FINAL: Paige Explores Gamification

Paige demonstrated stellar tutoring instincts as she finished her phonics notebook.  She distilled her research into Orton-Gillingham by compiling  appropriate reading lists, and she looked to her own experience as a student to devise learning activities that visually exceeded the traditional emphasis on multi-sensory processing.  No less importantly, she did not lose sight of her intended  audience:  an elementary school student.  Early on she realized that she had to incorporate fun into her lessons:  "I started to think of the best way to make a student understand what I wanted to teach them. I wanted to make it fun because trying to teach a student - just sitting there, going over the rule - wouldn’t have been fun." She set off to bend her lessons towards a mock student's interests in order to build rapport and help solidify the lesson's content.

In order to reach these targets, Paige began to explore gamification.  According to The Engagement Alliance, this term refers to "the process of using game mechanics and game thinking in non-gaming contexts to engage users and to solve problems. Gamification leverages game design, loyalty program design and behavioral economics to create the optimal context for behavior change and successful outcomes."  If we break this definition down, gamification allows individuals to transform non-gaming scenarios using elements of games (e.g., points, tokens, virtual/​simulated reality, etc.).

As journalist and NYU (@nyuniversity) professor Adam Penenberg (@Penenberg) relates in a Forbes article, CEOs and companies have given this approach much attention in recent years so that they might improve employee competence and morale.  Indeed, as Penenberg relates, "Google (@google) engineers have been able to spend an in-house currency called 'Goobles' on server time—often a scarce resource at Google—or use it to bet on certain outcomes."  Microsoft (@Microsoft), too, "released a game, 'Ribbon Hero,' to teach users how to make better use of its Microsoft Office software."  In education, however, gamification is perhaps merely a new name for an old practice.  Teachers have long designed games in order to help students remember their timetables and alphabet, after all.  That said, their tools - and the applications for games - have changed with the advent of iPad classroom initiatves, MinecraftEdu (@MinecraftEdu), and video games more generally.

Paige began to design her Orton-Gillingham/phonics-based games with a healthy dose of design thinking.  She meditated upon their purpose and asked herself, "What should they accomplish?"  After concluding that the games would best serve her students in proving their understanding of a given language concept, she sequenced these recreations to the end of her chapters.  For the rest of the process, we invite you to consult Paige herself:

My first game [focused on] the rule of short and long vowels. At first I had no idea on what I was going to do. Then I thought I could make "Chutes and Ladders." After putting all the words [in], Mr. Bisson and I decided to play, but he wasn’t being himself. He was acting like a elementary tutoring student. He was all over the place. He was really excited and he wanted to get up and act some of the words out. This really showed me what my students might be like in class.

The next game I made focused on soft-c. This one was a little harder to try to come up with. I first thought I was going to do a tic-tac-toe game, but I couldn’t [figure out] how to make it work. Then I came up with just putting the words up and down, moving around the board that way, rolling 1-6, and having to do something based on the number you got (such as if you rolled a 4, you had to name different types [of the word]). I played with Mr. Bisson again, and this time was a lot different. He was a student that just didn’t want to do anything. He was against playing the game or even reading the words. So, I had to be very patient and not force him to play the game. I also just needed to give him time. He started to warm up a little, but he was still hard to work with. This showed me that I don’t need to always stay on the lesson plan I have. I can get off it because some days they might just be having a bad day and just can’t work.

Paige not only designed games but also tested them and grasped the value of remaining flexible as a teacher.  Having facilitated these learning experiences for herself - and as a high school student no less - she has laid the groundwork for an insightful career in education.  We are proud of Paige's progress and maturation this year, and we invite you to celebrate her work with us by posting in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  A graphic rendering of gamification.  Picture found at gravity4.com.  Kildonan and its Edge / IP program claim no ownership over the photo above.

Description of 2nd and 3rd images:  Screenshots of Paige's games, taken by Paige and shared with the Edge / IP staff.

FINAL: Marcus Engages Unity's "Roll-a-Ball" Project

After encountering significant technical difficulty with his laptop and the Oculus Rift, Marcus decided to postpone his biometric research and pursue another project.  Frustrated with virtual reality (VR) for the moment, he began to delve - once again - into game design.

This time, he found a new support in the form of Unity (@unity3d).  According to the company website, Unity is "a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games and interactive experiences."  In order to begin to learn the software, Marcus chose to pursue one of the linear "Projects" offered by the site:  Roll-a-Ball.

Per its original imagining, Roll-a-Ball allows a user to control a ball while collecting cube tokens on a flat plane.  Although a simple game, it invites its creator to learn and manipulate fundamentals of game design such as game objects, coding, etc.  The Project essentially teaches itself, for it guides the author through the design process using a sequence of videos.  Even so, the act of construction is not a simple one.  The creator must scan several screens at once, and he must navigate a multitude of textual menus to create the final product.

After having worked with GameSalad, Marcus progressed quickly through the videos until he had created a mark-up of the Project.  He could have ended his work there, congratulating himself for following the program's directions to the letter.  But, admirably, he did not do this.  Instead, he proceeded to take the game well beyond its original dimensions.  He began to experiment with stages and scenes outside of the game's flat landscape, inserting new platforms and thereby activating vertical planes.  He placed ramps too, and he experimented with appropriate shadow distribution by randomizing the arrangement of his cube tokens.

Fortunately, these updates are just the beginning.  Marcus is currently programming a vertical elevator, speed boosts, and character deaths.  He has also begun to research Autodesk (@autodesk), which is a company that provides "3D design, engineering, and entertainment software" (quoted content located on the About section of the company website).  Autodesk's programs will allow Marcus to engage in advanced 3D modeling and layering for his Project.  By the time he has finished his Unity game, it may prove virtually unrecognizable to its original imagining.

We wish Marcus well as he continues this work over the summer.  We invite you to salute his efforts by posting in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  The final product of "Roll-a-Ball," as envisioned by Unity.  Photo located at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

Description of 2nd image:  A draft of Marcus's rendering of "Roll-a-Ball."  Photo taken by IP faculty.

Marcus Engages Unity: "Roll-a-Ball" Project

After encountering significant technical difficulty with his laptop and the Oculus Rift, Marcus decided to postpone his biometric research and pursue another project.  Frustrated with virtual reality (VR) for the moment, he began to delve - once again - into game design.

This time, he found a new support in the form of Unity (@unity3d).  According to the company website, Unity is "a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games and interactive experiences."  In order to begin to learn the software, Marcus chose to pursue one of the linear "Projects" offered by the site:  Roll-a-Ball.

Per its original imagining, Roll-a-Ball allows a user to control a ball while collecting cube tokens on a flat plane.  Although a simple game, it invites its creator to learn and manipulate fundamentals of game design such as game objects, coding, etc.  The Project essentially teaches itself, for it guides the author through the design process using a sequence of videos.  Even so, the act of construction is not a simple one.  The creator must scan several screens at once, and he must navigate a multitude of textual menus to create the final product.

After having worked with GameSalad, Marcus progressed quickly through the videos until he had created a mark-up of the Project.  He could have ended his work there, congratulating himself for following the program's directions to the letter.  But, admirably, he did not do this.  Instead, he proceeded to take the game well beyond its original dimensions.  He began to experiment with stages and scenes outside of the game's flat landscape, inserting new platforms and thereby activating vertical planes.  He placed ramps too, and he experimented with appropriate shadow distribution by randomizing the arrangement of his cube tokens.

Fortunately, these updates are just the beginning.  Marcus is currently programming a vertical elevator, speed boosts, and character deaths.  He has also begun to research Autodesk (@autodesk), which is a company that provides "3D design, engineering, and entertainment software" (quoted content located on the About section of the company website).  Autodesk's programs will allow Marcus to engage in advanced 3D modeling and layering for his Project.  By the time he has finished his Unity game, it may prove virtually unrecognizable to its original imagining.

What do you think of Marcus's project? Are you a fan of video games or gamification? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  The final product of "Roll-a-Ball," as envisioned by Unity.  Photo located at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

Description of 2nd image:  A draft of Marcus's rendering of "Roll-a-Ball."  Photo taken by IP faculty.

Marcus: The Oculus Rift

Ever the game aficionado, Marcus has been exploring innovative elements of gaming.  He is currently developing a biometric experiment that he hopes to commence in the near future.  He has also begun to explore cutting edge gaming devices.  Of those that he has researched, no competitor currently bests the Oculus Rift (@oculus_rift).

Developed by Oculus VR (@oculus), the Oculus Rift (OR) is essentially a virtual reality (VR) device that a gamer can wear on his/​her head.  According to the Oculus VR website, the OR achieves impressively realistic vision, in part, by directing one image to both eyes simultaneously.  A gamer is also able to enjoy "360° head tracking, allowing you to seamlessly look around the virtual world just as you would in real life. Every subtle movement of your head is tracked in real time creating a natural and intuitive experience."  Gamers have heretofore been able to control a camera angle/​point-of-view (POV) only using a control stick or a mouse.  With the OR, these same users can turn their heads and expand their field of view much as they would in real life. (For a clip showing a gamer use the Oculus Rift with Minecraft, please see below).

This device has been something of a Holy Grail (or pipe dream) in the gaming industry for years.  Now that it is here, it opens up possibilities for increasingly immersive gaming experiences.  But...what else might it do? Might a therapist repurpose it to provide targeted desensitization therapy? Might the Armed Forces use it to develop tolerance of stress and pain? The opportunities are endless.
And Marcus agrees.  He believes the OR to hold such potential that he purchased the device himself.  Kildonan's tech expert, Mr. Stark, felt similarly; for its educational promise in teaching game design and digital literacy, he bought two.

Have a comment about the OR? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  A user wearing the Oculus Rift.  Picture located at www.oculusrift.com/rift/.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the above photo.

Marcus: Game Design & Computer Programming

Marcus: GameSalad

As he continues to study computer programming, Marcus has begun to diversify his instruction by consulting sources other than Khan Academy.  His searches have taken him to GameSalad (@gamesalad), a site that he, another IP student, and Mr. Stark are working through together.

GameSalad is an Internet portal that allows for streamlined game design.  Whereas users traditionally need to acquire rudimentary programming skills before developing games, GameSalad allows novice and expert programmers to jump into the fray and promptly begin to design.  Consumers can immediately commence product tests, enjoy easy integration of images and videos, and publish to the App Store on Macs and iPads.

What fascinating and entertaining game(s) will Marcus design this year? Might we see a prototype in the near future? We encourage you to sample GameSalad products in anticipation.  For a video detailing the creation of a game of pong, please look below:

(GameSalad logo, pictured above.  Image located at gamestorming.com.br.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the graphic above.)