EDTECH 532

Gamifying Education - January 28, 2013

"What things are most important to remember about gamifying education?"

After watching this funny, yet engaging video I have to admit I learned a lot! Gaming, as a whole, is new to me but I am anxious to learn more during this semester.

I will remember a few important things about gamifying education, which include:

·      Educational games enable learning by engaging the user and keeping them interested. We learn more if we are interested rather than being forced.

·      Engaged users care about the game that gives to apply learning in the game.

·      Tangential Learning promotes further self-education either during or after the conclusion of the game. Tangential Learning, such as indexes or quotes, enhance the playing/learning without getting in the way of the fun aspect of a game. In short, it exposes learners to new concepts on their own.

In summary, educational games keep the learner engaged because games are associated as interesting and fun.

Gamification Education - January 28, 2013

Leave a blog posting about where your personal life story intersects with this history and what, if any, ideas it triggers concerning the game concept that you are developing.

Unfortunately, my life story begins years before gaming (besides board games). However, graduation failure is timeless and is often deemed undesirable for the students who may need more assistance and engagement. Now, the students are interested in all type of digital games, including educational games.

For many years, I have played games on my digital and mobile devices, such as Words with Friends and Hanging. I find these games entertaining and as a bonus, I learn new (sometimes-odd) words. Those games are engaging, entertaining, and educational.

I have not delved into developing a game, as this is my first week of class. But, my preliminary plan is to implement a game that involves healthy lifestyles (food breakdowns, portions, exercise) for young adults. I would use these:

·         Trigger Systems

·         Documentary

·         Research assignment

My game my change as I learn more each week.

 

Seven Ways to Reward the Brain - January 30, 2013

After watching the TED video, some of my initial impressions are that there is extensive research being conducted in the area of gaming and how to engage users. His seven ways to reward the brain, where video games are concerned, made perfect sense. In particular the last one: Other People. Whether playing an educational game or simply a pleasure game with our peers really does motivate us and provides the stimulation to stay engaged. Collaborating with peers only helps motivate everyone playing the game.

Learning how our brain works and how it needs to be rewarded is my take away that will influence my approach to games for learning. Receiving an instant reward for even the smallest effort makes, you want to keep playing, therefore keep on learning. The reward schedule should be updated in real time to increase the wanting and liking aspect of the learning game.

Gamers Get Girls - January 30, 2013

I am a big fan of graphic depiction rather than a bunch of words. The graphic was created in a gaming style and was quite easy to follow. Most of all, the information in the infographic told a very real, and true story that I have never thought about. Gamers do get the girls!

As shown in the graphic, there are more members playing online games than online dating sites. Also, one of the biggest differences that I see is that the gamers are casual and there are no expectations such as in an online dating site. With all of the stress and uncertainty gone, the online gamers will open up with each other establishing relationships that may go beyond online. In short, online gamers feel good, act quickly, and get the girls. Great exercise!

Games Can Make The World Better - February 3, 2013

Jane McGonigal from www.TED.com

After watching Jane McGonigal speak in this video, the four things that make gamers virtuosos grabbed my attention. These four qualities combined to develop great super-empowered hopeful individuals.

·         Urgent Optimism includes extreme self-motivation that results in a reasonable hope for success rather than failure. I consider this positive engagement for an educational game.

·         Social Fabric occurs when playing a game with others, which results in building social relationships that include collaboration, trust, and sharing values.

·         Blissful Productivity motivates the gamer to keep playing a game rather than doing something less productive or boring.

·         Epic Meaning allows gamers to be connected and collaborate by sharing their progress and what they learned while trying to complete a mission.

In short, these four items should be an integral part of educational gaming now and certainly in the future. Gonigal states by the end of the next decade we will be playing 21 billion hours of online games.

Video Game Seduction Secrets - February 4, 2013

I have to admit that I never considered video games as seductive until after I read Mr. Stuart's article, The seduction secrets of video game designers. As I progressed in the article, I found myself understanding why the gaming theory is studied by many and can be put to good use.

Starting with the love and desire to play video games provides the motivation to solve a puzzle - learning is a puzzle. In educational games, it is true that we like to experiment and figure things out on our own based on prior knowledge or intuition. One of the main points that made me stop and think was about being autonomous and having authority while playing games. Reaching the highest level and climbing the highest mountain make you self-important. The article goes on to explain that sometimes in real life, we don't possess these two things, but a game can empower these.

Lastly, I want to reflect on feedback, which is essential in learning and gaming in general. According to Mr. Stuart, "Disproportionate feedback is an endorphin come-on." Wow, that is so true! Even in the games I play, I become happy and proud that I receive feedback (the bigger the better) for achieving a small task. Also, it makes the game more seductive and I therefore become addicted to playing it.

Game Story - February 12, 2013

In the world of kids, there is healthy food and unhealthy food. The game to targeted at pre-teens and will engage them to play the game of making healthier choices when eating a snack or meal. With two or more players, the players will search for treasures that contain a food items and different portion sizes. The goal is to have the players search for treasures in different locations in a virtual store, get points for collected the best food choices, and lose points if the choice was not healthy. There will be several levels of achievement, based on points earned or lost. Rewards for each level will vary from extra points to getting a piece of gum or candy for lower levels. Also, lurking in the background will be a creature that can sabotage your bucket of healthy food if you are not on guard. To win you must reach the top level and score more than 250 points by choosing healthy foods.

How People Learn Quest - February 17, 2013

Cerebralstructivism
I created a new theory called Cerebralstructivism that is a blend of Cognitivism and Constructivism learning theories. These two learning theories, in particular, are building blocks to learning through mental processes, using prior knowledge, applying newly learned knowledge, ultimately solving a problem. The problem solving process is where the learner actually learns what is being taught using well-constructed instructional design. Cerebralstructivism uses the learner's cognitive abilities and use of prior knowledge. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this newly created learning theory - Cerebralstructivism. I thank you in advance!

What are your thoughts on blending these two learning theories and does it make sense to you? If not, please share your thoughts here on my blog.

Also, as an Edtech student I created this blended learning theory from I have learned and studied in previous classes. I'd like your opinion...what can you add or omit from my blended theory of Cerebralstructivism? Is the name representative of the blended theory or does it make no sense at all to you?

 

This is a video game for riding horses targeted towards girls. Enjoy! - February 18, 2013

knugo.com

 

 

The Future of the Internet and Games - February 24, 2013

The ever-changing new and improved uses of the Internet intrigue me to say the least. I remember the first time I used the Internet and how apprehensive yet curious I was. After reviewing the material from Kitdigital, I am impressed by how they are pushing the envelope with their product offerings. I especially am interested the gaming aspects in KitCosmos.

 

In particular, the fact that so many people own gaming consoles and Kitdigital focuses on what the game players want. Beyond consoles, games are now played on all kinds of devices including the burgeoning market of handheld devices such as a tablet of cell phone. Downloading an engaging high quality visual game of choice quickly and playing nearly instantly is satisfying. Less frustration and no technical challenges lets the game player do what they intended to do - play a game!

(Story) – Toy – Puzzle – Game – March 5, 2013

How to play the Meal Portion Challenge you ask? Good question! The person playing the game selects a basic avatar (in this diagram the blue stick person). This avatar is controlled by the player using the mouse (to shoot at the correct answer) and the arrow keys to move around in the right half of the screen. The bug bombs can explode on the hand resulting in losing points and if the player bombs them first they earn points towards treats.
 The food group representative graphic slides on the screen when the game is started by the player. This graphic represents a particular portion depicted by the circle on the hand. Each of the food groups have a different portion size which the player must accurately strike. There are points for the correct answer and after one wrong answer points are deducted from the score.

The points in the score board can be used, by the player, to buy healthy treats such as frozen yogurt or chocolate covered almonds, etc. The rewards are used as learning tools for healthy eating along with the interactive game.

The hands move up and down and shift making it more difficult to hit. The hands are large for this exercise, but I will make them smaller for the game (once I get the story in better standing) and create all of them.

My Puzzles - March 17, 2013

Learners are Tweens.

One: The hands representing the portion of food for the food groups move around in a spiral type fashion as the food groups flash on the screen. To solve the puzzle the learner must shoot the correct hand portion graphic that represents the food group. The more they miss the faster the hands move around the screen making it more difficult to shoot. The more correct answers the slower the hands move and the higher the score.

Two:  Each food group graphic is displayed on the left side and the learner must choose the correct hand portion graphic for that group (on the right side of the screen). The learner will first shoot the food group then the portion graphic. If the answer is correct then a star displays or if the answer is incorrect then a bomb displays. At the end of the game, the food group graphic explodes on the screen.

Sploder Game - March 17, 2013

 

 

 

Quest: Narrative Games Zork 1 - April 21, 2013

I learned from reading other's reflections that I should probably keep a map of where I go just in case I may get lost playing this game. I never needed it, however. After playing for about 20 or so minutes I managed to open the mailbox and read the welcome letter about the game then discarded it. I went into a house and entered a few rooms. The descriptions of the rooms was all narrative which, to me, was quite boring. I am so accustomed to the visual aspect of gaming even way back when I played Pong or Ms. PacMan.

I believe that this type of narrative game had an initial impact on the future of gaming in that is did describe a surreal world of a place that the player could move around from place to place in their imagination. Then, the imagination leads to the actual visual games we play now and in the future.



Make a Free Flash Game

Story Toy Puzzle 2 - April 21, 2013

Learners are Tweens.

One: The hands representing the portion of food for the food groups move around in a spiral type fashion as the food groups flash on the screen. To solve the puzzle the learner must shoot the correct hand portion graphic that represents the food group. The more they miss the faster the hands move around the screen making it more difficult to shoot. The more correct answers the slower the hands move and the higher the score.

Two:  Each food group graphic is displayed on the left side and the learner must choose the correct hand portion graphic for that group (on the right side of the screen). The learner will first shoot the food group then the portion graphic. If the answer is correct then a star displays or if the answer is incorrect then a bomb displays. At the end of the game, the food group graphic explodes on the screen.

How does the story end in a winning state for the player? As stated in the previous paragraph, I thought the food group graphic could explode (not gruesome, just a simple flashy graphic) to catch the attention of the player. However, the player does need to receive feedback on their game score. During the game the learner earns healthy treats that can be collected at the end and are cumulative. For example, the first level the leaner earns a cup of vanilla frozen yogurt, but as they progress successfully in the game they earn different toppings (such as nuts, dark chocolate chips, fruit, etc.). The learner with the most toppings on the healthier snack wins by high score.

So, I ask you all the help me with ending my story in a winning state by providing me constructive feedback:

Questions:

Please post your comments at the bottom of this page.

1.      Based on the audience of Tweens, do you think the learners will be engaged playing this game through? If not, can you provide your recommendations?

2.      Is there anything important to this learning to eat healthier goal that I am leaving out and should consider adding?

3.      Other than engagement and scoring, do you have any thoughts on the method of evaluation I should use to improve the game?

4.      Based on my learning theory of Cerebralstructivism (posted above) the learners use prior knowledge (consuming food), apply newly learned ideas (portion sizes), and solving a goal (ultimately eating the right portion and eating healthier). Do you agree or disagree with this?

 

Thank you!

How People Learn Quest - February 17, 2013/April 24, 2013

Cerebralstructivism
I created a new theory called Cerebralstructivism that is a blend of Cognitivism and Constructivism learning theories. These two learning theories, in particular, are building blocks to learning through mental processes, using prior knowledge, applying newly learned knowledge, ultimately solving a problem. The problem solving process is where the learner actually learns what is being taught using well-constructed instructional design. Cerebralstructivism uses the learner's cognitive abilities and use of prior knowledge. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this newly created learning theory - Cerebralstructivism. I thank you in advance!

After reading this I decided to update my learning theory graphic adding the assessment and feedback, which is vital to effective teaching and learning.

Also, as an Edtech student I created this blended learning theory from I have learned and studied in previous classes. I'd like your opinion...what can you add or omit from my blended theory of Cerebralstructivism? Is the name representative of the blended theory or does it make no sense at all to you?

Update 4-24-2013

Peer reviewer Bret Crane provides the following constructive feedback: " As John Bransford discusses in the How People Learn reading, assessment and feedback is key to learning (or effective teaching for that matter), and this illustrates the interdependency of the mind, and the environment and the actions that are taken by the learner, and the need to look at how they interact, not just the examination of one aspect." After reading this feedback I decided to update my original learning theory graphic adding assessment and feedback. Both of these are vital to effective teaching and learning in any environment.

After doing some additional research on the importance of assessment and feedback in game-based learning I discovered that there is work to be done. One of the points I read stressed the fact that without properly designed games, there is nothing to assess. Also, currently most assessments are generally summative (performed at the end of the game), and that there needs to be more focus on performing  formative assessments (feedback while playing the game). Formative assessment would provide information to the instructor about the student strengths and weaknesses and how to improve the game to ensure the learners are engaged and that the learning is successful.

 

 

 

 

Narrative Game 2 - April 24, 2013

I got frustrated relatively quickly and sought out help and found some easy to follow walkthroughs. That made the game playing less frustrating for me. After the introduction I went back to my house (look cottage) and found a piece of paper. I got the paper and then typed map to get it. I got some pebbles by the beach. Went to the well and looked in the put my pebbles in the bucket, etc.

This was not a very fun game, in my opinion. The peasant moved slower than I am used to, but the graphics and sounds reminded me of games from the 1980's timeframe. These type of quests make me appreciate the unbelievable improvements in gaming over the years.

Final Project Feedback - May 12, 2013

1. Considering the feedback you received, what about your game design project are you most excited about?

I am mostly excited about that the respondents liked the fact that the target audience was Tween (who are now making more choices on their own) and the fact that they also believed what was learned playing this game would be retained well.

2.  Through the process of presentation and feedback, what elements of your game design project would you consider changing or reworking and why?

I would add in a social media aspect to the game. I would consider asking the students to use a camera or smart phone and upload (and share) pictures of their portions of their favorite foods.

3.  What surprises did you encounter throughout the design, presentation, and feedback process?

I was a bit surprised that the respondents did not agree that the game was engaging for this audience, but I believe that adding a social interactive component will help with this.

4. What are your hopes, plans, or considerations regarding the development of your game concept?

I am not a teacher, but I am required to educate my adult technical writers. With that said, I am going to work with my Instructional Designers and create an educational game using social media (my team spans the US and India). Everyone has a phone and I believe it would make the dry teachings more engaging for all.

Here is the link to the feedback.Feedback