Game programming, the Computer Game Design, Programming, Multimedia and Mathematics Cluster

Game programming, the Computer Game Design,

Programming, Multimedia and Mathematics Cluster

Tony ForsterASISTM Computer Game Design, Programming,

Multimedia and Mathematics Cluster.

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled."

Plutarch (46 - 127)

Beginnings• The computer games project had its genesis

around 2002 when a number of teachers independently recognised the power of the freeware programming language Gamemaker www.gamemaker.nl

2003 Gamemaker projects

• Woodville High, • Newtown High, • Newman College, • Glenelg School and • Haileybury College

Forums

• 2004• http://lyris.education.tas.gov.au:8080/read/?

forum=gamemaker • 2005• http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/

view.php?id=81

ASISTM funding 2005

• With the granting of Commonwealth Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) funding in 2005, the cluster formally came into existence. The Cluster is a geographically dispersed cluster of 6 schools and 2 other organisations in 3 states of Australia.

Partner organisations

• Australian Centre for the Moving Image• Cedar College (Greenacres) SA• Forster Engineering Services Pty Ltd • Glenelg Primary School (Glenelg East)SA• Kardinia International College (Geelong)VIC• New Town High School (New Town)TAS• Westall Secondary College (Clayton South)VIC• Woodville High School (Woodville)SA

Award Winning Teachers

• Margaret Meijers Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award, and National Awards for Quality Schooling Best National Achievement by a Teacher.

• Al Upton is South Australian Computer Educator of the Year

• Roland Gesthuizen, ICTEV Computer Educator of the Year 1996

Activities

• Web resources• Conferences & Professional Development• Game Programming Competition• Research

Web resources

• http://beam.to/billkerr • http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/gamemaker • http://alupton.wordpress.com/learning/game-

maker/ • http://www.freewebs.com/schoolgamemaker/

http://beam.to/billkerr

http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/gamemaker

http://alupton.wordpress.com/learning/game-maker/

http://alupton.wordpress.com/learning/game-maker/

http://www.freewebs.com/schoolgamemaker/

Conferences & Professional Development

• The inaugural Australian Game Programming in Schools Conference was held on Friday Sep 9, 2005

• Marc Prensky 28 Feb 2006 • James Gee 20 August 2006 • Numerous PD in Victoria, the Northern

Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.

Game Programming Competition

• ScreenIt 2005 primary • ScreenIt 2006 primary & secondary• http://www.acmi.net.au/screenit.htm

Research

• The cluster has engaged Dr. Bernard Holkner of Monash University to produce a research report on the work of the cluster.

WHY

?

The Changes in Educational Needs of Children

• Google now indexes 24,000,000,000 pages • today’s children will be adults in a world

where computers may be 1,000,000,000 times more powerful than today Prensky (2005)

• less need to teach facts and lower order skills

• more need for higher order cognitive and metacognitive skills

A pedagogy with pedigree

• Plutarch• Dewey• Piaget• Vygotsky• Papert• Crawford

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled."

Plutarch (46 - 127)

John Dewey (1933/1998)

• Education depended on action. Knowledge and ideas emerged from experiences that have meaning and importance to learners.

John Dewey (1933/1998)

• Learning occurs where students join in manipulating materials, creating a community of learners who build their knowledge together.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• ‘To understand is to discover, or reconstruct by rediscovery, and such conditions must be complied with if in the future individuals are to be formed who are capable of production and creativity and not simply repetition’ (Piaget, 1973)

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

• Learning is most effective in a zone of proximal development where the child can function with just a little assistance.

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)• Learning is a social

process, teachers provide a scaffolding process to provide non-intrusive intervention.

learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html

Constructivism / Constructionism:

• “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.”

Situating Constructionism By Seymour Papert and Idit Harel, the first chapter in Seymour Papert and Idit Harel's book Constructionism (Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1991). http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html

• "Games are thus the most ancient and time-honored vehicle for education. They are the original educational technology, the natural one, having received the seal of approval of natural selection. We don't see mother lions lecturing cubs at the chalkboard; we don't see senior lions writing their memoirs for posterity

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford 1982

http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html

I believe:

• children learn by processing information through their own cognitive structures

• engagement is the key• tasks have to be relevant and meaningful• publishing of student work is important• rote learning of content is less important than

developing higher order cognitive skills• learners should engage with the wider community• it is not just publishing that is important, it is the

interactive ongoing conversation in a wider environment than just the school / educational community

Kerr Manifesto http://learningevolves.wikispaces.com/game+making+manifesto

1. Game making is motivating and an excellent introduction to programming2. Game making programs now exist which make it easier than it was before3. Programming is a HOT (higher order thinking) activity4. Programming is hard and perhaps not everyone can do it or would want to do it5. Everyone ought to receive an invitation to be taught programming, which they can experience

(toe in water), accept or reject6. We need good teachers of programming, teachers who understand both programming, learning

theory and learners7. Teachers of programming need to develop (design, program, refactor, test, publish) their own

programs / games. Eat your own dogfood.8. It is even better if the programming is linked to significant social justice issues, eg. africaGame9. Blogs and wikis ought to be incorporated into the development process to enhance

communication and collaboration10. Blogs and wikis aren't enough on their own. We need to study and / or develop design and

communication tools that represent this whole process and enable it to be better discussed and communicated, eg. UML diagrams, design patterns

11. Learning theory continues to evolve dynamically, that needs to be integrated into this whole process

Justification of games programming

Games programming can be justified on three grounds:

• transferable cognitive skills, • metacogitive skills and • affective benefits:

transferable cognitive skills

• The idea behind transferable cognitive skills is that students are learning skills in areas such as mathematics and literacy while programming games and that these skills will transfer to the more traditional areas with measurable outcomes.

Metacognitive skills

• Metacognitive skills are the self management skills we employ when we are learning.

Affective benefits

• Affective benefits refers to our attitudes to school, teachers and classrooms. If students enjoy going to school, they will learn better.

transferable cognitive skills

• Cartesian coordinates• Negative number• Position, speed, acceleration• Algebraic variables• Relative & absolute value• Estimation• Chance• A programming language similar to Visual Basic• New unidentified skills for a digital age?

Cross curriculum

• Game programming could be a framework within which team skills, music, art, drama, maths, history, geography or almost anything could be learned. The important feature of the game is its power to motivate. Motivation leads to learning.

• ‘The computer is a medium of human expression and if it has not yet had its Shakespeares, its Michelangelos or its Einsteins, it will. …. We have scarcely begun to grasp its human and social implications.’(Papert 1990)

TWO WAY WEB• webpage• Wiki,• blog,• podcast,• videocast,• Skypecast,• Teamspeak,• Ventrilo• Flickr • Google Video/Youtube

Two way web because

• learners benefit from publication of their endeavours

• learning is a social process, it thrives in a community

• teachers learn from their peers• schools should engage with their

communities