for the upcoming session with Ray Jimenez and Dr. Allen Partridge on Crafting effective narratives for learning design.
I decided to improve my skills in the area of storytelling so I read Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need. It was a great read and provided me some skills that definitely apply to writing elearning with storytelling elements thread throughout. I really recommend elearning designers add this to their elearning toolbelts.
Interesting suggestion – I think I will check that out.
Thanks Paul.
Save the Cat is a great recommendation, and I would also suggest The Writers Journey (or many of the various resources on the Heroes Journey).
It was a revelation for me to learn that screenwriting (as with other forms of writing) is as much science as art. We need to understand the conventions before learning how to play with them!
Love it – thank you.
Paul, I read this book The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating https://amzn.to/3oKwEaX We look at our lives through other people’s stories.
Absolutely! I think being able to connect with the learner directly helps them to want to learn the content, which means they will be more engaged. Storytelling is a great way to get them to lean in.
I think storytelling is a very powerful tool in learning. When the story relates to the learner, it is something that can have a lasting impact on them.
When I was a facilitator/teacher, I told stories of my experiences and how they related to the material I was teaching quite frequently. I have managed to include some of this in the courses I have developed as part of my work as an Instructional Designer.
I have been in some training sessions and participated in some elearning course where the stories seemed a bit too on the nose, and too perfect for the topic. The challenge I have with this is that the story becomes what I remember because of its “fakeness”. I think there needs to be some realism in the story for it to have the full impact.
To finalize my point and answer your question, I do think they can aid in comprehension and retention of material, when used correctly.
Experience sharing is all about storytelling. It helps me a lot to sustain conversations and learning content when I am in experience sharing. I appreciate your observation about how “fakeness” can lead to distachment of learners and readers. One possible method I found to work, is not to tell my story, but allow learners to share their stories.
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