My experience playing a game to complete a graduate course was a very interesting one, to say the least. It quickly became apparent that what I would leave the class with would be directly proportional to how I engaged with the curriculum through various learning quests and Second Life meetings. In addition to the subject matter content that I learned throughout the course of this class, I found the design principles of the course to be quite valuable in helping me to continually evolve my paradigm of classroom and online learning.
I greatly appreciated the self-paced nature of the curriculum. Crafting my own learning narrative through participating in self-selected quests was a very rewarding aspect of my learning experience. It not only added value to the course, it also allowed me to personalize my learning. This open style of quest completion also caused me to question the timelines that we set with our curricular calendars for students. I completed the majority of my quests and earned most of my XP within the first month of the course and had infrequent engagement with course materials afterwards as a result. Though this asymmetrical relationship with course content may seem problematic to some, I found that it allowed me to build the background content knowledge early that I was able to use as a frame of reference for our continued discussions throughout the rest of the class.
Another concept that I was forced to wrestle with is personalization vs standardization of learning. While I enjoyed my experience in this course, as a result of its design, there is no way for the instructor to compare my learning to my classmates'. Though this sounds idyllic, would a similar quest-based system approach with core content areas be as meaningful and valuable in our Common Core era? In this type of system, how is the teacher's effectiveness measured? How is the efficacy of the instructional design determined as well?
This class, as well as its quest-based approach, is built on a different foundation than traditional classrooms and learning experiences are. There is not only a shift in power and control over learning. There is also a shift in trust, responsibility, and accountability. I see this as a very positive opportunity for learning to start meaning something again. However, I also see giant obstacles standing in the way of such a theoretically desirable system of teaching and learning and how our classrooms currently operate.
Is one qualitatively better than the other? Is there a one-size-fits-all approach for engaging students with content through teaching and learning? Do elements of good game design influence good teaching or is it the other way around? Perhaps the most valuable idea that I gained in this class is the opportunity to experience flux in my philosophy of education. As opposed to a sit-and-get class, this one has left me with questions to ponder and practices to experiment with that transcend the timeframe of this semester. To use gamer jargon, there is a lot of XP that I still have left to earn.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Idahonia
For this quest, I journeyed to Idahonia and participated in a financial literacy learning simulation. As you will see by the pictures included below, I had to learn about managing my finances, banking options, and credit scores. Additionally, I had to manage my own budget while purchasing various items including housing, transportation, furniture, food, clothes, a cell phone package, and a vacation. All of this was constrained (or made possible) by the career that I chose with its associated income at the beginning of the simulation. Assessment tools were used throughout to help me think metacognitively about my own financial literacy.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Temple of Portunus
The Temple of Portunus virtual space was quite enigmatic. At first exposure, it looked like an the ruins of an ancient Roman palace, with its carved columns and elegant architecture. But on further exploration of the Temple, I found it to be a haven for artistic expression.
Outside of the physical temple lays swaths of white sandy beaches with overturned construction equipment and garbage leading up to an art display titled "Trash." This display presents roughly 20 works of user-generated art around the theme of environmental waste.
Outside of the physical temple lays swaths of white sandy beaches with overturned construction equipment and garbage leading up to an art display titled "Trash." This display presents roughly 20 works of user-generated art around the theme of environmental waste.
Having come across a second art exhibit sign (this time with no artwork), I have concluded that the Temple of Portunus must be a virtual space for creatives to gather and share their interest in computer-generated graphic design and artwork.
There were no people around to interact with, leaving me to form this arbitrary conclusion on my own.
Space Elevator at Bowness
I took one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind in this quest where I visited and explored the Space Elevator at Bowness. This Second Life virtual space is exactly as it sounds, a bridge between Earth and Space.
Upon entering the Space Elevator, I was immediately impressed by what seemed like a server room. Though I tried to interact with various computers and a luminescent fountain in the middle, my efforts were to no avail.
From here, I went to Level 2. Here, I found various posters educating visitors about efforts to create ecologically sustainable environments and lifestyles. One board posed the question of whether or not buildings could be designed to lessen their ecological footprint. This problem interested me because of its emphasis on coexistence rather than a dichotomous relationship between urbanism and environmentalism. It struck me that the Space Elevator at Bowness Island must be a virtual space to discuss and learn more about environmental issues. I tried clicking on the link to the website included in the quest description, but unfortunately, it was a broken link.
Upon entering the Space Elevator, I was immediately impressed by what seemed like a server room. Though I tried to interact with various computers and a luminescent fountain in the middle, my efforts were to no avail.
From here, I went to Level 2. Here, I found various posters educating visitors about efforts to create ecologically sustainable environments and lifestyles. One board posed the question of whether or not buildings could be designed to lessen their ecological footprint. This problem interested me because of its emphasis on coexistence rather than a dichotomous relationship between urbanism and environmentalism. It struck me that the Space Elevator at Bowness Island must be a virtual space to discuss and learn more about environmental issues. I tried clicking on the link to the website included in the quest description, but unfortunately, it was a broken link.
Continuing to explore, I made my way up a spiral ramp to the third level. It was here that I found the entrance to the actual Space Elevator. As anyone left alone in front of a button reading "Do Not Push" would do, I immediately went inside and started looking around to see what I could do. Space exploration sounded like a good adventure to take.
In an expedited version of space travel, I arrived at a landing station that provided incredible views of the cosmos (even for a virtual world). Of course, I raced out of the elevator to see what I could find. Again, curiosity took me through every door that I could pass through until I reached one whose threshold I was not so willing to cross. Who knows what would happen by stepping out into Space without the proper equipment?
Returning to the innermost portion of the station, I took a moment to look out the large windows transcending Earth. One thing in particular caught my eye. It was a satellite orbiting somewhere over Mexico. I was certainly impressed by the attention to realistic detail in this virtual space.
There were no other visitors in The Space Elevator or at Bowness Island, which prohibited me from engaging in any dialogue about the purpose of this space. However, by autonomously exploring the environment myself, I was not only able to expose myself to a very interesting Second Life environment, but gain a deeper appreciation for the possibilities and opportunities afforded to learners by online virtual spaces.
Drop Pods Command
To improve my skill set as a Lieutenant on the Prometheus, I took on the challenge of learning how to control drop pods. This procedure is imperative for getting people onto and off of the Prometheus. To begin, I went to Level 1 and entered the Drop Pod hangar.
Once inside, I located the Drop Pods command portal. To initiate the drop pod transportation process, I clicked on the green menu for Drop Pod 2.
This presented me with a menu of Drop Control options, including RezPod, which I selected. Within the RezPod menu, I programmed a vector coordinate for the Drop Pod to depart to. In this quest, I used the sample coordinate <30,30,100>. After the Drop Pod had reached its initial destination, I then called it back to Prometheus by programming the vector coordinates <133,60,2272>.
Once inside, I located the Drop Pods command portal. To initiate the drop pod transportation process, I clicked on the green menu for Drop Pod 2.
This presented me with a menu of Drop Control options, including RezPod, which I selected. Within the RezPod menu, I programmed a vector coordinate for the Drop Pod to depart to. In this quest, I used the sample coordinate <30,30,100>. After the Drop Pod had reached its initial destination, I then called it back to Prometheus by programming the vector coordinates <133,60,2272>.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Sploder Game Types
What Makes a Good Game
Games are very diverse. From their objectives, narratives (or lack thereof), designs, and target audiences, every game has a unique chemistry that makes it what it is. However, not every game is a good game. In fact, there are many bad games that are bad not because of opinion, but because they fail to include certain characteristics of research-based best practices for game design. Nevertheless, individual opinion matters when considering a gamer's personal relationship with various games and genres. Following, are criteria of good games and bad games that I have identified through my own experience with digital and analog games.
Good games make you want to continue to play them. There are a number of ways that they do this. A few of them are timely rewards and observable feedback systems. These provide players with essential information regarding their effort. Also, narrative has a gripping effect on player engagement as well. This, quite possibly, is due to the emotional impact on a player that narrative can have. A third characteristic of good game design is differentiated game play. As Dr. Puentedura alluded to, good games should not allow a newb to hit buttons randomly and earn a similar score to a more involved veteran player. Conversely, those with little experience should not be forced to simply watch a veteran triumph with little hope of enjoying the game themselves.
In addition to ignoring the previously mentioned characteristics, bad games are qualitatively different than some of our favorite games in a number of ways. These include a lack of space or setting, absence of directions or a reliance on reading an instructional guide for all of the directions in gameplay, lack of a meaningful context, contrived or trivial objectives, and non-scaffolded opportunities for learning how to play the game.
Creating a good game design is not that different from creating a good learning experience. Many of the principles of good game design could be applied to principles of good instructional design. The same goes for bad games and bad instruction as well. At the root of both practices is an understanding of player/learner needs and experiences. The more cognizant we become with these, the more data and information we will have at our disposal to create an optimal experience.
Platform Creator
This genre was reminiscent of the traditional Nintendo games that I played as a young child. The two platform-based games in this quest seemed very familiar to me because of my exposure to similar games from my youth. I enjoy the uncertainty that always awaits just off screen as you move further along the level. There is an element of anxiety that invigorates the game play. However, this quality is also what deterred me from playing too challenging of platform-based games when I was younger. Still, today, I lack control that is otherwise present in a game like Madden or Call of Duty.
I also grew frustrated with how "touchy" the keys and corresponding movements were as I continued to fall off of platforms back to a lower level throughout the games. This quickly became a nuisance which probably limited the time I was willing to invest in playing the games further.
Both of these had frequent reward systems that I enjoyed as part of their designs. Whether that was leveling up, finding a new resource along the path, or conquering a foe, each of these served to reinforce my efforts in the game.
3D Game Creator
This game style was my favorite of all of them. I really liked the narrative. I liked being responsible for another character. I liked the puzzle elements that added to the storyline and overall engagement in the game. I also liked the opportunities to gain health boosters and new weapons. These sent a squirt of oxytocin into my brain each time I came across them.
As for things that I didn't like, the challenge was quite easy. The villains were never able to do that much damage to me. I was also caught off guard when the game ended. There wasn't anything that seemed to designate the final portal as the winning condition of the game. I simply stepped on to it and then realized that I had accomplished the goal of the game.
Classic Shooter
Though I've come to like first-person shooter games since beginning this course, I did not like any of the games in this quest at all. In fact, none of the three had anything that I would use in my own game. That's not to say that I won't experiment with this genre however.
What I did not like about these games was that the rules of gameplay were unclear. It seemed like their were unknown physical forces working on my ships as I played. I found that I would get stuck under or next to an object in the playing field, and I could not get myself loose. This eventually led me to frustration. I also did not like the lack of clear instructions. While one game challenged me to "Get the crystal." There was no additional information to tell me how to get it, where to find it, or what I should avoid in pursuit of the winning condition. I would run into what looked like adversaries, but they would not have a negative effect on me. Along this line, I did not like the absence of immediate feedback. I never knew how close I was to success or failure until the game ended for one reason or another.
Retro Arcade
I really liked this one. Similar, in my mind, to a platform-based game, this game had some very rewarding characteristics. On a basic level, the music was calming and the sound effects for collecting coins was reinforced that behavior. On a more theoretical level, I appreciated, in Stage 2 of Level 1, how there were two different ways to reach the finish line. One was above ground and the other was subterranean. Upon discovering this, I felt very optimistic in my ability to observe such options in future levels. It was also rewarding for me as someone who is always looking for ways to "cheat" the game, so to speak. Finally, I found the feedback bars very helpful. I was able to see how many coins I had collected and how each kick from a green monster diminished my health. This helped me in making decisions throughout gameplay.
Games are very diverse. From their objectives, narratives (or lack thereof), designs, and target audiences, every game has a unique chemistry that makes it what it is. However, not every game is a good game. In fact, there are many bad games that are bad not because of opinion, but because they fail to include certain characteristics of research-based best practices for game design. Nevertheless, individual opinion matters when considering a gamer's personal relationship with various games and genres. Following, are criteria of good games and bad games that I have identified through my own experience with digital and analog games.
Good games make you want to continue to play them. There are a number of ways that they do this. A few of them are timely rewards and observable feedback systems. These provide players with essential information regarding their effort. Also, narrative has a gripping effect on player engagement as well. This, quite possibly, is due to the emotional impact on a player that narrative can have. A third characteristic of good game design is differentiated game play. As Dr. Puentedura alluded to, good games should not allow a newb to hit buttons randomly and earn a similar score to a more involved veteran player. Conversely, those with little experience should not be forced to simply watch a veteran triumph with little hope of enjoying the game themselves.
In addition to ignoring the previously mentioned characteristics, bad games are qualitatively different than some of our favorite games in a number of ways. These include a lack of space or setting, absence of directions or a reliance on reading an instructional guide for all of the directions in gameplay, lack of a meaningful context, contrived or trivial objectives, and non-scaffolded opportunities for learning how to play the game.
Creating a good game design is not that different from creating a good learning experience. Many of the principles of good game design could be applied to principles of good instructional design. The same goes for bad games and bad instruction as well. At the root of both practices is an understanding of player/learner needs and experiences. The more cognizant we become with these, the more data and information we will have at our disposal to create an optimal experience.
Platform Creator
This genre was reminiscent of the traditional Nintendo games that I played as a young child. The two platform-based games in this quest seemed very familiar to me because of my exposure to similar games from my youth. I enjoy the uncertainty that always awaits just off screen as you move further along the level. There is an element of anxiety that invigorates the game play. However, this quality is also what deterred me from playing too challenging of platform-based games when I was younger. Still, today, I lack control that is otherwise present in a game like Madden or Call of Duty.
I also grew frustrated with how "touchy" the keys and corresponding movements were as I continued to fall off of platforms back to a lower level throughout the games. This quickly became a nuisance which probably limited the time I was willing to invest in playing the games further.
Both of these had frequent reward systems that I enjoyed as part of their designs. Whether that was leveling up, finding a new resource along the path, or conquering a foe, each of these served to reinforce my efforts in the game.
3D Game Creator
This game style was my favorite of all of them. I really liked the narrative. I liked being responsible for another character. I liked the puzzle elements that added to the storyline and overall engagement in the game. I also liked the opportunities to gain health boosters and new weapons. These sent a squirt of oxytocin into my brain each time I came across them.
As for things that I didn't like, the challenge was quite easy. The villains were never able to do that much damage to me. I was also caught off guard when the game ended. There wasn't anything that seemed to designate the final portal as the winning condition of the game. I simply stepped on to it and then realized that I had accomplished the goal of the game.
Classic Shooter
Though I've come to like first-person shooter games since beginning this course, I did not like any of the games in this quest at all. In fact, none of the three had anything that I would use in my own game. That's not to say that I won't experiment with this genre however.
What I did not like about these games was that the rules of gameplay were unclear. It seemed like their were unknown physical forces working on my ships as I played. I found that I would get stuck under or next to an object in the playing field, and I could not get myself loose. This eventually led me to frustration. I also did not like the lack of clear instructions. While one game challenged me to "Get the crystal." There was no additional information to tell me how to get it, where to find it, or what I should avoid in pursuit of the winning condition. I would run into what looked like adversaries, but they would not have a negative effect on me. Along this line, I did not like the absence of immediate feedback. I never knew how close I was to success or failure until the game ended for one reason or another.
Retro Arcade
I really liked this one. Similar, in my mind, to a platform-based game, this game had some very rewarding characteristics. On a basic level, the music was calming and the sound effects for collecting coins was reinforced that behavior. On a more theoretical level, I appreciated, in Stage 2 of Level 1, how there were two different ways to reach the finish line. One was above ground and the other was subterranean. Upon discovering this, I felt very optimistic in my ability to observe such options in future levels. It was also rewarding for me as someone who is always looking for ways to "cheat" the game, so to speak. Finally, I found the feedback bars very helpful. I was able to see how many coins I had collected and how each kick from a green monster diminished my health. This helped me in making decisions throughout gameplay.
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