Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540ss/tasks/task-5-twine/

For starters, I have to say that I think that the extent to which Sarah and I differed in terms of both our approaches and mindsets regarding this task is quite hilarious. Sarah enjoyed the overall process and reflected on it fondly; I did not. The irony is that we both recalled our days reading R.L. Stein’s “choose your own adventure” Goosebumps books in our reflections, but whereas it seemed to bring a sense of nostalgia to Sarah, I recollected how much I disliked the books. Sarah planned out her story ahead of time on paper, whereas I addressed in my reflection that I likely should have done that sort of planning, but ultimately opted against it. As a result, she ended up with a successful story that had nice flow and incorporated educational components relating to Greek gods. I ended up highlighting some of the functionalities of Twine, but without any real educational content.

Overall, I am envious of Sarah’s positive experience using Twine. It’s a reminder for me that my students may appreciate things differently from myself, and as a result I should be slower to dismiss potential learning opportunities that don’t necessarily connect with my preferences. I also appreciate the fact that she addressed the differences in the editing process between the rough draft she put on paper, and her later digital version. Even with limitations on what can be done on paper through editing, it can still be a good place to start when creating writing pieces, especially when storyboarding rough plans. Sure there are tech apps that can help with that process, but they can be cumbersome to work with – especially if you’re new to the technology – and they still don’t allow you to splay out several pages at once in the same way that you can with paper and a big desk.