Adjustable Level of Challenge

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Teachers can record messages with individualized writing instructions for each student in WiggleWorks. From WIGGLEWORKS® Scholastic Beginning Literacy System © 1994 by Scholastic Inc.

In his studies into the enormous appeal of computer games, Malone (1981, 1984) identified incrementally adjustable challenge levels as critical factors. The most successful games, such as Lode Runner or Tetris, meet players at their level of competence and then induce them to move beyond it, in manageable steps. In the realm of writing instruction, it would be rare to encounter a learning task as highly constrained and structured as those found in computer games. Thus finding and teaching to students' ZPDs requires a willingness to provide less highly constrained experiences that meet each student at the edge of his or her competence, and provide support for moving ahead.

Multimedia composing tools such as HyperStudio or WiggleWorks offer teachers the opportunity to present writing tasks with varied levels of challenge for each student. For example, in the My Book section of WiggleWorks teachers can provide each student with a different writing suggestion using the recorded "teacher message." Ranging from highly structured to open-ended, tasks can require greater or lesser degrees of independent text generation.

Examples of recorded teacher messages with different levels of structure include the following:

• Color the pictures and substitute your name for the word "we" on each page.
• Think of a new animal to color, put in the word, and draw a picture to go with it.
• Use your "my words" list to place new words in the story.
• Use the "record and playback" button to record your ideas, then type the words to match.
  Click on the circle to hear your words read aloud, then compare them to your recording.
  Rewrite the words until they sound good.
• Erase the words and picture, make a new story, and draw a new picture to go with it.

Many programs supporting multimedia composition are open ended, enabling teachers to establish varied levels of challenge by customizing the assignments according to students' skill levels and by encouraging students to use images and sounds in the completion of their work. Examples include HyperStudio, Digital Chisel, and Imagination Express.