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The recruits wereanxious...

This is a strange

course meetingin a virtualworld

...But they wouldsoon find out whattheir mission wasall about.

We are the crew of the spaceship.We are going to use this

spaceship to learn about gamesand simulations.

They loaded droppods flew 3000 mup to....

Episode 1: All Aboard.

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...The Prometheus!

A place to learn about, and make, educational games and simulations.

Not as hardas a titler

Uniforms

Then, exploring...

Everyone will havea role to play inthe coming weeks.

FlightSciencecommand

The adventure continues...

Uniformsare hard!

Productivestruggle,

my friends.Productive

struggle.

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Episode 2: Alienation

Science found their labs...

The crew reports for duty in there newuniforms to explore games and simulations

reportingfor duty, sir.

Where isengineering?

Security patrolled the ship...

...and the pilots found the hanger

a special Guest arrived. I'm rapha koster a gamesand learning scientist

I could use your helpby crafting some

situated definitions.

The crew would need to find their own personally relevant meaning of play and definition of game

Using Caillois... ...Salen & zimmerman... ...Even Psychology today

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Game - Structured andclear objectes in a safeenvironment directed atan outcome

Our economic system"capitalism is a game... money isessentially a mental construct.

Such aninterestingdiscussion

The debate continues...

Meanwhile...

... a mysterious green orb aboard her ship turns Rapha in an alien.

A search ensues

She must bearound

heresomewhere

More orbs appear...

...Not even the doctor is safe.

Was thissome kind of

game?

Hard toknow

Yes!

Maybeplay?

The whole experience is a gam

Thankgoodness

it's temporary

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Episode 3: States of Play PT.1

An alien triangle...

...teleports the pilots to a strange world.

We found a strangeobject in the cargo bay.

The pilots chat in the hanger...

We shouldcheck it

out.

We broughtyou here to

learn moreabout your

games.

Please...tellof your games

we do notunderstand

We want you todemonstrate....on our grid...

They entertainand stimulate

Theyentertai

n andstimulat

e

hey can be designedto entertain and to

teach a lesson

They canalso teachus how to

solveproblemsin the real

world.they are

quiteversatile

really

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Meanwhile on the prometheus...

Where is our hair?

The pilotsare gone.

Searchtheship! They find the triangle...

..and areteleported too.STRANGE PROBLEMS IN SPACE

THE CREW PLACES BOXES ON THE NARRATIVE GRID BETWEEN SIMULATION AND ABSTRACTION, GOALDRIVEN AND ARBITRARY. THE TELLS HOW THE ROLE OF NARRATIVE IN THE GAME.

THE ALIENS GOT WHAT THEY WANTED...

...BUT THE CREW HAS MORE TO DISCUSS TO BE CONTINUED...

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Episode 4: States of play pt. 2

Inspired by the visit from the aliens, thecrew builds their own narrative grid.

But before they can discuss it, duty calls.

Security drills in the brig.

Science explores theirnew databases,...

...pilots fly,... , and command

qualifies.

Then they meet in the hanger to discuss games and narrative.

The challenge in some gamesbecomes more challengingand more arbitrary - moredifficulty levels, multiplyingchocolate, new ways to

monetize, changes . They make$600,000 aday on CandyCrush

Where doyou fit videogame asliterature ?

Definitely theyare an artform

to themselves

not sure allvideo gamesareliterature

I taught my sonto read usingvideo games.

I enjoy video games for thesame reason I enjoy literature.

They allow me to playprospectively as the characterin the context of a largernarrative that I, at least, feellike I can influence.

One of the best examplesis late 90s, Legend ofZelda. had the equiv of400 pages of text.

One definition of literature is: writings havingexcellence of form or expression and expressingideas of permanent or universal interest (2) : anexample of such writings

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Somewhere in space...

The Dauntless pilotedby futcha rhode

I need to get these simulations to theschools on earth. It may be the only

way they can interact with some ofthese concepts

Then, a static storm cripplesthe dauntless and scramblesthe computers.

Maybe the crew ofthe prometheus can

help.

Permission

to land

After the damaged computers were offloaded...

the crew came to help recover the data and catalog the sims.

Episode 5: If at first you don't succeed.

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So, we need to playthese simulations andevaluate with a survey.

Evaluatethem on

simulationfidelity,

simulationverification,

and bothinternal

andexternalvalidity

Wow! I never

thoughtabout that.

Teams assembled and split up the 5 computers.

After cataloging, the crew discussed the sims.

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Is it possible thatyou could create anunderstandingDIFFERENT than

those intended?

Their philosophy of learning is acombination of traditionaldirect instruction with glimpsesof constructivism.

Sim school is interesting,recreating asocial scienceenvironment. Harder to do.

The students

included arespecificallydesigned based on aseries of what 10different attitudes.

of course!

The crew was rewarded by getting theirown access to futcha's sim library.

The lack of

a questionbothered memore.

Exactly! oran objective.

or a lab sheet

Simulations as open sandbox?

I think that theobjectives can be

provided by theteacher, but I thinkit is valuable tohave free play.

the sim could be embedded inan online class where it isn'tpossible to have a real labset up. The direct instructionwould occur with a clear setof objectives and directions ina web site or LMS

I agreesimulations arebest paired withverbal or writteninstruction.

For me personally,I like it in thereverse order. Iwant instructions

to learn what I cando first, then I wantfree play after.

This remindsme of reverseclassroom.Let studentsexplore thendiscuss.

I find it interesting that so manypeople feel that an objective is

missing in these simulations andis bothered by it.

but somany gamesdon't seem

to haveobjectivesand that isok Thenarrativegame Zorkdrive mecrazybecause Ididn't knowwhat I wassupposed

to bedoing.

you could set upconversationalsituations for

them usingvocabulary you

are working on

Sometimes when we createthings like this it makessense to us, but until othersuse it you cannot find out ifit makes sense to them.

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Are thereobjectiveswithout thembeing stated?

sims are firstof all amodel ofsomething, so

they do notusually have aplainlystated goal.

Futcha Rhodes talks about the simulations he brought...

in a sim, the rulesare built into theaffrodances of thelevers allowed by

the modeler...

...the ideal is"explore" and "test

the model." Somesims are better atrevealing their model

than others,...and Ithink those are moreeducative.

Are there objectiveswithout them being stated?

What are simsfir, Futcha?

Isn't there always anobjective of sorts,stated or not?

All models aresimplifications, so yes theyall have boundaries and theyall are inaccurate in a sense.

However, there has to be alittle accuracy, otherwise itcan't be useful. Yes, exactly!

y concern is a even a sandbox hasboundaries. Military Sims stillcome up short compared toactual application.Sim School has

that same fatal flaw.

Maybe the confusion isthat some people expectthe scope of the sim tobe the same as reality,which it isn't.

Doesn't it haveto be accurateenough that itdoesn't lead thelearner tobelievesomething aboutit that is notactually true, in

the real world?I mean, sims canbe simplified butreal world isnot so simple.

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After a brilliant discussion, futcha and the dauntless get on their way...

...And Admiral spyker arrives.

The quadrant will be hostingfestival of games in one

week's time and we believe youshould be able to participate,if not WIN it outright.

Sir, we havebeen in theanalyzing

mode.

Analyzing is great butwe need to see someoutput from the "game

station."

Call me prescient, butare you challenging us

to create our owngames?

noted!

You are"prescient" and acouple otherwords I won'tutter in mixedcompany...

There are 5 differenttypes of games you canbuild and submit usingour rapid proto-typing

tool called Sploder.

Sir, do you want a gamefrom each of us or canwe collaborate?

Collaborationis fine. The

choice is yours.

Sounds likefun.

The scientists createtheir own games.

He doesn'tlook happy.

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Creating their first games using sploder...

I was having a hard timewith the physics creator,but the arcade one is easy

to use.

spent a while...just

2 levels.

The crew meets up to formulate a plan...

I've just been playingthe games so far I was

watchingtutorialson YouTube.

I reallylikeSploder,but it does

take time.

How muchtime did youinvest into

making thesegames?

Action and shooter games can have a lot of value ifyou can find a way to apply what's in the game to whatyou're doing in your lesson. On their own, they maynot have a lot of value, but with a lesson plan thatcan take advantage of what they do offer, they can beamazing.

That's a reallygood way ofputting it.

and so the gamedesign continued...

Episode 6: game on

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...and loaded the games into the arcade machines and played them...

Episode 7: Game over

...and played them...

...and played them

Games created by the crew.

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Alrighteveryone,

letsreport to

thesurface.

Yes.

Sploderfest?

Down to the planet I hope theadmiral

likes ourgames.

We'll meet inthe movietheater

Grab somepopcorn andcome inside.

soundsgreat!

ADM. Spyker was waiting.

I'm actuallyquite impressedwith the gamesyou created.

Thanks!

Good game designhas a lot in common

with goodeducational design!

I've been saying that forweeks!

It turns outthat gooddesign is

good design.

I reallylike this

one!

You'vedemonstratedan ability tomake somereally good

games.

Now, I have

anotherassignment foryou...

...One that witest yourabilities as

game designeand educator

Thanks!

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Later back on theprometheus...

Episode 8: Games we play

as scientists weshould be developingour game project now

right?

what mightthat look

like?

Yes, you'll wantsomething that shows

your time on thestation was well

spent.

It can be a couple ofdifferent things.

Some people have a great idea for a game butits complexity makes it impossible to create in

just a 16 week session. In those cases, theycreate a game concept presentation that

walks us through all of the moving parts ofthe game they would like to develop some day.

So, it would be a

presentation?Yes.

Presented in20 minutes.

Haskell explains Option #1: Present your game concept

Haskell explains Option #2: reusing a game or space in a new context

They visit a student built game...

This is anairport

simulation game

created by astudent.

Using digital assets that alreadyexist in a game space or virtual

world, You can create your owneducational game.

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This gamewas created

byrepurposingthe space

His spanish students needto navigate the airport

using only spanish.

they can playdifferent roles

and have differentauthenticproblems

they have to check in,check luggage, andsimulate different

interactions

they simulate theentire experience?

in a game space.

I get it! We don't necessarilyhave to build an entire gamefrom scratch. We can make agame with pre-existing tools

and environments.

Correct! Often, adding anew educational contextan existing game makes it

educational.

and uses theschema of

the students.

DRINKS,Brewmaster!

Haskell explains Option #3: Building your own full game

Some actually prototype a game we can play using one of dozens of tools. Some

even create board, dice, or card games and introduce them during a presentation.

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Create your own Game from scratch or a prototyping tool,...

Create your own Game byrepurposing an existing Gamespace or virtual world,...

...or create a presentationthat describes your detailedgame concept.

Recapping the options...

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Later, on the planet Surface

This is a museum we will create over thenext few weeks. We'll show people how

"serious games" are being used in education.

Games are such a prolific form of media,we should be able to leverage them for

learning right?

That's the

plan.

We've always used tools

not designed for school.

Exhibits could show

games, experiences, andeven lesson plans.

So we can help buildthis up, learning SL

building skills.

We can even use this as achance to display our own

serious game lessons.

So manyoptions.

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Episode 10: A history of violence

The edtech island school district convenes a special session to heartestimony of the crew about the value of games in education.

So much has been said about games and their "dangers", the schoolsuperintendent wants to know first hand from the experts whetheror not they should be allowed as instructional tools.

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Meanwhile, on the prometheusAlright, Crew. We're needed at theSchool Board Meeting...to the pods.

The crew makes the trip to the surface by drop pod.

Welcome, everyone.Edtech Island School board office

Your words here...

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Yourwordshere...

I appreciate your willingness to share yourthoughts with this school district. We've had quite atime over the last few years adapting to all thechanges. Technology has made school a verydifferent place. Students have better technologies

that schools or teachers...

they know how to use them, and westruggle. So, we have quite a bit to

learn, as an educational institution.So, that's why we asked you here. We'dlike to get your perspective.

I have found that students participatemore willingly when it they can simulate areal life situation. It not so personaland therefore they think outside of thebox. They are not afraid of making a

mistake and trying again when they do.Theylearn other skills as well. Such aslanguage skills through discussion and

sharing. Reading skills thorough dialog.Math skills through points and scoring.

Team building through group interaction.

What experience have you had?

Lawanda shares

Aaron testifies

I love everything Swedishthe culture, the people, and food. Also, Sweden is a meccafor gaming. Candy Crush, Minecraft, Saga, and Battlefield are just a few of therecent games to come out of Sweden. Thats not bad for a tiny nation of only 8

million people. http://democreativity.com is a Swedish campaign aiming to inspirecreators all over the world to help change the norms and stereotypes withingaming. After looking at this website, you will start to understand why thedevelopment of gaming is imperative to our educational system. Sweden is ahead of

the game in this new frontier. Our school district and county cannot be left behind.

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I have used games and simulations within the classroom quite frequently. I had studentscreate a Holocaust Memorial dedicated to a child of their choice using the popularcommercial game Minecraft. Students designed, built, and gave a tour of the memorial theybuilt. For those who enjoy creating in virtual worlds this was a welcome change from theusual project (paper, experiment, etc). I have often wondered why the younger grades;Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd grade students seem to have so much fun in school. They aresinging, dancing, and playing games to learn. If this method works in younger years, why

must we end it? Why must education be serious? Why cant learning be fun?

D-man talks about lessons learned.

As an educator and a parent I can see the benefits of gaming in theclassroom. First, it keeps students engaged. As a teacher that is my

biggest challenge. Since most of my students are English Learnerstheir language skills are extremely limited.

Some of the topics that we cover are

rather tedious with academic languagethat they struggle to understand and mystudents quickly become frustrated orbored. Games could help them learn in analternative way where they can practicelanguage skills and learn the material.

Hello, Alexyanne.What do you have tosay on the subject?

Nate continues...

I see gaming as a massive motivator in education. Many of thestudent's that decide to leave my school do so because of a lackof motivation or lack of social activities games provide both.Koster (2005) says that "with games, learning is the drug."

We have plenty of technology, why not use it to do somethingengaging and fun. Computers were not meant to be wordprocessors or research machines. They can do those things,but the massive creativity that they open up is being largely

missed. Gaming in education can allow us to use these toolsto the fullest and make students excited about learning.

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I teach at risk youth at a community college - they are engaged by very little in theclassroom. They are totally engaged by games. I really like the idea of using games but I havesome concerns. Mimi Ito points out, "The appeal lies precisely in the fact that the gameoutcomes do not transfer to the real-life economies of academic achievement and playing therole of the good student, daughter, or son.

Who gets to decide howwe define "good son or

daughter" though?

Good question! Howwill we agree?

There is a lot of learning going on in their non-academicgaming that could transfer into their academic life, onlyin academia we often tend to look for students to knowcontent for the class and ignore the rest of the learning

that is really going on in an engaging game environment.

Im not sure how to reconcile this in my classes.I am

also concerned about the huge interest in gaming byeducational corporations which seems mostly aboutcontent transfer and a new way for them to make money.

"Rather thanfocus on theissue ofcontent andknowledge

transfer themost importantpart of gaminglies in ahealthy socialecology

of participation. This is how Iwould like touse games with

my students.

Hatherly concludes

Steinkuehler's research on Interest driven learningwith teenage boys not at reading level included gamingand reading graphic novels way above their readinglevel. She observed: that people will 2x self-correctif they care about the topic they are reading.

Wow!Powerful

testimoniesso far!

Indigo dazzles here crewmates

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Such goodthought andanalysis here

I really agreewith her.

So far, you've all outdoneyourselves. I think ww are hearing a

side of this that may not have beenclear before.

I agree.

My job is to find new and innovative ways to improve teaching, learning and training teachers.I realized that it was difficult to teach a child with a nearly Eidetic memory to read without a

million books. Enter narrative gaming where he encountered the same words with new words

arranged differently throughout the game so he had to read the words. It didnt take longfor him to figure out that the result of reading and comprehending the words providedinformation for him to excel at the game portion.

enter steele...

The problem I see is that students thinking and learning processes havechanged with the advent of the home computer and video game consoles.Students are used to the "twitch" pace of learning and the regularclassroom environment is often considered "boring" to them (Prensky 2001).

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But video gamesstudents who can't focus for 40minin class can sit down to play a game for 3 hours. They have

the potential to be a very powerful force of change in theengagement and schools need to focus on harnessing it.

The true power of video games in educationwill come when: 1) we have a rich libraryof video game resources at our disposal

that are suitable for all age ranges andsubject matters AND 2) we rethink the wayin which we assess student learning.

As the testimony continues, the force of change is palpable. Although some are cautiouslyoptimistic, the crew of scientists find themselves sharing research and experience,

conversion and conviction. Games have a place in school. They deserve consideration,continued thought, and experimentation.

AgileBill sums it up...

It's not aquestion of to

game or not togame. it's simplya question of thelook and rulesof your 'game.

Perhaps, a game is simplyanother word for a structuredevent you are motivated toperform. They are a tool that

You've all made a wonderful case for howwe should proceed. Thank you.

Thanks forthe chance toshare what we

know andbelieve.

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Eventually, the time on theprometheus neared the end.

The crew would present their gameprojects and provide each other feedback.

They traveled to see these projects

Games were designed to fit the crew members needs showing games they'd built...

...planned...

...prepared...

...designed...

Episode 12: What you leave behind

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, and even used for learning.

Some repurposed an existing game to meet there needs

While others build game-based experiences in virtual worlds and game spaces

even underwater.

The games were amazing!

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Before being dismissed, the crew had onefinal moment together talking about howthey would take this experience andcontinue to explore, create, and play.

And now, the prometheus will be empty...

... until the next time they are called into action.