CANHEIT | Power Through Collaboration | May 27-30, 2007 | HardPlay HardPlay Digital Game Based Learning and Information Literacy

CANHEIT | Power Through Collaboration | May 27-30, 2007 | **HardPlay**

HardPlay

Digital Game Based Learning and Information Literacy


Introduction

Average age is: 33• 31% are under 18, 44% are 18-49, 25% are

50+ years• 62% male 38% are women, Only 23% are

boys age 17 or younger• Entertainment Software Association (www.theesa.com)

“…many faculty who are earning their Ph.D.’s now are people who played games, and a nontrivial number are actually putting games into their research…” Gee in Joel Forman, Game-based learning. How to delight and instruct in the 21st Century. 2004


Digital Game Based Learning

What is DGBL?

Game Designers vs. Educators

“Growing consensus that educationalists and instructional designers stand to learn a great deal from professional game designers.” Russell Francis, Towards a Theory of a Games Based Pedagogy. 2006


Different Approaches

Digital Natives / Digital Immigrants– Prensky

Learning theories/styles– Becker

Situated learning– Shaffer, Gee, Squire

Games based pedagogy– Francis

Intelligent Learning Games– Van Eck


Information Literacy

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." American Library Association.

Potential Outcomes– Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information

need– Identifies keywords, synonyms, and related terms for the

information needed– Use various search systems to retrieve information in a variety of

formats


Using Games

COTS games in classroom – Civilization III

Building games for practice– Quarantined, The Information Literacy Game

Building games for research – Modding or scratch build– Altered Learning, Revolution, DoomEd


Quarantined


HardPlay Overview

Research objective

Research development – building the lab

Research communication: in the culture of the modding community


The Game Experience

“Fun (i.e. gameplay) first, learning second...users know the difference.” Marc Prensky in Handbook of Computer Game Studies, 2005 pg. 119

“We spent a lot of time on the storyboard…I would say spend a lot of time on the storyboard. :-)” Karl Royle, Wolverhampton University, DoomEd, 2007

“In Half-Life, the story is an important part of the flavor of the game, but aside from acting as a mechanism to allow the player to become more immersed in the game world, it bears no relevance to the actual gameplay. (And by this we mean that the gameplay of Half-Life is virtually identical to that of any other first-person shooter; it’s just the story and setting that give it the edge).” Rollings, et al. Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design, 2003. pg.90


The Story Spectrum

No StoryStory-Based Gameplay

Arcade Games Strategy Games First-Person Shooter Games

Role-Playing/ Adventure Games

Benevolent Blue

Increasing Importance of Story to Gameplay

Increasing Game Complexity

Adapted from Rollings A. & E. Adams (2004). Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design. Boston, New Riders. p. 90


Benevolent Blue - Features

1. First person point of view action adventure game2. Overcome explicit challenges: puzzle-solving, exploration,

reflex/reaction, coordination3. Trial and error learning4. Non-player characters respond with fluidity and intelligence

demonstrating the full array of human emotion 5. Objects obey the laws of mass, friction, and gravity making a

more realistic world 6. Players roam multiple floors of two library buildings

(MacKimmie Library Tower and MacKimmie Library Block) using a similar floor-plan of the University of Calgary Library

7. Heads-up display (HUD) to display computer information to the player


Implications for IT

Supporting the Development of DGBL– Financial – Skills– Software

Campus Implementation of DGBL– Documentation and training– Financial support– Infrastructure support


Further information

You can follow the progress of Benevolent Blue and our research at: www.ucalgary.ca/hardplay

Contact us at:– Jerremie Clyde

• [email protected]

– Chris Thomas• [email protected]

Documents

CANHEIT | Power Through Collaboration | May 27-30, 2007 | **HardPlay** HardPlay Digital Game Based Learning and Information Literacy

CANHEIT | Power Through Collaboration | May 27-30, 2007 | HardPlay HardPlay Digital Game Based Learning and Information Literacy