The Interactive Stories learning design is influenced by constructivist theories of learning. More particularly though it is the work of researchers such as Seymour Paper and David Jonassen and the concept of constructionism that underpin the design.

The Interactive Stories learning design is project-based, collaborative and learning-constructed. Jonassen writes: "With a little experience, individuals can become their own artists, publishers or video producers." (1996: 3). Interactive Stories carries out this idea, allowing students to practise and express their language skills through a creative application of digital media technology.

Reference:
Jonassen, D. H. (1996). Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking. New Jersey, Merrill.

ORIGIN OF THE LEARNING DESIGN
In 1996, the primary author visited an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney titled "Burning the Interface". One particular exhibit, "Virtual Persons" by Luc Courchesne (University of Montreal), so inspired Fardon that he developed a model for student-produced multimedia. The model utilises the StoryTime (Fardon & Kinder, 1997) authoring tool, developed by the Arts Multimedia Centre, which allows the author to configure relationships between text, visual and audio media on screen using a variety of interfaces.

Reference:
Fardon, M. and Kinder, J. (1997). Partnership in multimedia production: A model that works. In R. Kevill et al (Eds), What works and why: Proceedings of ASCILITE 97. Perth, Curtin University, pp.175-180.

TIMES THE LEARNING DESIGN HAS BEEN USED
The learning design has been implemented fifteen times.

MODIFICATIONS SINCE FIRST USE
The learning design has evolved since it was first implemented in 1999 both in terms of process and outcome.

The process has evolved due to some technology changes such as the emergence of iMovie. In the first implementation, the project used Adobe Premiere for video capture and editing. The balance between technical skills and content has also varied depending on the teacher involved. The technical training activity has also been reduced as students have come to the project with more developed skills and the material covered has been refined.

The outcome in terms of the final production has also evolved. Initial projects developed by students were quite rigid in their duplication of the preliminary dialogue style examples developed by staff. As projects have gone by, students have become more creative with their script, developing quite complex stories in some cases.

A variation on the concept has been developed to cater for differing needs, particularly beginner and highly advanced language learners. This variation involves students simply preparing short films rather than interactive stories.

DISSEMINATION
There has been interest in reuse from other parties who have visited UWA or who have seen this learning design presented at conferences. To date the learning design has not been reused beyond UWA as the StoryTime application is a key component of the design and has not been available outside of UWA.

RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON THE DESIGN
This project formed part of the national ASCILITE-CUTSD project that focussed on the evaluation of computer-facilitated learning projects. A qualitative evaluation project was conducted during 2000-1.

The major findings of this evaluation will be summarised here, however detailed descriptions can be found in the paper published in AJET. (de Souza, M., Fardon, M. and Phillips, R. (2002). "An evaluation of tertiary language learning through student constructed multimedia: The Interactive Stories approach". Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 18(2), 127-146.)

Three main areas were outlined in the major findings section: improvements, applicability, and sustainability. Improvements focussed on issues relating to learning supports such as the need for better guidelines for using the technology, more access to technical support and better guidance regarding the aims and assessment procedures for the project. Applicability referred to the observation that the project seemed to be more suitable for intermediate/advanced language learners as compared with beginners. The final issue referred to the long-term sustainability of the project; in particular there was a question of whether the project could continue to be implemented at the scale it was running at during the evaluation period.

DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS VERSUS INTENDED OUTCOMES
The evaluation found that the learning design was successful in achieving the intended learning outcomes. All teaching staff involved with the project found the project to be educationally valid and implementations have continued, though with only 1-2 units each semester due to the resourcing implications.

UNEXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Perhaps the most significant unexpected learning outcome related to the sense of community developed in the classes participating in "Interactive Stories" projects.

HOW LEARNER ENGAGEMENT IS SUPPORTED
The learning design promotes significant engagement by learners. Students are excited by the prospect of developing skills in aspects of digital media. They have a great deal of fun during the course of the project, which is always evident in the presentation sessions when they demonstrate their final production.

The learning design put students in control of the creation of their final production. They are creating something that they can take with them after the learning experience is over; something that can contribute to their learning portfolio.

Students work in small groups, each member bringing varied skills and experience to the project. This leads to tremendous opportunity for peer interaction in all aspects of the project. Out-takes often show students correcting one another on matters of pronunciation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF LEARNING CONTEXT
A critical aspect of the learning design relates to the other skills and experience developed during the course of the project. While students are practising and developing language skills in the four macro language learning areas, they are also developing skills in digital media, team-work, and organization.

Therefore this project considers the broader context of university education, developing generic attributes, thus providing students with critical experience for their professional life ahead.

HOW THE LEARNING DESIGN CHALLENGES LEARNERS
A significant aspect of this learning design is that students are able to go beyond the boundaries of the defined project, creatively expressing their knowledge and experience of the subject. While a base requirement is defined, students invariably spend additional time fine-tuning their final productions.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRACTICE
The learning design encourages reflective practice through continuous feedback throughout the learning process. Students are continually gaining feedback through the process of group collaboration with peers. Peer feedback occurs during the script writing, filming and authoring (construction) and presentation phases of the design. Teacher feedback is also gained at two critical points, assessment of draft script and final production.