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The rise in popularity of social media platforms and apps has opened the door for storytellers to deliver their content in inventive ways that let them engage with the audience. Transmedia storytelling is becoming a way of life for many who create content, but the definition of the phrase isn't always clear. Basically, it's taking a single story and breaking it down into pieces that are delivered via varying and multiple media platforms. Those platforms can include websites, films, YouTube videos, Twitter accounts, apps, paper brochures - you name it. Ideally, each piece of the story should stand on its own while also feeding into a bigger picture.

It goes by many names: transmedia storytelling, transmedia narrative, cross-media seriality, and multiplatform storytelling. But what exactly is 'it'? And why does it matter? At ECHO, we most often use the term multiplatform storytelling to describe the general technique of telling a story using several formats and/or platforms, ideally with some involvement by audience or end users.

"Transmedia storytelling is a technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies."

Henry Jenkins challenges teachers to actively involve students and put what they see, hear, and read to use. Transmedia environments ask readers to seek out content, explore information in different contexts, evaluate ideas across formats, and interact with other readers.

An increasing number of authors are designing materials that connect print and electronic resouces to tell complex, rich stories. They may incorporate audio, video, gaming, and social technologies to create synergy.

A Digital Novel (2012) ... set in a technology saturated near future, Inanimate Alice tells the story of a girl called Alice, merging text with animation, videos, music and games to explore what it means to conduct your life online. Requires user action to drive the story forward.Uses text, images, music, sound effects, puzzles and games to illustrate and enhance the narrative. Each a self-contained story, the chapters become more complex as the narrative unfolds reflecting Alice's age and competency as she develops towards her calling as a game animator and designer. See the Teacher's Notes for information on using this title with students.

An amazing Canadian work that combines a range of media options to track a bear and tell 'her' story of survival.

"Fluid environments involve using multiple modes of communication to convey a complex, interactive message. Information flows smoothly from one media to the next. The strengths of each media create synergy. The result is something more dynamic than could be done in a single medium."