Choose Your Own Adventure

K.Kipp EC&I 831

Portals & Pages

A Choose Your Own Adventure Learning Summary

Begin

SHORTCUT

Chapter 3: Social Media Tower

Digital Duality

What kind of Citizen?

Digital Pillars

Lobby

Chapter 4:

The Remix Learning Lab

Input

The Shortcut That Wasn't

Do you dare to enter?

Chapter 5:The Inked Path

Kipp Masters Blog

Ethics Fog

You try a digital tool. Then another and another with frantic urgency. Wherever you turn, freedom is promised...while stripping you of control. You start fresh, allowing the words to flow from within. SUBMIT.Your heart thuds to a stop. Even when you don't click the AI button, your voice is silenced. The soul of your story disappears. You question:

• Who owns this content now?
• Can others, especially our youth, find the difference between authentic and autogenerated?
• What will happen to the heart of storytelling and creation?

Pillars of Digital Wisdom

As you ascend the tower, nine glowing pillars appear - Ribble's Elements of Digital Citizenship.Like reflections in glass, essential questions form in your mind:

• Digital fluency: Can you separate fact from mis/disinformation and deepfakes?
• Privacy: Do you know what you are digitally signing away?
• Responsibility: Are you amplifying the right voices online?
• Wellness: Do you understand how and when to unplug?

Figure 1Infographic on Digital Citizenship Note. From Infographic on Digital Citizenship, by Let’s Talk Science, n.d. Retrieved from https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/backgrounders/digital-citizenship-ethics

Our youth may have been born into technology, but we must help them become digitally wise.

The Remix Learning Lab

Sound bites and memes hit you as you step into a strange, neon-glowing studio. Around you, holographic GIFS and adapted lesson plans plaster the walls. This is the Remix Learning Lab, a portal world where knowledge is shared rather than stored. Pedagogies echo. Ideas collide, then combine and mutate. Everything here is a combination of memory and invention. Where will you play and learn first?

The Return

You step into a quiet, familiar valley dotted with wildflowers; a sense of peace washes over you. This is the place you've been searching for in the waking world. Something shimmers in the distance. Is it...? Yes, it's your story, waiting for you! After years spent apart, you can see it so clearly now: patient, beautiful, yet incomplete. You set off down the hill to remember and revise. You will begin again.

Final Chapter: Renewal

You blink against the morning light. Was it all a dream? The screen remains blank. The cursor still blinks, but with opportunity rather than forboding. Something is different. You. You've journeyed through tools and tech. Faced and overcome digital demons. Lost and reclaimed your voice. You have a map of where you've been...but you're more excited about where you'll go next.

The duality of the digital world splits before you.

Publishing Crossroads

Journeying deeper along the Inked Path, the trail suddenly splits. The first path's trail marker reads, "Self-Publishing." It is crooked and unkept, with sharp inclines and sudden declines. From the two options, this one scares you the most...yet you glimpse a warm, enchanting light at the end of it. The other option is well-manicured and straight. This is the smart choice - you will choose it! But wait, what is that you see? Strategically placed gates litter the trail, a few marked "AGENTS," another labelled "Query Letter." The final gate, stretching far onto the path unseen, has the words "The Waiting Game" ominously etched across it. You realize there is no single pathway to sharing your story; you only need the courage to begin walking.

Click image to decide your course.

Chaos to Clarity

At the top of the tower, the blue sky greets you like an old friend. You reach an evolving conclusion: social media is not simply a distraction. It is our modern language, capable of great harm...and great hope. Thoughtless restrictions are pointless. Humans need fewer bans and more guidance. We must stand in the algorithm, learning how to navigate it ethically and purposefully together. In the social media tower, you have found your balance again. You will help others find theirs.

The real power isn't the algorithm; it's in what we choose to do with it.

Portal of Illusions

At first, the shortcut is dazzling. With nimble fingers, your ideas transform into sleek videos. Text writes and narrates itself. But as you walk down the circuit pathway, you can't shake the feeling...something is wrong. A three-legged giraffe stumbles across your path. You cannot find your voice to scream; it's been replaced, rewritten. Something unseen, insidious, begins to take shape. A dawning realization - this is no shortcut but an algorithmic portal of illusions! You begin to tumble down...AI fatigue and paywall pop-ups attack from the shadows. How will you escape?

Chapter 2: Awakening

A warm breeze wakes you. When you open your eyes, you see that the world has changed. Gone are the constraints of gravity...reality. You float in a starlit void, somewhere between time and thought. Portals glow and pulse like constellations on the horizon. The steady thrum of a heartbeat pulses from one. Digital sparks flicker from another, as wildflowers tumble from its neighbour. The largest portal strains with a thousand voices, desperate to be heard. "Explore," your mind beckons you. It is time to choose...

Want to work faster, smarter, stress-free? Enter here!

Pillars of Digital Wisdom

As you ascend the tower, nine glowing pillars appear - Ribble's Elements of Digital Citizenship.Like reflections in glass, essential questions form in your heart:

• Digital fluency: Can you separate fact from mis/disinformation and deepfakes?
• Privacy: Do you know what you are signing away online?
• Responsibility: Are you amplifying the right voices online?
• Wellness: Do you understand how and when to unplug?

Figure 1[Infographic on digital citizenship]​ Note. From [Infographic on digital citizenship], by Let's Talk Science, n.d. (https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/backgrounders/digital-citizenship-ethics).

Our youth may have been born into technology, but we must help them become digitally wise.

Using Social Media For the Greater Good

The duality of the digital world splits before you.

Want to work faster, smarter, stress-free? Enter here!

The Feedback Fields

The path widens, and you set up camp in the open. It's vulnerable here with your words laid bare to others. Some digital nomads offer community...but provide none. Others, like Scribophile, offer support, encouragement, and feedback on your journey. Some advice is helpful; some forgettable.

You find your greatest community with those camping alongside you, young and old alike. The advice is kind but unfiltered. You revise and plan anew, discovering something unexpected. You learn the most when you learn in community.

Sometimes it's fun to digitally play, just don't get lost.

Reclaiming the Narrative

You take a deep breath and press DELETE. Starting fresh, you return to what you know - pen-to-paper, Word docs, Canva, Screencastify. Keep it simple but honest. It's not flashy or fast; it is yours. Your heart. Your hands. Your voice. You reclaim your narrative, acknowledging that AI isn't the villain...but it can't be the author either. No shortcuts. Just you. You walk confidently back into the light.

Query Forest

OER Disclaimer

You pick up a flashing tape labeled OERs and pop it into the remix machine.A disclaimer pops up on the screen:For OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES to be truly free, they must be open to all.

• OERs are powerful tools, but not neutral.
• Accessibility must be synonymous with equity and inclusion.
• Ask: Whose knowledge is shared? Whose is missing?

You remember your time spent on Coursera. Yes, free, but not freely accessible. Certificate and resource paywalls. Western bias. Perspectives missing.

Figure 2: The 5Rs of OERs by David Wiley Note. From The 5Rs of OERs by David Wiley [Infographic], by University of Waikato Library, n.d. (https://libraryguides.waikato.ac.nz/OER/use).

The Lobby

Your eyes travel up, up, up...processing the structure towering before you. The lobby is a contradiction of sights and sounds, a million voices vying to be heard. You realize - this is where your digital story began: chat rooms and MSN connections, oversharing on Facebook, and filtered Snapchat fun. But then...also Instagram doomscrolls, algorithm and AI fatigue, pandemic digital withdrawal. You returned... not to scroll, but to stand up. To occupy positive space. To teach your children and others how to use social media intentionally. The only question now is...which floor will you explore first?

The Return

You step into a quiet, familiar valley dotted with wildflowers; a sense of peace washes over you. This is the place you've been searching for. Something shimmers in the distance. Is it...? It's your story, waiting for you! After years spent apart, you can see it so clearly now: patient, beautiful, yet incomplete. You set off down the valley to remember and revise. You will begin again.

Chapter 1: the Beginning

The relentless blinking of the cursor mocks you. You have been sitting here for hours, and all you have to show for it are a blank screen and a growing headache. Ideas flutter on the outskirts of your weary brain, dissolving just as you touch them. Your fingers hover over the keys, but the words just...won't...come. In surrender, you lay your head on your desk. "I can't do this, " you mutter to no one. Exhaustion hits like a wave, as the soft hum of your laptop lulls you to sleep.

AI Defense Toolbox

Side Quests: Echoes of Other Dreamers

It was a pleasant surprise to learn that something I had always considered a childhood toy actually involves layers of strategy and math. Speed cubing is something I can show my children, reinforcing the idea that meaningful learning can be hidden in playful places.

This topic was completely out of my scope. I cannot pretend to understand it now, but I have immense respect for people who stretch beyond their comfort zones and tackle intellectual challenges.

As someone with sudden unilateral hearing loss, this topic was deeply personal and powerful. I appreciated learning more words and phrases, and seeing how they were being used in every day life.

SmartPLS

Speed Cubing

ASL

A software tool used for statistical analysis, particularly in research involving complex relationships between variables.

Involves solving a Rubik’s Cube in record time using memorized algorithms and logical patterns.

A visual language used by the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.

The Cliffs of Submission

At the end of the valley, you find yourself on the edge of a cliff. Below, warm blue waters and the unknown. Consciousness flickers briefly. A blinking cursor. A submission form...waiting. This is your story, and you believe in it like never before. You've done the work - doubted, learned, revised, edited...hoped again and again. Ready, you take a deep breath and leap.

You don't need to be fearless or perfect; you just need to be relentlessly brave.

Chapter 2: Awakening

A warm breeze wakes you. When you open your eyes, you see that the world has changed. Gone are the constraints of gravity...reality. You float in a starlit void, somewhere between time and thought. Portals glow and pulse like constellations on the horizon. The steady thrum of a heartbeat pulses from one. Digital sparks flicker from another, as wildflowers tumble from its neighbour. The largest portal strains with a thousand voices, desperate to be heard. "Explore," your mind beckons you. It is time to choose...

The Remix Revolutioun

A glowing disc calls to you, thrumming with possibility. When you pick it up, old and new ideas flash before you - voices, lessons, brushstrokes. Old creations borrowed... Reimagined... Made anew. This is the Remix Revolution; the language of third spaces and participatory culture. Past and future can collide here, merging to create fresh paths.

The Lobby

Your eyes travel up, up, up...processing the tower pulsing before you. The lobby is a contradiction of sights and sounds, a million voices vying to be heard. You realize - this is where your digital story began: chat rooms and MSN connections, oversharing on Facebook, and filtered Snapchat fun. But then...also Instagram doomscrolls, algorithm and AI fatigue, pandemic digital withdrawal. You returned... not to scroll, but to stand up. To occupy positive space. To teach your children and students how to use social media intentionally. The only question now is...which floor will you explore first?

AI Defense Toolbox

Chapter 2: Awakening

A warm breeze wakes you. When you open your eyes, you see that the world has changed. Gone are the constraints of gravity...reality. You float in a starlit void, somewhere between time and thought. Portals glow and pulse like constellations on the horizon. The steady thrum of a heartbeat pulses from one. Digital sparks flicker from another, as wildflowers tumble from its neighbour. The largest portal strains with a thousand voices, desperate to be heard. "Explore," your mind beckons you. It is time to choose...