The Dala Horse and Transmedia Storytelling

The Dala Horse and Transmedia Storytelling

Transmedia storytelling is a narrative that is told across various mediums, such as print, graphics, audio, social media, drawing and video. We in the EdMedia team have developed a transmedia story for the Educational Media Program called The Dala Horse, in which a centuries-old relic from Sweden has been found and placed in SFU’s Museum of Archeology and Ethnology – and then stolen by an unknown thief.  

Unlike traditional narratives, however, in The Dala Horse, the aim is to also involve the participants in the storytelling, as you learn skills and create pieces that in turn become part of the story.  The result is hopefully a more engaging and immersive experience than simply learning media skills (although those are still the learning objectives), as it involves elements of guided inquiry and experiential learning.  Over seven sessions of the EMP, the goal is to acquire basic skills in educational media for use in your courses and learning when and how to use them, while taking part in an engaging story where you can (hopefully) solve the mystery of the missing Dala Horse.

Each EMP session will involve creating pieces to help solve the crime, with information and new clues provided in each session.  The following is brief list of what media will be produced in each class and how it relates to the greater mystery of the Dala Horse.

 

Session 1: Kickoff – Introduction to transmedia and The Dala Horse

Sessions 2: OER and Copyright – finding a Creative Commons picture of the Dala Horse online

Session 3: Going Visual – create drawings of suspects and a simple storyboard of events of the crime

Session 4: Graphic – use the timeline and a map of area where the Horse was stolen and organizing pictures and text of the evidence, suspects and experts

Session 5: Audio and Podcasting – interview three expert witnesses in a scripted podcast to be recorded and edited

Session 6: Smartphone Video Production – interview the three suspects on video that will be recorded and edited

Session 7: Reflections and Future Projects – the previous podcasts and videos will be watched/listened to together and participants will be able to discuss and solve the mystery of the Dala Horse as to who the culprit is.   We’ll also be reflecting on what participants have learned and where they want to take their new media creation skills.