This guide follows the format of Challenge Based Learning, a framework that allows people to identify meaningful challenges, learn deeply about the content in order to develop solutions, and take action to positively impact their communities. The goal is to use immersive media production as a way to learn and make a real-world impact.
The world of immersive storytelling and design is wide open for experimentation and innovation. Here are some principles that will help you engage and learn through this project:
At its core, this is a project about learner voice and expression, hearing from people about what matters to them and how they approach making the world a better place. Let learning lead!
Whether as educators or students, we approach unfamiliar topics or situations in similar ways. We identify a goal to work towards, connect with people and resources that help us learn and make us successful, and reflect on our learning by sharing back with the community what we learned.
Few of us do good work just to get a good grade or performance review — we do good work if we see that it matters. Look for opportunities to connect with a real-world audience outside school: plan a local showcase, connect with another classroom making immersive media to swap stories, or submit student videos to a contest or festival.
Keep an open attitude towards teaching with new technology. This means letting others’ expertise and enthusiasm help you. Be resourceful when looking for answers, and recognize that this technology is still in development!
Media literacy encompasses the practices that allow people to access, critically evaluate, and create or manipulate media. When creating media, it’s important to develop skills of identifying different types of media and understanding their messages. If your media project stems from your own perspectives and experiences, consider how your audience’s perspectives could be different, and how the story could be misinterpreted.
Or, if the proposed topic is about another person’s experience or perspective, consider how you can learn more about it from multiple perspectives. Who could you feature in your project who can speak from direct experience with the issue? How might their own perspectives contribute to potential bias? For more resources on media literacy, see”Helping Students Reflect on 360° Media.”
One key indicator of success along the way will be when learners no longer need to ask their instructor or mentor, “Is this what you wanted?” Instead, they will share their work with a real audience and trust the iterative nature of the media production process to help them accomplish their goals for each activity.
This guide is based on the Challenge Based Learning process because open-ended prompts allow creators to not only make media, but define an issue they want to address using their media.
360 Story Lab