Creating Digital Choose Your Own Adventures

Choose Wisely: Creating Digital Choose Your Own Adventures

bit.ly/TEEcyaEX

Warm Up: Scan the above QR code or go to the bit.ly above to try out some example Choose Your Own Adventures

Techededu

Dan larson

Belinda Howell

Belinda taught at the secondary level (mostly 8th grade US History) before becoming a Digital Learning Specialist. She specializes in boosting engagement, gamification, and one-to-one classroom management

Dan taught at the elementary level for over 15 years before becoming a Digital Learning Specialist. He specializes in blended learning, stations, LMS, video editing, and data collection and analysis.

Your Presenters

Creating

Choose Your Own Adventures

Today's Agenda

1) What are Choose Your Own Adventures? ("CYA's")2) Overview of the creation process

• Type of CYA
• Creating the script and mapping out paths/endings
• AI can help with writing the script and pictures!
• Copying script over to a Google Form

3) Guided walkthrough of a quick CYA 4) Resources

Old School CYA's

Why were CYA's successful?

• They allow you to have the feeling of being in control of your path.
• Your choices can have either good or bad consequences.
• It allows the person to have a sense of ownership and connection.
• Multiple pathways with a variety of endings

Educational Benefits of CYAs

• Provides higher engagement for the user (student, teacher, admin, etc.)

• Promotes literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, cooperation, and most importantly – fun!
• Bringing gamification elements to enhance motivation and student performance.
• Makes a great project for students to show their mastery and creativity

The Benefits of a Digital CYA

• Can be simple to create by using Google tools.
• Easy to modify/update instantly
• Can help gather and track data with the use of Google Sheets and Forms.
• Autocrat can send emails when a student completes one
• Allows for easy sharing with people and it is a free resource to use.
• There are many ways to use it in the classroom - stations, review, assessment, lesson extesions, re-teaching, checking for understanding, and student projects!

How can you create Digital CYA's?

• Google Forms
• More text based
• Autocrat can send emails confirming completion

• Google Slides
• More visual based
• Easier to be incorporated into other programs like Nearpod and Genially

What is the process?

Step 1: Choose your purpose (ex: Story-Mode, Review-Mode, or DIY-Mode) Step 2: Create the script and map out the paths/endings. You can use AI to help create the story, pathways, endings, and even create custom images! Step 3: Create the CYA using the tool of your choice (ex: Google Forms, Google Slides, etc.) Step 4: Test it out!

Story-Mode

• Create a story with multiple pathways/ endings that somehow embeds the content as part of the story/choices
• Autocrat can send emails confirming students reached an ending
• Great way to incorporate gamification as well as potentially reference pop cultural elements to connect with students
• Ex: Mixing Fortnite characters/themes with Social Studies TEK 8.23A
• Most of the work is in the story/ending creation, however AI can help with that!

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Review-Mode

• No story necessary

• Students use CYA to practice a process or review content.
• Example: the water cycle -- students start at any point in the water cycle and then continue with possible pathways that loop.

• Example: Students show steps in process to solve a problem where incorrect answers address the misconception

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DIY-Mode

• Students create a CYA to demonstrate their content mastery
• Ex: Journey to be a Mage is a student created CYA using math problems to move the story (and addresses misconceptions for incorrect answers)

• Students can show their creativity with the writing, choices, pictures/drawings, videos, etc.
• Students can use copyright-friendly images from websites like pics4learning.com or AI creations from Bard, Canva AI, etc.

Creating the Script

AI can help write the script/pathways/endings

• Open AI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bard (both free) will create a unique script based on the prompts you give

• The key to a successful script generated by AI is with the prompts:
• The prompts needs to be very detailed and specific.
• After the AI creates something, give feedback to improve or add onto the story. Keep giving feedback until you like the results
• Don't be afraid to ask it to change a path/ending
• You can include what grade level/subject the CYA is for, and even TEKS to include/incorporate.
• If the language is too advanced, ask Bard to lower/simplify the language
• Copy the the script into a template (recommended)

Bard example

I asked Bard to create a story in the form of a CYA where you find yourself lost in a forest and have to find a way home. I asked for at least two endings. I would respond to each prompt either asking for it to continue the stories or to change up a path. Eventually I asked for it to create endings. I copied and pasted the script into my map template.

Mapping Templates keep you organized

Creating the Google Form

After creating a new Google Form: 1. Copy and paste the introduction and title the CYA 2. Make sure it's multiple choice or drop down only 3. Paste in the answer choices 4. Set the question as required 5. Click for a new section.

Create the Two Sections

6. Title the section based on which path the first answer goes to. 7. Create another section and label it after the second answer choice. If the initial question has more than two answers, create additional sections and name them appropriately.

Linking the Answer Choices

Scroll back up to the first question: 8. Click the three dots and select "go to section based on answer" 9-10 Click the arrows on the right to select the correct sections for each choice. It is imperative that each question is set to be required AND that each answer choice is linked to a section.

Continue..

Go to the next section and repeat:

• Add in the story progression
• Add any pictures/videos you want (see menu on right)
• Put in the choices and link them with the new sections
• Make the question is required

Continue adding the sections until completion. When you reach an ending, have the answer choice select "submit form"

Add pictures/videos

You can add videos or images to any section you want by using the menu on the right. There are AI apps to help with custom images as well! Canva (free for educators!) has an AI at https://www.canva.com/ai-image-generator/

Test it out!!

Before you share your CYA with your students, test it out! Click the eye icon in the top right and verify everything is connected. When you are ready to share it, you can copy the URL while you're viewing it OR click the send button and get it that way.

Let's Practice

Scan the QR code or type in bit.ly/TEEcyascript to get a copy of a short CYA script. In another tab, open up a new Google form. You can type forms.new to bring one up immediately. We will walk through this one together!

bit.ly/TEEcyascript

Resources

Templates and Examples to Download:

CYA Template (Blank)

Example of a completed script and Google Form

Interested in using Autocrat to send an email for successfully completing your CYA?

Video Walkthrough of the Process

Contact Information: Dan Larson: DJLarson@aldineisd.org Belinda Howell: BJHowell@aldineisd.org

Copy of Created CYA

If you want an example of a completed CYA script and form, click the two images to the left. The script was created by Bard and then pasted into the template. Then it was transferred over to the Google Form. Notice how each "page" of the story is a different section in the Google Form

Click on the blank template to make a copy of a very helpful template to organize your CYA. Thanks to @MsVenturin for creating the template!

Copy of Created CYA

If you want an example of a completed CYA script and form, click the two images to the left. The script was created by Bard and then pasted into the template. Then it was transferred over to the Google Form. Notice how each "page" of the story is a different section in the Google Form

Copy of Created CYA

If you want an example of a completed CYA script and form, click the two images to the left. The script was created by Bard and then pasted into the template. Then it was transferred over to the Google Form. Notice how each "page" of the story is a different section in the Google Form