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” ...

In Lesson 4 – Types of Digital Stories and Story-based Instruction, we learned about the types of digital stories, and the four types of story-based instruction (techniques) that can be applied in digital storytelling (case-based, narration-based, scenario-based and problem-based). Although the techniques used in interactive storytelling may be similar, they, of course, have the distinction of being ‘interactive.’ A review of the literature has found that there are several interactive content types that can be used to present interactive story-based ...

If you are interested in creating your own interactive video, serious game or branching scenario there are several free and open-source tools, as well as paid tools that are available. In the lesson that follows, I will review 3 open-source tools, and provide examples of how they were used e-learning content. Part 1 of these lessons will focus on H5P. H5P H5P is a free feature-rich tool that allows anyone to create, share and reuse HTML5 content and applications. ...

Twine In part 2 of this lesson, we will focus on Twine. Twine is a free and open-source tool that was initially created by Chris Klimas in 2009, to allow users to create interactive fiction in the form of web pages. Over the years, however, the tool has become a go-to for persons interested in creating interactive branching scenarios and narratives as well as non-linear stories. Twine allows anyone to create an adventure game, by mapping out all interactions and ...

Godot Engine In this lesson, we will focus on Godot Engine. Godot is a free and open-source game engine released under the MIT license. It allows users to create 2D, 3D and cross-platform games. Features include a ‘flexible scene system,’ ‘visual editor,’ ‘friendly content creation pipeline,’ ‘persistent live editing, and ‘multi-platform deployment’ (Godot Engine, 2020). Example: Tiny White Cell Developed in 2017 by a team of first semester students at the S4G School for Games in Germany. The game ...