As technology continues to evolve, instructional pedagogies have also evolved to keep pace. Digital storytelling is no exception to this rule, with the latest buzz being that of Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) or Interactive Storytelling as it is referred in some circles. Baldwin and Ching, (2017), argue that while “the terms ‘digital storytelling’ and ‘interactive storytelling’ are often used interchangeably,” interactive digital storytelling has the distinction of being an approach that allows learners to “actively interact with the material” (p. 2). It is clear then that the key distinction between the two concepts is closing connected to the term ‘interactive.’ What exactly does it mean though, when we say that a story is interactive?

Attempts at defining the term interactivity have often garnered many divergent and convergent discourses as to what exactly the term means as applied in the context of a variety of fields. Hence, the definition of interactivity itself has taken on several meanings, each of which was garnered based on how the term is viewed in different professional and academic fields such as communications, computer science, human-computer interaction, and marketing. There is therefore still disagreement with regards to the meaning of the term (Leiner and Quiring, 2008). Bostan and Marsh (2012) note that research in the field has often tended to “focus on the ambiguity of the concept, conceptualization difficulties, and overuse of the term” (p. 20). This they blame on the fact that “various fields defined interactivity from different perspectives and associated it with different terms” (Bostan and Marsh, 2012, p. 20). As a result, in the discussion below I will briefly review some of these definitions.

Crawford (2012) sees interactivity as “a cyclic process between two or more active agents in which each agent alternately listens, thinks, and speaks” (p. 28).  This definition while it also takes into account the two-way nature of interactivity, the use of the terms ‘listens, thanks and speaks’ alludes to the fact that in the process of interactivity, there is what could be viewed as conversational communication exchanges between the agents. Others define interactivity based on what they consider to be the different levels, classifications, forms or categories of interactivity. Bostan, Sahin and Üney (2015) for example have identified three categories of interactivity, i.e. personal interactivity, social interactivity, and environmental interactivity. In their paper titled, Interactivity: The concept and its dimensions, Hui and Nadda (2015) note that definitions of interactivity have often been classified from three main perspectives: process views of interactivity, functional views of interactivity, and perception views of interactivity. From an educational context, authors such as Domagk, Schwartz and Plass (2010), call for an ‘integrated model’ of interactivity (in multimedia learning), which takes the user, the learning environment and the entire network of system connections into consideration. They further define interactivity as, “as reciprocal activity between a learner and a multimedia learning system, in which the [re]action of the learner is dependent upon the [re]action of the system and vice versa” (Domagk, Schwartz & Plass, 2010, p. 9).

Like the term ‘interactivity,’ there is still not a consensus in the research community as to what exactly interactive storytelling is. Authors such as Roth (2015) note that, “although several authors have made an attempt to explain what interactive storytelling is, a rigorous definition of the concept has thus far not been established” (p. 16).  This could possibly be due to the fact that technology itself is everchanging and what is classified as interactive storytelling today, may evolve even further in the future. A review of the definitions posited by several authors reveals that there are definitions from authors who view the concept from the perspective of human-computer interaction (HCI), serious games, and game design, and definitions from those who view it an extension of digital storytelling. The table below identifies some examples of such definitions:

Author Definition
Cavazza and Young (2017) “A new media endeavor, which aims at developing technology and content for a new kind of narrative experience, one in which a story’s unfolding can be influenced by its audience” (p. 1).
Crawford (2014) “A form of computer entertainment in which the player interacts in a dramatically significant way with artificial actors” (para. 4).
Hoguet (2014) “The art of telling stories enhanced with technological, social or collaborative interactive features to offer content adapted to new behaviors in a rapidly changing cultural ecosystem” (para. 1).
Spierling (2005) “A hybrid form of game design and cinematic storytelling for the understanding and creation of future learning and entertainment applications” ( p. 1).

 

For me, the definitions that stand out, however, are those that view interactive digital storytelling as more than just the use of computers to develop entertaining stories, but also as an approach that allows users to play an active role within a system to develop the story itself. One such definition is posited by Roth (2015), who defined interactive storytelling, as “a computer-based interactive entertainment media that allow users to intentionally influence a non-linear narrative, mediated by a storytelling engine” (p. 18). What I also like about this definition, is the use of the terms ‘non-linear narrative’ and ‘storytelling engine.’ Baldwin and Ching (2017) note, that “interactive stories feature a narrative (i.e., a story) as the structural core of the content. Readers are guided by a chronicle of connected events that form a story” (p. 8). Interactive storytelling thus, allows for content to be presented as narratives, that can be shaped by user interaction within the interactive computer system, thus allowing learners to “connect with the content” (Baldwin and Ching, 2017, p. 1). The use of the term ‘storytelling engine’ by Roth, further lends itself to the notion that interactive storytelling occurs within a system where there is human-computer interaction (HCI).

Interactive storytelling, consequently, requires careful thought and consideration into how to make stories meaningful to learners. In the field of education, the use of the approach is further compounded by a variety of factors, including access to the technological authoring tools needed to create the interactive stories themselves, and the techniques that work best to present these interactive stories. In the next lesson, we will explore some interactive content types (techniques) that can be used to present interactive digital stories.

Let’s Recap

References

Baldwin, S., & Ching, Y.‑H. (2017). Interactive Storytelling: Opportunities for Online Course Design. TechTrends, 61(2), 179–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0136-2

Bostan, B. C., Sahin, G., & Üney, M. (2015). Interactivity in computer games. 16th International Conference on Intelligent Games and Simulation, GAME ON 2015, 5-9.

Cavazza M., Young R.M. (2017) Introduction to Interactive Storytelling. In: Nakatsu R., Rauterberg M., Ciancarini P. (eds) Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-50-4_55

Crawford, C. (2012). Chris Crawford on interactive storytelling. New Riders.

Crawford, C. (2014). What Is Interactive Storytelling? | Interactive Storytelling Tools for Writers | Chris Crawford. Retrieved March 9, 2020, from Erasmatazz.com website: http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/interactive-storytelling/what-is-interactive-storyte.html

Domagk, S., Schwartz, R. N., & Plass, J. L. (2010). Interactivity in multimedia learning: An integrated model. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1024–1033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.003

Hoguet, B. (2014, December 5). What is interactive storytelling? Retrieved March 6, 2020, from Medium website: https://medium.com/reinventing-storytelling/what-is-interactive-storytelling-46bfdd2a8780

Hui, W., & Nadda, V. (2015). Interactivity. In E. Li, G. Bowen, & W. Ozuem (Eds.), Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services. Computer-Mediated Marketing Strategies (Vol. 1, pp. 157–184). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-6595-8.ch007

Roth, C. (2015). Experiencing Interactive Storytelling. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam. Retrieved March 1, 2020 from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43409375.pdf

Spierling, U. (2005). Interactive digital storytelling: towards a hybrid conceptual approach. Worlds in Play: International Perspectives on Digital Games Research. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221217546_Interactive_Digital_Storytelling_Towards_a_Hybrid_Conceptual_Approach