Post on 16-Mar-2018
Simplifying Serious GamesDevelopment in Educational
SettingsAntonio Calvo Morata
GOAL
Real Example: Cytopathology ChallengeGOALS
● Educational application for an Introduction to Cytopathology course
● Train cytologists in resource-poor countries
CONSTRAINTS
● Work in Low-cost Android tablets
● No Wifi-Connection to play on tablets
● Work in Web browsers
● Very limited budget
OPTIONS
COTS Games (Commercial Off-the-Shelf)
Use commercial games designed for entertainment with educational purposes.
COTS Games (Commercial Off-the-Shelf)
PROS
● Can illustrate more topics than teachers
might expect
● External maintenance and updates
CONS
● How to extract this unintended
pedagogical value?
● How use the game in the classroom?
● No learning focus
● No control and monitoring tools
GAAS (Games As A Service)
Hire the services of specialized companies (game and infrastructure).
Learning games as services to train students and employees
GAAS (Games As A Service)
PROS
● Easy integration with the learning
process
● Control and monitoring tools
● External maintenance and updates
CONS
● The collected data is stored on the servers
of the company supporting the game
● Provider server dependency
● Internet connection
Serious GamesThere are thousands of games focused on teach thousands different fields of knowledge
Serious GamesPROS
● Focused on learning
● Easy integration with the learning
process.
CONS
● Usually designed only for a few learning
scenarios
● No control and monitoring tools
TOOLS
Variables to consider in the differents tools
Platforms
Prices
Documentation
Features
Performance
Community
AAA ToolsTeams with the highest development budgets.
Focused on the development of AAA games.
UI is intended for experts, focused on implementation and advanced features.
All in OneTools created for teams with lower budgets.
Frameworks
Lower-level access.
Require advanced game programming knowledge.
Specialized ToolsLess functionality and potential but they simplify the game creation process.
Specialized on a game genre or gameplay.
RESULT
Cytopathology Challenge
● Powered by LibGDX (Framework - Java).
● Works in Android and Web.
● No necessary internet to play it on mobile devices.
● Run in low-cost mobiles dispositives.
● ~60h of development
RAGE
Realising an Applied Gaming Eco-system● Develop applied games assets for game developers
○ Including analytics and many others that
depend on it!
● Assets in online repository
● Build a self-sustainable ecosystem around a
repository, connecting stakeholders
○ Game-developers
○ Education providers
○ Learners
○ Asset contributors
Learning Analytics Asset
Analyze the learner behavior and check the game effectiveness.
Tracker
Tracker
A2 Analytics Asset
Learning Record Store
Users
ArchitectureClients AA Applications
Games
Analytics Frontend
AAFrontend
Pla
yers
Dev
s, S
tude
nts,
Te
ache
rs.
Adm
ins Users
RolesResourcesPermissionsApplications
Aut
hent
icat
ion
Aut
horiz
atio
n
JWTJSON WEB
TOKEN
GamesSessionsResults
TopologyAnalytics Backend
GamesSessions
Collector
Results
Application 1
Application N Kaf
ka Q
ueue
Relating Cytopathology Challenge and Analytics Asset
Increase the value of a serious game adding learning analytics2.Send traces
1.Play Cytopathology Challenge
3.Analyze data
4.Recover results
5.Show analysis to evaluate the students
QUESTIONS?
THANKS
antcal01@ucm.es