Educational Gaming Commons - Press Start

There were no major problems this week. Next week we will finalize the survey and focus group questions and begin planning for Spring 2010 and winding down the project thereafter.

This week we:

• Discussed final timeline & MOU with instructor.
• Wrote draft of focus group and survey questions
• Finalized plans to test and implement version of 1 of Typo before Spring 2010 semester begins.
• Jason has been intensively programing game this week and reports much progress.

Bim and Elizabeth met for the first time over the phone (along with Jason). It was decided that Jason and Elizabeth will travel to Schuylkill on Fri Dec 4 to test the game with 2-3 students (to be video taped). This will be followed by a focus group with refreshments.

Jason, Elizabeth and Brad worked on a timeline and assessment plan to cover the end of the project. In terms of assessment, Bim will teach one section with the game and one without as a control. Assessment activities will consist of student survey (post Spring Break), student focus group (also post Spring Break) and comparisons of a proofing exercise and a writing exercise. We will also be able to access reports on student scores from the game system.

The next steps for Elizabeth and Bim are to complete the MOU and begin work on the IRB. Bim will also be working on content for lessons which last throughout the Spring 2010 semester. Jason will be concentrating on finalizing the version I programming by the first week of Spring 2010 semester then the team what modifications, if any, can be added by the end of the Spring semester.

Students have had several training sessions for the game, and some teams were already finished by last week. The game play itself was reasonably clear, but students struggled with items such as using the PrintScreen button and working with DosBox. Jason Kaveney revised instructions for some items based on what was learned in the training session.

The next step is to create the student survey in ANGEL.

Jason Kaveney will conduct a training session on HealthSim tomorrow in 108 Waring Commons. Both the installation files and the documentation have been loaded into Mark's HPA course in ANGEL.

Elizabeth and Mark will continue to work on developing an assessment survey as well as a focus group section.

As of October 30, the following has happened

• Instructor Mark Sciegaj is describing the theory of the different policy choices beginning October 26.
• Mark has also created a report template based on screen captures of different reports in the game.
• Jason Kaveney is testing download and running of SimHealth game from a Flash drive. The Flash drive will allow students to store data on any computer (from lab to personal computer).
• Elizabeth Pyatt is reviewing documentation and instructional process.
• Elizabeth will create survey instruments and possibly a focus group opportunity.

Demo: Scheduled for Fri Nov 6, 10 AM in Waring lab

Short article on how to manage rapid keyboard actions in Flash (Actionscript 3). The developer suggests developing an array to store keyboard events in case the action comes a bit too fast.

http://www.axelscript.com/2008/02/29/keyboardmanagement-for-games-in-act...

While I'm at it, I can post some other articles on programming keyboard events in Flash

• http://tutorials.flashmymind.com/2009/02/actionscript-3-keyboard-events/
  Also lets you determine key numbers (e.g. A = 65, B = 66)
• http://www.republicofcode.com/tutorials/flash/as3keyboard/
• http://www.flashessential.com/archives/80

Note: Adding keyboard events can enhance accessibility for motion impaired users since they don't need to manage the mouse so precisely.

This a free event in Second Life to discuss both accessibility issues and issues for how people with disabilities interact with others in Second Life. Starts Fri Feb 29 at noon (9AM Pacific Time).

See http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/440012/ for more information

I think the Second Life phenomenon is definitely going mainstream. I found this fun Second Life video version of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats"...on YouTube of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jUriEOQBE

I'd like to expound the profoundness of tagging (found this one right away through the YouTube search) and digital expression (this really is a well produced video, and those machima girls can really dance), but the truth is that it's just a very funny video for a dark little country ditty. I'm especially amused that the destructo baseball bats and keys in Second Life are replaced by the glowing magic balls of Second Life Building. That girlfriend is truly casting a wicked hex on her cheatin' honey.

I say enjoy and ponder how much student time we can co-opt with an activity like this! Motivation, motivation, motivation.

Whenever a new technology is incorporated into a course, the issue of accessibility will come up sooner or later.

As part of a discussion with the Office of Disability Services, we did some research into potential issues for Second Life. The most severe problem is that the information is not read by screen readers.

Second Life Class Action (Abhrahams Accessibility)

Second Life Open Source Client (Abrahams Accessibility)

Health Island to Provide Accessibility Resource Center in Second Life (Info Island.Org)

Although there may be some promise in an alternate client which recognizes Second Life information, it is not ready yet. A student relying solely on a screen reader will be shut out from Second Life.

What to do if you have a visually impaired student in a course using Second Life? Think about what learning objectives made you choose Second Life. Is it communication? Maybe alternate chatrooms or Skype could be enabled.

Is it a visual experience? Then you can treat Second Life as you would other graphics or animation - that is, provide lots of descriptive text.

It's important to have a Plan B for any new technology.