EGC Presentation at NMC 2010 Symposium
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Transcript of EGC Presentation at NMC 2010 Symposium
EGC Videohttp://media.nmc.org/2010/03/egc-video.mp4
Who am I
• I ask this daily!• Lead Instructional Designer at PSU• At PSU 26 years• Work at Education Technology Services
Why I Do This - Games
• Games have many motivational aspects– http://archive.nmc.org/events/2006summerconf/mate
rials/Bixler/m&g.pdf• Games hit our affect• Games can tap into different innate aspects of
the individual – explorer, achiever, socializer,killer– See Bartle, http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm
• Why can’t education be fun?
Why I Do This – VirtualWorlds
• Sense of self– You care about your presence
• Death of distance• Power of presence
– Immersive AND social• Pervasiveness of practice• Enrichment of experience
– Safe place– Lowered inhibitions
Adapted from Karl Kapp - http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/
FREEDOM
FlowRepe,,on
Experimenta,on
Engagement
Doing
Observing
Mo,va,on
Why I Do This - Simulations
• Faculty are more receptive• Can practice complex procedures• Can increase the efficiency of an individual
for a particular process• Inspirational and motivating• Fail-safe
Why I Do This – Fringe Benefits
Why I Do This – Future Wisdomhttp://media.nmc.org/2010/03/why-games.mov
Past “Stuff”
A Dayin theLife…
Past “Stuff”
S.C.O.R.E.
Past “Stuff”
Old-style RPGGames
What is the EducationalGaming Commons?
• EGC• Two years old• Mission – Support teaching, learning, &
research in educational games, virtualworlds, & simulations
EGC Goals
• Stimulate research, application andeducation utilizing games, and virtualenvironments
• Develop educational games• Create an Affiliate Program• Implement the Educational Gaming
Commons Lab
Who is Involved?
• Staff– Brett Bixler – Manager (60%)– Chris Stubbs – Education Technologist (20%)– Elizabeth Pyatt – Instructional Designer (30%)– Jason Wolfe – Programmer (100%)– Interns (10-20 hrs/wk)
EGC History
• Fall 07– Formation of the
following groups:– Steering Committee– Labs Sub-Committee– Community Hub
Sub-Committee– Committees guided
infrastructure development
EGC History - 2
• Develop the Affiliate Program– Provides opportunities for faculty, staff, and
students with interest in serious games toestablish a connection to the EGC
– EGC acts as a catalyst• Establish the Gaming Commons Community
Hub– Similar to existing ETS hubs– Contains Affiliate Program– http://gaming.psu.edu
EGC History - 3
• Spring through Summer 2008– General Awareness PR Campaign– Continue Implementation of Affiliate Program– Workshops for faculty, researchers, and
instructors– Sample Educational Game Development
• EcoRacer– Physical Game Lab Design & Development
EGC History - 4
EcoRacer
•Supplemental•Raise environmentalawareness•Fuel types
•gas•solar•wind•hydrogen
EGC Accomplishments
• Projects– Engagement Initiatives– One-on-one consultations– Sponsoring presentations, guest speakers,
etc.• EGC Lab
– Innovative space containing PCs, gameconsoles, and a variety of games, virtualworlds, and simulations
EGC Accomplishments - 2
• Active Second Life Presence– Virtual Hacienda– Virtual Palmer
Museum– Many spaces
for faculty toexperiment
EGC Accomplishments - 3
• EGC Works Podcast Series– http://podcasts.psu.edu
• Click “Access Open Content”• Click “Information Technology Services”
• Game-like activities in the class– Useful for the five-minute game– Easy to prepare and run
EGC Engagement Initiatives
Chemblaster
EGC Engagement Initiatives
Typo!
EGC Guests
Blizzard
EGC Lab
• Designed for research, teaching, learning• Space is where the first computer lab at
PSU was installed in 1988• In a freshman dorm• If not reserved, an open lab for fun
EGC Lab Design
Started with overheaddiagram
EGC Lab Design - 2
Then amockup inSecond Life
EGC Lab Design - 3
• Involved a team that works on computer labsand learning space designs
• Worked with PSU Office of the Physical Plantbefore and during the room renovation
• Hired an outside company to do the videoswitching unit
• Involved faculty and students in designquestions
• Brought in a sound engineer to test thesound levels
EGC Lab Design - 4
• Results – Innovative space• Card swipe into the room for security• Eight PCs
– Two groups of four– Software in on DVDs or loaded via Steam
• One Wii, PS3, Xbox– In locked cabinets
• Ceiling Projector
EGC Lab Design - 5
• Five wall-mounted LCD panels• Video Switch Unit
– Can output video & audio from any PC,Console to any LCD or ceiling projector
– Can accept video (VGA) & audio in from fiveadditional sources
• Wireless in the room is robust• Five mobility ports allow five hard-wired
connections to the internet
EGC Lab Design – PC DVDs
• Remain a sticking point – too manyupdates!
EGC Lab Design - Security
Card Swipe
Cameras
EGC Lab Design – Security - 2
Computer Access
EGC Lab Design – Security - 3
Console Access
EGC Lab Design – Security - 4Console Security
All hooked to a Cisco Firewall with certainports blocked on each console.
EGC Lab Design – Video &Audio
ChooseSource
ChooseOutput
EGC Lab – Results - 1
• A vibrant space where research, teaching, andlearning occur around educational gaming,virtual worlds, and simulations.
EGC Lab – Results - 2
EGC Lab – Results - 3
EGC Lab – Results - 4
EGC Futures – Leveling up!
• Continue to grow faculty contacts• Continue Engagement Initiatives• Build a second lab?• Mobile games• Partnerships with other Universities and
businesses
EGC Lab – Questions?