Transmedia learning: a literature review

Figures & data

Table 1. Articles related to transmedia learning from 2010 to 2023.

Study Attributes – Author	Country	Education Level	Methodology	Theme	Year
Edmonds, S	AU	Mixed	Conceptual	Transmedia learning	2010
Pence, Harry E.	US	Tertiary	Conceptual	Transmedia learning	2012
Teske, Paul RJ.; Horstman, Theresa	US	Secondary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2012
Wiklund-Engblom, Annika; Hiltunen, Kasper; Hartvik, Juha; Porko-Hudd, Mia	Finland	Primary	Conceptual	Transmedia Storytelling	2013
Fleming, Laura	US	Secondary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2013
Herr-Stephenson, Becky; Alper, Merly; Reilly, Erin	US	Primary	Case Study	Transmedia Literacy	2013
Kalogeras, Stavroula (1)	UK	Tertiary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2013
Kalogeras, Stavroula (2)	Greece	Tertiary	Conceptual	Transmedia learning	2013
Raybourn, Elaine M. (1)	US	Professional	Conference	Transmedia learning	2013
Scott J. Warren; Jenny S. Wakefield; Leila A. Mills	US	Tertiary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2013
Ivanova, M; Holotescu, C; Grosseck, G	Bulgaria/ Romania	Primary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2014
Raybourn, Elaine M (2)	US	Professional	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2014
Reid, James; Gilardi, Filippo	Bogota/Colombia/ Japan	Tertiary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2013
Rodrigues, Patrícia; Bidarra, José	Portugal	Primary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2014
Sutherland, Karen; Barker, Richie	AU	Tertiary	Qualitative	Transmedia Literacy	2014
Raybourn, Elaine M (3)	US	Professional	Conference	Transmedia learning	2015
Bidarra, José; Rodrigues, Patricia	Portugal	Primary	Case Study	Transmedia Storytelling	2016
Tombleson, B; Wolf, K; Gallant, L; Archer, C; Desai, R	AU	Tertiary	Qualitative	Transmedia learning	2016
Davis, Susan	AU	Primary	Qualitative	Transmedia learning	2017
Herrmann, A.E; Estrela, Vania.V; Loschi, Hermes.J; Vishnevski, Mikhail.P.	Germany	Tertiary	Conceptual	Transmedia learning	2018
Dickinson-Delaporte, Sonia; Gunness, Aneeshta; McNair, Hamish	AU	Tertiary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2018
Raybourn, Elaine M (4)	US	Professional	Conference	Transmedia learning	2018
Scolari, Carlos; Masanet, Maria-José; Guerrero-Pico, Mar; Establés, María-José	Spain	Secondary	Mixed Method	Transmedia Literacy	2018
González-Martínez Juan; Esteban-Guitart Moises; Rostan-Sanchez Carles; Serrat-Sellabona Elisabet; Estebanell-Minguell Meritxell	Spain	Tertiary	Qualitative	Transmedia learning and literacy	2019
Masanet, Maria-Jose; Guerrero-Pico, Mar; Estables, Maria-Jose	Spain	Secondary	Case Study	Transmedia learning	2019
Rodriguez, Jose Manuel Corona.	Spain	Mixed	Case study	Transmedia learning	2019
Tsortanidou, Xanthippi; Daradoumis, Thanasis; Barberá, Elena	UK	Tertiary	Case study	Transmedia learning	2019
Esteban-Guitart Moisès; Monreal-Bosch Pilar; Palma Montserrat; González-Ceballos Irene	Spain	Tertiary	Qualitative	Participatory culture	2020
Jesus, M.A.D; Estrela V.V; Mamani W.D.H; Razmjooy, N; Plaza, P; Peixoto A.	Spain	Tertiary	Case study	Transmedia learning	2020
Perry, M.S.	Malaysia	Tertiary	Case study	Transmedia learning (language studies)	2020
Costa-Sánchez & Guerrero-Pico	Spain	Secondary	Qualitative	Transmedia Literacy	2020
Scolari, Carlos	Spain	Mixed	Qualitative	Transmedia Literacy	2020
Sime, Julie-Ann; Themelis, Chryssa	UK	Mixed	Qualitative	Transmedia learning	2020
Taddeo, Gabriella; Tirocchi, Simona	Italy	Secondary	Mixed method	Transmedia Literacy	2021
Runchina, Cinzia; Fauth, Fernanda; Gonzalez-Martinez, Juan	Italy	Secondary	Mixed method	Transmedia learning	2022
Gonzalez-Martinez, Juan	Italy	Mixed	Qualitative	Transmedia learning	2022
Atmaja, PW; Sihananto, AN	Indonesia	Case study	Qualitative	Transmedia learning	2023
Erta-Majo, Arnau; Vaquero, Eduard	Spain	Primary and Secondary	Qualitative	Transmedia education	2023

Table 2. Key themes in transmedia learning.

Theme	Definition
(1) Transmedia learning	‘conveying curriculum materials across multiple media platforms to engage students and encourage them to become active co-creators of knowledge, with each platform making its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the course material’ (Tombleson et al., 2016, p. 342)
(2) Transmedia play	Engaging students through play based games, and/or in terms of informal/experimental learning experience from a student perspective (Dickinson-Delaporte et al., 2018; Herr-Stephenson et al., 2013)
(3) Participatory culture	A participatory culture is one that encourages sharing, repurposing and distribution of content through deliberate curation of that community to encourages sharing (Jenkins, 2006)
(4) Transmedia skills	‘a set of skills, practices, values, priorities, sensibilities, and learning/sharing strategies developed and applied in the context of the new participatory cultures’ (Scolari et al., 2018, p. 15)
(5) Connectedness	The level a learner feels between their peers, their transmedia environment, and their educator (Kop, 2011)
(6) Informal learning	Learning that may take place outside of the classroom and involves learning by doing and evaluating (Costa-Sánchez & Guerrero-Pico, 2020; Scolari et al., 2020)

Figure 1. Conceptual model of transmedia learning (based on Herr-Stephenson et al., 2013; Jenkins, 2010; Martinez, 2022; Raybourn, 2014; Scolari et al., 2020).

Tombleson, B., Wolf, K., Gallant, L., Archer, C., & Desai, R. (2016, July 4–7). Teaching transmedia to millennials: A critical reflection on the embedding of transmedia skills in the communication curriculum. In M. Davis, & A. Goody (Eds.), Research and Development in Higher Education: The Shape of Higher Education (Vol. 39, pp. 340–350). emantle. https://herdsa.org.au/publications/conference-proceedings/research-and-development-higher-education-shape-higher-32

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Dickinson-Delaporte, S., Gunness, A., & McNair, H. (2018). Engaging higher education learners with transmedia play. Journal of Marketing Education, 42(2), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/027347531877

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Herr-Stephenson, B., Alper, M., Reilly, E., & Jenkins, H. (2013). T is for transmedia: Learning through trans-media play [review of T is for transmedia: Learning through trans-media play]. USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. https://joanganzcooneycenter.org/publication/t-is-for-transmedia/

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Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qffwr

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Scolari, C. A., Masanet, M.-J., Guerrero-Pico, M., & Establés, M.-J. (2018). Transmedia literacy in the new media ecology: Teens‘ transmedia skills and informal learning strategies. Profesional de la información/Information Professional, 27(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2018.jul.09

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Kop, R. (2011). The challenges to connectivist learning on open online networks: Learning experiences during a massive open online course. International Review of Research in Open & Distributed Learning, 12(3), 19. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v12i3.882

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Costa-Sánchez, C., & Guerrero-Pico, M. (2020). What is WhatsApp for? Developing transmedia skills and informal learning strategies through the use of WhatsApp–A case study with teenagers from Spain. Social Media + Society, 6(3), 2056305120942886. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120942886

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Scolari, C. A., Ardèvol, E., Pérez-Latorre, Ò., Masanet, M.-J., & Rodríguez, N. L. (2020). What are teens doing with media? An ethnographic approach for identifying transmedia skills and informal learning strategies. Digital Education Review, 37 Article 37, 269–287. https://doi.org/10.1344/der.2020.37.269-287.

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Jenkins, H. (2010). Transmedia storytelling and entertainment: An annotated syllabus. CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, 24(6), 943–958. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2010.510599

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Martinez, J. G. (2022). Transmedia learning: An opportunity for digital inclusive education. Italian Journal of Special Education for Inclusion, X(2), 229–245. https://doi.org/10.7346/sipes-02-2022-22

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Raybourn, E. M. (2014). A new paradigm for serious games: Transmedia learning for more effective training and education. Journal of Computational Science, 5(3), 471–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2013.08.005

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