Digital Visual Novels in The World of Education
These tips provide you tools to add visual novels to your lesson plans
By William Clarke
As an author of visual novels for children, I absolutely have a vested interest in seeing this medium in use! Visual novels can fit beautifully into literacy and language arts - if teachers keep the focus on reading, choices, and reflection rather than on students simply interacting with a slideshow.
In my work writing visual novels for children, I follow the methodology discussed by Adriana Bus, Natalia Kucirkova, Dieuwer Ten Braak, and Marta Ciesielska presented in their study, "Picture Books Promote Reading Comprehension? A Meta-Analysis"
As a parent or educator, I encourage you to read the abstract (and further if you desire!) at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10409289.2025.2571978.
They found 20 publications, encompassing 22 distinct studies involving 37 effect sizes and nearly 2,000 (1,978) children. They found that mini-games built into visual novels are disruptive. This finding aligns with one of the principles of Mayer’s multimedia learning theory, which states that interactive features introducing extraneous, irrelevant information can increase the likelihood of cognitive overload, hindering the processing of story information.
Their study thus provides compelling evidence that mini-games, in particular, impose significant cognitive demands by diverting attention away from the main storyline, thereby impeding children’s story comprehension. It's not by accident my style focuses on the actual story instead of "whizz-bang" distractions!
Based on the results of multiple studies, findings suggest that visual novels can be an effective educational tool for making English more engaging and relevant, especially in vocational settings. Visual novels in an English curriculum can support motivation and understanding.
I urge you to check out the citations at the bottom for research results and a deeper dive into the science of visual novels in an educational setting. I am open to conversation and creating visual novel assets to assist with your classroom plans. Please note that graphic novels differ from visual novels in that graphic novels are typically printed on paper with no interactive elements.
Here are some classroom-friendly tips:
Start with clear goals
- Decide what skill you want to build: vocabulary, reading stamina, inference, or decision-making. [3][2]
- Choose visual novels where reading is central and mini‑games or flashy extras do not distract from the story. [4][1]
Select age-appropriate titles
- Preview content for language, themes, and reading level, just as you would with novels or films. [5][1]
- Look for stories with positive role models, clear choices, and visuals that support comprehension instead of overwhelming it. [4][2]
Pair with traditional reading
- Use a visual novel alongside a print book on a similar theme (friendship, mystery, historical event) and compare how each tells the story. [6][5]
- Have students transfer what they read in the visual novel into written responses, summaries, or alternative endings to reinforce literacy skills. [7][2]
Make thinking visible
- Ask students to pause at choice points and predict outcomes, justify decisions, or discuss character motivations before clicking. [7][1]
- Use simple reflection prompts (“Why did you choose this?” “How did the result change the story?”) to deepen comprehension and critical thinking. [3][8]
Encourage creation, not just consumption
- Let students design a short, branching story of their own, even with very simple tools or on paper first, to connect narrative structure with creativity and basic coding or planning skills where appropriate. [7][9]
- Invite them to illustrate key scenes or storyboard important choices, mirroring the way visual novels combine art and text to tell a story. [5][2]
Citations:
[1] Incorporating Visual Novel Games to Improve Students' Learning Interest in English... https://ojs.unm.ac.id/JTechLP/article/download/71652/31118
[2] Enhancing Reading Comprehension with Digital Storytelling https://brittanywashburn.com/2024/02/enhancing-reading-comprehension-with-digital-storytelling/
[3] Use of Interactive Video Story in Enhancing the Reading ... https://ijsshmr.com/v4i6/Doc/17.pdf
[4] Which Interactive Features in Children's Digital Picture Books Promote Reading Comprehension? ... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10409289.2025.2571978 Note: This is brilliant!!!
[5] Teaching Graphic Novels 8 Tips for teachers https://visualthinkingclassroom.com/teaching-graphic-novels-to-teens/
[6] Graphic Novels, Innovative Teaching, and Student ... https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/graphic-novels-in-the-classroom/
[7] How to Cultivate Literacy Skills With Interactive Fiction https://www.edutopia.org/article/cultivating-literacy-skills-interactive-fiction/
[8] How Video Games Boost Reading Skills https://www.romero-rodriguez.com/en/reading-skills-videogames/
[9] A Taxonomy of Teaching Strategies in Visual Novels https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3402942.3403004
