Demystifying Twine: Implementing digital game-based learning in projects and in the classroom

Join us for a session on the pedagogical uses of Twine, a free, open-source tool for creating non-linear stories and games.

The session will include presentations from the following speakers, followed by Q&A and discussion:

• Kaitlin Lucas (she/her), Academic Technologist at CEU
  Kaitlin will share her experience with Twine for creating interactive fiction in the humanities and social sciences. Through an AMICAL small grant project, a team at CEU created two “choose your own adventure” stories that allow students to explore historical events from a non-linear perspective. These prompt reflection on broader themes within the field: “What is the relationship between history and storytelling? Can a historian reach an objective truth?”
• Russell Williams, Associate Professor, Director of Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development at AUP
  Russell will talk about working with Twine with his students as part of a General Education class as part of AUP’s Digital Literary requirements. In the Comparative Literature class, which explores Digital Poetics, students explore notions relating to “immersivity” and “interaction” and how the digital environment allows writers to experiment with non-linear narratives. Students in this class create a Twine story as a way of thinking through these ideas.

Both speakers will address challenges and suggestions for implementation and will close with concrete material takeaways.

Familiarity with Twine will be helpful, not necessary to follow the session. If you haven’t used Twine before, we encourage you to explore the tool and create a few “passages” in advance of the session. The following resources can help guide you through this process:

• Twine 2.0 Introduction (the first 15-minute tutorial from this video series should be sufficient)
• Twine reference guide

Who should attend? Faculty, librarians, IT and academic technologists

The session is organized by the Digital Liberal Arts Programs Committee and will be facilitated by Kate Roy (she/her; Instructor of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Coordinator of Digital Pedagogy Initiatives and the Writing and Learning Center at FUS).