How it works
What a Novastone course looks like
Faculty screen a short film. Students interview the people in it, reason through the dilemma with a coach, and arrive at discussion with a position they've already had to defend. Here is how that works for each of you.
A typical week with one film
- 1. Before class
Students watch the film, read the documents, and interview two or three characters.
- 2. In class
Debrief with a framework, using what students heard from the characters as evidence.
- 3. After class
Students finish with the Coach and hand in their Notebook and reflection.
For students
Four steps from screening to a position they can defend
- 1Watch
Watch the film and read the record
Each film runs 10–13 minutes and stops at the moment of decision. Alongside it are the documents the characters themselves wrote: emails, social-media posts, policy notices.
- 2Interview
Question the characters one-on-one
Students pick anyone in the cast and ask them anything. Each character knows only what they would know, holds their own motives, and answers in their own voice. Some will dodge.
- 3Deliberate
Work the dilemma with the Coach
The Coach walks each student through a specific framework, pushing back when an answer is thin, and closes with a written report on their reasoning.
- 4Reflect
Keep it all in the Notebook
After each interview, the Notebook saves a short summary of what the character revealed. Students add their own reflection and can download the whole Notebook as a PDF or Word file to hand in.
The framework
The same framework in class and with the Coach
Every film comes with a step-by-step framework for working through an ethical dilemma. Faculty use it to structure the debrief; the Coach uses it to guide each student, one step at a time.
- 1
Read the context
First reactions, past experience, and the policies in play.
- 2
Map the stakeholders
Who is affected, what they value, and who owns the problem.
- 3
Weigh the options
Option A, Option B, and whether there's an Option C.
- 4
Examine the reasoning
How personal values and professional ethics shaped the call.
- 5
Commit to next steps
Likely reactions, and a timeline to follow through.
For faculty
Set up once, then teach
- 1
Choose a license
Start with a free 7-day trial of one film, license single films for your course, or take the full Novastone Library for your institution.
- 2
Invite your faculty
Your school's setup person adds colleagues by email. Each one gets a sign-in link and their own teaching space.
- 3
Create a class
Name the class and you get a short code. Students join with that code and their school email, with no passwords or accounts for you to manage.
- 4
Screen and debrief
Show the film in class or assign it beforehand. Use the film's documents and a framework to run the discussion.
- 5
See where your class is
Your class page shows who has watched, which characters each student interviewed, and their Notebook summaries.
Privacy
Students can think out loud
A conversation with a character is a place to try out ideas, so the full transcript stays with the student. Faculty see enough to know the work was done and to plan the discussion.
Faculty see
- Who has watched each film
- Which characters each student interviewed
- Each student's Notebook summaries
Only the student sees
- The full chat transcripts
- Their conversation with the Coach
School administrators see school-wide counts only, never names or conversations. Student conversations are never used to train AI models.
Try it with your course
Start with a free 7-day faculty trial of one film, or license single films or the full library for your program.