WSU IT7220 Week 5

1. Implementation
IT 7220 - February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009 1

2. Agenda
Updates to Syllabus
Game review paper due
Quinn wrap-up with implementation planning
Flash lab
Team activity - concept design
Monday, February 16, 2009 2

3. Pragmatics
Move from Abstract to Concrete
Nine synergistic elements to bring engagement
and learning together
A game design model based on complexity of
scenario and desired outcome(s) of experience
A game design checklist including: analysis,
specification, implementation and evaluation
Monday, February 16, 2009 3

4. Making it Real
Budget perception - games are expensive
$2M budget can be the norm for a full-on game
experience
Budget reality - games don’t have to expensive
Take advantage of game mods
Focus on cognitive challenge; multimedia pizzaz
becomes secondary
Break it down using mini scenarios, linked
scenarios, contingent scenarios, or combination
Monday, February 16, 2009 4

5. Production Tools
Document
Word/Excel
Prototyping/Storyboarding (visual)
PowerPoint
DreamWeaver
Development
Flash
Visual Basic
Squeak (Smalltalk)
Alice Project (www.alice.org)
Monday, February 16, 2009 5

6. Media Types
Property Static Dynamic Usage
Provide concrete examples
Contextual Photos Video of performance
Describe processes;
Conceptual Graphics Animation develop abstract ideas
Create dialogue; tell the
Linguistic Text Audio story; provide feedback
Use of media should enhance learning experience, not detract from it
Dynamic media should be under the learner’s control to manage
environmental distractions and increase interactivity
Dynamic media is more expensive to produce in terms of time and
resources
Effective use of media allows for differences in learner types and styles
Monday, February 16, 2009 6

7. Guidelines for Media Usage
Media effectiveness depends on functionality
Guidelines for media should be based on
cognitive research evidence (R.Clark, R.Mayer,
J.Sweller, et al.)
Generally speaking, context will influence the
best use of media
Monday, February 16, 2009 7

8. Communication Functions of
Media
Decorative - add aesthetic appeal or humor
Representational - depict an object in a realistic fashion
Mnemonic - provide retrieval cues for factual information
Organizational - show qualitative relationships among
content
Relational - show quantitative relationships among two or
more variables
Transformational - show changes in objects over time or space
Interpretive - illustrate a theory, principle, or cause-and-effect
relationships
Monday, February 16, 2009 8

9. Media Heuristics
Does it contribute to the experience?
(theme, goal, challenge)
Does it contribute to the learning?
(action-domain link, problem-learner link)
Does it contribute to engagement?
(active, direct, feedback, affect)
Monday, February 16, 2009 9

10. Content Consideration
Writing
Write with purpose; alignment with goals and outcomes
Write with style; create dialogue
Write with affect; tell the story
Humor
Use judiciously
Alignment with theme
Cartoons and Comics
Easy to create
Require low bandwidth to download
Can use to combine concept and context (e.g., Calvin & Hobbs, Dilbert)
Monday, February 16, 2009 10

11. Context Consideration
Culture
Applies more to global application and issues of cultural sensitivity
Alignment of theme and genre with culture of audience
Gender
Choose genres that appeal to genders of audience
Use gender neutral names for characters (e.g., Chris, Tracy, Pat,...)
Stick with cognitive challenges to engage both genders
Age and Development
Genre and theme should be age appropriate to audience
Issues of cognitive development level is less with adults
Monday, February 16, 2009 11

12. Evaluation
Formative
Plan a small using a representative audience
pilot to collect design feedback on experience
and effectiveness of scenarios
Summative
Collect feedback from peers, colleagues,
intended audience; performance against
predetermined objectives
Monday, February 16, 2009 12

13. Propagation
Integration with LMS/LCMS
Scoring may be a challenge with games
Can be made SCORM compliant
Distribution channels (planning)
Web (Intranet vs. Internet)
CD/DVD
Mobile
Monday, February 16, 2009 13

14. Flash Lab
Working with Text
The Text tool in Flash allows three different
types in property panel
Static
Dynamic
Input
Monday, February 16, 2009 14

15. Flash Text
There are many other attributes that can be set
(see Perkins pp 328-330)
We have been working only with static text
thus far
Dynamic text example using
dynamicTextFinal.fla
Input text example using inputTextFinal.fla
Monday, February 16, 2009 15

16. Team Activity
Begin working on project analysis (design doc)
Vision
Purpose
Objective
Description
Audience
Genre
Theme
Initial design strategy (mini-linked-contingent scenarios)
Design/development process
Evaluation strategy
Timeline
Project plan
Monday, February 16, 2009 16