A story slideshow tells a scene one picture at a time — a dialogue drawn as a comic, say. Students watch and listen to the whole scene before breaking it down.
Build a story
Choose Add story slideshow from a section's add menu. A story has 2 to 20 slides.
Each slide needs a picture, uploaded under Picture, with a short description for screen readers.
Add a recording to a slide by uploading or recording it. A slide without one is still shown.
Add a caption if you like: Speaker (optional) — a name from your course cast shows their avatar — plus the line in characters, pinyin and English.
Add more with Add slide, reorder with the arrows, then click Save story.
Move between slides
Each slide after the first has a Transition into this slide menu. It sets how the story gets there from the slide before, like the gap between two comic panels.
Slide, the default, suits one action following another.
Cut suits a new speaker taking their turn.
Dissolve suits a moment later, or lingering on a mood.
Fade to black marks a new scene.
Zoom suits the same subject framed very differently: an eye, then the whole room.
The editor suggests a transition from the speakers: a cut when the speaker changes, a dissolve when they carry on. Click the suggestion to use it. It can't see your pictures, so spotting a new scene is up to you.
Some effects are drawn rather than chosen:
Change the palette for a flashback, warm for now and cool and faded for then, and arrive with a fade to black.
Let a drawing cross the frame, like smoke running off the edge. Keep the default slide, and it carries into the next picture.
Play a sound first: a dark slide with the recording, then a cut to whoever made it.
Going back always slides. Students whose device is set to reduce motion see every change at once.
What students see
Students press Play story to hear each slide's recording and move on by themselves. Pressing an arrow, swiping or using the arrow keys stops it so they can step through by hand. Tapping a picture plays its line again.
They can hide the characters, pinyin or English under the pictures. Each student's choice is remembered on that device.