SERVICES:Â LEARNING EXPERIENCE DESIGN (LXD), UX RESEARCH
FUNDERS: DN BATTEN FOUNDATION
COLLABORATORS: PAUL DARVASI, SHAWN CLYBOR, STUDENTS AT DWIGHT-ENGLEWOOD SCHOOL
iThrive Curriculum: Sam's Journey is a three-lesson curriculum unit that pairs with Accidental Queens' award-winning video game, A Normal Lost Phone, to take 11th and 12th grade students through an interactive social and emotional learning experience in their English or humanities classrooms. In the game, students investigate the contents of a lost smartphone belonging to Sam, uncovering Sam's story as they reflect deeply on their own. The unit supports teens in examining and reflecting on how identity is expressed publicly and privately, especially in an increasingly digitized world. Sam's Journey is aligned with national ELA standards and field tested with students and educators.
With Teens:Â Sam's Journey was created in collaboration with veteran educator Paul Darvasi, drawing on evergreen social and emotional discovery topics that endure in literature and that his students have raised in class over the years - issues of self-knowledge and self-expression across different types of media, judgments we make about others, and how we respond to assumptions others make about us. The unit was piloted by Dr. Shawn Clybor's juniors and seniors at Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey in 2020 and was iterated upon based on educator and student reactions and recommendations.Â
