Video Game Education in Boston

Prof. Susan GoldIGDA Education Special

Interest Group

The IGDA is a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community.

To create a community resource that will strengthen the academic membership of the IGDA while enhancing the education of future and current game developers.

Mission is to Provide resources for educators

CommunityCurriculum

Last completed 2003 - revamp and analysis currently underway

Wiki & Knowledge BaseAccess to Internship/COOP DatabaseWorking on:

Professional Development for EducatorsSabbatical Programs

My goal - to help facilitate Game

education growth in Boston

No one School in The Boston area has a complete Game

programBut there are Components all

over the Boston Area Map

A complete program would comprise of:

Critical Game StudiesCriticism, Analysis & History

Games & SocietyUnderstanding how games reflect and construct individuals and groups

Game DesignPrinciples and methodologies behind the rules and the play of games

Game ProgrammingAspects of Traditional CS modified to address the technical aspects of gaming

Visual DesignDesigning, Creating and analyzing the Visual Components of games

Audio DesignDesigning and Creating sound and sound environments

Interactive StorytellingTraditional Storytelling and Interactive Narrative

Game ProductionPractical challenges of managing the development of games

Business of GamingEconomic, legal and policy aspects of games

Idea

Opening a dialog of Area schoolsPotentially Develop a Consortium of schools within the Boston area to work collaboratively on game related projects.

Collaboration is key in the development of games and therefore should be a model in the education of the genre

Benefits

A rich cultural & educational opportunityGreater potential funding from both public and private sectorsReduce cost for industry as wellLarger resource of students for collaboration and ideation Collaboration has the greatest power for innovation

Generate New Knowledge

Rapid diffusion of best practices techniques and standardsStimulation of new technological hybridsProvide faster feedback cyclesBecome the “state of the art” in growth and innovation

What are some actions we can take

Create an environment for low-risk experimentation

Keep the science open and the applications proprietary

Consortium - Industry partnershipsCreate Win/Win scenarios

Perhaps this can be found at local game companies - ways to tackle their short R&D timeline issues

Deepen and broaden this collaborative community by opening the consortium to include all universities in the Boston area

Recognize the Power of Openness

Open standardsOpen content initiativesOpen scientific materialsOpen R&D

Create an agreement of non-exclusive IP rights to all partners

Define the boundaries of intellectual contributionsCommercial licensing agreements can be made if the consortium were to build something that is successful

or can take the CMU ETC or MIT Media Lab approach and charge to have the consortium work on a project

Successful Consortium Examples

Five Colleges, Inc.Each Five College department and program are overseen by a faculty committee representing the relevant programs and/or departments of each campus.Not all faculty committees, however, are engaged in running a department, program, or a center: Some work together to carry out a single project such as a course, field study, a concert, or a series of lectures; others share responsibility for a joint appointment or residency. (- from their website)

Five Colleges Ohio

Microelectronics and Computer Technology CorporationWWWThe Open GroupSEMATECHThe Concord Consortium

HIMG

Can Provide the initial framework to the Consortium

Journal/ReviewDevelopment GroupGaming InitiativeColloquium

Purpose: To discover new applications for the potential of video-game and interactive media Technologies