The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 9
Introduction......Page 15
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION......Page 22
Level 1 “Good Morning. You All Have an F”......Page 24
Opening: The Slide......Page 26
Middle Game: The Shift......Page 29
Endgame: The Book......Page 30
Level 2 Games in the Classroom......Page 34
Educational Software......Page 35
Education Versus Entertainment......Page 37
Quest to Learn......Page 38
SECTION TWO: MULTIPLAYER CLASSROOMS......Page 40
Stay Flexible......Page 42
Class Overview......Page 43
Multiplayer Classroom Syllabus......Page 47
Grading Procedure......Page 52
Level 4 Theory and Practice of Game Design Class......Page 54
Zones......Page 55
Avatars......Page 57
Peer Review......Page 61
Student Evaluation Quotes......Page 66
CASE HISTORIES: INTRODUCTION......Page 68
Case History 1 Marked Tree High School......Page 70
Introduction......Page 71
Levels......Page 72
Questing......Page 73
Reward System......Page 75
Data Analysis......Page 76
Conclusion......Page 77
Level 5 Multiplayer Game Design Syllabi......Page 78
Grading and Attendance......Page 79
Conduct......Page 82
The 2010 Syllabus......Page 84
Level 6 Multiplayer Game Design Class......Page 90
Zones......Page 91
Roles......Page 92
MMOs and Community......Page 93
Quizzes and Innovative Presentations......Page 94
Midterm Exam......Page 96
Student Evaluation Quotes......Page 100
Case History 2 University of Arizona South: Teaching with Technology......Page 102
The Setup......Page 103
The Course (Before)......Page 104
Why a Game?......Page 105
GAME Design......Page 106
Practical Challenges and Solutions......Page 109
Future Plans......Page 111
Works Cited......Page 112
Level 7 Introduction to Game Design Syllabus......Page 114
Theory and Design......Page 116
The 2010 Fall Syllabus......Page 117
Brand New Parts to the Syllabus......Page 124
Level 8 Introduction to Game Design Class......Page 128
Zones......Page 133
The Prototype......Page 143
References......Page 151
Level 8 Student Evaluation Quotes......Page 152
Case History 3 Louisiana State University: Introduction to the Study of Education......Page 154
Level 9 Designing Interactive Characters Syllabus......Page 162
Cheating Versus Hacks......Page 163
A New Syllabus for a New Game......Page 164
Level 10 Designing Interactive Characters Class......Page 174
Using Back Stories......Page 175
Design Consistency......Page 176
Home Sweet Home......Page 177
The Geography of Valeria......Page 178
Messages from the Unknown......Page 181
Creating Characters......Page 182
Preparation for the Final Project......Page 185
Presentation Quests......Page 186
Another Message from the Unknown......Page 187
Midterm Prep PvP......Page 189
Midterm Boss Mob (Frost Lizard)......Page 191
The Most Recent Messages......Page 192
Case History 4 Valencia Community College: United States History to 1877......Page 196
Observations......Page 199
SECTION THREE: GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT......Page 206
How Students Learn......Page 208
How Gamers Learn......Page 209
Case History 5 Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School: General Math......Page 216
How Knowledge Quest Was Introduced......Page 217
Why We Wanted to Turn Our Classroom into an RPG......Page 223
Age......Page 224
Gender......Page 228
Income Level......Page 230
Case History 6 Texas Tech University: History of Higher Education in the United States......Page 232
Level 13 How Games Are Designed......Page 238
The Teacher as Game Master......Page 241
Preproduction......Page 243
Begin with the Theme......Page 246
The Game’s Story......Page 248
Case History 7 Ohio Valley College of Technology: Introduction to Keyboarding & Business Writing, Introduction to Computers......Page 252
Introduction......Page 253
Avatars......Page 254
Lingo......Page 255
Spreading the Word......Page 256
Intrinsic Motivation......Page 257
Mini Games......Page 258
Level 14 Production......Page 260
Prep......Page 261
Design......Page 262
Collecting Assets......Page 265
Alpha Testing......Page 267
Beta Testing......Page 268
SECTION FOUR: AFTER THE LAUNCH......Page 270
Level 15 Playing the Game......Page 272
Lore......Page 273
Rules......Page 274
Staying Flexible......Page 275
Postmortem......Page 278
Case History 8 Waunakee Community High School: Computer Science Classes......Page 280
Overview......Page 281
Achievements......Page 282
Excluded Concepts......Page 284
Conclusions......Page 285
SECTION FIVE: AFTER THIS BOOK......Page 286
Level 16 Designing the Future......Page 288
Media......Page 294
Organizations......Page 296
A......Page 298
D......Page 299
G......Page 300
L......Page 301
P......Page 302
S......Page 303
U......Page 304
Z......Page 305