pedagogy inspired by farmville
Post on 18-Oct-2014
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DESCRIPTION
an edTech ePaperTRANSCRIPT
fromsocialgamestotheclassroom:educationaldesign
inspiredbyFarmville
seeds ofengagement
anePaperbysidneyevematrix
image:AndrewStawarz
Inayear‐endpresentationfortheSocialGamesSeattlemeeting,leaddesignerofFarmVilleAmittMahajanofZyngadiscussedwhat'sinvolvedin
thatmillionsofpeoplewillwanttoplay.
Ablockbustergamemustbedesignedtohavewideappealandgoodretention—keepingplayerscomingbackandactivelyengaged.
TherearemanyinsightsfromMahajan’stalkthattransferneatlyfromtheworldofgamedevelopmenttoinstructionaldesigninhighered.
Inwhatfollowswe’llhighlightthreeofthem.
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building big social games
image:kcolwell
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Don’t turn people off isthefirstruleoftheday,accordingtoMahajan.
select material with broad appeal1. Buildingforengagementrequiresusingmaterialthatmanypeoplecanrelateto.Usingpeople’scommonknowledgeasaleverisaboutdevelopingproductsandexperiencesthattheycanconnecttoandunderstandinstantly—nosteeplearningcurveinvolved.
FortheFarmVillegamedeveloper,thatmightmeanoptingforagameworldfilledwithgrowingcropsandtendingtolivestock—thesameimaginaryscenarioschildrenhavegrownupplaying,withplastictoysfromFisherPriceandMattel.
image:ThomasHawk
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Butwhat about the classroom—wherecreatinglearningcurves,andoftensteepones,isourbusiness?
Todesignlecturesandlessonsthatareengaging,thepointaboutbuildingincommonlyknown,quicklygraspable,highlyrelatableconceptsmightmean:
(1) usingmorecasestudiestohumanizethematerial,(2) incorporatingnewsofthedayfromdailyheadlines(capturedvia
newsfeedsanddeliveredtoyourinbox),or(3) addinginsomepopculturereferences,fromcelebritiesto
televisiontoYouTube.
Alloftheseresearch/lessonpreptaskscouldbedelegatedtoanRAorTA,ifavailable.Ifnot,setupsomeGoogleNewsAlertswithkeywordstocatchnewsworthystoriesinatrendwatchingnet.
4..
image:Pragmagrapher
incorporate microsociality2 .
image:RennettStowe
AddictiveandhighlyengagingsocialgamesonFacebookaresocompellingbecausetheyleveragepeople’ssocialgraphs.Infact,likeitornot,socialgamingandsocnetconnectionsareincreasinglyseenasaviablealternativetoofflineface‐to‐facetime.
Wateringsomeone’scropsonFarmVilleisquicklybecomingabonafideandacceptablemodeofmicrosocializing,and“areplacementforhavingtogooutofyourwaytokeepintouchwithsomeone”observesMahajan.
“Everytimeyouplayagame,youbuild up relationships”
~Mahajan
5..
image:smannion
Back in the classroom,buildingeducationalexperiencesthataremoresocialmeansincorporatingactivitiesandassignmentsdesignedtoencourageinteractivityandclasscohesion.How?Thekeyhereisshareability.Designingopportunitiesforstudentstogiveandtakewiththeirpeersandenablingreciprocity.Thisallowsstudentstoincreasetheirvalueandcontributiontoasocialnetwork,bytradingculturalcapital.
Onewaytousethewebtoaccomplishthis:buildafreesite(aBloggerblog,Ningsocialnetwork,Netvibespagecast,orFacebookpage)wherestudentscurateandsharetheirresearch(linkstoarticles,news,videos,anything).Ifyouascribetotheviewofmillennialstudentsaseagerforattention,recognition,alittlemicrofame,andconstantfeedback,it’seasytoseehowthiskindofpublic,socially‐networkedinstructionaldesignispurpose‐builttoengageGenY.
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add visual pleasure3 .
image:BrianHathcock
Engaginggamedesignrequiresmassivegraphicappeal.Thepowerofvisualpleasureisnottobeunderestimatedwhenspectacularimagerycankeepgamersonlineandenraptured.
“Brightbeautifulgraphicsinasocialgamearetantamountto
~Mahajan
moments of joy
”
7..
image:presta
Backoncampus,sometimeinvestedindesigningtrulygreatPowerPoint(orKeynote,ifyou’reaMac)slidescanworkmagicandinfusetheclassroomwithadegreeofthatsamepleasure,fascination,andjoythatgamedesignersspeakof.
TreatyourselftoacopyofGarrReynoldsworkPresentationZenoroneofthebooksherecommendstoincreasethevisualandemotionalimpactofyourslidedesign.
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Need inspiration?
image:law_kevin
1.HereisalinktotheslidesfromAmittMahajan’spresentation:http://www.slideshare.net/amittmahajan2.Forevenmorehelpfulideasandinsightsfromthisgamedeveloper,visithiswebsite:http://www.amitt.com3.ExcellentresourceonpresentationdesignisGarrReynolds:http://www.presentationzen.com/
Resources Cited
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Attribution‐Noncommercial‐ShareAlike3.0License.
about the authorSidneyeveMatrix,PhD.Queen'sNationalScholar,Film&Media,Queen'sUniversity,Canada.Professorofdigitalculture,masscommunication&marketing,popculture,television,&filmcourses.Website:sidneyevematrix.net
image:richpix