without Oil

Examples of Tools
• Audacity • xtranormal
• Audioboo (audio blog) • ePub
• SMART Notebook • Adobe Indesign
• PowerPoint • Voicethread
• Adobe Captivate • blogED
• Edmodo • Adobe Acrobat Pro
• Adobe Photoshop

Resources for Transmedia Storytelling
http://www.literacyshed.com/ (Ideas for literacy teaching using visual resources such as film, animation, photographs and picture books)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmSbdvzbOzY (The Dot and the Line)
http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/ (Applying real data)
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ (Data Visualisation)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15iHScDVl_0ioxw7vR39Tpd0Vl5n6lXQUgop7a6bWBVw/edit?pli=1 Introduction to Digital Storytelling: Alec Couros
http://www.inanimatealice.com/education.html Inanimate Alice
Here are some links to Creative Commons content that students may like to use:
· Collection of CC Sites | http://www.sitepoint.com/30-creative-commons-sources
· Images, Sounds and Video | http://commons.wikimedia.org ; http://www.pics4learning.com/
· Music | http://www.jamendo.com
· Music Creation | http://www.ujam.com
· Music | http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
· Sound Effects | http://www.soundjay.com
· Background images and effects | http://creativity103.com
Please note: it’s always good to double check the content’s license and usage rights before downloading.
Here are some online media platforms that could be used:
· Social Media | Edmodo http://www.edmodo.com/
· Web 2 Tools | Blogs, Animoto, Wikispaces, PiicMonkey, Wordle, www.cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com
· Online storytelling links | www.cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/storytools
· Google search stories | https://searchstories-intl.appspot.com/en-us/creator/
· Animated movie creators | www.xtranormal.com www.goanimate.com
· Storybook & comic creators | www.storybird.com www.zooburst.com www.toondoo.com
· Presentation creator | www.prezi.com
· Interactive timeline creator | www.dipity.com
· Talking photo creator | www.fotobabble.com
· Interactive poster | http://glogsteredu.edu.glogster.com

Contact Details
Email
katy.lumkin@det.nsw.edu.au
catherine.howe@det.nsw.edu.au
Twitter
@movatweet
@cathie_h
@macict