Teaching digital literacies and language through transmedia storytelling

Transmedia Storytelling is an innovative approach to teaching digital literacies in EAL contexts in which different parts of a narrative are delivered across multiple physical and digital platforms. This approach will be introduced to participants in this workshop who will then be immersed and scaffolded into creating their own resource. This highly practical workshop designed for primary and secondary EAL/D teachers will provide opportunities for participants to plan and design transmedia storytelling units with the help of a flexible framework, relevant examples and facilitators’ support. Participants will discuss how the Transmedia Storytelling units can be linked to their own and the Australian Curriculum (ICT capability), include EAL texts, use available technologies, and connect with a wider community. The workshop will conclude with a collective sharing so that participants can access other Transmedia Storytelling units that they can customise to meet the needs of their own students and contexts. Participants are asked to bring their own digital devices (e.g. ipads, laptops) to use during the workshop. The approach and resources have been developed as an outcome of a research project funded by VicTESOL “Improving Refugee Students’ Access to Digital Literacies: Integrating Transmedia Storytelling in an EAL (Year 7) Classroom” in 2017