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Interactive documentaries are achieving fame and many people are engaging in the technology. However minimal research means the benefits of interactive documentaries remain unexplored. This project investigates the actual benefit of interactive documentaries. It also relates to exploring the benefits of this genre and studying how interactive media can engage youths.           The hypothesis studies how films implement interactive functions and whether this implementation is a positive or proactive influence on the user’s engagement. Additionally, it will be argued that the interactive narrative gave a more positive effect on the young audience than was recorded for the TV documentary.  In particular, and since it is the targeted audience of the research project, the study will discuss how youths paid more attention to the narrative, were motivated to explore the artifact or object in question, and facilitated mood change allowing greater expression and understanding of the subject. It is argued that interactive functions can provide these effects because they allow a user to go inside the content (Manovich 2000, 206). In other words, the user’s participation becomes active rather than passive within interactive media content. To address the research question, a research plan was put in place and is as follows: A short web documentary was created, with Interactive functions, and evaluated with the target audience. An identical film was produced without interactive functions. Both versions were presented to the target audience, and interviews were conducted to monitor and evaluate audience participation.  The results were summarized with comparison and analysis for study presentation. The production of a film was required to describe interactive functions. Another film formed content for a chosen short documentary about the cultural history of an archeological item. This documentary is available in Västra Götaland Museum at Skara and focuses on when, where and how the archaeological item was found and what it symbolized in terms of cultural significance. The documentary film had a chronological narration, including archive photographs, videos materials, and also featured an interview. One particularly interesting story was chosen from a number of Museum pieces. It should be noted that the Västra Götaland Museum had a website which was popular viewing for a significant numbers of teenagers.

Dissertation.

Thesis (PhD)--Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 2006.

Honors thesis--Millsaps College, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Lehigh University, 1999. / Includes vita. Bibliography: leaves 140-164.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 25, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Dent M. Rhodes (chair), Fay F. Bowren, Janet D. Hartman, Kenneth F. Jerich. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-100) and abstract. Also available in print.

This research derives from a survey of primary and secondary literature and my practice as a professional artist using electronic information delivery systems. The research has informed the creation of an interactive art work, authored so that emergent meaning can be examined and explored within a specific generative virtual environment by a variety of participants. It addresses a series of questions concerning relationships between the artist, the art work and the viewer/user. The mutable nature of this computer-based space raises many questions concerning meaning production, i.e., how might such a techno-poetic mechanism relate to past practices in the arts, and in particular how might its use affect our understanding of theories of meaning? If the outcome of this part of the research suggests a radical transformation in meaning production as dynamically encountered through interactivity with a generative work of art, then how might the construction of this device inform a new field of practice? The scope of the topic and the secondary questions that flow from the initial speculation focus on the inter-conveyance of text (both spoken and written), image (both still and time-based) and music, as encountered by participants through interactive engagement within an authored and inter-authored virtual environment. The method has been to extend the realm of a series of theoretical positions relative to these areas as they appear in the mainstream literatures on art and interactivity, meaning and understanding. A virtual interactive art work has been developed in parallel to the literature survey and exhibited in Europe and Japan. The conclusions have been drawn by the author on the basis of a series of theoretical positions that examine the operative nature of an art work which is intended to generate emergent meaning. Future research is also discussed that seeks to extend our understanding and use of generative virtual environments.

This dissertation explores the potential applications for virtual reality (VR) stories in support of social justice causes, examining whether digital games historically been successfully leveraged for social justice purposes, and determining which components of VR technology can most encourage narrative transportation of participants in VR stories. The first chapter examines theories of simulation, virtual reality, narrative, and interactivity, as well as concepts of immersion from various disciplines and settles on narrative transportation, a theory from cognitive psychology, as the most useful in measuring the effect of VR stories on participants. The second chapter examines ethnographic practices, activist games, and modes of reclaiming digital spaces as a way to encourage digital social justice and ensure traditionally marginalized communities have meaningful access to technology—or, the tools to use it, create with it, and critique it. The third chapter presents the result of a play study conducted to measure participants' transportation in a recent VR narrative and finds VR interactive narratives to be more transportive and engaging than their two-dimensional counterparts. The fourth chapter interrogates some of the fears of VR technology, namely that it will be used to further current societal injustices and as a potentially powerful propaganda tool. The final chapter presents five recommendations for designers seeking to experiment in virtual reality narratives. The ultimate aim of this work is to encourage scholars, designers, and participants to make ethical decisions in the creation and use of virtual societies.

Student achievement and the incorporation of technology into the classroom have become a focus for schools all across the United States. In spite of emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic, standardized test scores indicate that US students‟ understanding of math is insufficient. In an effort to identify a means of solving the problem of low achievement levels in math, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) as a learning tool in eighth grade math classes at Clarkdale Attendance Center was evaluated for its effectiveness. Additionally, the impact of differentiated learning styles on Mississippi Curriculum Test 2 (MCT2) math scores was analyzed. With todays generation of students being so technology oriented, it seems only fitting that teachers continue to find different technological ways to meet the needs of all learners, in order for them to achieve academically. The reasons for this research include: (a) determining if the implementation of IWB help increase student achievement in eighth grade math at Clarkdale Attendance Center, and (b) determining if IWB meet the needs of all individual learning styles. Not concurring with IWB literature, data obtained through this study indicated that IWB had no significant difference in eighth grade MCT2 mathematics test scores between students who were instructed using IWB technology and those who were not instructed with IWB technology, and that IWB had no significant effect of learning styles on students‟ eighth-grade MCT2 mathematics test scores adjusting for the effect of students‟ seventh-grade MCT mathematics test scores. Future research which replicates this study could be conducted with various other grades, school districts, and states to determine if the results of this study are consistent with findings related to it.