Experiencias Inmersivas y Diseño Transmedia en la Formación Universitaria en Ecuador

Based on the expansion of the concept of transmedia storytelling into fields such as education, this article analyzes a university experience in the Multimedia Design program at the Salesian Polytechnic University of Ecuador, through the study of the project “Silencios que pesan” (Silences that weigh heavily), developed during the 66th period in the courses Graphic Systems and Interfaces and Gamification. The project was configured as an interactive narrative piece hosted on a website, in which multiple visual, testimonial, and audio languages converge to critically represent the structural, family, and social violence that remains silenced in the Ecuadorian collective imagination. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach, with an exploratory-descriptive scope and an ethnographic design complemented by documentary analysis. The study focused on the implementation of a project-based learning (PBL) strategy, which integrated UX/UI design tools, digital narrative, audiovisual editing, and interactive systems development. The study sample consisted of 45 fourth-year students who collaboratively developed an immersive proposal comprising 12 thematic scenes, more than 30 original resources, and a non-linear, responsive information architecture adapted to accessibility criteria. The main results show progressive transmedia literacy on the part of the students, reflected in their ability to integrate various media, platforms, and modes of representation consistent with a testimonial narrative. Although media convergence and emotional user interaction are identified, the narrative expansion component on the part of the audience is still in a latent phase, opening up possibilities for future project interactions that incorporate participation mechanisms. The public exhibition of the project allowed for the validation of the experience in pedagogical, communicational, and ethical terms. It is concluded that transmedia narratives, when incorporated as a learning methodology in the university setting, constitute a comprehensive training strategy that enhances both technical skills and reflective competencies, while positioning design as a critical tool for narrating the invisible, making the silenced visible, and building citizenship through creative action.