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Penn State is taking a serious look at the educational possibilities of games, virtual worlds, and simulations. This session presented the trials and tribulations of building the Educational Gaming Commons (EGC) at Penn State, from the initial need expressed by faculty to the construction of a state-of-the-art research lab. Now in its second year, the EGC is building “open” games for faculty, sponsoring research in virtual worlds, and assisting departments in simulation construction. How did we do it? Examples of current work, infrastructure of the EGC and EGC Lab, ongoing initiatives, and future directions were shared. Brett Bixler, Pennsylvania State University
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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?
