Updated Creativity Exercises - Some creativity games suitable for the classroom

I've been updating and compiling some of my creativity exercise resources.  My previous post about creativity exercises can be found here.  Below is an updated video to go with that post.

The video explains how to play games that are part of a free creativity game system that Kory Heath and I worked on several years ago.  One game that I made for the system, called Abe & Einstein, is used as an example.

After watching the video you'll be able to play that game and easily adapt it to fit a variety of content areas. (That's if you're using it in the classroom.  It's actually a great party game for a group of friends.)  

I included a slide at the end that highlights some other ways that I have adapted the game for the classroom.

Here's the video.  Below I have the links to related sites.

Related links:
The creativity game page on my blog where all teaching resources can be located  (Also accessible on the menu at the top of all pages on the site.)

Kory's site for the system, which he calls The Chicken Game System

My classroom presentation games on Promethean Planet, including Haiku games and Why Did the Chicken...? for the classroom

A Flash version of Why Did the Chicken...? that I made, hosted at Stencyl Arcade

Updated Creativity Exercises and Games Presentation

I updated my popular post about creativity games and exercises (which some are calling class presentation games).  You can almost sit back and let me teach your class for one hour with this important lesson that I am passionate about!

Well, actually you'll need to be there to handle discussion and run the games.  But please take some time to consider this lesson.  We definitely need to teach more creativity in school, especially at the secondary levels!

The original post is here and I suggest you look it over to see all the details.  The information below is included in that post.

Just so it is available on the front page for a while, I also am including the new stuff here:

There are two videos below that you can play to present the information to your students, or you can watch my version and present it in your own way.

• The first video could result in some notes and discussion with the class.  
• The second part introduces a creativity exercise that you can run with them (stopping the video a few minutes to do the activity).  
• Both parts have suggested presentation games that you can play with the class.

Links to the related games are also below.  If you don't use ActivInspire you can download a free "personal edition" from their website and play the games or you can make your own versions.

Here is part 1 of the presentation.  It covers the purpose of the activity and provides a definition of creativity.  

The presentation leads into two free classroom games I created.  You can find information about those here:

• Oh, Really! classroom game
• This or That? classroom game (based on the game Take Your Pick)

And here is part 2.  In this one I lead a couple of brainstorming activities and show what it means to make connections.  After those practice exercises the teacher could lead the class in one to three games, which are listed below.

Games for this part of the presentation are here, along with the rules:

• Why Did the Chicken...? and the popular Why Did the Chicken...? Mythology Edition
• Say Anything and the Back to School Edition of Say Anything 

Please let me know if you have questions or any good experiences with this lesson.  I hope to improve it over time.

How to Make Games - Part 2 - Playtesting

I have uploaded the second installment in my three-part series on how to make games.  (You can find the first one, about getting and developing ideas, here.)

This one is about playtesting your game.  I love this part of the design process because it is the first glimpse at a fun idea coming into reality. (But sometimes the ideas do flop!)

I share my favorite tips in this video based on things I learned from other designers through interviews and in working with them at the annual Protospiel game designer convention.  Main points include:

• Going from ideas to playable prototypes
• How to prepare your playtesters
• Tips on the playtest process
• Key questions to ask playtesters
• How to know when the game is done

A couple student examples - Websites and podcasts

Last month I posted some information about web design projects for high school.  I don't have a lot of great examples of sites yet, but I wanted to show a couple to illustrate how we're using Weebly for a basic site, picture slideshow and blog.

Here are two sports sites from the class:

• That's Not Turrble
• Harley's Sports

On the second site the student has posted his podcast project, both in audio and video format.  If you want to see the video as an example of the final project, here's the link.

How to Make Games - Part 1 - Getting and Developing Game Ideas

"You might learn if you play a game, but you will certainly learn something if you design a game"

-Dr. Fred Goodman

We hear so much about game based learning, but I always like to think about how we can get students making games.  Don't forget that a board, card or computer game can be a great final product for project based learning.  Design concepts, system thinking and creativity are part of the learning process from start to finish when one makes a game.

If you or students want to learn some tips about game design, here's a new version of a lesson I posted a few months ago about how to make games.  I often get asked about how I get ideas or how to turn an idea into a published game.  I will share some of my best practical advice over the course of three videos in the weeks ahead.

Keep in mind:

• Most of my experience is with designing board and card games.
• My goal is to help anyone to take an idea and turn it into a playable game that people will enjoy.  It is not necessarily to help someone sell a lot of copies!

If you want to see all the things I have posted about creating games over the past year, click here to search for the Game Design label.  There are articles about creating and publishing several types of games.

If you have questions, please send them to me or comment below so I can improve these lessons.

Tips for Success - An interview with Dominic Crapuchettes of North Star Games

Here's a brief interview with game designer Dominic Crapuchettes, founder of North Star Games.  

Dominic created the excellent party games Wits & Wagers and Say Anything.  They're both great fun and (with his kind permission) I turned them into classroom presentation games for ActivInspire.  With two editions based on each game, they have been some of my most downloaded classroom activities.  The games themselves are also a great addition to the classroom.  I have entertained many students with both titles.

I met Dominic in 2002 when we both were part of a newly formed game designer convention.  His talent for games was apparent immediately.  From that time on I watched him devote his life to a dream of having his own game company.  Rather than focusing on the smaller market of "hobby games", he set his sites on the big time--having his games reach the masses through the large chains like Target, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.

With his talent and hard work he has done just that.  I asked him to share some of his story because I believe it can inspire creative students to follow their dreams.

He also had some unique educational experiences that remind me that to help students be successful I have to do more than just cover the Common Core Standards in my classes.

Mike Petty:  Dominic, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions for us!  To start, what can you tell us about the success of North Star Games?

Dominic Crapuchettes:  North Star Games started as a dream in my basement over 10 years ago.  Since then, we have designed 6 games and won over 100 awards.  Wits & Wagers is the most awarded party game in history!  Our games are sold in Target, Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, and over 25 countries.

MP:  It has been great following your rise to success over the past several years and I have learned a lot from you about what it takes to realize a dream.  When did you know you wanted to create games for a living?

DC:  I knew through most of high school that I wanted to design games for a living, but I didn’t think it was something I would end up doing.  My senior paper was a business plan for a board game company that I wanted to start.

MP:  There is a lot of talk about games in education now, and in some ways gaming seems to be more popular than ever.  But the hype almost always is focused on computer games.  On the other hand, you and I have been creating traditional games for the most part.  What do you think the advantages are of either playing or creating the traditional games?

DC:  Focusing on board games has forced me to be frugal with rules, and strive for elegance and simplicity.  This is because the players have to keep track of everything, as opposed to having a computer do it.  Every creative endeavor benefits from striving for simplicity, including my endeavor to grow our company.  Even Einstein always sought the simplest explanation for the things he saw.

MP:  I know you worked extremely hard to get to where you are now.  There were times I thought I was working hard trying to balance a job and my pursuits as a game designer, then I'd talk to you!  Tell us a little about those early days.

DC:  It is very difficult to start a company.  I found a great partner when I was going through business school.  We worked about 80 hours a week for two years… without any pay!  There were several times when we thought we were going to go bankrupt.  But we stuck with it, and now it is starting to pay off.  We get to do what we love, AND we get paid for it.  Not many people can say that.

MP:  Would you say you’re living your dream? 

DC:  Yes, I would say that I am living my dream, but keep in mind that this is still a job. I have to set my alarm each morning and drive to work each day.  Then I spend most of my day doing things that are not all that fun like answering emails.  But this is mixed with things that I enjoy greatly, like designing and testing games, and then working on the graphics for them.

MP:  I know your talents well enough to say you could have succeeded in a lot of areas.  You chose to follow your creativity.  What are some benefits of exercising creativity in life, including as a hobby or in other ways that might not make money?

DC:  There are ways to be creative in just about any job.  Finding a creative solution to a problem is not only useful to the company you work for, but it is also very satisfying.  Following my heart led me to start a game company and gives me the opportunity to create games, but most of my creativity goes into figuring out how to make our company successful.  The more creative we are with solving problems, the better our company does.

I believe that it is important to balance your passion with meeting the needs of your community.  Your job is NOT about doing what YOU want.  It is about serving your community.  So look for a way to serve your community in a manner that you enjoy.  It’s a life-long process to balance the things you want with the needs of your community.

MP:  That's a great point.  I try to remind my students of the responsibility they have to others.  It's easy for all of us to forget!  

What was your experience like through formal education.  Do any teachers or classes stand out as your favorites?

DC:  I did not enjoy high school.  Memorizing facts for tests was not interesting to me.  So I went to a college where we read philosophical works and discussed their meaning in class.  That’s when I started getting passionate about my education.  I had many favorite teachers.  They were able to inspire me to get excited about the material.

MP:  Are there specific things you do to keep ideas flowing in your business?  

DC:  I look for my inspiration in the other games I play.  I am always considering ways to improve them, or mix elements from one game into another idea that I am working on.  I do the same with my company.  I read about other companies, speak with other business owners and learn as much as I can from their failures and successes.

MP:  I have some common themes that I present to students when I work with classes at many grade levels or in any subject.  I wondered if you have any comments on these, particularly how they might relate to technology and success.

For one, we increase our chances for success by making the most of everyday opportunities.  Forming the habits now of working hard or making good relationships, for example, makes success more likely in our future.

DC:  One of the most important things is life is forming good habits.  Even the smartest person on Earth has a limited amount of brain energy.  Forming good habits allows you to focus on something without having the rest of your life fall apart.  For instance, I set reminders on my computer for everything I need to do.  Then I can focus on the task at hand without worrying that I will forget something else that is important (like picking up my kid from school).

MP:  Right.  Another theme I emphasize is the importance of learning how to learn.  The world is changing fast and students will always need to adapt to unexpected situations.

DC:  My entire college education was a lesson on how to learn.  Instead of memorizing ideas that other people came up with, we read books, discussed them, and came up with our own ideas.  Learning how to listen to others and adopt your ideas and opinions based upon the information you get from them is an important life-lesson that will help you in ANY job you get.

MP:  I agree.  Thanks for putting it in words for us and for providing the example through your own success story.  I wish you and the company the best in the future!

To keep up with information about Dominic's company North Star Games and their great line of party games, please visit:

• Their website at http://www.northstargames.com.
• Or their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/northstargames.

For the First Time - Starting something new with the power of technology

I was inspired when I read Seth Godin's book Poke the Box last summer.  This past week I assigned a journal project to the high school students in a Digital Media class that I work with.

I encouraged them to reflect on some things they did for the first time in 2012.  Going beyond just the message of the book, I also asked them to evaluate the items on their list of "first times".  The assignment then ended with some goal setting.

To tie this into technology, I firmly believe the tools that allow us to connect with others nearby and around the world require us to start big things that make a positive difference in the lives of others.

A high school technology course should not be about the technology, but how the technology can help the students achieve their potential. 

If you're interested in the presentation and assignment:

First I spoke to the class about the book and some examples from my own life.  Here is a recording of that talk that I made later.  It's about 4.5 minutes long.



Then I showed them the video about Caine's Arcade.  This a great example of people starting something new.  I make sure students consider the action of the filmmaker in this story.  He is really the one who "poked the box" by seizing an opportunity that grew into something powerful.  Students can appreciate something that gets over three million views on YouTube and results in a scholarship for a young boy.


And finally, here's the journal assignment that I gave to the students.  I was very pleased with the response the class gave to the presentation, the video and the journal assignment.

Website Design Lessons for High School Digital Media Class

We started some basic website design lessons this week in Digital Media class at the high school.  We use free accounts at Weebly.

These lessons get the students thinking about the area of interest that they will focus on for the site.  They will get a chance to write some initial content, but the idea is we will continue to develop the sites as a place to show finished products as the semester continues.

The first three assignments are:

• Creating graphics for the site - We use GIMP.
• Writing the initial content
• Setting up the three main pages of the site in Weebly

If you're interested in modifying those documents, let me know and I can share them with you in Google Docs format.

Student examples will be posted in the weeks ahead.

GIMP Photo Editing and Graphic Design Lessons for High School and Middle School

I posted some links to my GIMP tutorials recently.  Here are the assignment PDFs that I gave the students.  These, along with the tutorials linked to below, provide a nice introduction to the program.  It was a great improvement over how we started last year.

The assignments might have different names, but these are the topics 

• Introduction
• Drawing with the Selection Tools
• Layers and Text
• Filters and Effects
• Combining Images
• Final Project - Comic Strip

All of the tutorials for these lessons can be found in this post.

GIMP Tutorials - Lessons for photo editing in high school and middle school

I have been very busy in and out of the classroom so far this new school year.  My favorite part has been the time I've spent with Digital Media courses at our high school and middle school.  Somehow they managed to schedule both classes at the same time of the day!  Since I can't physically be at both of them I have been using video tutorials as one way to assist the classroom teacher and instruct the students.

First, here are the related lessons.

Below you'll find the tutorials for GIMP, a free image editing program.  I hope these could be useful to anyone who might be "flipping" a tech course or possibly for an online course.

Update 10/4/2013:  I posted the most popular tutorials on YouTube and have them in this Playlist now.

• Introduction to GIMP - Brief explanation of what the program is like, how to navigate the multiple windows and how to open files
• Saving files in GIMP - Some of this is specific to our network, but I talk about saving as jpeg.
• Paint Brush and Clone Tools - I explain how to use the Paint Brush as a line tool and how to erase parts of pictures using the Clone Tool.
• Drawing with the Selection Tools - GIMP doesn't have a tool to draw shapes, for example, but this shows how it can be used to accomplish the same thing.
• Using Layers in GIMP - This is probably the best feature of GIMP and the one students have the hardest time with. 
• Using the Text Tool in GIMP - Text in GIMP is pretty easy, but students need to understand Layers first.
• Combining Images in GIMP - This shows how to take parts of one image and paste it into another for simple special effects.
• Neon Logo Tutorial - My version of a popular logo effect that I learned from a couple YouTube tutorials

And here's a quick talk about learning software in general.  I address the difference between learning the software and learning how to learn new software.

New Math Game for ActivInspire - Factor Duel

I am trying something new with this fun math class presentation game for ActivInspire.  I made the game using Stencyl and embedded the Flash file in the flipchart.  The flash version is below too.

Also, be sure to check out my Quadratic Formula Video!

You can download the flipchart from here on Promethean Planet.

It was created with interactive whiteboards in mind, but two people can compete at one computer if they pass the mouse back and forth.  You can find it on the Stencyl Arcade here.

If you're just interested in seeing the Flash file, it's here:  Factor Duel

It is based on the game Juniper Green.  I actually never played that one with my students, but I was introduced to it early in my career by another teacher who claimed it was very popular in his classes.  I always wanted to create a more lively computer version that checked the students' moves.  I think this one accomplishes that well, but I noticed it can be sluggish on older systems.

In the way of credits, I created all the graphics, music and the game logic.  Some sounds were built from files I found at FreeSound.org.

http://www.freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/66951/
http://www.freesound.org/people/scarfield/sounds/52004/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Mr%20Sensible/sounds/15000/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Mr%20Sensible/sounds/14742/

Inspiration - Kevin Honyecutt's tradigital approach to education

I was at an ed-tech conference in Detroit, Michigan, in March, 2011 when I aimlessly drifted into one packed session.  The speaker completely blew me away.  After spending the previous day in a series of workshops and presentations about technology and teaching, this guy reminded me that we are touching lives.  I left recharged, thinking about what I could accomplish back in my district.

The speaker was Kevin Honeycutt, a former art teacher who now travels across the country speaking to teachers about things like a "tradigital" approach to education and sharing his theories "unburdened by research".

This year I caught him again at MACUL in Grand Rapids.  I sat through three of his presentations and found him just as inspiring.  I was really happy to find out he would be addressing our school district just before school started this fall.

Kevin has a way of reminding teachers why they got into the job in the first place.  Since he can tell of the lives he has touched, he makes it feel possible that we can reach even the most difficult kids.  He uses tech tools in ways that enhance talents and unleashes imagination.  Most of my work on this blog that talks about creativity and passion stems from that first time I heard him speak in 2011.  My appreciation for his work has only increased since then.

Through stories and demonstrations (including his digital jams with GarageBand and his electric guitar) he kept the auditorium engaged for two and a half hours.  Since that afternoon I have had several teachers asking to try new things this year with the resources we have available.  Many told me it was the best tech PD we have had.  I'm looking forward to sustaining the momentum that he created.

If you're unfamiliar with his excellent work, check out his website.  He has a ton of resources there.  Here is his channel on YouTube.

Classroom Creativity Game - Why Did the Chicken...?

As I posted a few days ago, here's a computer version of the creativity game Why Did the Chicken...?, originally designed as a party game by Kory Heath.

The format of this game is similar to many of the classroom creativity games I have featured on this site.  This one just lets everyone play on the computer.  It could be a fun warm-up or wrap-up exercise after one of the flipchart games based on that system.

Check out the page and please share the link with other teachers.

http://bit.ly/wdtcgame

If you like it, let me know and I'll put a few other of the creativity games into this format.

And while I'm at it, here's a reminder about my Mythology Edition of Why Did the Chicken...? in flipchart format.  It's been my most popular classroom activity this summer from Promethean Planet.

Computer Game Design in the Classroom - Stencyl as a tool for creating Flash games

I've been briefly highlighting some computer game creation tools over the past week.  The first two articles are here:

• Gamestar Mechanic
• App Inventor

For this installment I want to focus on my current resource of choice:

Stencyl

Update 2/2/2014:  I recently posted a review of a book that will be great resource for learning Stencyl:  Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development. If you are considering using Stencyl in class or if you are just learning the program, I recommend the book.

I wrote recently about Stencyl and I have featured a few games I created.  For now, I'll briefly touch on my experience, the pros and cons and why I like this tool the best.

My Experience
My first attempt to use Stencyl was met with frustration, but I revisited it this summer after I realized they updated to version 2.0.  They also expanded some of the documentation.  Those changes helped me to understand the elements and I was able to create a few games.  Two of them are hosted here on the Stencyl Arcade.

Like many other tools, users arrange code blocks rather than typing all the lines of a program.  That's generally a nice touch, though sometimes blocks are annoying.  I'm used to the old fashioned way!

But even if a user finds the blocks to their liking, it's not exactly easy to make a game.  It is probably easy to modify some existing games that are available, and that's a great place to start, but to create a game from scratch requires a lot of logic and planning.  And that doesn't even involve actually learning the elements of Stencyl itself.

For example, my games were simple in the fact that I did not need to handle collisions or many different "scenes" based on player interaction.  I made some simple card games.  The computer never had to respond with anything that resembled AI.  Animations were very simple.

But the logic behind some scoring elements made my head spin.  Dealing with lists (arrays) can always be an exercise in the abstract, but that along with how they're handled in Stencyl was a challenge for me.  My son, who will be in seventh grade this year, was surprised by the complexity of that part of the code.  He wasn't even interested in learning what it did or how I figured it out.  I know most students around that grade level would feel about the same toward it.

It's a simple fact that creating a decent game can be difficult on many levels.  It will be time consuming and require a lot of thought.  If anyone doubts this, they should read a few posts in the forums at Stencyl.  I can't even understand many of the technical discussions.

But why do I prefer it over other tools?  Because I am able to make games that are easily played online...at least with a computer.  Here are the positives and negatives in brief.

Positives

• Stencyl can make a great variety of games.  Even with the free version, one can make action games, puzzle games, card games, etc.  There are limits, but compared to Gamestar Mechanic this offers a universe of options for students to explore.
• The free version makes Flash games that can be played online.  While Flash isn't good for iPads or other mobile devices, it provides more accessibility for free than the other game creation tools that I explored.  
• There is fairly good documentation to get started.  It's not perfect and I didn't find anything geared specifically for educators yet, but it was helpful.  The forums also provide good support for new game designers.  I didn't use the video tutorials, but they do have some created by users that might be helpful for budding programmers.  

Negatives

• As I mentioned above, a game of any complexity is still going to take some serious work.  Besides just the logic and learning Stencyl itself, gathering or creating graphics and sound effects was a big job even for my simple games.
• It boasts the ability to make iOS games, but that will be costly.  You have to buy the Pro version and you need to pay for Apple's developers program as well.  Realistically for many schools, Flash games are about all you'll get out of this.

So for me the positives clearly outweighed those couple negatives.  I'm thrilled with what I learned and that I now have a few computer games that I can use in the classroom this year.

My biggest lesson so far is that I really can appreciate the work that goes into making a great computer game!  From graphics to sound to the programming itself, it's demanding.  Hopefully more students will see this and their desire to make games will motivate them to that level of effort.

Creativity Computer Game - beta testing

Here's a draft of a creativity game I created.  It's another pass & play game for three to five players, this time based on Kory Heath's hilarious Why Did the Chicken...?

If it works well, the engine can be adapted to many of the creativity games I have on this site.

Check out the page and please share and give feedback if it looks promising.

http://bit.ly/wdtcgame

Videolicious Updated App - Great features for the classroom

I wrote earlier in the year about the Videolicious app.  Even though it was limited in some ways, I loved how it could be used for a quick news story.  They updated it this month and now I absolutely love it.  It could be a wonderful tool for digital storytelling and I can't believe it's still free.  It's for the iPhone, but it works great on the iPad 2 that I use.

A sample video is below, but here are the good points...

New features:

• You can control the timing of the images while you narrate!  Lack of control on timing was the biggest drawback to the original version.  (Now the only potential problem is you can't control panning of the pictures.)
• It adds some filters.  I haven't tried them all, but it's a nice touch.
• You can import a "story" rather than recording yourself at the moment.  This is a great addition as well.  It essentially lets you record a video, then overlay pictures or clips over it as you control the timing.
• You can also just skip this, which amounts to showing your pictures or clips with some background music.

As someone who has worked with home video equipment for over 25 years, I am amazed at how simply this app can turn out a polished video combining narration, music and images or clips.  It's actually for the iPhone, but it seems to work great on the iPad.  Check it out for any of these possible uses in the classroom:

• Commercials for your classroom projects or the start of the school year.
• Project highlights from students after they complete their work.
• News stories for video announcements.
• Any type of digital storytelling.

Here's a video I put together to show the basic features.  The app won't help with bad narration or a shaky hand while recording!  I tried to do this as quickly as possible to show how easily one can create a video.  It's an overview of my Pegged game, which you might also find useful for a lesson activity this school year.

Computer Game Design in the Classroom - Gamestar Mechanic

I have written extensively about Gamestar Mechanic, but I want to address it briefly here as I'm doing a series of tools for using computer game design in the classroom.

This series stems from my desire to motivate students based on their passions.  I am exploring some ways to do that with computer game design.  My first post focused on App Inventor.  Today I'll look at the application I have the most classroom experience with.

Gamestar Mechanic

The developers of Gamestar Mechanic have done the best job that I've seen of making their program accessible for students.  In fact, it is intended to be a tool for learning.  It integrates the process of learning the program and learning game design very well.  This opens the door to integration within several content areas.  While I have not yet been as successful as I'd like with that next step, I see the potential.  Any shortcomings I have experienced in that regard make me wonder if there's any hope for this with more complex options, but that is what I still need to explore.

My Experience with Gamestar Mechanic
As I said, these projects are explained at length in other places on this blog or my other website, so I will just link to them here.

I developed a project in a science class last year that integrated game design, various technology tools and the study of ecosystems.  It's one of the more popular stops for visitors to my blog.  Here's an overview of it.

I also explored the possibility of integrating it with math lessons at the 5th and 6th grade level.  Specifically, I saw an application for reinforcing the concepts of proportions, rates and ratios.  I wrote about that experience here.


Positives

• Gamestar Mechanic is on the low end of the complexity scale for teachers and students.  That makes it great to highlight game design concepts without letting the "how to" questions get in the way.
• It very nicely weaves how to use the system and how to make a good game all in one teaching and playing experience.  Students who pay attention to the learning while they work through the lessons have very few questions.
• I have seen it appeal to boys and girls in grades 5 - 8.  It blends play and creation in a way that almost all students enjoy it.
• Several resources for teachers are available.  As I mentioned, this tool was clearly created with the classroom in mind.

Negatives

• Its simplicity also amounts to a lot of limitations on the type of games students can create.  Some will say they're not actually making games, but just creating levels of an open-ended game by tweaking options for all the characters.
• Games are Flash based only.  Since the whole application is Flash based, it's not a big deal that you are limited to computers.  Everything will be made on a computer, so students won't mind just playing on their computers.  Unlike other options I'll examine, there's no hope of getting the games on iOS devices or as stand alone executable files even through additional paid features.
• Most importantly to note, it takes most students a long time to work through the levels.  Students earn the ability to make games by completing the game challenges.  If they don't get far enough they simply can't use all the tools.  If they aren't playing at home, it takes a lot of class time for some to get to that point.  Most teachers in a content area will not sacrifice class time to allow students to do this.

In conclusion, if a teacher wants to explore game design concepts, there's no better introduction than Gamestar Mechanic.  It opens the door to integration with content area topics, but in that case the teacher will have to give up a few days of class to allow students to work through the levels.

This very concisely brings me to the main question of all of this.  Can computer game design be a useful tool for all teachers and all learners?

For all the excitement I see in the students and for my own interests in game design, I want to believe it has value.  But repeatedly I have seen the fun of the games and the requirements to learn the tools and the game design concepts so easily obstruct the other learning.

My current plan is to find ways to teach the game design concepts and tools in one class, then get content area teachers to integrate those aspects into their lessons.  Until I can arrange that, I can't confidently recommend such an undertaking, even with this simple tool, to a content area teacher.

Computer Game Design in the Classroom - App Inventor

I try to focus a lot on passion in this blog.  On the job I want to motivate students by appealing to their passions.

I find this to be most difficult when working with teen boys.  While there are certainly some tough cases, my difficulty is rarely due to my inability to identify their passions.  It's usually the challenge of bridging the gap between their interests and the required curriculum.

I know many these male students are very passionate about video games.  When I ask them what they want to study in our digital media courses, they often tell me they want to learn to make games.  (It is not limited to just the boys, but it is always the boys more than girls.)

It seems like game design could be an ideal motivator.  On top of that, it's my hobby too.  But somehow I have yet to find a good way to make video game creation accessible to all students in a way that meets all requirements of the courses in which I am working.  I've been exploring the options more this summer and I will post a few brief conclusions I've formed about some tools at our disposal.

Lesson plans and course flow are in the works too, but for now I'll start with the programming tools.

MIT App Inventor
I am starting with this one because it is 100% free.

My Experience
I used App Inventor for my own studies in a graduate course last year.  I have not tried to use it with students yet.

I was able to make a playable game quite easily with this program, but it did not look great.  I made no effort to explore the graphic capabilities.  Also, my game was not an action "video game" in the usual sense.  It was a fairly simple two-player game that involved selecting options.

Here's a video demonstrating the game.  I show it on the Android simulator in the video, but I did play the game on a phone as well.  (I have to love that one comment a user posted for it!  As a former math teacher, I'm used to less than pleasant sentiments expressed by the unimpressed.)

And here's the classroom project that it was derived from.

Positives

• It is quite simple to get started with App Inventor.  I have years of programming experience, so that probably helped.  The list of options are small, intuitive and well documented, though, so I found it to be the easiest application to take the game from concept to playing it on a device.
• Unlike most programs that allow you to create for mobile devices, it's free.  Being able to play their games on their phones should appeal to many students.
• Many resources are available for educators.  I have a lot of exploring to do in that area of their website.

Negatives

• It only works on Android devices.  You can test it on a simulator if you don't have a phone, but there's no option to post playable versions online.
• Testing was a little slow with the Android simulator.  The debugging process could get frustrating with small fixes and significant wait times to see what worked and what didn't.
• Files were quite large.  Even my simple games had relatively large files and when I tested them on my phone last year things were sluggish sometimes. 

For all the good I see in this program, I am not focusing on it as a possibility this year in school, mostly for the reasons listed as negatives above.  If you have more experience with App Inventor I will be glad to hear additional thoughts on this.

For my next installment, I will provide some thoughts on a resource I have more classroom experience with.

My Story - iPad app for digital storytelling

I originally posted this because they were doing a free special for the app.  I see it now is listed for $1.99.

The My Story app reminds me a lot of what I liked about StoryRobe and StoryKit, but it's all combined in one polished app made for iPad.

I have only had a little time to explore it so far, but I wanted to point it out as a useful tool for making a nice ebook.  Pages can diplay a picture and text and narration can be recorded as well.  I could see this being appropriate for any elementary students.  While the secondary students could certainly use it, by that time I'd like to see them doing more with video.

It allows the user to import or take pictures.  Some editing can be done with paint tools, though I found I had to write or draw slowly.  It lagged after making a mark or two.

Narration is simple to record or delete page by page.

The files are in epub format.  I am able to open them easily in iBook on my iPad.  The app itself will display them too.  There are other sharing options, but if you don't have something on your computer to open epub files you'll only get a file you can't view.

Pegged - A fun game based learning activity for a variety of subjects

This lesson is based on a simple Flash game that asks students to match people with items that describe them.  The game is fun using friends' names, but it can be played using names from any content area that involves characters or people.  For example, a literature or history class could provide several fictional or real life characters to use in the lesson.Students 10 years old and up should enjoy the activity.

Summary of the Game

First, take a look at my Flash game Pegged.  It is located here.

It's a very simple game of matching the players to different descriptions, things they'd say or things they might like. For example, imagine playing with three of your friends and you have to match yourself and them to these items:

• "Whatever!"
• Football
• Sing
• Likely to trip

(To provide for more options, each round includes one more description than player along with one name tag labeled "No One". You can always put the "No One" tag with the description that doesn't fit any of your friends.)

The game last for three quick rounds. Players earn points by making the same matches that their friends do. But scoring points isn't as much fun as trying to peg your friends and then arguing about who was right and wrong.

Using the game as a learning activity

In this activity, students (in groups of four) will play a regular game of Pegged to understand how it works. Then they will play additional rounds using characters or people studied in the class. A short reflective writing assignment wraps up the lesson.

In way of background, I love John Paul Gee's book What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy and this lesson is directly inspired by it. Among other things, the author points out in the book that real learning happens when the learners take on other roles and when they consider relationships between areas of knowledge (what Gee calls semiotic domains)*.

The book was a fascinating read that changed the way I see education. As with this game, I always look for ways to get students to put themselves in other roles or to compare what we are studying to their everyday lives.

The Lesson

Every student needs a computer. If they each have a laptop or netbook, that will be easiest. If they are at computers in a lab environment, that will work too, but they'll have to change seats as they play the game.

Part 1: Playing Pegged as themselves

• Explain how the game works first or show a sample round on a computer.
• Form Groups of four students (with some groups of 3 as necessary).
• One student should start a game using the names of the students. Passing the computer around (or sitting at one computer) they each take their turns through the three rounds of the game. As indicated by the game, students cannot look at the screen when it's not their turn.
• When each round of the game ends, the results will be displayed. Students should look over who matched each player with which description. Lively discussion will likely follow depending on the random items that came up in the game.

Note: Depending on the class and the time of year it is, some students may not know each other well enough to make informed decisions in the game. It will be best if they can form groups with students they know as well as possible. If this will be difficult, remind them that this part of the assignment is just so they can learn to play Pegged.

Part 2: Playing Pegged as someone else
Now, explain to students that they need to play the game again (with the same groups) but they will represent someone from your content area. It is suggested that you present a limited list of people or characters for them to choose from, but you might want to leave it very open ended so they can choose for themselves. For example, in a U.S. History class they might put some familiar names from the founding of the nation such as Washington, Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson.

Each student should pick one person/character whom he or she will represent in his or her group.

Now it's time to play the game again, but there's one important difference this time around. Each player in the group will start a game by listing all the people/characters for their group. 

They should start with their character first, then each of the others in the order that they'll take turns (though a strict order for those players isn't absolutely necessary). So a group of four will actually be starting four separate games, but they only need to play one round in each game (using each computer when their turn comes up).

Note that students can enter just the last name or even initials of the people or characters.

One other point: While playing, each student needs to consider all the characters, not just the one he or she is "playing". For example, if Joe is Washington, he will still have to match all other characters to different descriptions. He only represents Washington in the sense that that when a computer says it's Washington's turn, Joe takes the turn. It's not so much that they are taking on the role (as in acting or thinking like the characters), but that they are using concepts from their real lives to compare with what they know about those characters.

"Wait, what does _____ have to do with Jefferson or Washington?!?"
Yes, sometimes there will be a few descriptions that come up that are almost impossible to match with any of the characters. That's the fun of it. Is Jefferson or Washington more likely to go with Football? Or maybe Franklin with Watches TV?? The goal is not so much to get a "right" answer, but to think about those people and characters as much as possible and make some connection. As long as another student matches the same character to the same description, it's worth at least one point. If after some consideration the student can only make a random match for some, that will provide enough thought to be useful in the writing part of the assignment.


Part 3: The writing
When all students have played one round, they should get back the computer that they started their game on (or sit at that computer) then begin the writing portion of the assignment.

Display these steps for the writing assignment or print this pdf version.

1) Grab a screen capture of the Results page for your game in which you took the first turn.

On a Windows system you can do this by simply pressing the Print Screen key (usually located in the upper right of the keyboard). On a Mac, press Command-Control-Shift-3. That puts a copy of the screen in the clipboard.

2) Paste the screen capture into the document file you're writing your assignment in. Use ctrl-v on a Windows system or command-v on a Mac to paste the image of your screen. You can change the size or crop it to make it easier to see the results of the game.

(If you forget to take a screen capture before you click the Next button your group will have to play the game again. Please capture and paste that screen as soon as possible after the game ends so you don't lose the information!)

3) Now write a few paragraphs about the round you played. In those paragraphs, address the questions below. Your writing should flow like a written summary, not a list of answers. You can address these in any order you like as long as all answers are apparent in your writing.

• List the people or characters that your group chose and the five descriptions you had to match.
• Indicate how you paired the people/characters with the descriptions and briefly explain why you chose those matches.
• Were some people/characters harder to find a matching description than others were? Why do you think that was the case?
• Were some descriptions harder to match with any character than others? Why do you think that was the case?
• Look at the rankings that the other students in your group chose. Pick a student's matches that are different from yours and explain how it differed. 
• Imagine you had to convince that student that your matches were correct or more accurate. What would you say to change his or her mind? What do you think that student would say to make you think his or her matches were best? 
• If any matches made by a student in your group stand out as particularly surprising, describe them and why you find them surprising.
• As you were playing or after reflecting on the game, what are two things about one or more characters that you learned or hadn't thought of before? 
• In what ways, if any, do you think it helped to match the characters to terms from today's world? Explain.

*Here are the two principles from Gee's book, in his own words. I am simplifying the second one in this lesson, but I believe it captures the important part of the concept.

Meta-level thinking about Semiotic Domain PrincipleLearning involves active and critical thinking about the relationships of the semiotic domain being learned to other semiotic domains.

Identity PrincipleLearning involves taking on and playing with identities in such a a way that the learner has real choices (in developing the virtual identity) and ample opportunity to meditate on the relationship between new identities and old ones. There is a tripartite play of identities as learners relate, and reflect on, their multiple real-world identities, a virtual identity, and a projective identity.