As a Flip Student Voice Ambassador, I appreciate Trista sharing and showcasing yet another possibility with Flip! I also loved her commitment to create a transformed meaning and redesigning the What's in My Bag? task. Her choice to redesign this task to be from the perspective of a student and 'digital native' was relatable and enjoyable- going from the contents of a backpack (physical items) to a laptop (files). Trista also mentioned that viewing this task from the perspective of a student helped her to better understand their needs and how we can help meet them. It serves as a good reminder to educators that when students struggle to use written text, Flip can help them communicate their thinking in a visual text.

I really loved the distinction she made between the self-care items that we as adults have and need (lotion, books, yoga, meditation, etc) versus the ones our digital natives need. I especially thought adding digital and computer literacy as necessary self-care items for our digital natives was a great idea!!

Trista and I agree on the fact that there is still a need for tasks involving physical paper and pencil. For my own mode bending assignment (for which I also recorded using Flip), I relied on a paper script to help guide my talk and ensure I also stayed on track and focused, as I too tend to ramble.

Trista's task reminded me of the importance of oral storytelling. Using Flip helps humanize the task (being able to hear the voice of the person presenting) and helps connect to the audience. Flip can also help students articulate ideas- especially struggling students.

Trista's concluding thoughts mimicked my own as I completed this assignment. Thinking about how the benefits of hypermedia for those who struggle with text make it worth it to include in the classroom whenever possible. This powerful quote by Trista sums up the power of Hypermedia, "[it] helps revolutionize education by freeing students from teacher centered classrooms, encouraging critical thinking and empowering students."

I thought Trista's Twine was very well done - and the gifs and images included put it a step above most! I loved the mystery theme and the chance to be a part of the narrative- it made it fun and engaging; forcing the audience to be active participants, is a great way to keep them focused and engaged. This activity kind of reminded me of those escape rooms, which I've done with my students in the past (using Forms and Google apps), but your 'Classroom Mystery' gave me inspiration to create an escape room in Twine instead! I love using digital interactive activities such as this in the classroom, because it holds students accountable for their learning and it's a good way to ensure students stay on task and learn the necessary content.

I'm with Trista in that Hypertext is not new, however using Twine really allows you to appreciate the ease with which links can be added or embedded in our documents, presentations, and assignments we provide our students.

I love this quote Trista referenced from Bolter (2001), “a path through a virtual space and the reader becomes a visitor or traveler in that space” (p. 29), as I too loved choose your own adventure stories as a youth! I loved the power that came with the fact that my journey relied on the decisions I made. Voice and choice is underrated with our students- as it leads to increased engagement and motivation.

Trista's comment, "I switched my planning phase to pencil and paper, which worked well. I was able to see all at one time the road map of where I wanted to go", shows off the power (and necessity) of the pencil and paper! When I first used Twine (for an assignment last summer), I remember that the planning done beforehand was absolutely essential to creating a successful cohesive, organized story. I did my whole project on paper first, then inserted each paragraph into my story one Twine block at a time. As Trista so eloquently compared the process, "like planning a teaching unit... having the end in mind was key to [her] success"; this is more than true and many teachers can attest to this!

Trista, your choice to use visuals was an excellent one- as I found that element to be what lacked the most from our fellow colleagues' work, so good on you to persevere and figure out how to embed images and gif’s into your story! After everything we've read and learned about the power of multi-modal learning materials, your visuals definitely made a positive impact on the whole reading adventure! I too, "want to learn more about how to add sound clips to enhance the story further," as that is the one thing missing from the Twine's I've created.