Globaloria Year Two

As Rebecca leads the data analysis of Year 1, Globaloria is headed into our Year 2 pilot. We are so excited to be entering into this second year with our existing schools that have returned with us and with our new schools that we will be meeting in Bridgeport at our first summer workshop. We have focused recent efforts on implementing curriculum improvements, enhancing our support activities, and as always looking for additional resources out on the web that will support the game design and development process for both our educators and our students. (Let me know if you know of any great resources!)

A key focus for Year 2 will be Game Design. We are really excited about having our students dig deep into the creative aspect of their game and explore their area of focus. We think this will happen through more in-depth game design documentation and more detailed graphic planning and better game idea presentations. We would love to see our students really explore their ideas, create scene ideas including backgrounds, assets, and character development before the develop their games.


Another area that we feel will really be exciting in Year 2 is the increased activity in the social networking space. We hope that we can encourage more participants (educators and students) to blog, post/edit in the wiki, and make connections across the network. We feel this will really enhance the quality of support throughout the MyGLife.org network. It would be great to see additional activities emerge from the network itself, ones that we haven't even thought of.

There are many, many more ideas that we are implementing and really focusing on throughout this up-coming year. We are really excited about all of them and I will work to share them here with you.


See you soon!

Game Presesntation: Behing the Scenes

Check out this great, behind the scenes look from the students of Randolph Technical Center. It shows some of the day when they packed up and went to Charleston to present that game they have been working on this spring and it sure looks like they are having fun! All to a great soundtrack.



Of course it is also important to point out that one of the students created the video completely on his own. Great Job!

Games For Change: Globaloria is a Model

David Kirkpatrick from Fortune Magazine published today a piece following a conference last week in NYC called “Games for Change.”

Globaloria is mentioned a bit at the end of this piece!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/technology/games_change.fortune/?postversion=2008060606

Transparency in Learning

One of the concepts that we champion here at Globaloria is the power of "transparency" in the learning process. By leveraging a social network to support a learning process it is possible to get a lot of support and make connections to peers, educators, and experts that have similar interests and goals.

Within Globaloria we support this by leveraging the easy-to-edit wiki platform, blogs, and a collaboration tool, making it possible to post, share, comment, and engage around the game design process. This has been really helpful with learners when they are designing their game and when they are learning the necessary Flash skills required to build a game.

It is important to note, however, that to leverage this power of "transparency" and support of the social network, you must engage in posting your files, sharing your ideas, and commenting on others work. So, if you are a current member of the Globaloria community, post your work, start a blog, or comment on someone else's page.

You will be amazed at how fast you start to learn how to improve your game!

Flash Tip: How to create a Score Counter

Student Asks:

I need to know how to get a score counter to go up when my rabbit collects a carrot.


Developer Response:

Setup a variable outside of any function so that all scripts can access it.

var scoreAmt:Number;

Create a dynamic text field in the stage and give it a name(score).

http://smartwebby.com/Flash/text_basics.asp

Add to or subtract from scoreAmt.

scoreAmt += 5; //adds 5
scoreAmt -=5; //subtracts 5

Set the text to the variable.

score = scoreAmt;

Note:There are two ways to set a value to a text field. The tutorial shows the old way of using the var in the Properties box. The new way is to name the text field through the Instance box. In that case you will set it's contents like this. You only need to use one method.

score.text = scoreAmt.


Can any one add to this?

Note about the evaluation tools.

Note: A guest post by Denise Stalnaker.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the evaluation tools are very effective. My students were given the forms in advance when preparing for presentations and were told that they would be evaluated by someone other than me. Some groups did well and some did not but they all agreed that they were judged fairly and agreed with the scores.

One of my students said that, “We work better by the seat of our pants.” However, very quickly another student spoke up and said, “No that is what we did. That doesn’t mean it is better.” The group proceeded to discuss their presentation and agreed they were not prepared and it was reflected in their performance. They have to give another presentation in May and are already thinking and planning the presentation.

If Shannon and Lee have another online Training Session on the presentation tools try to take part. You will get advice on how to prepare your students which is very helpful.

Lee's Addition: The latest Evaluation tool can be found here on the Educator's Wiki.

A TASTE OF A FEW GLOBALORIA EXPERIENCES

Here are a few links to games that you can review. As you will see, these are works in progress. What you need to do, is to imagine the PROCESS of making these games and all the different kinds of learning that are involved.

1. A world-history game called - Zeitgeist

Being produced by “the Five Experimental Ninjas” (the group name of high school students from a Globaloria-WV Program at RTC that meets daily) – this is very creative in terms of art, storyline, and music. It also shows some more advanced flash game coding:

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/mctcwiki/images/4/4c/TheFiveExperimentalNinjasEgypt1.swf



2. The Adventure West Virginia game

Being produced collaboratively by 10 students at MCTC (Marshal Community Technical College) this game is coming also along really well. It’s sort of a tourism game – helping users to learn about West Virginia history, resources and culture. The final game presentation is next week, but this link below shows many skills acquired already -- their game proposal, schedule, paper prototyping video, characters, interface and an initial pass at a snowboarding mini game:

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/mctcwiki/index.php/Adventure_West_Virginia

3. At Man HS, a rural WV school in a very small town, the Globaloria Program is implemented a few times per week as an Afterschool Program with 5 students. Please see (a yet-to-be-named) oral health game, “where you fend off sweets with a toothbrush and toothpaste”:

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/hsta-manwiki/images/7/71/Ggame.swf

Note: Here’s the student idea that inspired this game:

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/hsta-manwiki/index.php/Dream_Game_Idea

4. At Capital HS, in Charleston WV, Globaloria is implemented a few times per week as an Afterschool Program. Please see “Falling Food, a game about healthy eating habits,” that is being developed by 2 ninth-grade girls. See the game description, character work and a very preliminary version of the game here. Click inside the game window at the very bottom of the page and use your arrow keys to move their character “Bob”:

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/hsta-capitalwiki/index.php/User:Itsmelexi

Great Game Presentations

We sat in on some great game presentations today in Huntington WV! I will have to blog about it more later, but I was so proud of our students and educators! Great job! You really pushed Globaloria to a new level of game development.





The RTC students made the drive from Randolph County and presented a game about time travel. They had a really creative game interface, multiple levels, authentic music, and interactive game play. Each student talked about all the work they put into the game.






The MCTC students showed two functional games on snowboarding and rafting. The whole team shared their roles, including programming, graphic arts, research, and program management. It was great.

I will share more soon. I promise.

FInal Game Presentations

It is really amazing that we are heading into final game presentations for this spring! We have a couple of communities presenting their final games this week and soon all of our groups will be wrapping up. As you start to work on these final presentations, we wanted to point out that there are a few specific topics within the curriculum that can help.





For your Game Presentation:
(note: my links are to Capital's Wiki, but they are on all wikis)

This first one is kind of obvious. Check out the Presentation topic in the Game Design section. This section walks you through the presentation process and helps you think about what you need to do before your presentation and after. It also provides a quick video with presentation tips.

The second topic you should review is Game Concept Project. It reminds you of what content or topics would be good in your presentation. If you can answer these questions it will go along way to being prepared.

For your Playable Game:

If you are presenting a playable game then you need to review the Playable Game topic. This will focus you on the key components of the game and provide tips on how you should present it.

We are really excited about the opportunity to see these final games. Good Luck!

Game Design Challenges

Note: This is another Guest Post from Denise Stalnaker.

Everyone out there—I am interested in hearing from you. What has been the biggest challenge doing game design at your school? What has been the greatest reward?

My challenge has been determining what to use for test grades and how to score assignments as a test grade. My reward has been being able to see what my students were able to achieve and produce. From graphics to music to movement to game concept, I have been impressed with what the students have created.

This is my reward—Game Design II Game—
http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/mctcwiki/index.php/The_Five_Experimental_Ninjas
or
http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/mctcwiki/images/1/18/Zeit_Geist_total_tb2.swf

Let us learn from each other’s challenges and share in the joy of the rewards.