project acronym: transliteracy...transliteracy project will explore these new areas of the media...
TRANSCRIPT
ProjectAcronym: TRANSLITERACYProjectFullTitle: TRANSMEDIA LITERACY. Exploiting transmedia skills and
informallearningstrategiestoimproveformaleducationCallIdentifier: H2020-ICT-2014/H2020-ICT-2014-1GrantAgreement: 645238Typeofaction: RIAProjectDuration: 36monthsStartingDate: 01/04/2015
D5.5Teacher’sKitreadyforsubmissionDeliverablestatus: FinalFileName: D5.5Teacher’sKitreadyforsubmission.pdfDueDate: March2018SubmissionDate: March2018DisseminationLevel: PublicTaskLeader: ARSMEDIAAuthor: SilviaAmici([email protected])
GabriellaTaddeo([email protected]) SimonaTirocchi([email protected]) María-JoséEstablés([email protected])TheTRANSLITERACYprojectconsortiumiscomposedof:UPF UniversitatPompeuFabra SpainUOC FundacióperalaUniversitatObertadeCatalunya SpainUOXF TheChancellor,MastersandScholarsoftheUniversityof
OxfordUK
JYU JyväskylänYliopisto FinlandUMINHO UniversidadedoMinho PortugalUdelaR UniversidaddelaRepública UruguayPUJ PontificiaUniversidadJaveriana ColombiaUNITO UniversitàdegliStudidiTorino ItalyARSMEDIA ArsMediaSRL ItalyRMIT University (Australia) participates in the research but is not a beneficiary of theTRANSLITERACYProject.
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Teacher’sKit
1. Theteacher’sKitintheoriginalTransliteracy
proposalBriefly,theoriginaldisseminationstrategyoftheTRANSLITERACYActionincludedawebsite
and an ambitious publication plan including a Digital Bulletin every three months, n. 9
papers,n.11scientificarticles,aWhitePaper,andabook.Thestrategyalso includedthe
organizationof an international conference inBarcelona, a seminar in LatinAmericaand,
themostrelevantproduction:thedevelopmentoftheTeacher’sKit.
RegardingthewebsiteandtheDigitalBulletins,asindicatedintheDoAtheonlinespacewas
thought of as a space “to describe and promote the research” that, at the end of the
project,would “adopt the formof an online platform to distribute the Teacher’s Kit”. As
therearesomanyhigh-levelplatformsoffering resourcesonmedia literacy research (e.g.
EU Kids online, Better Internet for Kids, Connected Learning Alliance, Digital Literacy
Resource Platform, DigitalMedia and Learning Research Hub, etc.)1, during the first two
yearsoftheresearchthewebsite includedbasic informationabouttheresearch,partners
andpublications.Thetransformationofthewebsiteintoanonlineplatformwasscheduled
for the second half of 2017. Regarding the online publications, the Digital Bulletinswere
publishedasoriginallyplanned(everythreemonths)onthewebsite.
In this context the Teacher’s Kit was considered the main non-academic output of the
research.TheobjectiveoftheKitwastoexploitthetransmediaskills identifiedduringthe
researchandfacilitatetheintroductionofthenewlearningpractices-inspiredbyinformal
1AmorecompletelistofmedialiteracyresearchportalsmaybeconsultedontheTRANSLITERACYwebsite(https://transmedialiteracy.org/the-links/).
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learningexperiences- intoschools.According to theDoA, theTeacher’sKit,anonlineand
interactivecontentpackageinfivelanguagesproducedbyArsMedia(Italy),wouldincludea
seriesoffeatures:
● Transmediaoverviewandstateoftheart:resourcesontransmediatheoriesand
practices,bestpractices,etc.
● Mapoftransmediaskills:aninteractiveenvironmentthatshowsthetransmedia
skillsofteensdetectedduringtheresearch.
● Transmediamachine:thisdevicewillhelpteacherstodevelopusefulandeasytouse
didacticactivitiesinsideandoutoftheclassroombasedontransmediaskills.
● Transmediaexperiences:thewebtoolwillallowteacherstouploadexperiencesand
sharetheminaglobalcontext.
2. ReviewanddiagnosisDuringtheReviewMeeting (January19,2017) itwasdiscussedthedisseminationstrategy
andthepossibleimpactoftheresearch.Inthismeetingthecommunicationapproachwas
considered “rather static” and, regarding the Teacher’s Kit, in the Consolidated Review
Reportthereviewersrecommended
Re-assessingthetoolkit:Itmustberecognizedthatasitstands,thiskitmaynotbethemost
effectiveofapproachesfortheproject’sstatedobjectivesandeducationaltargets.Theteam
isstronglyurgedtore-evaluatehowthefindingsoninformallearningandmedialiteracyadd
andproveinnovativewithintheexistingfieldofsolutions,digital influencers,practitioners,
and active stakeholders as well as in light of the respective contextual threats to media
inclusionineducation.Thisisimportantinordertoassurethatitsconceptionwillcontribute
toexistingdiscourseandinitiativeswithoutreplicatingexistingsolutions.
Time/Manpower:Hoursspentontoolkitcreationshouldberevisitedinlightofchoicesofits
conception (online selection, platform creation etc.). Similarly, the respectiveman power
dedicated to the toolkit’sdesignanddeliveryversus its consequentbenefits shouldbe re-
evaluated.
Impact exploration of research: Several research impact pathways are also possible and
should be discussed, explored, and mapped by the project leaders. These might include
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partnershipswithexistingplatformsforcontentdelivery,creationofonlineteachercourses
on highly visibleMOOC and or SPOC platforms, and generally bridging and tying inmore
strongly to the existing Youth and Media Consortia and/or Digital Literacy and Skills
initiativesattheEUlevel.
AsindicatedintheShortReport(March31,2017)elaboratedbytheConsortiumafterthe
ReviewMeeting,theresearchteamcompletelyagreedwiththediagnosismadebythePO
duringtheReviewmeeting:therearesomanyeducationalplatformswithlearningcontents
intheEU.AsimilarprocessmaybehappeningwithMOOCs:thereisanincreasingnumber
ofopenonlinelearningplatformsandcourses.Inthiscontext,theConsortiumanalysedthe
situation and redefined the dissemination and exploitation strategy according to the
suggestionsmadebythePOandreviewers.
3. The new dissemination and exploitation
strategyInthiscontexttheConsortiumdecidednottomodifytheWP5objectivesbuttoreorganize
andredefinethedifferentstrategiesandproductions.
3.1. WebsiteRegardingthewebsite,inMarch2017,assuggestedbythePOandthereviewers,theweb
was expanded with more contents and resources about (trans)media literacy, similar
researchprojects,nationaland international institutions involved inmediaandeducation,
MOOCplatforms, andeducational portals. At the time itwas created a new sectionwith
methodological informationabout theTRANSLITERACYAction. Finally, the teamcreateda
Twitter account (@Trans_literacy) in March 2017 to promote the research, disseminate
outputsandsharelinksaboutmedialiteracy,communicationandeducationintheacademic
andscientificcommunities.
As originally planned, in the new proposal the website would be expanded to host the
Teacher’sKitattheendof2017/early2018.
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3.2. Teacher’sKitTheConsortium,followingthesuggestionsofthePOandreviewers,decidedtoreformulate
the Teacher’s Kit and incorporate an online audiovisual learning activity to increase the
impactoftheresearchoutputs.Afteracomparativeanalysisoftheeducationalportalsand
online learning initiatives addressed to teachers and teens, and considering the
collaborative side of transmedia experiences (that is, the central role of user-generated
contents in transmediastorytelling)andtheobjectivesof theTRANSLITERACYproject, the
Consortiumdecidedtofocuson‘youth-generatedcontents’.
AsindicatedintheDoA,theTRANSLITERACYProject
(...)will addressquestions suchas:What transmediaproductionand sharingpracticesare
teensdevelopinginnewmediaenvironments?Whatinformal learningstrategiesareteens
engaged in outside the school?How can schools integrate thesepractices to improve the
learning-teaching process inside the classroom? What can educational institutions learn
from transmedia storytelling?Why should the educational discourse be mainly based on
written texts? How could student-generated content be introduced into the learning
process?(DoA,p.120)
The orientation towards youth-generated contents is the logical extension of transmedia
practices
The creation of user-generated content by fans is one of the key elements of transmedia
storytelling.User-generatedcontentintroducedaseriesofquestionsandcriticalissuesinto
culturalindustries,suchasconflictsaroundcopyright,authorshipandcontentappropriation
andmodification.Forexample,manyteensareactivemembersofmanyfancommunities,
from Harry Potter to Twilight (Jenkins, 2006; Martens, 2011). New forms of digital
storytelling (Erstad, 2012, 2013; Erstad and Wertsch, 2008), videogames and the user
production of machinima (Lowood and Nitsche, 2011) and social networks which use
YouTubeasaplatformforwatching,creatingandsharingvideos(BurgessandGreen,2009)
are largely being developed outside the formal rules and regulations of schools. The
TRANSLITERACYProjectwillexplorethesenewareasofthemediaecology(DoA,p.126).
Inthiscontext,theConsortiumdecidedtomakeaseriesofmodifications:
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● The team accorded to produce a series of short videos (6’/7’) with a three-fold
objective: 1) to disseminate the outputs of the project; 2) to explain the possible
usesoftheTeacher’sKitthroughaseriesofexamples;and3)toattractuserstothe
Teacher’sKitandincreaseitsimpactontheeducationalcommunity.Themaintarget
of the videos is high school teachers and educational actors involved in teaching-
learningprocesses.
● Regardingthedisseminationofthevideos,thefirstintentionoftheConsortiumafter
theReviewMeetingwastocreateaMOOC.Eveninthiscasetheteamdetectedan
increasing number of public and private platforms. The experience of some
members of the Consortium (UPF, UNITO, INDIRE and UMINHO) who have
participated in MOOC design and development was useful for redefining the
strategy. After a series of deliberations the Consortium decided to develop a
TRANSLITERACYYouTubechannel,whichisamoreflexibleandpopularalternative
forthedisseminationofaudiovisualcontents.Thevideoscanbeviewedfollowinga
linealpathsuggestedby theplatformor individually. Initially thevideoswillbeon
boththeYouTubeChannelandtheTRANSLITERACYprojectwebsitebuttheycould
belinkedfromanyotherwebsiteorplatform.
● TheConsortiumalsodecided to redesign theTeacher’s Kit to fit thenew strategy
better. This online platform would still include information about transmedia
experiencesineducationandamapofteens'transmediaskillsdetectedduringthe
research(butrepresentedthroughawell-designedinfovisualizationsothatitcanbe
easily shared on social media). The ‘transmedia machine’ and the ‘transmedia
experiences’ toolswouldbemodified:originallyplannedasahigh-tech interactive
databasewithlearningactivities,inthenewstrategythisplatformwillbesimplified
sothattheresourcescanbeaccessedfromthevideos.
● As originally planned, the Teacher’s Kit would include the learning cards with
different activities that any teacher can apply in the classroom to exploit the
transmediaskillsdevelopedbyteensoutsidetheschool.Thecardswouldbetagged
with a series of categories (transmedia skills, platform, technology, objectives,
knowledgearea,students’age,etc.)tomakeiteasytoidentifytheactivities.Inthis
new context the online platform would accept new learning cards generated by
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teachersbasedontheirexperiencewithtransmediapractices.Thecardtemplatewill
beshortandeasytouse.
Regarding the resources and work distribution, the new dissemination and exploitation
strategydidnotimplyachangeintheoriginalplanning.ArsMedia(Turin,Italy),thepartner
in charge of producing the Teacher’s Kit, has extensive experience in producing
multimedia/interactive educational contents. In this sense, Ars Media would internally
redistribute their resources to include the coordinationandproductionof the videosand
theTeacher’sKit.
Once clarified the evolution of the original proposal, now it is possible to focus on the
design, production, testing and dissemination activities carried in the last year of the
TRANSLITERACYaction(March2017-18).
4.TheTeacher’sKitMaking learning culturally responsive is a key factor to develop teens’ intelligent and
emotionalskills.Inordertoachievethisobjective,theTeachers’Kitprovidesteacherswith
accurateinformation,educationaltips,andconcretetaskstomapstudents’communication
cultureandabilities,andtakethemintoconcrete formal learningactivities.TheTeachers’
Kit(http://transmedialiteracy.upf.edu)alsoendowsteacherswiththeresourcestopropose
activitiesandgivelessonsthatengage,motivateandimprovestudents’learningoutcomes.
The Teachers’ Kit website and YouTube channel, together with the book and theWhite
Paper,areat theheartof thedisseminationstrategyof theTransmediaLiteracyresearch.
The website shows the main research findings through a dynamic info-visualization
approach,andprovidesausefultoolfordesigningin-classactivelessonsbasedonstudents’
useofdigitalmedia.Ontheotherhand,theTransmediaLiteracyYouTubechannelincludes
acollectionofvideosproducedbypartners inSpain, Italy,Portugal,andFinland,withthe
aimofillustrating,throughrealcase-histories,howteens’transmediaskillscanbeactivated
intheclassroomframework.
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4.1. ThewebportalByexploitingtheeducationalpotentialofweb-basedresources,theaimoftheprojectisto
increase teachers’ engagement, expose them to authentic content, and involve the
classroomincollaborativeactivitiesthattriggercriticalthinkingandcreativity.
Goodpracticesconfirmthatasatisfyingonlineexperienceinvolvescertainspecifictopics:
1/USER-CENTREDDESIGN
Theoverall lookisthefirstthingthatusersnotice:thisincludesthelayout,andtheuseof
colours,imagesandfontsinordertomakethewebsitereallyaccessibleandergonomicfor
all kinds of users. Most users, including teachers, parents and students will visit the
Teachers’ kit using their tablets or mobile devices. Therefore, the responsive layout is
importanttomakesurethatthewebsiteremainsclearonalldevices.
2/QUALITYCONTENT
Teachers are continuously asked to visit websites and participate in forums. Although
independentsitesmightprovide interestingcontent,theTransmediaLiteracyprojectaims
to support the educational community with a wide range of high-quality and evaluated
content. Basic information like contact details, welcoming messages, project value and
images in the homepage are followed by learning resources, cards and videos, and an
exhaustivemapofteens’transmediaskills.
3/NATURALINTERACTION
Good content and design are essential, but other aspects have also been considered to
guarantee teachers’ involvement. The interfaceand interactiondesignare strategic to let
usersfindtheinformationtheyarelookingforeasily.Thenavigationpathsareasergonomic
aspossible,sousersdonotbecomefrustrated.
TheTeachers’Kitoffersresourceslike:
• TheTransmediaSkillsandInformalLearningStrategiesMap;
• TheLearningCards;
• ThevideosembeddedfromtheYouTubeTransmediaLiteracyChannel.
Thefeaturesofeachtoolaredescribedbelow.
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Tipstomanagetheclassroom
TheonlineTeacher’sKitalsoincludesaseriesoftips(seeFig.1)tomanagetheemotional
aspectsintheclassroom:
● CREATEAPOSITIVE,EMOTIONALENVIRONMENT
The use of digital media in the classroom is not enough to guarantee the young’s
involvement. On the contrary, the creation of a spontaneous and genuinely emotional
environmentisthekeyfactortodevelopmeaningfulinteractions.
● MANAGEYOURSELF-DISCLOSURE
Involving teens’ transmedia skills in the classroom implies youremotionaldisclosureand
youravailabilitytosharebeliefs,opinionsandviewpoints,andtotellpersonalinformation
orstoriesaswell.
● BECONFIDENTABOUTYOURRESOURCES
Teachers who believe in their effectiveness in creating more authentic and innovative
learningexperienceswillbeabletobeempathictowardstheirstudents.
● EMPHATHIZE
Teachersarerequiredtoenteryouthculture,gettingtoknowyoungpeople’smediahabits,
theproductstheyenjoy,thecontextsinwhichtheyusespecifictoolscomparedtoothers,
andthemotivationbehindtheirchoices.
● INVOLVESTUDENTSINTHEDESIGNOFTRANSMEDIALEARNINGACTIVITIES
Youhavetointerprettheeducationalecosystemsinwhichyourstudentswork,andbuilda
learning path with your students, taking into account all those factors that require a
constantchangeinplanseitherintheclassroom,ingeneralorforanindividualstudent.
● FOCUSONCURRICULUMINTEGRATION
Select activities closely connected to your curriculum. The cards should allow you to
introduceordevelopcontentdirectlyrelatedtoyour learningobjectivesonthetopicthat
you'reteachingrightnow.Ifyoufindanactivitythatfitswellwithafutureunit,bookmarkit
andmoveon!
● ASSEMBLEAPERSONALCOLLECTION
Usethebookmarkingsystemtocreateacollectionofcardsforfutureuse.
● REFLECTABOUTTHEEXPERIENCE
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After class, take a fewmoments to reflect on how the activitywent.Were the students
engaged?Takenotesonwhatyouwilldodifferentlynexttime.Involveyourstudentsinthe
reviewprocess.Assessingthevalueofaweb-basedresourceisacritical21st-centuryskill.
● CREATENEWCARDS
Youcancontributetotheplatform,byuploadingnewcardsoraddingacommenttothose
alreadyavailableonline.TheTeachers’Kitprovidesasimpletooltouploadanewcardand
shareitwiththeeducationalcommunity.
Figure1.Tipstomanagetheemotionalaspectsintheclassroom
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Transmediaskillsandinformallearningstrategiesmap
Theresearchfindingshavebeenorganizedandvisualizedinadynamicmap(seeFig.2and
3)thatrepresentsthetransmediaskillsandinformallearningstrategiesofteensaged12-18
detected in the project. Exploring the circumference, users discover the specific skills
associatedwith themain topic (e.g. Production skills, Risk prevention skills, Performative
skills,etc.).Themapaims to represent thehuman,emotionaland rational spheresand is
conceivedasawhole.
Eachskillisdescribedbyashorttextandaseriesofexamples;mostofthemarecompleted
withotherresourcessuchaslearningcardsorvideosthatwillsupporttheteacherinhis/her
lessondesign.
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Figure2and3.Dynamicmap
Learningcards
Following the research-action approach, the Teacher’s Kit provides a large set of cards
designedtosupportthecreationanddevelopmentofnewdynamicandplayful lessons, in
whichteens’transmediaskillsplaysacentralrole.
The search engine invites users to choose the activity that best fits the teachers’ plan,
filteringthemby(seeFig.4):
• Transmedia Skills: Production, Risk Prevention, Performance, Ideology and Ethics,
Social Management, Individual Management, Content Management, Media and
Technology,andNarrativeandAesthetics.
• Learning area: Arts, Foreign languages, Language, Learning Support Teacher,
Mathematics, Physical Education, Professional Competences, Religion and Ethics,
Sciences,SocialSciencesandTechnologies.
• Tags: Advertising, Animation, Audio, Blog, Book, Coding, Comic, Cosplay, Design,
Documentary,Facebook,FanFiction,Fashion,Game,Graphic,Instagram,Journalism,
Media, Movies, Music, Music Video, News, Photo, Reality Show, Snapchat, Social
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Media, Spotify, Theater, TV Series, Twitter, Video, Videogames, Wattpad, Web,
WhatsApp.
• Teens’age:10-13,14-16,and17-18yearsold.
• Language:English,Spanish, Italian,Portuguese,andFinish.OnMarch,312018two
languagesareonlineandtranslations intoItalian,PortugueseandFinishhavebeen
implemented.Pleasecheckthefinalreportfortheupdatedrelease.
Figure4.Imageoftheorganizationofthelearningactivitiesinthewebsite
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AseriesoftableswiththeexactdataonthelearningcardsincludedintheTeachers’kit(on
March2018)arelistedbelow.Thesetablesincludeinformationaboutthedistributionofthe
cardsbyage(seeTable1),thedistributionofthecardsbytransmediaskill(seeTable2),and
thedistributionofcardsbylearningarea(seeTable3).Wewillincludeupdatedinformation
innthefinalreportoftheproject.Thewebsiteisstillbeingupdatedatthetimeofwriting
thisreport.
Age N.ofCards(March2018)
10-13 13
14-16 30
17-18 27
Table1.Distributionofcardbyageofadolescents
TransmediaSkill N.ofCards(March2018)
ContentManagement 23
IdeologyandEthics 21
IndividualManagement 9
MediaandTechnology 14
NarrativeandAesthetics 25
Performance 9
Production 24
RiskPrevention 8
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SocialManagement 20
Table2.Distributionofcardsbytransmediaskills
LearningArea N.ofCards(March2018)
Arts 12
ForeignLanguages 14
Language 17
LearningSupportTeacher 5
Mathematics 4
PhysicalEducation 3
ProfessionalCompetences 8
ReligionandEthics 11
Sciences 10
SocialSciences 25
Technologies 14
Table3.Distributionofcardsbylearningarea
Each learning card provides a synthetic roadmap to develop a transmedia activity in
classroom and perform it with students: the field’s “key questions”, “development”,
“evaluation”and“didacticresources”areusefulfordefiningthelearningscenario;thefields
“participants”,“duration”and“materials”offeraconcretesupportforprojectingthesetting
(seeFigure5).
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Figure5.Anexampleofalearningcard
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Teacherswillhavethefollowingoptions:a)Savethecard;b)Bookmarkthecardsbysection,
c)Downloadthecardsforprinting;d)Sharethecardwithcolleaguesorwithstudents;and
e)Reviewanduploadnewcards(explainedinthenextsection)2.
Reviewinganduploadingnewcards
Teachers can contribute to enrich the platform by uploading new cards or adding a
commenttothosealreadyavailableonline.
Thesetasksshouldrequirestudentinteraction,creativity,andcriticalthinkingskills,sharing
ideas,experiencesandcontributingtoexperimentnewwaystoconnectmediawithlearning
atschool.
After class, teachers are invited to reflectonhow theactivitywent and to takenoteson
whattheywoulddodifferentlynexttime.It’salsorecommendedtoinvolvestudentsinthe
reviewprocess.
To comment thoroughly on the content of the card chosen, teachers are invited to ask
themselves:
● Isitaccurate,up-to-date,andappropriate?
● Whatarethestrengthsandthecriticalaspectsrelatedtoitsapplication?
4.2. TechnicalinformationHosting
Thewebsiteishostedonanemulationofacomputersystemalsoknownasvirtualmachine.
ThearchitectureofthisserverisLAMP:
● Linuxoperatingsystem
● ApacheHTTPServer
● MySqlrelationaldatabasemanagementsystem
● PHPprogramminglanguage
2 Regardingthecardevaluationprocess,pleaseconsulttheAnnexIattheendofthepresentdocument.
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Theversionsofthecomponentsindicatedjustaboveare:
● Linux:Ubuntu16
● Apache:2.4
● MySql:5.0
● PHP:7.0
ThisenvironmentishostedbyUniversitatPompeuFabra–Barcelona,whoprovidedaVPN
accessinordertofacilitatethewebsitedevelopment.
CMSandFramework
The frameworkandContentManagement System todevelop theTeacher’s kitwebsite is
Drupal7.56.ThecoreversionoftheCMShasbeencustomizedwithaThemecreatedadhoc
fortheproject,withtheaddingofmanymodules.Themostrelevantaddedmodulesare:
● mPDF library handler. Through the mPDF library users can download the PDF
versionoftheLearningCards.
● Workflow. This module has been used to set up and organize workflow states.
Transitionsbetweenstatescanbeallowedperrole:aworkflowwiththestatesDraft,
Review,andPublishedcouldbeassignedtotheLearningCardcontenttype.Related
toWorkflowmodule isAutoAssignRolemodulethat isusedbytheCMStoassign
specificrolestouserswhoregisteronwebsite.ForexampletheEditorrole,assigned
touserswhowanttoaddaLearningcard.
● Internationalization. ThismoduleextendsDrupal coremultilingual capabilitiesand
lettheallowedusersmanagethefivedifferentlanguagedeployedintheproject.
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Figure6and7.Waystoaccesstothelearningcardsthroughthemenuorthesearchengine.
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Programmingandformattinglanguages
TheprogramminglanguagesusedtodevelopTeacher’sKitwebsiteare:
● PHP
● Javascript
● Ajax
Theformattinglanguagesandtechniquesusedare:
● HTML5
● CSS3
● jQuery
A particularmention goes to the Transmedia SkillsMap that is based on Scalable Vector
GraphicsthatinteractswithjQuerytodynamicallyachievecontentstobedisplayed.
Responsiveversionandaccessibility
Thewebsitedesktop version is optimized formonitorswith a resolutionof 1280pxwidth
and for modern browsers. The website adopts a responsive display technique that
guarantee theusability andaccessibility ondeviceswith lower resolution, suchas tablets
andsmartphones.
TheresponsiveversionoftheTransmediaSkillsMaphasalsokeyboardshortcutstoincrease
accessibility(seeFig.6and7).
Otherfeatures
● Bookmark:thissectionusesCookietostoretheLearningCardsselectedbyusers.
● Videos: all the videos available on the website are hosted on YouTube. They are
displayedonTeacher’skitwebsiteusingtheEmbedIFrameprovidedbyYouTube.
● Sharing Learning cards: the tool for sharing the Learning Cards is provided by
AddThis,asocialbookmarkingservicethatcanbeintegratedintoawebsitewiththe
useofawebwidget.
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4.3.TheYouTubeChannel
Therearemanybenefitstousingvideo ineducationasshown
in several decades of research.Mayer and Gallini (1990) and
many other authors have demonstrated the connection
between visual clues, the memory process, and the recall of
newknowledge.
TheTransmediaLiteracyprojectaimstogetteachersenergized
andengagedinthehands-oneducationalactivities,andvideois
clearlyaninformationandinstructionalmediumthatgenerates
a much greater amount of interest and enjoyment than the
moretraditionalprintedmaterial.
Using sight and sound, video is the perfect medium to
introduceteacherstothetransmediatopics,toexplainhowto
takeadvantageoftheonlineresourcesandtoshowcasesome
goodexamplesofformallessonsinspiredbyteens’transmedia
abilities.
Videoproduction
The videos pre-production started in September 2017, the
partnerswerecontactedtodefine the local recordingagenda.
Videoswererecordedinfourdifferentlocations:
● Jyvaskyla(n.1video)
● Braga(n.1video)
● Turin(n.2videos)
● Barcelona(n.4videos)
● Barcelona,Braga,andJyväskylä(n.1.video)
Figure8.The9videosintheTeachers’kit.
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TwopeoplefromArsMediatookactivepartintherecordingprocess:
● N.1Director
● N.1Cameraman
Eachvideohasbeenassociatedtoamaintopic:
1/THETRANSMEDIALITERACYPROJECT
Whatareteensdoingwithmediaandwhatcanwelearnaboutit?
Duration:10'08"
Realisation:Barcelona(Spain)
Inthisvideo,theresearchersfromSpainpresentthemainquestionsandobjectivesrelated
totheTransmediaLiteracyProject.TheaimoftheTransmediaLiteracyprojecthasbeento
understandhowyoungboysandgirlsarelearningskillsoutsidetheschoolenvironment.The
constructionofthoseculturalcompetenciesandsocialskillshasbeenatthecenterofthe
research. This project has been carried out by 50 researchers coming from 9 different
countries. Also, this video shows a critical review about media literacy and transmedia
literacy.
2/TEEN’STRANSMEDIASKILLSANDINFORMALLEARNINGSTRATEGIES
Presentationofthemapoftransmediaskillsandinformallearningstrategies
Duration:13'28"
Realisation:Barcelona(Spain),Braga(Portugal),andJyväskylä(Finland)
In this video, the researchers fromSpain,Portugal andFinlandpresent thebroadmapof
transmedia skills and informal learning strategies. The research team has found 44main
transmedia skills and 190 secondary skills. The transmedia skills are divided into 9
dimensions: Production, Risk Prevention, Social Management, Individual Management,
Content Management, Performance, Media and Technology, Ideology and Ethics, and
NarrativeandAesthetics.Also,theresearchershavefound6modalitiesofinformallearning
strategies:Learningbydoing,Problemsolving,Imitating/Simulating,Playing,Evaluatingand
Teaching.
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3/BEHINDFAKENEWS
Didacticactivityfocusedoninformationanalysisandcontentproduction
Duration:14'20"
Realisation:Braga(Portugal)
ThePortuguesestudentsonthisvideogetinformedmainlythroughsocialmedia,television
andonlinesitesandapps. In this lesson, teachersstartbypromotingself-reflectionabout
howthestudentsgetinformed.Then,theclassisdividedingroupsandeachhastodotwo
differentactivities:onefocusedonnews,fakenewsandinformationanalysis,anotherone
focusedonnewsandcontentproduction.The lessonaims topromoteacriticalapproach
towardsmediamessages,toteachstudentshowtodistinguishnewsfromfakenewsandto
enhancetheirconsciousnessaboutconstraintsandinterestsbehindnewsproduction.
4/NEWSSTORIESINSOCIALMEDIA
Didacticactivityabouttheroleofsocialmediaasproviderofdailynewsforteens
Duration:11'32"
Realisation:Jyvaskyla(Finland)
Inthisvideo,theresearchersarefirstdescribingtheincreasingimportanceofsocialmedia
astheproviderofdailynewsforteens.Duringtheclass,thestudentsaretakingtheirsocial
media feed into theclassroom,andcomparing it to themainstories innewspapers.They
will reflectonhowthesocialmediapersonalitiesarefilteringandpresentingdailyevents,
and also comparing their personal media coverage with their classmates. In the joint
discussion,thereliabilityofnewsreceivedfromvarioussourcesisdiscussed.
5/HUNTINGMEDIASTEREOTYPES
Didacticactivityabouthowtodetectgenderstereotypesinmedia
Duration:10’36”
Realisation:Barcelona(Spain)
This video showcases how teenagers detect gender stereotypes through differentmedia
suchasvideogames.Intheclassroom,teachersmakeanintroductiontoreflectaboutthe
stereotypes and encourage the students to map and identify them. Additionally, the
Transmedia Literacy Project researchers contribute to a more general understanding of
genderstereotypesfoundinvideogames.
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6/IMPROVINGREADINGANDWRITINGINASOCIALWAY
DidacticactivitybasedontheuseofWattpad
Duration:13'20"
Realisation:Turin(Italy)
This video showcases the use ofWattpad by a group of Italian teenagers. They use the
platformtolookfornewnovelstoread,butalsotowriteandsharetheirownworks.When
in classroom, the teacher starts talkingwith teens about their usageof theplatformand
thushetakestheopportunitytolinksuchpracticestoadidacticissue:thenarrativegenres’
inliterature.Expertscontributestoamoregeneralcomprehensionofthesocialreadingand
writingphenomenainteenagersculture.
7/TEACHINGSCIENCEWITHYOUTUBE
DidacticactivityabouthowtouseaYouTubechanneltoteachscienceatschool
Duration:10’41”
Realisation:Barcelona(Spain)
Inthisvideo,teacherspresentalearningcardthatservesasaguidetorecordvideosfora
YouTubechannel.Inthiscase,thesevideosareausefultooltobothteachersandstudents
inordertoteachsciencetotheirpeers.Also,theresearchersoftheprojectprovideanin-
depth explanation on how the students can adapt scholar contents into audiovisual
contentstargetedatdifferentaudiences.
8/COMICTHOSEMATHS
DidacticactivityabouthowtoteachMathswhileproducingcomicstories
Duration:10’32”
Realisation:Barcelona(Spain)
In this video, teachers introduce a playful way to teach mathematics to freshmen high-
schoolstudentsdrawingonthenarrativeworldstheynavigateintheirdailylives.Organised
ingroups,studentsarepromptedtotransformamathematicalproblemintoacomicstrip
using thealphabet lettersanda secretoperationprovidedby the teacher.Once students
havefinishedtheircomicstrip,theyswappositionsandtrytosolveeachothers’enigmas.
25
Beyond thesevideos, theYouTubechannelwill include then.6 interventionsholdduring
theEDUxperienceeventandthen.3scientificdialoguesorganizedduringtheTransmedia
LiteracyInternationalConference(seeDeliverable5.7ConferenceonTransmediaLiteracy).
ByMay2018thechannelwillincludeatotalof17videos.
26
Annex1:LearningCardsValidationProtocolAUTHORS: Gabriella Taddeo (INDIRE), Simona Tirocchi (UNITO), and María-José Establés
(UPF).
Introduction
The validation process of the learning cards was a strategic issue for the Transliteracy
project,because it involved theapplicationon thegroundof the transmediaskillsmap,a
veryrichandusefultoolforteachersandstudents.Itisnotsoeasyorimmediate,infact,to
translatetheinformalskillsofyoungpeoplewithinaneducationalperspective,linkedtothe
school world and to the everyday didactic practices. We know that teaching is a very
complex activity,which requires adaptability to different audienceswith various abilities,
flexibility but also the ability to interest and stimulate children and adolescents. So, the
assessmentprocessrepresentedamomentoftesting,toobserveandevaluatethemeeting
between two worlds: that of formal learning and teaching and the activities that the
adolescentsdevelopintheir“lifeworlds”.
In this case, we worked for the assessment of the education tool, rather than for an
assessment,which involved the learningoutcomesof the final audience, the students. In
fact,toassesstheimpactofthesetoolsandapproachesonthewholelearningprocess,we
wouldneeda long-termperspective,whichwouldrequiremonthsoryearsofobservation
andtesting,thatwillvalidatecurrentlearningpracticesaimedtoimprovestudentlearning.
Furthermore,wecantalkaboutassessmentinaparticularmeaning,referringtothequality
of the didactic/educational material prepared for the teachers or by the teachers. For
example, to be considered of quality, a learning material must be functional for its
educationalobjectives,butitmustbealsoattractiveforteachersandstudents.
The threemain issues considered as parameters for the evaluation of the quality of the
cards,byteachers,were:
1)Connectionoftheactivitywiththeschoolcurriculumandaspecificdiscipline;
2)Suitabilityoftheproposedactivityforthespecificstudents’target;
3)Sustainabilityofthelearningcardsintermsoftimescheduled,organizationbyteachers,
aswellasintermsofbalancecosts/benefits.
27
Designofthevalidationprocess
ThevalidationprocessofthelearningcardsincludedbothintheTransmediaLiteracyBook
and in the Teacher’s Kit, was organized into three phases, which can be considered
complementary:
1)A first phase, which took place in Spain, for the validation of 6 cardswith a group of
teachersandthedesignofnewcards.
2)A secondphase,which tookplace in Italy, aimedat the validationof 30didactic cards
withanotherteacher’steam;
3) A third phase with some, experimental, participatory design sessions that involved
teachersinthecreativerealizationofnewdidacticcards,inSpain.
Wedecidedtoapplytwodifferentapproachesinordertoestablishaopenendedmeaning
tothevalidationmethod:
• Theuseofparticipatorydesign isusefulasaexploratorymethodtocollectvisions,
implicitknowledge,needsandexpectationsbythefinaltargetabouttheaims,issues
and general structures of the cards. It also allowed us to observe obstacles and
enablersforthecreationofnewcardsbyteachers.
• The use of surveys and evaluation grids is more suitable to collect concrete and
standardizedfeedbackaboutthealreadyexistentcards.
Assessmentprocess:firstphase
On6th February 2018 a validation sessionwas performed at CentroUniversitario La Salle
(Madrid,Spain).
This centre is university-connected but most of the participants came from different
Secondary schools associated to this Universitary centre. It is a double-funded (public-
private)academiccentreassociatedwiththeFrenchCatholiccongregationLaSalle.
InMadridtherewere11teachers,butnotallof themassessedthecards,because5only
wantedtocreatethecards.
The validation process was organized in one session, through two different parts and
accordingtotwomethodologies:aparticipatorydesignsession,andasurveysession.
28
Participatorydesignsession
The first method entailed the use of a participatory design session in order to involve
teachers in the creation of new learning cards. This process allowed us to observe and
understand better how, according to the final target of the teachers, a learning activity
should be structured and described. During this session they produced the card “Latest
News”.
Fiveteachers(threeofScienceandTechnology,andtwoofSpanishlanguageandLiterature)
participatedintheparticipatorydesignsession.
During this creative process,we could perceive some implicit knowledge and values that
teachers have about the use of media in classroom as well as about concrete
implementationofinnovativeactivitiesinclassroom.Theteachersaskedsomequestionsto
theresearchteamandcreatedadebateonsome issues.Particularly, someof themwere
interested in knowing how the transmedia skills are connectedwith the traditional skills
(oral communication, writing skills, etc.). Furthermore, one participant asked about a
specificmethodologyinordertousethelearningcardsinhisclasses.Theprincipalconcern
amongtheteacherswastheirdifficultiestoimprovenewmethodologiesandactivities,such
as lack of time, strictmandatory national curriculum or a high rate of students for each
classroom.
Surveysession
A secondmethodentailed theuseofa survey and itwasaimedathavinga first general
evaluationofthelearningcards.
The teachers who evaluate the cards were 6:one teacher of Technology, one teacher of
Foreign Language (she also teaches at University), one teacher ofMaths, one teacher of
Arts, Professional Competences and Technology, one teacher of Religious and Ethics and
SocialSciences,onelecturerofArts,ForeignLanguagesandSocialSciences.
29
Figure9and10.SomemomentsoftheevaluationprocesswiththeteachersinMadrid
The6participantsevaluatedthefollowing6learningcards:
• Huntingformediastereotypes.
• TeachingwithYouTube
• Thesocialmediamanager
• LatestNews!
• TheGameofHistory
• Tellit!Creatingadocumentary
Every teacherwasgivencopiesof the6 learningcardsanda link to thesurvey.However,
theyweretoldonlytoanswerthesurveyofthelearningcardsthatwereassociatedtotheir
educationalareasofexpertise.
30
Thesurveyaskedforthefollowingteachers’information:
• Titleofthelearningcard
• Teacher’semail
• Areaofexpertiseoftheteacher
• Ageoftheirstudents
• Teacher’sgender
• Iftheteacherconsidershimorherselfasatechnologyheavyuser
Thequestionsofthesurveyweredividedinthreeareas,withtwoquestionseach:1)How
thelearningcardsareconnectedwiththeschoolcurriculum;2)Iftheyaresuitableforthe
target3)Sustainabilityofthelearningcards.
Allthequestionswereformulatedtohavingopenanswers.
Thequestionswerethefollowing:
● Connectionwiththeschoolcurriculum
o In youropinion, is the activity linkable tooneormore topics you cope
withduringyourschoolyear?
o Do you consider that such activity can be linked to other issues and
contentyouusuallyworkwith?
● Suitableforthetarget
o Inyouropinion, is thisactivity feasible foryourstudents? Ifnot,please,
tellusyourreasons(forexample,differentagetoaddress,verydifficult
todevelop,etc.)
oDoyouthinkthatthetimingoftheactivityisfeasible?
● Sustainability
o Do you think that some or critical factors could occur in the specific
developmentoftheactivity?Whattypeofconstraints?
o Please, indicate your opinion about the balance costs/benefits of the
activityinyourclassroom.
31
Evaluationresults
Connectionwiththeschoolcurriculum
● Accordingtotheresultsofthefirstquestion,1ofthe16answersindicatedthatthe
learningcardsarehardlylinkabletooneormoretopicsthattheteachersdealwith
during the school year.However, 15of them indicated that the learning cardsare
linkablewithoneormoretopics.
● Regarding the secondquestion,1of theanswers indicated that the learning cards
cannotbe linkedwithother issuesand contents that the teacherworkwithevery
day.However,15of them indicated that the learningcardsare linkablewithother
issuesandcontents.
Suitabilityforthetarget
● Accordingtotheresultsofthethirdquestion,itisremarkablethatthelearningcards
Tellit!CreatingadocumentaryandTeachingwithYouTubewereconsideredbyone
participantasnotfeasible,becausetheyrequiremuchtimeansessionstodevelop
them.
● Regardingthefourthquestion,therewere10answersthatdeemedthetimingofthe
activities as feasible. However, there are three participants that think that the
learningcardsHuntingformediastereotypes,TeachingwithYouTube,TheGameof
HistoryandTellit!Creatingadocumentaryrequiremoresessionstobedeveloped.
Sustainability
● According to the results of the fifth question, four participants of the survey
remarkedthefollowingcriticalfactorsorconstraintsinordertodevelopthelearning
cardsintheirclassrooms:
○ ProblemstoaccesstoICThardwareandsoftware.
○ Studentslackofskillstorecordandeditaudiovisualproductions.
○ The possible not adaptation of the learning card tomandatory curriculum
contents.
○ Theevaluationoftheactivityofthetiming.
32
○ Activities too much focused on digital and ICT contents and less in
performativeskills(dancing,acting,playingmusic,etc.)
○ Teacherscontrolofthecontentsproducedbythestudentsinordertoavoid
privacyissues.
● Regarding the sixth question, there are different advantages and disadvantages
foundbytheparticipants:
○ Fiveparticipantsindicatedthattheproblemswithtimingarereallyimportant
and that great attention must be given to the time factor and the right
balance of thework between school time and extra-school time. All these
learningcardsarerelatedwiththeproductionofaudiovisualcontents.
○ One participant thought that the activities can make the students think
criticallyaboutprivacyissueswhilepublishingcontentsonsocialmedia.
○ Two participants thought that using video games in the classrooms can
stimulate students’ motivation. However, another participant thought that
using video games could be a problem if there are some students in the
groupthatdonotlikethem.
○ Oneparticipant remarked thatusinga foreign languageasEnglishcanhelp
studentstodeveloptheirlanguageskills.
○ One participant thought that using some of the activities proposed in the
learningcardscouldhelpteacherstostimulatethestudentsbecausetheyare
notusedtothem.
Tosumup,this learningcardevaluationtestwasthefirststeptodiscoverwhichactivities
could be useful for secondary school teachers and which not. Also, this experience was
interestingto improvethesefirstsix learningcardsandfinally, itwasusefulto implement
anddevelopamoreexhaustivesecondevaluationprocessperformedbytheItalianresearch
team.
33
Assessmentprocess:secondphase
Inordertoevaluateandvalidatethe30learningcardsproducedbythedifferentcountries
involvedintheproject,theItalianresearchteamorganizedanassessmentsessionthattook
placeinTurin,onFebruary23th2018,attheschool“IISAvogadro”.
Thesession involved6 teachersof theschoolswhichhadparticipated in theTransliteracy
projectand1trainerofthemunicipalpoliceofTurin,involvedinmediaeducationprojects.
Wedecidedtoalso involveadifferent figurethantheteacher, toobtainanotherpointof
viewthatcouldenrichourdiscussion.
Afterageneralpresentationoftheresearchprogramandtheexplanationoftheassessment
activity,theresearchersaskedtheparticipantstobrieflypresentthemselves.Afterthat,the
teamdividedtheteachersintwogroups,basingonthedisciplinethattheyteachatschool.
One group received and discussed the cards related to scientific subject areas, while
anothergroupworkedwith thecardswhichpresentedactivities related tosocial sciences
andliterarysubjects.
Theteachersreceivedanevaluationformtocompile,inordertopointascore(from1=low
consensusto5=highconsensus)tothefollowingdimensions:
1. Clarityinthedescriptionoftheactivity;
2. Usefulnessoftheactivityfortheteacher’ssubject;
3. Suitabilityforthetarget(accordingtostudents’ageanddifficulty);
4. Sustainabilityoftheactivity.
Theteachersinvolved(briefprofiles)
● Emilio Albano, “I.C. Calamandrei” (Turin) lower secondary school[8]: teacher of
Italian,HistoryandGeography.Heparticipatedinseveraldigitaleducationprojects,
e.g.theClassrooms2.0program.
● Antonio Mandarano, “IIS Avogadro” (Turin), upper secondary school: teacher of
Mechanic.Hemanagesaudiovisual activitiesandmanages theYoutubechannelof
theschool.
● Valter Bouquiè: commissioner of the proximity nucleus of themunicipal police of
Turin,heworksasatraineronviolencepreventionamongadolescents.
34
● LinaScaldaferri,“LeonardodaVinci”(LaLoggia),lowersecondaryschool:Teacherof
technology.
● Lorenzo Cesare, “IIS Avogadro” (Turin): Media educator and teacher of Italian at
uppersecondaryschool,currentlyretired(collaborateswiththeYoutubechannelof
theschool).
● MariaTeresaPalmieri, “IISAvogadro”, (Turin),upper secondary school: Teacherof
ItalianandHistory.
● Flavia Riconda Galletti, IIS Avogadro (Turin), upper secondary school: Teacher of
ItalianandHistory.(Note:Theyfilledtogethertheevaluationform)
Atthebeginningofthesession,theresearchersbrieflyillustratedthestructureofthecards
andthenaskedtoteacherstoexpresstheirgeneralimpressions:Arethecontentsclear?Are
the sections in the card sufficient to explain the activity and to cover the key aspects
(organization,knowledgeprocess,evaluation)toimplementitintheconcreteschoollife.
Drawingontheteachers’comments,theresearchersarguedthatthecardstructureisquite
clearandcomplete,becausetheydidn’tsuggesttoaddmorefields.However,theynoticed
some problems about the specific cards: not all the cards were homogeneous, because
somecardsshoweddifferentwaystoorganizecontents(e.g.thedevelopmentofactivities
wasmorestructuredinsomecases).
Theteacherspointedoutsomeissuesrelatedtothefield“tags”:forsomeofthemwasnot
so clear the operating criteria behind the tags. In some cards, they found a list of social
media(e.g.Twitter,Instagram),inothercasestheyfoundtopics(e.g.journalism).
Other observations involved the “language”: teachers feel the difficulty to read and
understandtheEnglishlanguage,especiallythemeaningsoftechnicalandspecificwords.
Regardingthefield“age”,theteachersnoticedthatsometimesacardthat isdesignedfor
anage,couldbealsosuitableforanotherorforboth.
Aboutthe“duration”,theteachersunderlinedthatthetimescheduledcouldbestructured
better(e.g.,165’shouldbemoredetailed,indicatingeachphasemoreprecisely).
35
Figures11,12and13.SomemomentsoftheevaluationprocesswiththeItalianteachers. The field“evaluation”wasalsodiscussed.According to the teachers,notonly the results,
butalsotheprocesses(forexample,howstudentsinteracteachother)shouldbeevaluated.
Furthermore,somecardsnothaveclearcriteriaintheevaluationfield.Forthesecardsthe
teacherssuggestedtogomoreindepth,notonlytosay“therewillberubricofevaluation”,
36
but suggestingwhich criteria could be used in these rubrics (also suggesting thatmaybe
thesecriteriamaybecreatedstartingfromthekeyquestionsproposedinthecard).
Titleofthecard Clear Useful Suitablefor
thetarget Sustainable
n.of
teachersthat
vote
Total
score
Analyse,clickandthinkon
media 4-4-2 3-4-3 4-4-3 3-3-2 3 39
AugmentedClimathology 4-4-3 4-2-3 3-3-4 4-2-3 3 39
Beingwell-informed:tricks
andtipsaboutmedia 4-5-4 5-4-4 4-2-1 4-4-4 3 45
Elementary,myDearWatson 5-5-4 4-3-3 3-2-3 3-2-3 3 40
“Enjoythebeauty.Analyzing
theimageworld” 4 4 3 2 1 14
“Funsub_school” 5 5 5 4 1 20
Huntingmediastereotypes 3 4 3 4 1 15
Instanstory 4-3 4-4 4-2 4-3 2 28
"Isthisart?":Appreciationof
contemporaryart 5 4 4 4,5 1 18,5
Knowingacomputer 3-3-4 5-2-4 4-4-4 3-3-2 3 41
LATESTNEWS! 2-2-2 2-2-1 3-3-2 1-1-1 3 22
LifepublishingintheInternet 3 4 4 4 1 15
Lookingforthehidden
character 5-1 5-4 5-1 5-3 2 29
37
Memesandgifsas
commentary 4-4-4 3-4-2 4-5-4 3-2-3 3 42
Narratinggameplay(Let’s
Play) 4-3-3 4-2-3 3-4-3 4-2-2 3 37
NewsStoriesinSocialMedia 4-3-3 4-2-2 5-4-4 5-3-5 3 44
“Play”abookand“read”a
movie
5-5 5-4 5-4 4-4,5 2 36,5
Reviewingvideogames
online 3-2-3 2-2-2 2-2-2 2-2-1 3 25
Roletwitting 5-4-3 4-3-2 4-3-3 3-2-3 3 39
Synt-class 4-5-4 4-5-4 4-4-4 3-4-4 3 49
TeachingwithYoutube 3-4 3-3 4-2 2-2 3 23
Theartofexpressing 5 5 4 3 1 18
Tellit!Creatinga
documentary 4 3 3 1 1 11
Theexperienceofa
decade[9] 5-4-4-
5-5
5-5-5-5-
5 5-5-5-5-5 4-5-5-5-5 5 97
Thegameofhistory 5-4-4 3-3-4 3-2-4 4-2-4 3 42
Thesocialmediamanager 2-3-2 2-2-2 3-5-1 3-3-1 3 29
TheTransThermopylaeBattle 5 5 5 5 1 20
Tipthescales 2-3-2 1-2-1 2-3-2 2-2-2 3 24
Transmedianarratives 4 3 2 3 1 13
Tumblenglish 2 4 4 2 1 12
38
Table4.Scoresgivenbyteacherstothelearningcards,onascale1(lowconsensus)-5(high
consensus).
Thescoresgivenbytheteacherstothecardshaveapurelyindicativevalue,sinceitwould
take much higher numbers of teachers/evaluators to make the evaluation meaningful.
Furthermore,notallteachersassessedallthelearningcards.However,thisisanimportant
qualitativeanalysis,whichcanprovideuswithafirstindicationofthe"didactic"functioning
ofthecardsandtheiradaptabilitytotheteaching/learningcontexts.
Assessmentprocess:thirdphase
The last participatory design session for creating of the learning cards was on 22March
2018, during the Transmedia Literacy conference. It was a workshopmoderated by two
researchers.Itinvolved2secondaryschoolteachers,and2lecturers.
One of themoderators introduced the workshop, explaining that the teachers would be
collaborativelydesigninglearningactivitiesthattookadvantageofthestudents’transmedia
skillsandputthemattheserviceoflearningbyadaptingthemtodifferentsubjects.Theaim
oftheworkshopwastocreateaLearningCardthatcontainedthedescriptionoftheactivity
andthatteacherscouldusebyapplyingsomechanges intheirrespectiveclassrooms.The
philosophy of the workshop was “to learn from each other”, by sharing, and finding
elements of interest that would have accompanied teachers in the design of learning
processes that involve transmedia skills in one way or another, taking advantage of the
informallearningstrategiesthatstudentsareusingoutsidetheclassroom.
Theparticipantswere invited to identify a theme thatwasboth interesting for themand
suitable for an educational use. To do this, they worked collaboratively on a shared
environment(aGoogledocument),reachingthecreationofnewlearningcards.
Howcanthisdesignphasealsobeconsideredusefulfortheassessment?Basically,because
itwasabottomupprocess:theteachersthemselvesbegantoreflectonthepossibilityof
articulatingdidacticpathsinthemodeloflearningcard.Sowecouldobserveifteacherscan
approachsuchdesignprocess,thusproducingnewcards,anddetectthedifferentphases,
obstaclesandenablers.Asstatedby IreneGujit (2014)about impactevaluation (although
39
notinthedidacticfield)“theunderlyingrationaleforchoosingaparticipatoryapproachto
impact evaluation can be either pragmatic or ethical, or a combination of the two.
Pragmaticbecausebetterevaluationsareachieved(i.e.,betterdata,betterunderstanding
ofthedata,moreappropriaterecommendations,betteruptakeoffindings);ethicalbecause
itistherightthingtodo(i.e.,peoplehavearighttobeinvolvedininformingdecisionsthat
willdirectlyorindirectlyaffectthem)”(p.2).
Figure14and15ImagesfromtheparticipatorydesignsessioninBarcelona
40
Useofthefeedbacksfortheiterativedesign Wereceivedmanymeaningfulfeedbacks inrespectofthegeneralconceptofthelearning
activities,suggestionsandreviewsontheirspecificimplementationintheclassroom.
We used such feedback to make some changes on the existent cards (for example re-
adjusting the scheduled time of some sessions in the cards, according to the teachers’
reviews, or specifying the evaluation criteria of the activity), as well as to design the
“welcome message” in the Teachers’ kit home page, the video tutorial and the written
instructionstousethecards.
In particularwe tried to dealwith possible concerns from teachers about the use of the
cards and the feasibility of such innovative practices at school (e.g.connection with the
curriculum,timing). Inaddition,wewere interested insendingamessageofpracticaland
emotional support for them, addressing to the specific values, pedagogical views and
practicalscenariostheyhavedescribedduringtheevaluationsessions.
Sustainabilityofthevalidationprocess
Finally, inorder toguarantee thesustainabilityof thevalidation through time,aboardof
10-15 teacherswill be set up to ensure the evaluationof the future learning cards to be
uploaded to the portal. It is important to have the proper structure to ensure that the
process,onceinplace,isself-sustained.Forthisreason,inItalywewillcreateacommittee
of expert teachers, which will be comprised of at least one representative teacher from
each curriculum subject and that will cooperate to review the cards uploaded to the
platform.
References
Guijt, I. (2014), «Participatory approaches. Methodological Briefs: Impact Evaluation 5»,
UNICEFOfficeofResearch,Florence.Availableat
http://devinfolive.info/impact_evaluation/img/downloads/Participatory_Approaches_ENG.
The TRANSMEDIA LITERACY project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 645238