New Media demands new literacy

http://inanimatealice.com/education/index.html

This graphical interactive novel will definitely connect with today's students.
Check it out.

“'Inanimate Alice' has proven to be popular across a broad range of ages as well as with a broad range of viewers, including both book-lovers and gamers. Because the level of interactivity starts out low in episode one, increasing with each subsequent episode in order to reflect Alice's own growing abilities, we've found that we can take an audience unfamiliar with multimedia fiction with us. Educators like 'Inanimate Alice' because of this; students from primary to post-graduate level find the work engaging.
Today educators face a quandary. On the one hand there are anxieties about the reliability of internet sites and concerns regarding how to educate students to make informed online decisions. On the other hand there are, for example, government initiatives like the National Curriculum in England and Media Literacy outcomes in Canada which emphasise the important role technological skills play in all sorts of learning environments. But how can teachers successfully integrate new media literacies into the classroom?

'Inanimate Alice' is easily assimilated into learning environments; its use of multimodality (images, sounds, text, interaction) enables students to see storytelling in a new, multi-sensory light. 'Inanimate Alice' is a new media fiction that allows students to develop multiple literacies (literary, cinematic, artistic, etc.) in combination with the highly collaborative and participatory nature of the online environment.”

There is a downloadable Education Pack (.pdf) is available free of charge to teachers and educators wherever you are. http://inanimatealice.com/education/iteachregistration.html

Check out this technology device used to develop storytelling:
iStori.es - http://www.istori.es/ "the authoring tool for teachers, primary and secondary school students, university undergrads and, in fact, just about everyone.
If your students relate to Alice they are going to love working with iStori.es.
iStori.es is a supremely easy-to-use story-telling device that requires no manual. All of the instructions necessary to create dynamic output are available from the on-screen wizard. Load up some pictures, add text, music and sound effects and BOOM! you have your own interactive story in minutes."