Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

COMIC LIFE STORYTELLING FOR SKILL RETENTION

Creating Multi-Sensory Procedural Stories with Comic Life to

Enhance Technology Skills Retention

Roderick Murray

Wilkes University Course EDIM 501D

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Multi-sensory Learning- Part 1

Daniel Pink (2005) frequently extols the power and

usefulness of “story” in his book A Whole New Mind, and not only

in the chapter of the same name. He uses story throughout the

book to illustrate other right-brained senses. Stories come in

many forms- oral, textual, visual, musical, theatrical, and

play, to name a few. Using stories that utilize multi-sensory

modalities make for a richer learning environment, are more

memorable, and make for better recall. According to various

researchers and theorists, multi-sensory environments are more

likely to engage more connections to the brain and therefore,

create meaningful learning. Even the early-learning pioneer,

Maria Montessori, was a proponent of multi-sensory learning

(although she did not refer to it in these terms), which became,

in part, the basis for her educational movement and the schools

that followed. In her book, The Absorbent Mind, published in

many languages over the years, she eludes to a child’s multi-

sensory being, and the importance of teaching children with this

in mind.

Let us consider the organization of the nervous system in

all its complexity. First of all we have the brain itself;

then the senses which take the images which are to be

passed to the brain and thirdly we have the nerves. But

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

what is the aim of the nerves and where do they go? Their

purpose is to give energy, movement to the muscles (the

flesh). This complex organism, therefore, consists of three

parts: (1) the brain (the centre); (2) the senses and (3)

the muscles. Movement is the conclusion and the purpose of

the nervous system. Without movement we cannot speak of an

individual at all. (Montessori, 1949, p. 198)

Historically, Montessori was not the only one to consider

how an appeal to multiple senses can increase learning. Edgar

Dale (1947) in his book Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching and its

subsequent editions originally described how various

experiences, from reading down to the real thing, could have

exponential effects on learning. This became know as the “Cone

of Learning,” which the class studied in Unit Six. Although the

variations and numbers associated with Dale’s cone continue to

be discussed and disputed, research shows that the reinforcement

of learning by practice and rehearsal while preparing to teach

is an effective way to increase retention.

There is also a wide variety of contemporary research in

the field of multi-sensory learning. Studies relating to gains

in learning in Science, Language and Special Education support

the conjecture that learning is enhanced when students are

taught using their various senses at the same time. Using the
 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

various senses appeals to both side of the brain, but story in

particular, appeals to the right side. According to the

Anchorage (Alaska) School District (2009), students taught with

multi-sensory instruction “take in information, they SEE it, SAY

it, HEAR it, and FEEL it as their hands WRITE it” (ASD, 2009),

in other words, they learn it!

Through the various units in this course, what has also

become clear is that long-term learning can be increased by the

development and repetitive use of neural pathways. Pink also

argues that story “represents a pathway to understanding that

doesn’t run through the left side of the brain” (Pink, 2005, p.

115). While referring to Norman’s (1993) book, Things That Make

us Smart, Pink also quotes “‘stories are important cognitive

events, for they encapsulate, into one compact package,

information, knowledge, context and emotion.’” Pink's statement

that story is "high concept because it sharpens our

understanding of one thing by showing it in the context of

something else" (Pink, p. 103), supports the neurological

research that says that creating more pathways to information in

the brain increases the likelihood that it will be learned.

The research on the use of Digital Storytelling to enhance

learning also supports the argument that multi-modal or multi-

sensory learning increases knowledge and memory. In particular,

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Barret’s (2006) survey of various methods to evaluate Digital

Storytelling refers to numerous studies linking storytelling,

student engagement and long-term learning.

It is, therefore, encouraging that student use of a

particular software title to create stories that contain text,

images and perhaps sound as well, but focused on technology

procedures, should have a powerful impact on learning of

technology skills.

Comic Life as a Means to Skill Retention- Part 2

Comic Life, by Plasq Software (http://plasq.com/comiclife),

is a multi-platform software package that is becoming popular in

K-12 schools due to the wide variety of uses for which it can be

applied. From the obvious comic creation, to storyboarding, to

the illustration of procedures, Comic Life’s use in school is

expanding continually and is only limited by the creativity of

students and teachers. Easy to use and master, and highly

engaging for students, the visual, narration and dialogue

features, as well as photo enhancing tools make excellent

results easy to achieve in a few short lessons. Students easily

master the techniques of importing images, altering the styles,

adding accompanying titles, narration and conversations to

create stories, both fictional and real.

When shifting to the less obvious applications, and when

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

utilizing the Pink’s (2005) ideas on Story and the relevant

research previously discussed, the use of Comic Life to design,

create, illustrate, script, act out, photograph, record, and

produce a procedural story, such as “How to make a Screencast,”

“How to unfreeze your PC,” or “How to reset your LCD Projector

Filter Counter,” can have exceptional results in the

reinforcement of learning, since these multi-sensory activities

should enhance retention, for both the creators, and the readers.
Students involved in the Ruth Thompson Middle School

Technology Team, student volunteers that assist classroom

teachers with the setup and maintenance of school owned

classroom technology, volunteered to create some sample comics

detailing some of the routine procedures that are needed around

a technology school. Not lost on the students was the irony that

their teachers frequently forget these procedures! They set

about to narrate, through photos, screenshots, characters,

dialogue and accompanying audio, the step-by-step instructions

for numerous simple tasks, that by nature of their infrequent

use, can easily be forgotten. Examples of student created

procedural comics are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The first, “How

to unfreeze your PC” was created by a student who wanted to show

how simple it is to use the “control-alt-delete” keyboard

combination to regain control of a frozen personal computer. The

second, Figure 2, created with teacher assistance, demonstrates

for the student Technology Team, and teachers who regularly

forget, and is called “How to reset your LCD Projector Filter

Counter.”
 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Another simple example is the regular cleaning of the

classroom LCD filter, a task in response to the automated on-

screen message emitted by the projector. Tech Team students are

given practice on this, but on a regular basis, teachers call

the IT teacher to assist with the task. Students wrote a script,

photographed the procedure and then, created dialogue in Comic

Life to illustrate characters completing the task- a Digital

Story. An audio track could also be recorded, and the comics

then exported to iMovie where the visuals and audio tracks were

combined and posted for the Teah Team and the teachers to access

on a shared drive, as needed.

It would be an interesting research study to compare the

success of these using a control group (of teachers, perhaps?!)

and a group who were able to read the comics and be tested on

skill or task retention later on.

Students enjoyed creating the comics and reported that

they would not have any difficulties teaching teachers how to

clean or reset LCD filters! The possibilities for this kind of

storytelling are endless. Students could create comics that

explain scientific principles, recall and explain events in

Canadian History, or describe an important skill or concept in

Mathematics. In these examples, the intended learner is, of

course, the student, and through the crafting of comics via

multi-sensory media, important learning can be completed, and

retained, by students and teachers alike.

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

References

ASD | Multi-Sensory Instruction (MSI). (n.d.). ASD Online -- The

Web Site of the Anchorage School District. Retrieved

November 29, 2009, from http://www.asdk12.org/depts/msi/

Barrett, H. (2006). Researching and Evaluating Digital

Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool. Proceedings of

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education

International Conference 2006, 1, 647-654. Retrieved

November 29, 2009, from

http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/SITEStorytelling

2006.pdf

Dale, E. (1947). Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching. Columbus,

Ohio: The Ohio State University.

Montesorri, M. (n.d.). The Absorbent Mind. The Absorbent Mind.

Retrieved November 29, 2009, from

ia331308.us.archive.org/1/items/absorbentmind031961mbp/abso

rbentmind031961mbp.pdf Scan of copy of The Absorbent Mind

published in Madras, India, 1949.

Montessori, M. (1967). The Absorbent Mind. New York: Delta.

Norman, D. A. (1993). Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human

Attributes in the Age of the Machine. New York: Addison

Wesley Publishing Company.

 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Pink, D. (2006). A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule

the Future. Boston: Riverhead Trade.

Intellect Group. (n.d.). Multisensory learning in inclusive

classrooms. - Free Online Library. News, Magazines,

Newspapers, Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books

- Free Online Library. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Multisensory+learning+in+incl

usive+classrooms-a0111848857

Research-based support for digital storytelling and Dual-

Coding Theory. (n.d.). Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

Retrieved November 30, 2009, from

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/02/07/research-based-

support-for-digital-storytelling-and-dual-coding-theory/

Vogel, J. (Digital Storytelling - Research Supporting Digital

Storytelling. (n.d.). Placeholder for courseweb. Retrieved

November 30, 2009, from

http://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~jevogel2/lis506/research

.html
 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Figures

Figure 1: How to unfreeze your PC

Comic Life Procedural Storytelling
Comic Life Procedural Storytelling
Comic Life Procedural Storytelling
 Comic Life Procedural Storytelling

Figure 2: How to reset your LCD Projector Filter Counter

Comic Life Procedural Storytelling