EGC Presentation at NMC 2010 Symposium

EGC Videohttp://media.nmc.org/2010/03/egc-video.mp4

Who am I

• I ask this daily!• Lead Instructional Designer at PSU• At PSU 26 years• Work at Education Technology Services

Why I Do This - Games

• Games have many motivational aspects– http://archive.nmc.org/events/2006summerconf/mate

rials/Bixler/m&g.pdf• Games hit our affect• Games can tap into different innate aspects of

the individual – explorer, achiever, socializer,killer– See Bartle, http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm

• Why can’t education be fun?

Why I Do This – VirtualWorlds

• Sense of self– You care about your presence

• Death of distance• Power of presence

– Immersive AND social• Pervasiveness of practice• Enrichment of experience

– Safe place– Lowered inhibitions

Adapted from Karl Kapp - http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/

FREEDOM

FlowRepe,,on

Experimenta,on

Engagement

Doing

Observing

Mo,va,on

Why I Do This - Simulations

• Faculty are more receptive• Can practice complex procedures• Can increase the efficiency of an individual

for a particular process• Inspirational and motivating• Fail-safe

Why I Do This – Fringe Benefits

Why I Do This – Future Wisdomhttp://media.nmc.org/2010/03/why-games.mov

Past “Stuff”

A Dayin theLife…

Past “Stuff”

S.C.O.R.E.

Past “Stuff”

Old-style RPGGames

What is the EducationalGaming Commons?

• EGC• Two years old• Mission – Support teaching, learning, &

research in educational games, virtualworlds, & simulations

EGC Goals

• Stimulate research, application andeducation utilizing games, and virtualenvironments

• Develop educational games• Create an Affiliate Program• Implement the Educational Gaming

Commons Lab

Who is Involved?

• Staff– Brett Bixler – Manager (60%)– Chris Stubbs – Education Technologist (20%)– Elizabeth Pyatt – Instructional Designer (30%)– Jason Wolfe – Programmer (100%)– Interns (10-20 hrs/wk)

EGC History

• Fall 07– Formation of the

following groups:– Steering Committee– Labs Sub-Committee– Community Hub

Sub-Committee– Committees guided

infrastructure development

EGC History - 2

• Develop the Affiliate Program– Provides opportunities for faculty, staff, and

students with interest in serious games toestablish a connection to the EGC

– EGC acts as a catalyst• Establish the Gaming Commons Community

Hub– Similar to existing ETS hubs– Contains Affiliate Program– http://gaming.psu.edu

EGC History - 3

• Spring through Summer 2008– General Awareness PR Campaign– Continue Implementation of Affiliate Program– Workshops for faculty, researchers, and

instructors– Sample Educational Game Development

• EcoRacer– Physical Game Lab Design & Development

EGC History - 4

EcoRacer

•Supplemental•Raise environmentalawareness•Fuel types

•gas•solar•wind•hydrogen

EGC Accomplishments

• Projects– Engagement Initiatives– One-on-one consultations– Sponsoring presentations, guest speakers,

etc.• EGC Lab

– Innovative space containing PCs, gameconsoles, and a variety of games, virtualworlds, and simulations

EGC Accomplishments - 2

• Active Second Life Presence– Virtual Hacienda– Virtual Palmer

Museum– Many spaces

for faculty toexperiment

EGC Accomplishments - 3

• EGC Works Podcast Series– http://podcasts.psu.edu

• Click “Access Open Content”• Click “Information Technology Services”

• Game-like activities in the class– Useful for the five-minute game– Easy to prepare and run

EGC Engagement Initiatives

Chemblaster

EGC Engagement Initiatives

Typo!

EGC Guests

Blizzard

EGC Lab

• Designed for research, teaching, learning• Space is where the first computer lab at

PSU was installed in 1988• In a freshman dorm• If not reserved, an open lab for fun

EGC Lab Design

Started with overheaddiagram

EGC Lab Design - 2

Then amockup inSecond Life

EGC Lab Design - 3

• Involved a team that works on computer labsand learning space designs

• Worked with PSU Office of the Physical Plantbefore and during the room renovation

• Hired an outside company to do the videoswitching unit

• Involved faculty and students in designquestions

• Brought in a sound engineer to test thesound levels

EGC Lab Design - 4

• Results – Innovative space• Card swipe into the room for security• Eight PCs

– Two groups of four– Software in on DVDs or loaded via Steam

• One Wii, PS3, Xbox– In locked cabinets

• Ceiling Projector

EGC Lab Design - 5

• Five wall-mounted LCD panels• Video Switch Unit

– Can output video & audio from any PC,Console to any LCD or ceiling projector

– Can accept video (VGA) & audio in from fiveadditional sources

• Wireless in the room is robust• Five mobility ports allow five hard-wired

connections to the internet

EGC Lab Design – PC DVDs

• Remain a sticking point – too manyupdates!

EGC Lab Design - Security

Card Swipe

Cameras

EGC Lab Design – Security - 2

Computer Access

EGC Lab Design – Security - 3

Console Access

EGC Lab Design – Security - 4Console Security

All hooked to a Cisco Firewall with certainports blocked on each console.

EGC Lab Design – Video &Audio

ChooseSource

ChooseOutput

EGC Lab – Results - 1

• A vibrant space where research, teaching, andlearning occur around educational gaming,virtual worlds, and simulations.

EGC Lab – Results - 2

EGC Lab – Results - 3

EGC Lab – Results - 4

EGC Futures – Leveling up!

• Continue to grow faculty contacts• Continue Engagement Initiatives• Build a second lab?• Mobile games• Partnerships with other Universities and

businesses

EGC Lab – Questions?