Reflection 6: Press Pause

This week served as more of a pause, a time to reflect, make notes, and ponder.

Jenny is currently working her way through a possible textbook, and I have downloaded two chapters to review as well.

As for me, I am spending the week with in-laws who, while wonderfully supporting and compassionate and caring, exhibit no real interest in technology  The older generation (mine) all have smart phones and review their email. Some use WAZE or Google Maps for directions, and others use i Pads. The younger generation (20s to 40) have phones but do not really handle email, and none play games. They do create videos for their band, so technology skills are present, but this group differs greatly from my own adult children and the students I teach.

So, I am pondering how to reach students who may not be as technology interested as others. Notice I am saying technology interested rather than technology savvy.

A gamified course or training needs to interest the participants along with being "do-able." Making a course/training interesting involves making the content useful to  participants, helping them explore the usefulness of the course content to their work, helping participants apply their learning to their work. Quests must engage and explain their usefulness from the beginning - otherwise participants will lose interest and drop out.... XP are not enough.

My task, then, is to make the narrative and aesthetics engaging enough to "hook" participants at the beginning, while focusing on the player journey, using onboarding, scaffolding, and mastery.

Onboarding is the initial experience that teaches the participants the "ropes" and sets expectations for what is coming.   I think of this as the Welcome Wagon, the Visitors Center, important training that allows participants to be successful.   This will resurface as needed throughout the course, keeping in mind the need to reiterate the application of knowledge to their work.

Scaffolding will help the "play" become habit-forming by sing triggers, activity loops, and feedback systems to turn participants into regular players.

Finally, mastery opens the course up to the enthusiasts who master the content and the lay and decide to go deeper.   While we hope this will include all learners, we realize that might not be so.

 My plan is to find ways to engage those not technology-interested to help them become interested....this should prove interesting.....

Reflection 5: Game Play

YES!  I finally feel as though I am making progress.

I am starting to flesh out some of the modules and making notes within to help guide the content development.

If we can just get the content in, then we can create activities...and at the end I can weave in the narrative...

We have a lot of information through which to sift, and, while I have been reading for a year, Jenny has not, so she is catching up. We have still not decided how exactly to integrate readings and have discussed several options.

For the moment, organization is key.

We have now set up a Gamitopia Library to house all documents and a Gamitopia theater to house all videos. We are in the process of dividing the Library into topical sections and will eventually do the same with the Theater.

My technique has been to upload files directly into the library as I find them, organizing as I go along, but I still have almost two dozen files that are not yet organized.  Our thought is that some files (peer-reviewed articles actually) will likely appear in several topical sections..so we will both set up topical sections according to our outline assignments.

We have created - as a draft - some looped quests, i.e., assignments that build upon each other, linking several topics together.  Now we just need to copy those quests as a draft into the proper towns as part of the organization.

Terms that were originally going to comprise their own town (Verbiage) are now going to be integrated throughout the towns.

Individualization is also an issue we are keeping at the forefront, being sure to provide examples, readings, and quests for K-12 HIED, and business. Trying to make sure everyone produces a quality assignment at the end - whether they plan to merely integrate a few game elements into a class, gamify a unit in a course, gamify an entire course, gamify professional development training, or gamify a business website.....Trying to develop an equal  assignment is difficult...

I am very pleased with the progress I have made in the Towne of Histoire. I have learning objectives and have created content on a variety of topics and am now ready to enter 20th and 21st century game history.... I am considering having only a Guildchat...or maybe a  Padlet....for players to complete before leaving Histoire  as I want them to reflect upon games  - how they have changed, how they haven't changed, and how they have been used in the past....paving the way for future towns and for their own use of gamification. I want them to see that games have been used to educate and train for centuries......

...so there really is very little new......

My action plan?

Finish Histoire ..... then move on to Gaming Towne (types of games) while continuing to organize the Library...and continue to make notes in other towns...

Reflection 4: One step forward and two steps back

Once again, the week has focused on reflection, planning, and assessing...and starting over...somewhat.... 


Designing a course is time-consuming and requires a great deal of thought and planning to design a good course.

Add the need to find appropriate readings and develop one's own content.......


Then top this off with gamifying the same course, and the need for organization and planning more than triples......



... Along with the need to frequently stop and regroup.....

 
During this week we decided to abandon the idea of finding a textbook that met our needs and offered the content we want to use.

We started "playing" (i.e., reading and reviewing) the narrative for flow and "fit."

 We decided to create our own content, integrated peer-reviewed research.
 
We decided to identify several learning objectives for each "town."

We decided to try to create a frame game of some type within each town.

Each of these decisions, however, requires further consideration.

While finding a text that fits our needs would be ideal, doing so does not seem possible.  One possibility looks only at gamification from the business perspective, alluding very briefly to gamification in education.  Another promising text provides some of the content we need but then disintegrates into a series of interviews and examples all of which were K-12. A third text we considered addressed gamification in higher education but not in an online setting. Perhaps we should simply write our own text...

Playing/Reading/Reviewing our own course is important, so we will be adding ourselves to the course as students as a way to test  our our work. The narrative will continue to need refinement, but that is to be expected.

As this is a graduate level course, rigor and scholarship are important. While we could prepare all of our own content ourselves, we want to integrate peer-reviewed research supporting our work.  Unfortunately, peer-reviewed research does not exist for some of the course content, and we also want to include application research. Integrating these three concepts - without overwhelming the students - will prove an interesting quest for us.

Learning objectives are important guides for a course but deciding where and how to weave them into the various "towns" has resulted in some unusual ideas. I have toyed with crafting a Mayor for each township to introduce the objectives, but that has not felt "right." At this point I have added the into the introductory narrative for each town, but that may well change. Repetition increases comfort so I feel I should introduce the objectives the same way in each town...but the approach may well change.

Assessing learning is important, and one of our goals with this course is to model gamification in all areas...so....we are now considering ways to have students interact with content other than through reading and participating in forums.  We want easy to understand activities that students could adapt to their own needs later.  One concern is that Java does not function well within Canvas, so we will either need to create java-free activities..or...java-rich activities that can be housed outside of Canvas. We could use a variety of free websites to house our activities so choosing the best format is necessary.

What's next?

More of the same....

My goal is to finish Histoire: I have a few items to scan, content to create, several readings to incorporate, and activities to plan and create.

This should be fun!

Reflection 3: Aesthethics

This has been a rough week in carving out time to work, but I have been reviewing the research while thinking through some of the items I want to be sure to include/demonstrate in this course.  I am currently concentrating on aesthetics.....

Aesthetics

I am a planner...and a list maker..... I need to make a list of items to be sure I include in the narrative and game design. so, I have been reading the research and our selected text.....and making lists.

Aesthetics encompass the various emotional goals of the game: sensation (game as sense-pleasure), fantasy (game as make-believe), narrative (game as drama), challenge (game as obstacle course), fellowship (game as social framework), discovery (game as uncharted territory), expression (game as self-discovery), and submission (game as pastime) (Kim, 2015). Aesthetics, then, are the result of how players follow the mechanics then generate the dynamics.  Playing games should be fun and appealing. Assuming that players will stop playing if they do not enjoy themselves, then creating player enjoyment should be the main goal (Robson, et al., 2015). 

Van der  Spek, Van Ostendorp, and Meyer (2013) suggest integrating surprising events can stimulate deeper learning and that a narrative background can decrease learning, so game designers need to seriously consider how they embed instruction in the game narrative. Amory (2007) proposes educational games should be designed as narrative spaces where story and plot allow characters to construct their own meaning through the use of plot hooks, characters, backstory, and cutscenes.

Plot hooks are used at the beginning of a game to draw players into the game. A plot hook can take several forms: an urgent plea for help, a central character who awakes in a strange location, or a detective assigned to solve a crime. Their purpose is to arouse curiosity and create intrigue. Good plot hooks put players into the middle of action without providing much explanation, serving as an impetus for the player to begin the game.

Our game will open with something similar to the following:

You have been summoned to represent your guild at the Tower of a pair of mages on the continent of Gamitopia. Why you were chosen and the reason behind the gathering is unknown...but will reveal itself to you as the game progresses…

This is a very hazardous quest.   You will travel in a small guild party although some quests can only be completed alone. Your guild party will be based on interests and skills so hopefully the avatars you choose will support and complement one another, allowing you to overcome the many Challenges you will face.

Are you ready to continue and learn more about what awaits?

If so, click on SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT, and in the text box, type the phrase, "I am ready to begin!"

 Compelling characters  need to be integrated throughout the game. In adventure games the player is often cast as the protagonist. Providing information about the goals, personality and motivations of the protagonist and other characters can foster an emotional connection between the player and the main character. This connection is established through the use of multidimensional characters with both strengths and flaws (Freeman, 2003) and by having characters that change and grown throughout the game (Rollings & Adams, 2003).

Hmmmmmm....  Perhaps I should add a Guide to lead them through their journey to the Tower and serve as a narrator. The Guide could introduce our travelers  to a variety of other characters who could serve as specialists in the content provided in the various towns. Challenges (quizzes) could be presented by characters as well....   I just need to concentrate on developing character strengths and flaws to make them more interesting. 

Backstory and cutscenes deliver the narrative and help players to uncover the narrative story line. Backstory refers to the background, the history of the story line, and provides dramatic context for the action. This could be as brief as a simple sketch of the main character and key conflicts in the storyline or as complex as providing detailed histories of all of the characters and conflicts along with maps of the game world. Cutscenes are short pieces of narrative revealed during game play. They could take a variety of forms: a radio broadcast, a telephone message, an email, a journal entry, a newscast, or even a brief video. Cutscenes provide players with key information, often appearing at the end of puzzles or challenges (Hancock, 2002).  Examples of cutscenes include flashbacks, parallel actions, foreshadowing, cliff hangers, and red herrings (Hancock, 2002; Onder, 2002).

This may take more planning....I will need to add some conflicts along the way to add some challenge...wonder if we could create a map, then have the map appear in between each city visit.....   I may have to learn some java as it would be great to have little footprints appear to show the travelers where they have been... I really will need to work more on the backstory and perhaps use flashback to help tell the story/narrative.....I already have a few cutscenes developed but will need to develop more.
 
Fellowship..... we have discussed having team quests as well as individual quests, but discussion forums might be a useful tool. I wish Canvas had a course chatroom option, but I suppose we could set up one discussion thread to serve as a chatroom. Perhaps one quest could be to complete a task to be posted in a forum then a followup quest could be to critique one another's question  post.....

Why ponder aesthetics now?

Keeping the aesthetics in mind as we design each city/town/village/hamlet will hopefully help us create a better and more engaging game, and, in this case, a better and more engaging course as we model the process. The assumption is that since this course is an elective, it will attract students who are interested in gamification and, thereby, more likely to  immerse themselves in the game we offer.  We have decided hat students will play our game for approximately 8 weeks, then work on their major project, then return to the game during the last week or two of the course. The thought is this way students will have a break from the game while they work individually, possibly increasing the likelihood of them finishing the class.

I feel the need to constantly remind myself of what to include as I design to keep myself from future massive redesigns. I will probably revisit this several times just to keep myself on task. When I look a Canvas for this week, I have done nothing...yet I have copious pen-and-notebook notes. Perhaps next week will move more quickly.

Action Plan

What's next for me?

I want to finish re-reading our text, adding those notes to my notebook, then finish the first town of Histoire, making sure I include as many of the aesthetics as possible. Now that I know what I need to do, and have a list, development should move more quickly, then I can move on to another town.

 References

Amory, A. (2007). Game object model version II: A theoretical framework for educational game development. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55, 51-57.

Freeman, D. E. (2003). Creating emotion in games: The craft and art of emotioneering.  Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.

Hancock, H. (2002). Better game design through cutscenes. Retrieved July 27, 2015 from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131410/better_game_design_through_.php

Kim, B. (2015, February/March). Game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. Library Technology Reports, 51(2), 17-19.

Onder, B. (2002). Storytelling in level-based game design. In F. D. Laramee (Ed.) Game-design perspectives (pp. 291-298). Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J. H., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2015, July). Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamification. Business Horizons, 58(4), 411-420
Rollings, A., & Adams, E.  (2003). Game design. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.

Van der  Spek, E, D., Van Ostendorp, H., & Meyer,, J. J. (2013). Introducing surprising events can stimulate deep learning in a serious game. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(1), 156-169.