thoughts about teaching new-media narrative

Since I began my PhD in 2002 (I've finished it now, btw!) I've been thinking about how I might help to expand a readership which enjoys hyper-fiction, and also how I might encourage writers to try using new-media for their creative ideas. Part of the problem has been the complexity of the software needed, but Genarrator has been a big step for me towards teaching hyper-writing.  So, below are a few pedagogic procedures which have proven useful and productive in my teaching since Genarrator has been fully functional:

1. Really encourage students to find examples of interactive narrative for themselves - there's so much out there, and they will quite easily find examples they like. Getting students to feed back on the 'likes' and 'dislikes' is a big first step towards students understanding what works and doesn't work for readers. This procedure needs to be backed up maybe wit lectures on history and theory around hyper-text/narrative reception, and even game theory; but there's no really substitute for students experiencing pieces for themselves and analysing various elements of the work they experience. See 2. below for aspects students should be analysing.
2. My own research tells me that the following  are essential components to consider - navigation system, purposefulness of hyper-links (these need narrative importance, not just random linking for 'fun'), use of interactivity (is it meaningful or mere decoration?), narrative movement, site orientation tools, freedom of movement for the reader (ie you should be able to g where you want ideally, so if a narrative is strictly linear, it has better be very engaging!), flow (effort and reward should be balanced., ending (is it clear when this has been reached/Most readers want to know this).
3. When they are beginning to conceive narrative ideas, encourage students to think beyond the printed page - depending on their backgrounds and own reading/gaming/viewing/interacting preferences, they will come with a preconception of what an interactive narrative might be, but 'book' is often the pre-set. So, ask them to be sure that what they are creating could not work in print.
4. Planning the 'plot' on paper, by sketching and mapping, is very helpful when thinking about the hyper-structure. Plot is not a pre-fixed structure now, because the writer is offering choices, branching pathways, multiple endings, or 'versions' of the narrative which depends on what elements are read or not read (or maybe viewed/not viewed. or listened to/not listened too - remember this is a multi-media world). Family trees, flow-charts, storyboards are all possible approaches to designing narrative structure.
5. Students should create screen designs on paper, or a digital sketchbook, eg in Photoshop. Assuming your students are not specifically art and design students, simple sketches or even mock-ups done in Photoshop are really useful. Saves time, mistakes, frustration, and focusses on issues of navigation and interactivity, but 'seeing' these on paper before committing to screen.
6. Because I'm working with non-technical students, I encourage 'borrowing' from the web - allow students to openly find images, mp3 files, animations, video, etc, and acknowledge these usages in a bibliography. Certainly they can create their own materials if they are able, but why not use the WWW? Many of the pieces created last year by my BA Communication and Media students used stock images, for example, to good effect.
7. Road testing an chosen audience is vital - students should know who their audience is, as with any narrative medium. The should test their work and write a report on what their reader-testing tells them, prior to finalising designs and content.