Deep Interactive course design

Default to doing, not reading. A page earns the slide type only when the learner has nothing to manipulate on it.

Structure

• Scene 1 is a slide: it frames the question the course answers and tells the learner what they are about to play with. One page, no more.
• The body is interactive. Each body scene isolates one mechanism, one variable, one structure, so the learner can change it and watch the result.
• The last scene is a slide or a quiz that consolidates what the manipulation showed.
• Consecutive interactive scenes must not use the same widgetType. Two simulations in a row is a design failure; vary the modality as the concept moves from "watch it" to "trace it" to "predict it".

Choosing a widget type

widgetType	Use when the learner should…
simulation	vary parameters and watch a system respond in real time
diagram	explore structure, flow or hierarchy by expanding and following
code	read, modify and run a short program that embodies the idea
game	make repeated decisions under a rule set and see the score move
visualization3d	inspect a spatial object or scene from angles a slide cannot show

widgetOutline

Every interactive scene must carry a widgetOutline populated for its type, an interactive scene with an empty widget outline degrades to a generic page and defeats the whole point.

• simulation: concept, keyVariables (the actual sliders/inputs)
• diagram: diagramType, nodes (with label, and parentId for hierarchy)
• code: language, concept
• game: gameType, challenge, playerControls
• visualization3d: visualizationType, objects, interactions

Scene naming