Digital Choose Your Own Adventure stories.

Remember those little white books from the 80's that allowed you choose whether your hero slayed the dragon or ran in fear?  I loved reading "Choose Your Own Adventure" novels when I was young and yes, I cheated.  Like every other kid, I hated dying 20 times before I got the correct solution.

When I introduced this style of writing to my Grade 6 students, I was blown away by the intricate pathways they created (so much that we had to create digital maps to keep track of their choices).  Several of my reluctant writers created 30 page books, weaving tales ranging from WWII to alien invasions!

So why am I telling you this in my virtual classroom? I was recently reminded by a Tweet from rmbyrne ( I recommend following his blog at http://www.freetech4teachers.com/) about using YouTube to create scenarios and story lines.  Enter...wait for it....Online "Choose Your Own Adventure" digital media!!!

By using YouTube's annotation feature, you can link other videos to notes left in the video.  The viewer clicks on an option and is re-directed to your next linked video.

As usual, I've used my virtual classroom contacts, a.k.a. my unknowing family, to recreate a book favourite of mine, James Dashner's "The Maze Runner".  Remember to think all the cross curricular possibilities of this YouTube feature (historical timelines, literacy, how-to vids, etc..).

When playing the first video, you will see the choices pop up somewhere on the screen at the end of the scene.  Unfortunately the annotations won't pop up in some mobile devices that can't use flash (iPhone, iPad, etc).  If you don't see the annotations pop up, try viewing the video through a laptop or desktpop computer. It's also best viewed from YouTube rather than through the blog. You can get there through http://youtu.be/bgOKFE9Z0xs.  There are several choices through the entire string of videos. Enjoy.