Get Game
2008 Games in Learning Conference

Keynotes
Education Benefits of using Virtual Worlds
There is a great deal of hype surrounding virtual worlds and how the excitement, motivation and dedication kids show for them can be harnessed for educational goals. There is evidence to suggest that yes students are learning curriculum content and socialization in these worlds. Beyond that they are also experimenting with identity as they adopt roles as leaders, designers, and mentors, moving to become self-managed learners and global citizens. This presentation will point to a number of educational innovations focused around game-based virtual worlds and will share some of the findings offered in relation to student learning gains, agency, identity and community development. Programs highlighted will include Quest Atlantis, RiverCity, Whyville, Teen Life and Skoolaborate to name a few.
Bronwyn Stuckey
Postdoctoral Fellow & International Liaison
Quest Atlantis, Indiana University
Bloomington, IN, USA & Sydney, NSW Australia

The Art of Machinima: A Student Perspective
As a filmmaking process, Machinima has vast potential in our schools as it allows inexpensive real-time video capture in virtual worlds. However, it is also an exciting and legitimate new art medium which can be embraced for its creative potential and higher order pedagogical application. Students at the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries have been exploring their own worlds through innovative use of Machinima as a visual arts medium. Capturing footage using a wide variety of PS2 and PC games has empowered students to add dramatic layered effects to their film based works, thereby authenticating the place of Machinima in the fine arts arena. This presentation confirms the wide reaching potential of Machinima across the curriculum in our schools, through the exploration of exciting student outcomes and methodologies.
Glenda Hobdell and students
from the Queensland Academy for the Creative Industries

Breakout Workshops

Games to get active
by Simone Brown, XRGame Action
Medical experts are now realising the potential of combining games and exercise. Dance Dance Revolution, (DDR) a game where players step on a special mat in response to on-screen prompts, has been successfully used in schools, homes and after-school programs overseas to encourage kids to exercise. In this session discover the variety of games, including DDR, and controllers available to get up and active. Participants will have the opportunity to try games and controllers first-hand. 

Building Games Inclusively
by Jeff Souter, ICT Learning and Development Centre – Students with Disabilities
Games in learning provide for significant learning opportunites for all students who are involved in the development and interaction with games and similar activities. For some students additional consideration may be needed to ensure they have the same opportunity to access and interact with the games. This session will explore some of the principles and access options that need to be taken into consideration during game development to ensure the games provide engagement for all students. These principles often enhance the game capacity for all students. The session will use the Scratch game development software as an example of interaction but will also explore other applications which could be used to build inclusive games.

Integrating game-play into the curriculum
by Heather Wessling, Kurwongbah State School
In this session, teachers will hear about three different units of work which utilised game play as an integral component for learning. They will discuss how it could be used in their own teaching context and examine ways of assessing the learning that has occurred.

How do I create games? An examination of the software available
by Bruce Denny, Ignatius Park College
There is an abundance of software available for creating games in the classroom. This presentation will provide you with an overview of the type of applications you can use from non-gaming software such as the Microsoft Office Suite to freeware and commercial titles designed solely for game development.

Machinima 101
by Chris Hayward, Glenala State High School
An introduction to Machinima.

Building your own learning objects using Adobe Flash
by Paul Jaffrey, OneSchool previously North Lakes State College
Using Flash and Actionscript 2.0 create a simple Guessing Game that can be used in Lower Primary to teach Number Facts. This was an activity undertaken by upper middle school students at North Lakes State College as a learning exercise to prepare them for a simple Flash Programming Assessment Task. This activity was used to refresh their understanding of programming and the Flash interface.

Gympie SHS's innovative vocational education course to introduce students to the games development industry
by Peter Thorn & Ken Brady, Gympie State High School
Examine the structure and curriculum content delivered in a Cert III in Interactive Entertainment course designed in consultation with the Industry to provide students with a broad and well rounded skill set applicable for entry into the growing Game Development Sector. With the course delivered over 2 ½ years and students achieving a Cert III in Interactive Entertainment, take a look at what students undertake as part of the course as well as the level of the content that instructors of the course need to deliver. This session will briefly examine the topics of Game Design, Script Writing, 2D Animation, 3D Character Modelling, Game Mod Creation and Machinima and how they are integrated into a course which gives students the skills to undertake further tertiary education in Game development at a TAFE or Uni level on completion of school.

How To Make Machinima using multi player games
by Vincent Trundle, Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Many young people today embrace the culture of subverting the intended use of technology. Machinima - making movies using video games - is a classic example and is becoming an highly popular way to tell film stories. For over a year the Australian Centre for the Moving Image has been engaging students in machinima workshops with upper middle year learners utilising the game Halo on the Xbox and the PC game The Movies. Several schools have utilised these programs as part of their VELS (Victorian) curriculum and their students are becoming increasingly prolific. This presentation will introduce machinima’s background and potential through screening and discussion and explore the practicalities of adapting video games to the filmmaking production process. This session will demonstrate making machinima using easily available games and game consoles and offer insight into practicalities, challenges and benefits of using student familiar technologies The session will provide ideas for practical applications of games and new media in your classroom.

Using the Nintendo Wii with students with disabilities
by Jeff Souter, ICT Learning and Development Centre – Students with Disabilities
For many students with special needs, games provide an avenue to develop skills, knowledge and understanding outside of an environment that can pose barriers to their learning. The Wii game console provides a new approach for students with special needs to learn. This session will explore how the Wii can provide learning opportunities, not just for students with disabilities but for those that have learning difficulties and to foster an inclusive approach to learning.

Creating games in Scratch
by Larry Taylor, eLearning branch
Learn how to use Scratch to easily create games, learning objects, interactive stories or animations.

Coding in GameMaker
by Ross Jardine, Toolooa State High School
A brief introduction to the powerful coding language of GameMaker - GML. Using GML students move from about 150 icon based events and actions to close to 1000 code based functions. The GML allows students to engage in complex programming tasks that make it suitable (and exciting) for use in the senior school. Participants will get hands on coding experience and create a version of the Atari Classic "RiverRaid".

Using Game Maker in the ITS curriculum
by Bethany Dutton, Cairns State High School
In this session you will discover how one school used a practical task in ITS to integrate games into other subject areas in the school and help teachers to integrate more ICTs into their learning.

How To Make Machinima using multi player games
by Vincent Trundle, Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Many young people today embrace the culture of subverting the intended use of technology. Machinima - making movies using video games - is a classic example and is becoming an highly popular way to tell film stories. For over a year the Australian Centre for the Moving Image has been engaging students in machinima workshops with upper middle year learners utilising the game Halo on the Xbox and the PC game The Movies. Several schools have utilised these programs as part of their VELS (Victorian) curriculum and their students are becoming increasingly prolific. This presentation will introduce machinima’s background and potential through screening and discussion and explore the practicalities of adapting video games to the filmmaking production process. This session will demonstrate making machinima using easily available games and game consoles and offer insight into practicalities, challenges and benefits of using student familiar technologies The session will provide ideas for practical applications of games and new media in your classroom.

Location-based Gaming
by Debra Polsen, ACID
A location-based game (or location-enabled game) is one in which the game play somehow evolves and progresses via a player's location. Thus, location-based games almost always support some kind of localization technology, for example by using satellite positioning like GPS. "Urban gaming" or "Street Games" are typically multi-player location-based games played out on city streets and built up urban environments. Current research trends are looking to other embedded mobile technologies such as Bluetooth and UWB. Poor technology performance in urban areas has led some location-based games to incorporate disconnectivity as a gameplay asset. Full session synopsis yet to be supplied.

Game Play: Learning to Play. Playing to Learn
by Denise Tarlinton, Kurwongbah State School
What are the benefits of game play within the curriculum? What hardware platforms and COTs games are available to support learning through game play in school settings? In this hands-on workshop, explore a variety of COTS games to consider learning and assessment opportunities.

Introduction to Game Maker
by Mark Piper, Nambour State High School
Game Maker is a proprietary software application written by Mark Overmars. Game Maker's primary development interface uses a drag and drop system, allowing users unfamiliar with traditional programming to intuitively create games by visually organizing icons on the screen. The program is widely known and used by educators and has attracted a substantial number of users, mainly because of the program's accessibility to beginners while still allowing complex tasks to be undertaken by more advanced users. It is not as narrow in game creation as some other programs, as it allows the creation of many types of games. In this session the presenter will cover the basic features of the program and demonstrate a range of resources available to get started in your classroom.

The Games development industry in Queensland
by Lauren Pears, THQ
The Australian games development industry is growing at a fast rate. It is amounting to revenues of $110 million (Insight Economics 2006, p. 3). 37% of Australia’s digital games industry permanent employees are based in Queensland (Insight Economics 2006, p. 3). Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work in the games industry? Do you know what kind of jobs exist in the games development industry? In this session, find out how you can prepare your students to enter this exciting industry. Hear from Lauren Pears – a young woman working for one of Australia’s largest games development companies THQ.

Practical Application of Machinima as part of a school's anti-bullying program
by Mark Piper, Nambour State High School
The development of games-based video (Machinima) can be easily achieved by any school that has computer facilities to video-edit. By simply plugging in a games console i.e. Playstation 2 or XBOX 360 instead of DVD or video player students can capture segments of game play to incorporate into their projects. At Nambour State High School students have been involved in producing a 1 minute music video as part of the school's anti-bullying program. This task requires them to research aspects of bullying issues at school and to develop a final product that can be used as part of the school's anti-bullying program. In this session the presenter will share the journey of developing the task and the practical issues associated with implementation.

WebEvolution, Virtual Worlds and Learning
by Wendy Fasso, Education Queensland ICT facilitator, Smart Classrooms mentor and Qcar co-ordinator
The Internet has undergone a rapid evolution from Web 1.0 which was essentially a repository of information – access and find, a read-only web. Web 2.0 created a significant shift towards collaboration, participation and communication through Web 2.0 tools, and spaces such as YouTube, MySpace and FaceBook and commerce and sales reputation platforms such as EBay and Amazon.
A new shift is underway – a shift from co-creation of content such as Wikipedia, through to co-creation of immersive three dimensional environments – Web 3D. The platform is participatory and creative, and in some virtual worlds such as Second Life an alternative currency is created. The creative platform is created within the virtual world and the creations are co-owned by the inhabitants. This unique quality can provide opportunities for rich sensory immersive learning, simulation and role play in authentic situations. A body of research is being generated about the educational applications of Multi-User Virtual Worlds (MUVES) such as the River City Project. Early results suggest that “embedding science inquiry curricula in novel platforms like a MUVE might act as a catalyst for change in students’ self-efficacy and learning processes” (Ketelhut, D. J. (2007). Other online worlds include (but are not limited to): Second Life, There and Active Worlds. Edusim, a free download, promises to link students up through self-created virtual worlds on their interactive whiteboards. Children are already exploring virtual worlds such as Nicktropolis, WEbKinz and Club Penguin, with new worlds being developed. Teenagers are immersed in online 3D game play through MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as World of Warcraft. A virtual world promises to allow a blend of the sensory experience of a virtual 3D environment with creativity beyond flat content creation of current Web 2.0 tools. How can the potential of MUVEs be harnessed to enhance the learning of our students?

Flight Simulation Playtime
by Tony Wright, A/HOD Engineering, Aviation High
An overview of the ways in which student play time with Microsoft Flight Simulator interacts with context specific curriculum practice at Aviation High.

Adventure Game Studio – Bringing stories to life
by Bruce Denny, Ignatius Park College
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an adventure game development system, primarily designed to create ‘point and click’ games reminiscent of early Sierra and Lucas Arts adventures such as Monkey Island, Sam and Max and King’s Quest. Adventure games originally developed from interactive fiction and have strong literacy elements. This session will provide you with some examples of the types of games you can create with the system as well as a hands-on component to get you started.

When: 6 June 2008

Where: ICT Learning Innovation Centre, Sippy Downs

Time: 9 - 4

Cost: $185 ex gst

Games in Learning