Week 8) Gaming, education, and interactive worlds

I recently listened to Dr. Henry Jenkins discussion on Video Games and Education with Dr. Moira Gunn of Tech talk.

First, as a student and as an Instructional Designer in-training, I have to admit that I was shying away from this because I'd rather read than listen. Unpacking that a little bit further, I think I at least like some visual cues with my learning and information access -- this can be text to follow along with, a face to watch, etc. I have a strong aversion to audio in my individual education and pursuit of information online. I say this with my current education in mind because it seems that this is a very easy path for me to avoid and miss serving students who are better listeners than visual learners. Of course, an entertaining lecture on technology that requires little more than my comprehension of the concepts being discussed is easier fare to digest aurally than an intense how-to course with no visual, spatial, or hands on experiences.

All this being said, I enjoyed listening to Dr. Jenkins discussion and will probably return to Tech Nation for more tidbits in the future.

My discussion of my own learning does tie into this lecture, as Dr. Jenkins describes the future of entertainment and education as offering experiences across multiple media. For instance, a video game may be associated with a movie. The game does not necessarily repeat the movie but adds another dimension, timeline, and/or perspective on the storyline. The Matrix Revolutions did this with comic books, the trilogy, video game, and anime shorts.

As to education, Dr Jenkins talks about interactive games that add an immersive element to the experience of a child's education. This departs from the old drill-and-practice games that most of us, if at all, have experienced in our own primary, secondary, and (yes) post-secondary educations. I like how he brings up the notion of field trips and special situations in the course of an education that stand out because it gives the students a context and experience to hinge upon the learning, memory, and potential application. Games, when done right, can do this. Offering the learner a space to explore, make decisions, and create an experience will add to their capacity to learn the presented material.

The New Media Institute on campus is offering an undergraduate course on virtual worlds this fall. I think this would be a fascinating medium to study as a potential community for learning. For instance, what learning takes place now in virtual worlds and community-based online games? What is the educational potential for these virtual realities and online role-playing venues? How can the medium be tweaked to bring better education experiences to the table? What would a educational communication package like BlackBoard, WebCT, and other collaborative tools look like -- modified to fit in these worlds?

There are ideas of other growths for technology -- some only imagined, some being unveiled. I think of Jeff Han's interactive drafting table and how that might influence the way we interact with technology and the information we pursue/create/experience with it. I also think of Jakob Neilsen's concept of an ideal virtual world for folks with disabilities -- creating an environment that becomes 3-D for a blind user to make choices spatially instead of with a computer keyboard.

Project testing this week:

• Putting on the polish
• Ever more refinement

References:

• Jenkins, Henry. 2004. Videogames and education. Tech Nation interview. [podcast] Available: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail435.html
• Nielsen, Jakob. 2003. Alternative interfaces for accessibility. [Online] Available: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030407.html
• Han, Jeff. 2006. Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design. [Online] Available: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65

 

Putting on the polish

I've been working on my GA Flash Map interface tonight. I think it's come along quite a ways since yesterday. Here's my latest file: flashMapApr25

I've added an intro page that gives a bit of an explanation.. this page is still horribly blank though. I may add more text on the right side to explain the differences between the options that can be chosen. Another option would be to include a screen shot of the actual program with a brief "how-to".

I'm at a stopping point for the night though, I think. I want to divide the application into two different functions -- magnitude (gradient) display for 4-H and POD, and something separate for the Impact Statements. Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure out how to determine when the user has chosen the latter. So, I must hope that I can talk to Keith tomorrow with a final hour solution.

I also want to include more information about each county, such as the county office information. This is data I need to feed in. I'm not too sure if it will happen so I'll sleep on it and hope that Plan B will transpire overnight!

If I can divide the program into Impacts vs. other, I can use the link and select options on the county buttons to interface with the Impacts database. If I can't get that to work, I'll just focus on one feature only tomorrow.

I have learned two cool Photoshop effects tonight:

• brushed-steel texture
• glass buttons

 

ever more refinement

So much further to go in the next few days... I think I can make this happen, as long as I stay focused on my end goal. Contrary to my sparse postings of late, I have been working on my project.

It seems that when I get deep into a problem in an unknown territory, I spin my wheels about 10x greater than I effectively move forward. This is frustrating, but at some level, I know that all that wheel-spinning has its fruits as well. The dynamic multiple choice experiment I was distracted with a few weeks ago was useful recently as I tried to duplicate dynamic text boxes as movie clips.

I spent about 5 hours on Saturday trying to set up a way to switch the kind of data is displayed in the bar graph. Right now, this is showing county data relative to values in the other counties. The highest value on the chart is equivilant to the highest county value for the dataset. A different way to view this would be to frame the data as it is distributed throughout the state, so what percentage of the state data exists in a particular county? I was able to create code that would do this, partially, but it would not toggle well between the two views. After 5 hours of struggling, I had to resign myself to keeping my graph view to only one option for now. Even as a second view would be valuable, the percentages of a single county in a state of 159 are very very small and mostly evenly distributed (well, for the data I tested). This can be accomplished or further explored in my next version, the after the studio version!

I've also been struggling with labeling each of the bars in the graph with the appropriate county name. I have tried every way I can possibly imagine to generate text fields that label these bars. What I have determined is that some part of my code is taking a major chunk of processing power and the code I wrote to dynamically generate this information was dropped. I could be presumptious with this... but I've tried so many things and proven that my code works in a clean document! I had to abandon this to some degree too. What I have done to solve the problem is to create a separate flash movie that contains all of the county names at the appropriate angle, size, and order. I'm importing this movie into my graph movieclip. It works, but it would be a pain to edit later -- Georgia does change its county names from time to time, but that has to be a pretty rare event.

I've also adapted the graph to mimic the color scheme of the map. I hope this will eliminate the need to make a legend that explains what each color gradient is equivilent to. When the user rolls over the map, the value in question is focused in the center of the graph and all the other information fades into the background.

I think I can move on from the graphing feature! The only refinement point for that is to find decent placement for the scrolling arrow buttons.

Here's the file in question: barGraphASedited

The next problem I need to solve is finding a way to effectively communicate the purpose of my project with my users. I've gotten quite a few comments on this, and I know that my project is not necessarily self-explanatory. I'm exploring methods to separate the dataset choice from the map and graph page. I've got this working halfway, but my map buttons no longer work. *sigh* I'll need to comb through my actionscript a bit closer and determine what must be displayed at what time to make everything to work seamlessly.

Here's that file: barGraphGettingBetter

What else do I need to accomplish?? Well, if I can make this entry page communicate the right information, I might be able to bring back some of my concept work from earlier -- this would primarily include using the map to interface with the Impact Statements system.

Does this project need to be pretty? I'm not so sure. It won't really serve as a stand-alone item in its actual usage. It does need to be useful and non-intimidating.

Onward onward! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Desk Crit #4: HueiHsien

Hi HueiHsien,
I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I've attached my desk crit for your project. For the most part, my critique addresses some usability issues. Take a look, I can clarify any points you have questions about. I think you've done a really good job with this!

Cheers,
Emily

Designer: HueiHsien Liu
Project: Epidemics and Pandemics
Project URL: http://lhh0418.myweb.uga.edu/6200project/direction.htm
Reviewer: Emily Pitts
Review date: 4/23/07

Interface:

• Subheading needs "How does" to make it a question, otherwise, no question mark.
• Page numbers would be helpful, within each major section. Maybe between the Back and Next buttons, as "page 1 of 5" or "1/5". This helps to keep an idea of where I am in the program. Alternatively, you could list the page numbers between the Back and Next buttons, and make them links to those pages... that would make all of your pages easy to access.
• At the end of each session, could you include directions to proceed to the next Session?
• Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation (you may want someone to go through this part with you, it isn’t that bad – just little things on various pages)
• It seems like a number of the figures include information or terms that aren't included in the text, at least not in the text on the page the image is on. Also, can any of these be made bigger?
• Could you name the buttons to include the subject title? For instance, instead of "Session I", write "I: Antigenic drift". This gives a constant outline of the program and reminds me what is ahead when I read (for example, at the end of the introduction you mention antigenic drift and shift, a description on the session buttons would indicate that I'll learn about this if I continue).
• Within your sessions, I think it would be more effective to place the subsections underneath the session button in the left menu. When I see these at the top of the page, I think that it will take me away and I'm not sure what will happen (I can't see the Next button unless I scroll). It also looks like I can just click whichever subsection instead of clicking next after I read "What is it?" -- this isn't right, because there are more pages in this subheading (if this is just to provide a place to skip ahead, linked page numbers would do the same trick, without diverting the first-timer's attention!)
• Can the text be broken up a bit more? Bulleting select items within the text or numbering steps will make information stand out on the page. If you had more time – this would be a great help from your SME.

Flash interactions

• The many different buttons on the page can be distracting and confusing. If you require that the user view all of an animation or quiz before going to the next page, your last Flash frame could include the next button, to the next HTML page – by doing this, you could take off the extra next button on the pages with Flash interactions.
• Think about using different navigational language between the flash interactions and the lesson interface. For instance, instead of saying "back" in a flash quiz, you might say "try again" on the button. That way, the buttons will not conflict.
• Can you make the text darker in the Flash movies? The gray text doesn't stand out well and can be hard to read on some pages.
• Your animations look good! The only odd thing is in the Mutation of genome movie, after you zoom in to the cell, it skips to a pink box. Do you need help with this?

Content

Help
I would include this information on a single help page. If someone needs help while they are in a lesson, they will only have one page to view. (I didn’t understand where I would go with the “next” button; I thought it might take me to the introduction).

Introduction

• Include "Fig." with letters in parenthesis. Figure C seems out of place – are glycoproteins explained in the second paragraph?
• Intro p.2 -- how does "Surface of Virus" fit with content?

Session I

• add footer links (help, site map, etc.) on "What is it"
• What is "facilitating information" on the incorrect feedback? Do you mean "Hint:" or "Helpful tip:"

Session III

• The left menu has different spacing from the other pages.
• p. 2 - the image doesn't enlarge
• Exercise 2: You may want to be clearer about the two symbols above the radio buttons. I recommend just "T" and "F". (this applies to any of your true/false quizzes)

Quiz:

• #13 -- "Visit your grandparents" is pretty funny. I like that.
• #15 -- This isn't a question.
• What happens at the end? I was hoping to get a score. I think I got 4 right. :(

Ending the program
It would be helpful to have a conclusion. The program just ends abruptly after the 15th question. The conclusion could be a really short outline of what was learned or a short summary and link to the site map to review any particular section.