Zoombinis and Choose Your Own Adventure Books: An Analysis

Reflection on this week's play. 

I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child. Reflecting back with analysis, the reason I loved those books was because of the reader agency and multiple paths and outcomes. As in life, there was no one way. Zoombinis offers a similar play experience in that there are choices and different paths to take. In both Zoombinis and the books, the player/reader makes decisions that directly affect the outcome. In Zoombinis, I can choose which path to take and how to solve puzzles based on the Zoombinis' attributes. In the books, I can choose a different option that leads to various different narrative branches. As a reading/playing experience, I'm engaged and invested. 

Both experiences offer multiple pathways and outcomes. In Zoombinis, different routes lead to varying puzzles and challenges, and in the books, different choices lead to alternate storylines. Because of the variance, both can be replayed. In the replay, new strategies might be used for solving puzzles or different paths might be explored. 

I wonder....how might I design professional learning for teachers that offers agency and multiple paths and outcomes?? 

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