A Peek into my Video Game Design and Development Courses

Recently @techucation reached out to ask for some resources and ideas related to teaching Video Game Design and Development.  I responded to his inquiry and realized it would serve as a worthwhile blog post to share with the educational community.  Below is a general description of my 7th and 8th grade courses.  In 7th grade, I teach a six week introduction to video game design and digital storytelling.  In 8th grade I teach a full semester course in video game design and development.  I have also developed and teach the full semester course as an online high school course for The VHS Collaborative (http://thevhscollaborative.org/).  I hope you find the information helpful as I would love to see more courses evolve that teach important 21st century skills through game design.  

Currently, I am enrolled in the doctoral program in Educational Technology at Boise State University and the focus of my research is the pedagogical benefits of game design and development.  Some of the concepts I find most worthwhile to research further include constructionism, design based thinking, increasing female involvement in computer science, and ultimately the notion behind developing a scalable curriculum to teach game design and development from upper elementary school through high school.

Gamestar Mechanic is a great point of entry (and beyond).  My 7th graders spend about 3 weeks in a unit using Gamestar Mechanic (http://www.gamestarmechanic.com).  In that unit, I have them work through the Free Quest Line (Addison Joins the League) which takes them through the 5 episodes ending with the ability to create original games from scratch.  After that I have students create their own game.  Typically, it is a 5 level game of increasing difficulty that exemplifies good game design principles.  Prior to starting their game I have them complete a design document that is used for brainstorming / pre-writing.

For the 7th graders, I encourage them to earn some of the extra items through the workshop (i.e. the message block, etc. as I emphasize the importance of the story being told within the game (not just in the game and level descriptions).  They can also earn extra credit by doing the 2 premium quest strands (Addison Joins the Rogue and Dungeon of the Rogue).  They also benefit by earning extra items to use in their game through those quests.  Gamestar Mechanic also has a number of teacher resources including curriculum, student challenges, etc. available at http://gamestarmechanic.com/teachers/what_is_gamestar) 

I highly recommend licensing the premium quests for your class.  Gamestar recently implemented a new licensing program that costs $2 per student account and the students keep the premium account for life.  What a great way to encourage continued game design beyond the course!

Another unit in my 7th grade class involves Digital Storytelling.  I have them explore classic folk tales (http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/folk.html) and choose one to recreate as a team of 2.  Typically we have used storytelling Alice (http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytelling/) but recently I communicated with Caitlin Kelleher (the project lead and she indicated that there is now a successor to storytelling Alice called Looking Glass (https://lookingglass.wustl.edu/).  I plan to shift to this with upcoming students or use Scratch (http://www.scratch.mit.edu/).  More likely, I will expose students to both and allow them to choose one of the tools.

My 8th graders primarily use Game Maker (http://www.yoyogames.com) and they learn the basics and create at least 4 original games (a simple maze game,  an adventure game, a platformer, and a scrolling shooter).  I offer a bonus opportunity for students to engage in reverse engineering and recreate a classic game (arcade or console).  

Some of my game maker resources can be found here:

Examples of student created games: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B01VYg6o6QuMWDIyUUx5UF80X2s/edit

'How to' Examples of isolated game maker tasks: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B01VYg6o6QuMWF9OZ0Z1ZnluWTA/edit

My final unit with my 8th graders is a project using Portal 2 and the Puzzle Maker.  You can find out more about the Teach with Portals program here: http://www.teachwithportals.com/.  My students play through a reasonable part of Portal 2 to understand the basics of the game and then create their own puzzles using the iterative design process of planning, creating, testing, and refining.  

Here are a few videos featuring my class:

Teaching with Games: Video Case Study

https://youtu.be/yBlM-W2rrVw

Teen Kids News Segment on STEM learning through Game Desgin

http://www.awptv.com/clients/tkn/S10-Segments/TKN-1008-Stem-H264.mov

Gamification Continued... 3dGameLab Teacher Camp

Teacher Camp has begun and I am a happy camper!  TeacherCamp takes place within #3dGameLab, a learning management built on gamification principles.  The project was developed by Lisa Dawley (@lisadawley) and Chris Haskell (@haskell).  So, this post will discuss my experience as a student in a gamified learning environment.

3d Game Lab presents students with quests to participate in that lead to experience points (XP), badges, achievements and awards.  As you complete quests, your XP bar increases ultimately leading you to leveling up within the system.  Quest strands are designed in a manner (and the system supports this functionality) where each strand can have prerequisite quests so that students must participate in required quests before 'unlocking' additional quests in the strand.  This helps from a standpoint of not overwhelming the student with a huge list of quests.  Rather, students stay focused based on what quests have been unlocked.  Students do have choice in terms of completing any of the unlocked quests and receiving XP, and other awards based on completion.

What does this mean for the learner?  the teacher?

As a learner, I will say that I find myself looking through and choosing quests that seem 'manageable' and possibly easier to achieve quite often.  You can see how long the quests will take.  Often, I sit down with a finite amount of time available, so I might try to choose a quest that I can finish in one sitting.  This is something to be mindful of as a course designer.  I realize that I will have to scaffold quests in a way that my students won't be discouraged by how long a quest might take.  Depending on your students, this might mean having many small quests that serve as check points along the path to completing a project.  I raise this point as I can see that the gamification components of a course might lead someone to want to just 'complete quests' that can be completed easily and avoid quests that might seem too time consuming.  The fact that I see myself doing that was just a small hint :)

I am learning so much and enjoying the different strands available.  This is a definite plug for differentiated instruction within a gamified learning environment as choice really allows a student to choose a path that is of particular interest, allowing for a variety of learning opportunities.

So far, I am most engaged in the following strands:

Machinima - I hadn't heard of machinima as a term, but I guess I am not a complete stranger to the art form as it encompasses a lot of areas including video production of gameplay videos, walkthroughs, cartoons based on fan fiction, etc.  I have completed a few basic quests, but have not created my own yet.  I think that is one of those longer quests that I'm waiting for the right time to tackle.

Android App Inventor - Oh my!  I've created my first two android apps.  I must be particularly drawn to this quest strand as I have trudged through some of the quests that took quite a bit of time.  I guess creating an app and seeing it function in my phone is intrinsically motivating to me.  I see great application for my students as I teach Video Game Design and could see adding a course in app development or an optional game design project that involves students in creating a mobile game using app inventor.

Feel free to download my apps:

• Paint Pot
• Pet the Kitty

Minecraft - I've been hearing so much about minecraft from my students and then started following discussions related to minecraft in education .  I'm a gamer and wanted to see what all the hype is about.  I have some ideas about how I could integrate minecraft in my classes, so this has been of particular interest.  During camp, I have been able to participate in several in game sessions where I was able to learn from and discuss ideas with Lucas Gillispe (@pcstech) as well as the other participants.  I have begun the quest strand as well and REALLY enjoyed the videos that are the beginning of a documentary on Notch (Minecraft's creator) and Mojang (the company he founded).  One of the other quests had me in the game building and yet another (I haven't completed it yet, but will shortly) has you 'surviving the night'.  All in all, this has been a FUN and engaging learning opportunity and a great overview of Minecraft and how it can be used in the classroom.

Mobile Learning - Liz Kolb, author of the book (and blog), "From Toy to Tool: Cellphones in Learning" is guiding us through a strand on using mobile devices in the classroom.  We have covered polling apps and tools, wiifiti and other tools.  I was able to participate in a live session with Liz which was most helpful as well.

So, I am learning tons and enjoying the sense of 'blissful productivity' (if I could borrow the term from Jane McGonigal) that I feel with each quest completed and each level or achievement gained.  My goal is to start to schedule my time so that I can begin to tackle some of the longer quests as I do notice that I often shy away from them in favor of working on something that I can complete in one sitting.

I'm open to your thoughts on 3d Game Lab, gamification, games in learning, and differentiated instruction.