Washington D.C. (PRWEB) December 03, 2014
The latest episode of Inanimate Alice, an innovative, part-game, part-movie transliteracy education resource, was released today. With the release of this new episode, the creators also announce a new pilot for schools or districts in running 1-to-1 initiatives.
Inanimate Alice is a storytelling project that marries text with sound, movie and gaming elements to create an experiential story crafted to build digital literacy skills for today’s youth. In this digital-born story, readers are transported into the world of Alice Field, a globetrotting girl who wants to be a game designer.
In Episode 5, students interested in a career in digital production, game-making and creative arts can tap into the hour and a half of densely populated, audio-visual narrative available to begin to hone their skills. All students who engage with Inanimate Alice build digital, media, visual, information, and critical literacies – a practice that is called transliteracy education.
With the release of Episode 5, districts that sign-up for the pilot will, for the first time, be able to download Inanimate Alice onto local servers and computers and the creators are offering to provide customized support for district-wide implementation. Educators involved in district-wide pilot projects will also have a unique opportunity to work hand-in-hand with our literacy and gaming experts to create lesson plans to further enhance the impact of Inanimate Alice in the classroom.
“With the explosion of one-to-one programs and mobile devices in the classroom, educators have expressed an interest in having content that captivates and motivates students. Inanimate Alice does both. It also brings creativity back to learning by giving students an opportunity to roll-up their sleeves and write their own endings, ” said series producer Ian Harper.
Some elements that will delight game-minded learners and teachers include:
- A step up in technology from Flash to Unity3D, a leading ‘game engine’ tool, a version of which is completely free to download
- A mix of engaging and atmospheric 2D and 3D graphics
- A fully realised, highly playable video game ‘created by Alice’ that forms part of the narrative
- A 22 page Development Journal ‘created by Alice’ that goes behind the scenes on how the episode was made and offers hidden tips and cheats
- Access to images and video footage, scripts, music and sound effects files, artwork and animations that can be used to create lesson plans and remixed by students in their own creative work
Thousands of ‘early-adopting’ teachers across the US have already been using Inanimate Alice. In a recent article in EdTechDigest, 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Kristal Doolin, who had an early look at Episode 5, wrote that “watching students discover new ideas and discuss them as I work as a facilitator rather than the keeper of knowledge was priceless.”
“Inanimate Alice is a universal story with the power to engage students of all abilities and nationalities. Students can learn a lot from Alice who having traveled widely from an early age she is sympathetic to the plight of others. Multi-cultural, multi-lingual and a would-be multimedia artist, Alice is a champion of ICT education and the empowerment of girls in a male-dominated world,” said Harper.
District leaders interested in signing up for the pilot should send an email directly to Ian Harper (ian(at)inanimatealice(dot)com). Additional information can be found online at http://www.inanimatealice.com
About Inanimate Alice
Inanimate Alice is the flagship title of The Bradfield Company Ltd., with its registered office in London. Launched in 2005, the digital novel is used by educators in over 100 countries and is available in seven (7) languages. The series, associated resources, and comprehensive lessons are aligned to the U.S. Common Core State English Language Arts Standards in the area of Reading Literature and are aligned to Curriculum Standards in Australia. It was awarded Best Website for Teaching and Learning by the American Association of School Librarians in 2012 and has received support from Education Services Australia (a governmental organization), the Arts from the Arts Council of England and the European Commission.