Association for Research in Interactive Digital Narratives (ARDIN), in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University’s Press, proudly presents the first edition of An Educator’s Guide to Interactive Digital Narrative: An Edited Collection from Around the World. This global, transdisciplinary, and continuously evolving collection is dedicated to educators, scholars, and practitioners who teach and develop Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) across diverse fields—including storytelling, game development, interactive journalism, AR/VR/XR, digital humanities, and more.
A Global, Open, and Evolving Resource
45 syllabi from university programs worldwide, this first edition offers a kaleidoscopic view of IDN as it solidifies into a recognized academic discipline. Each syllabus spotlights unique approaches to interactive storytelling, from foundational theories to hands-on best practices. To keep pace with the rapid innovations in industry and academia, new editions will be proposed every five years—ensuring educators always have access to the latest insights, tools, and teaching methodologies.
Who This Collection Serves
- Teachers of Storytelling & Creative Writing: Discover new frameworks to guide students in crafting interactive fiction, digital poetry, branching narratives, and more.
- Game & Interaction Design Faculty: Integrate narrative design fundamentals into game development, prototyping, and user experience.
- Media & Communication Instructors: Explore interactive documentaries, transmedia projects, and innovative communication strategies for teaching emerging narrative formats
- Emerging Media Educators: Access cutting-edge syllabi that blend immersive and AI technologies with interactive narrative theory.
What You’ll Find Inside
- Syllabi & Teaching Materials: From survey courses and introductory workshops to advanced graduate seminars, each syllabus shares resources, assignments, grading rubrics, and platform recommendations (Twine, Unity, Inky, Adobe XD, and more).
- Theoretical Foundations & Practical Guidance: Dive into transdisciplinary approaches that blend game design, media studies, literature, and computer science for holistic IDN instruction.
- Community-Driven Perspectives: Learn from instructors worldwide who contribute unique insights shaped by their local context, audience, and institutional structures.
- Collaborative & Flexible Pedagogies: Get inspiration for mixing lectures, peer critiques, project-based learning, and real-world playtesting.
Fully Open-Access & Author-Friendly
Published under a Creative Commons license, this collection is free to download and open for ongoing submissions—enabling an ever-growing repository of IDN pedagogical knowledge. Through partnership with Carnegie, the collection is also indexed in the ACM Digital Library, ensuring global reach and academic recognition. Contributing authors retain ownership of their work, fostering a vibrant, grassroots community of educators who share and refine IDN teaching practices.
Contribute & Shape Future Editions
This project is always open to new syllabi, reflections, and resources. If you’re an Interactive Digital Narrative educator, researcher, or practitioner, we invite you to submit your syllabus at idnsyllabi.com. Together, we can expand this living archive, support emerging educators, and advance the discipline as it continues to evolve.
Note from the Editors
“We, the teachers, are storytellers.”
Born out of shared experiences—from VR-based IDN classes launched during a global pandemic to conference collaborations at ICIDS—the editorial team of Dr. Joshua A. Fisher (Ball State University), Dr. María Cecilia Reyes (Universidad del Norte, Colombia), and Jonathan Barbara (Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education, Malta) offers this volume as a practical, user-friendly resource. With a foreword by Dr. Janet Murray, this inaugural guide underscores a community-first approach to Interactive Digital Narrative education. We extend our gratitude to Carnegie Mellon University, ETC Press, and our dedicated regional editors for bringing this project to life.
As you explore these pages, we invite you to join our growing community, share your insights, and help shape the future of interactive storytelling. Whether you’re designing IDN syllabi from scratch or refining existing courses, this collection offers the tools, inspiration, and global perspectives you need to empower the next generation of storytellers.