Game+Creation

Why is game-making important?
=== "Give a kid a joystick, and she’s occupied for a day. Teach her how to create her own video game, and she’s a learner for life." ===

Lauren Barack [1]
Creating games requires the student to go beyond simply creating knowledge. The student has to create an artifact demonstrating their knowledge. Seymour Papert, creator of the Logo programming language, named this type of learning constructionism.[2] The act of programming a digital game is a process of "learning by making," requiring the student to think, design, test, and make changes. Students who are creating a game around a topic have to demonstrate competence regarding the content through the development of their ICT skills.

As we look to the future, we can identify certain traits or skills that students will need in order to be successful. Researchers have found that it is not only access to technological tools that students need, that, in fact, the way the students use those tools prepares them for the roles they will need to fill. Creating games allows students to develop many of these "new media literacies." [3]


 * Play can actually help students develop their problem solving abilities. When they program, students have to build and shape the virtual environment. This experimentation with the surroundings within a game is a form of play.
 * Simulations allow students to think through processes deeply. They allow students to examine real life through a model that they construct.
 * How can you appropriate another's work? Understanding copyright and how to cite sources is part of becoming a good digital citizen. It is also important for students to feel comfortable going through lots of different media, finding what is meaningful to them or appropriate for a topic, and then remixing the media competently. The process of appropriation is difficult for many to understand and can also be thought of as stealing ideas or cheating. Twyla Tharp sees the process of gaining inspiration from the content she makes contact with as "scratching," essential to the creation process. Of course this process of appropriation includes modifying someone's code, a popular practice with the program Scratch.
 * Distributed Cognition is a means of gaining intelligence from the tools we use. Scratch and other more explicit programming tools rely heavily on logic and mathematical thought that is inherent to the code used to create. For a program like Gamestar Mechanic, the set-up of the site reinforces the design cycle: players investigate to earn elements that they can use in their own designs, then they create - informed by their own experience in the games and the knowledge of others.
 * Relying on the collective intelligence of other people is also a key literacy. Often games, particularly complex ones, are undertaken by a team to capitalize on the strength of each individual. Even in cases where an individual codes or designs a project, people want to share their games with real-life friends or online communities. In this process of sharing, there is often peer review - celebrating the games that are fun to play. This process of evaluation is also an investigation, finding new possibilities for code or game elements.

Students who create games learn through a process of discovery. One of the best educational aspects of programming is that it is a self-correcting work. The computer only does what you tell it to do, so if the game is not working the way you want, you know that you need to go back and fix it without a teacher having to tell you that you are wrong. Programming can be an exciting experiment, allowing students to their own possibilities.

Tools for Students to Learn to Create Games
===// Literature on school improvement is full of exhortations to make the content of instruction "relevant." …….. But if one does belong to a culture in which video games are important, transforming oneself from a consumer to a producer of games may well be an even more powerful way for some children to find importance in what they are doing. //===

- Seymour Papert, Preface to __Minds in Play__ by Yasmin Kafai [4]
This game allows students to move around obstacles on a grid using increasingly complex commands. While students do not actually create a game themselves, this is a good way for kids who have never seen programming to be introduced to the concept. Very fun logic game that works with spatial awareness!
 * ====**Lightbot** //Programming is the Game//====

Work through levels on a mission in this online Steampunk universe. As you develop your gaming skills, you earn elements that you can use to create your own games. Once you demonstrate mastery, you can publish your own games on the site. From the moment that you are allowed to build your own game, you have access to all the other games that players have created. You can play and comment - and learn more about what the possibilities for creation are. The design of games is easy with a simple drag and drop approach.
 * ====**Gamestar Mechanic** //Play to Create//====

media type="youtube" key="bdgQyOIyWPY?rel=0" height="350" width="424"[5] Download this tool to make your own games without having to learn programming. Use the drawing tools to create your own characters! Put your own personality into it an create a game that is totally you or use your problem-solving skills and see if you can make a game like the pros. media type="youtube" key="WX1NYKQpvuQ?rel=0" height="349" width="425"[6] Lego programming allows you to make what you create on the screen happen in real life too. With the help of sensors your bots can make your games more than just virtual. media type="custom" key="9944213"[7] Kodu lets users create games for the Xbox. The programming is all done with icons, so it is easy for all ages to use. In one innovative case, literacy teachers in the UK had students create scenes based on the books they were reading. "The kids are much more motivated to engage with the media [a book] when it is connected with fun and exciting activities like 'making a game'." [8]
 * ====**Gamemaker** //Putting You in the Game//====
 * ====**LegoMindstorms** //Games Become Reality//====
 * ====**Kodu** //__C__reate Something Cool//====

Using colorful blocks that lock together, users can control this digital environment. As their slogan implies, users decide on a vision and use the code to program their work. Users can add their own pictures and audio or find some copyright-free or Creative Commons licensed materials to make an even more dynamic product. Then, share. A global community gathers on the Scratch site to evaluate each other's work and get new ideas. If you are interested in what someone else was able to make, you can take a look at their code and even use it in your next project!
 * ====**Scratch** //imagine, program, share//====

What makes a game good? Challenges for creating games in learning
Assessment of new media projects can be difficult for teachers who are accustomed to examining projects based on traditional criteria. The use of multiple media as opposed to the purely verbal written composition, for example, creates challenges for all involved as they try to determine, "What is good?" The following elements are essential to an assessment strategy that is meaningful and beneficial for students as they seek to develop their 21st century skills.[9]


 * Formative assessment - Continual feedback is important for project-based learning. The process is as important as the product in the development of games. Clear and constructive criticism will help students to better achieve expectations.


 * Reflection - Self-evaluation is an integral part of the design cycle. As students investigate, design, and create, they will benefit from tracking their progress and their questions and for the next step in a "process folder" of some type. Peer review can also be a valuable stimulus for reflection - as students have the opportunity to think about their own work in a different context after evaluating another project.


 * Effective use of media and relationships between media **-** Students need to create in mind of their purpose and audience. The various elements should complement and enhance each other. New techniques and dynamic media are exciting to use so students need to understand that their effects are most powerful as part of an integrated whole and not simply as isolated features.


 * Group Dynamics **-** Working with students to understand how to evaluate games can help teachers to develop a list of criteria for assessment. Collaborative rubrics allow students to participate in determining the expectations that will be used in assessment.


 * Creators as Teachers - Teachers gain valuable experience from going through the process of creation themselves. Familiarity with the unique capabilities and constraints of game-making and its tools helps teachers to guide students through the process and evaluate their work from a more knowledgeable perspective. Giving students opportunities to try to express themselves in innovative ways can move education in a positive direction, but teachers also need to understand the variety of new media available.

Where will developing youth game creation take the field of education?
==="If you think of the Trojan Horse, that's not what led to victory. What led to victory was the army inside the horse. This XO is like a Trojan Horse. It leads to motivation. The army inside is what is going to lead to victory, and that is the programming component of it." ===
 * ===Educational equity===

// - Ms. Susan Jordan, Assistant Principal, Poinciana Elementary // [10]
Computer Clubhouse is a program run by Intel that serves youth all over the world. The ideas of creation and community are central to these environments that offer a constructive place for students to spend time outside of school. Most clubhouses are located in places with under-served populations so this experience really allows those kids 10-18 to develop skills that they might not otherwise. Using a variety of technologies, students spend much of their time designing, like using Scratch to make videos and games. Students learn by doing, and in doing so they develop skills that will be helpful to them in careers or college. The kids build self-confidence as they work independently and with others. The Computer Clubhouses are created to be safe spaces where students can begin to see the possibilities in the world around them.

The One Laptop Per Child Initiative, OLPC, also seeks to serve children by giving them XO laptops. These laptops are distributed to children ages 6-13 around the world in order to give them opportunity to use technology. The computers are rugged to withstand tough conditions, and they help learners to collaborate within a community through networks. The laptops give students access to the internet and the ability to engage in activites like mazes. But, most remarkable are the possibilities for creation, especially with music and programming. "Using the laptop as the agency for engaging children in constructing knowledge based upon their personal interests and providing them tools for sharing and critiquing these constructions will lead them to become learners and teachers."[11] EToys, Scratch, and Python are all programming tools featured on the XO. Using these tools gives children a chance to engage in participatory culture in ways that are meaningful to them.

Students learn best by doing. Creating games is one way that students can express themselves. Organizations who seek to serve those with less access recognize the power of participation and seek to provide children with the means to create.

media type="youtube" key="gxEPZ3dZfuo?version=3" height="349" width="560"[12]

Because learning is active, Because learning is creative, Because learning is a process, Because learning is collaborative
=== "I wanted to give kids this feeling of total freedom with this total blank slate," he says. "We want to give them total mastery of the domain and yet unlimited expressive power." ===
 * ===Focus on creativity in learning===

//- Matt MacLaurin, Lead Designer for Kodu//[13]
The internet is an environment that encourages participation. In education, we need to teach students that the internet is not simply another outlet for passive consumers. Finding information on the web is a skill students need. However, the focus needs to be on what they do with that information. As mentioned before, one of the new literacies students will need to possess is appropriation. Using higher level thinking students will need to analyze and synthesize in order to solve problems. Making games allows students to set a purpose and create the means of achieving it. Students bring together information and designs in new ways to create their own unique products. Game making lets students communicate, collaborate and create in a medium that is relevant to them. === “I like to think of every game as a solution to a problem. I want to make a game that changes how somebody thinks so it will change how they act, vote, or engage with the world around them. To focus on impact and not just content is the big innovation we’re seeing now in game design." ===
 * ===Move toward social action===

//- Jane McGonigal//[14]
Students want to be able to make an impact on the world around them, and educators want to find ways to engage students in content while helping them develop skills that will be relevant to their careers and lives beyond the classroom. Many educational systems are looking toward service learning as a way to help students develop critical thinking and reflection. Creating meaningful games to help others learn is a fun form of indirect action that students can take. Moreover, awareness and reflection often lead to direct, face-to-face action. Being able to make a difference for others can be a transformative experience for students.For example, Mobilize, Act, Inspire is an effort within Computer Clubhouses for students to become educated about the issues that are important in their communities and create projects that will have an impact where they live.

Recently, competitions have also emerged to promote student development of games that deal with social issues. The Kodu Cup was won by a 10 year old girl who created a game called "Toxic" to teach others about environmental issues. The Imagine Cup encourages college students to try to solve the world's problems using technology and their imaginations. One of the sections students can compete in is game design - for Windows/Xbox, the web, or mobile technologies.AMD Changing the Game has worked with Gamestar Mechanic and other organizations to help students start thinking of gaming as more than simply entertainment and begin to see the opportunities for making their own games as a way to inspire others. media type="youtube" key="49Son9ExdpU?rel=0" height="349" width="560"[15]

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[1] Barack, L. (2010). Gamers in Training: Global Kids hosts games-based training for educators, librarians. //Home//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from @http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6712738.html?industryid=470===== [2]Papert, S., & Idit. (1991). Situating Constructionism. //Professor Seymour Papert//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html

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[3]Jenkins, H. et al (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. //Building the Field of Digital Media and Learning//. Retrieved July 22, 2011, from @http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf===== [4]Kafai, Y. B. (1995). Preface. //Minds in play computer game design as a context for children's learning//. New York: Routledge. [5]rinkuhero. (2008, September 29).100 Game Maker Games in 10 minutes. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdgQyOIyWPY&feature=player_embedded [6]evilfish2007. (2008, Feb 7).Lego Mindstorm Pacman Game [Video file]. Retrieved from @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX1NYKQpvuQ&feature=player_embedded [7]MacLaurin, Matthew. (2009 Mar 24). Kodu Game Creator Walkthrough. [Video file]. Retrieved from @http://www.g4tv.com/videos/37357/Kodu-Game-Creator-Walkthrough

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[8]Kodu. //Home - Microsoft Research Community//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from http://community.research.microsoft.com/blogs/kodu/default.aspxf===== [9]Huot, B., & Borton, S. (2007). Responding and Assessing. //Multimodal composition: resources for teachers//(ed. Cynthia L. Selfe). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Retrieved from http://dmp.osu.edu/dmac/supmaterials/**Huot**&**Borton**.doc [10]Abramson, L. (2008, June 25). Laptops for Kids in Small Towns May Not Be Panacea : NPR. //NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from @http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91891812 [11]Software | One Laptop per Child. (n.d.). //One Laptop per Child//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from @http://one.laptop.org/about/software [12]Debner, Josh. (2010, May 23). CMU Project Rwanda [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPZ3dZfuo&feature=player_embedded [13]Snider, M. (2009, January 7). New program allows everyone to design video games - USATODAY.com. //News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2009-01-07-microsoft-kodu_N.htm [14]Boss, S. (2011, May 27). Students Design Games and Software Tools to Tackle Real-World Problems | Edutopia. //K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work | Edutopia//. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from @http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/students-design-games-solve-real-world-problems-suzie-boss [15]AMDUnprocessed. (2010, June 3). AMD Changing the Game. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Son9ExdpU&feature=player_embedded#at=15