1. All about Staffordshire University ABLE – Vasto, Italy. 19th – 21st October 2011 Dr. Bobbie Fletcher Programme Leader Games Technology Nia Wearn Senior Lecturer Games Technology

2. Staffordshire University - Location “Established in 1992, Staffordshire University has evolved into one of the country's most dynamic, progressive and forward-thinking learning institutions. Always quick to adapt as student requirements change, we have become renowned for our groundbreaking new courses and first-class learning opportunities.”

3. Staffordshire University - Location

4. Staffordshire University - Location At Staffordshire University there are 16,000 students make up the University's vibrant cultural mix from the UK and around the world. The University split over 2 campuses – Stoke-on-Trent & Stafford we’re based in Stafford.

5. Staffordshire University - Location This is what our campus at Stafford looks like – it’s taken from a game we helped design for the new students to find their way around the university.

6. Games Technology– About our courses Games Technology is the largest department in the university. We have 470 students studying a selection of courses – all to do with making Computer Games

7. Games Technology– About our courses We teach 3D Modelling, Animation, Games Engines, Motion Capture, Production Skills, Audio Engines, Narratology, Realism, Texturing, Rigging, Legal issues, Games Business, Games Marketing, Flash Games. Students learn technical skills, how to work with industry standard software. We aim to help the student develop skills to encourage them to make a wide variety of games. They work in groups, on their own – but currently we don’t have any distance learning aspects to the course.

8. Where our Alumni Work

9. Games Technology– Distance Learning In Sept 2012 Games Technology will launch a totally distance learning version of our main flagship award 3 Years, 2 Semesters (so the summer off inline with most UK institutions) Block colour are cores – bullet points are options 3 Years, 3 Semesters (working through the summer) No options & mix of synchronous and asynchronous communication.

10. Games Technology– Distance Learning We have 4 main tools: Blackboard (VLE) Wiki For Some Group work Forum For Posting individual work Sococo (Realtime virtual office)

11. Games Technology– And that’s us... Most of our Games Technology students are male, 18 – 21, and they’ve come straight to us from school or college. There isn’t a lot of experience at our institution with running Distance Learning Courses, especially not undergraduate courses. While the UK has a strong tradition of distance learning with the Open University – they concentrate on more traditional subjects. So that’s us, it’s nice to meet you all!