A Little Story
Dagnae!You said you would take out the trash an hour ago. Are you playing that game?”
“Yes. Just give me a minute.” Dagnae sighed, looked at the computer, and was once again in another world.
Boldly she strolled through the forest with a sword hanging from her waist and a knife strapped to her thigh. Here she could be what she could not be in real life. Here she could forget that Sorin, her friend since age 12, had gone off with another girl. Sure, she had suggested it, but that did not mean he had to do it. She tossed her head. At the computer, she told off foe and friend and everyone knew of her fighting abilities.
Somewhat rare for a girl actually, she thought—and smiled.
So her mom wanted her to take out the garbage and she was willing, but just not now. She had just met a strong opponent and had bluntly insulted him. Somehow, this lead to a friendly camraderie and he was just telling her some of the coding he used to be so strong.
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It would be nice to find someone to try this out on and soon she was off fighting and completely forgetting the trash.
“Dagnae!” Mom was sounding more upset, but now there were some major problems in her clan and if she quit the game now, she would be letting them down. They needed her. “I’ll get it in a minute,” she answered starting to stress at trying to juggle real life and a fantasy.
Dagnae is not alone.
Games such as Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, Age of Empires, Half-Life II, Kingdom of Loathing, Crimson Land, Fable, America’s Army, Diablo II, Command and Conquest, StarCraft, Total Annihilation, Halo, Kingdom Hearts, Minesweeper, Freecell, and even Solitaire entice people of all ages. Why!!!?? Some students say it is: Somehow, it just seems wrong that students are having fun doing all this learning on their own…. Why can’t school be as addictive as a video game?
it is meeting people and taking out frustrations</DIV> the interaction with others of different ages and cultures it is going from a bad or routine day at school to a reality in which you can save the world or destroy it. the ability to win—to be in control of your own decisions </SPAN>to learn by doing.
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The Problem! </FONT>
</SPAN>This is where you come in. You have been hired by the school district—to make learning in the classroom as addictive and fun as a video game. Perhaps you will not save the world but can make it better for students.
Gamedu</SPAN> requires:
• all your skills at learning
• your knowledge of games
• your creativity
Your game will teach concepts that you are currently studying or will study. While a commercial quality game takes teams of skilled artists, musicians, and computer programmers, you are not in that position. It is better to look at this as a level leading to greater tasks and accomplishments.
The Rules! </FONT>
</SPAN> •You will work in pairs of the same gender. This will give each person the ability to interact with someone else and the requirement to do their fair share. The reason for the gender separation—often males and females initially approach games differently.
•There will be no shooting people—this is definitely out of place in an educational environment--even if it is in defense of God and country. You can shoot monsters and inanimate objects like balloons.
•Gore, violence, crude comments, and inappropriate attire are out.
•The final game that is developed will be educational and teach seven connected concepts of your choosing.
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I know your creativity, your talents in story writing and art. I know how amazing you are. So--
—“Let the games begin!”
|
Points |
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| 100 | Open Game Maker. If needed, first download and install Game Maker from http://www.gamemaker.nl/. |
| 500 | Follow the tutorial to make a very basic game at http://users.tpg.com.au/billkerr/g/clk.htm, which links to a Word document with instructions. Your teacher might already have that printed for you. Many more tutorials can be found as zip files at game makers tutorial page, their most basic tutorial is: http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/gamemaker/firstgame.htm |
| 100 | Post screen picture of your game at blog |
| 200 | Look at the following sites: Take online quizzes at: http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/gamemaker/quizzes/game_coordinates.htm
Copy a screenshot of your 100% score to document for teacher or send as email. |
| 300
| On the blog site, http://gamedu.blogspot.com/, answer the Level 1 questions. Describe a game you currently enjoy playing or have watched others play. List the basic rules and goal of the game. What makes this game fun? What do you learn from this game? What do you have to know to play this game? Is this game educational? How would a teacher use this game to teach a concept from class? How could you make the game educational? |
| 200 | Lose points every day that goes past two days of initial assignment. |
| 500 | Bonus--Complete everything in one day |
| 1000 | Bonus--If you make a separate game meeting criteria for second game found at tutorial |
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| ____ | Total Points—1200 needed to go to Level 2 |
Screen shots of my first “educational” game. This shows two of about 20 levels.
Beriberi Maze
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