ICT Documentation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

My challenge is to create a simple computer educational game using any

software tool. This game must be designed for educational uses only. I need to

include drawings, storyboards, and a game story in my process journal. I will be

presenting my game concept to my teacher and to my lower classes at the end

of the project in this quarter.

Investigation

For investigation I have to explain the problem, explain how is the task

relevant to real issues and how is the task related to area of interaction(s). We

have to create a design brief and list the sources that we have to use. We have

to evaluate the source of information and after that I have to do the design

specification. I have to research and design tests to evaluate my product/

solution against the design criteria.

Design

For design I first have to explain about the designs that I will sketch. I have

to mention my ideas. After that, I have to design 3 layouts with explanations.

After sketching the 3 layouts, I have to choose 1 and create it in the create

section. I have to explain the reason I have chosen. I also have to list the tools

that I will use.

Plan

I have to show the process of completing the task using a mind map. I

have to write the main task in the center circle and draw sub circles to shoe the

small tasks I will need to complete. I then have to compare tools that will be used

and conclude what I will use. I have to plan chart too.

Create

I have to create the game. I have to write the process on how I created my

output. I have to explain what I did first, second and explain these steps using

words and screenshots.

I have to explain any changes that I made to my plan. I have to explain if I

did or not follow my plan completely. I have to evaluate my design specification.

I have to explain if I stick with my design specification or did I make any

changes.

Evaluate

I will have to list possible evaluation methods that I will use to test my product. I

have to evaluate its relevance to the real issues. I have to do a reflection on my

design cycle: Investigation, design, plan, create and evaluate. I have to show

evaluation methods. Next, I have to give it to other people and ask them to

evaluate my work and give it a grade over 100.

Investigation

Problem - Educational games are very important in the classroom. No

matter what the age of the student is, it is very important in the education

system of the student. For Semester one in Fairview International School, I have

to create an educational game for the younger generation and help them to be

educated in a simpler and easier way. These games can include mathematics,

science, English, computer, history, geography, civics, environmental studies and

many more. As long as this educational game is helping them in the things that

they study in the school, we will allow the student to use our game and learn

their subjects in a better way.

How is it relevant to current issue? - Educational games exist is

because many students find lectures very boring and they do not find it

interesting and they do not want to cope with the lecturer. Even if the student

pays attention in the class, educational games can provide a different way to

learn about the same lessons.

Area of interaction – HEALTH AND SOCIAL - - Educational game can be

related to the society around us, as we help the society and their situation. This

will help the society to improve the mental health that is usually available in the

games more than being available during the class time

Design Brief What game will be the best to use for the students?

□ Hangman

□ Word search

□ Hoop de loop

□ Animation

Sales

Hangman WordsearchHoop the loop

Animation

Which subject will be most compulsory in the school?

□ Mathematics

□ Science

□ English language

□ Second language

□ Environmental studies

□ Geography

□ History

□ ICT

Which subject will you prefer to use?

MathematicsScienceEnglishSecond LanguageEnvironmental studiesGeographyHistoryICT

Which grade is educational game used for?

□ Crèche

□ Pre-school

□ Grade 1

□ Grade 2

□ Grade 3

□ Grade 4

□ Grade 5

□ Grade 6

Which grade is educational game used for?

Crèche, Pre-school and grade 1Grade 2,3 and 4Grade 5 and 6Middle School

Sources Game maker 8

Gamecreator

GameMaker

Multimedia Fusion 2

Construct

Flixel

FlashPunk

Stencyl

Unity

UDK

XNA

BlitzMax

jMonkeyEngine

Torque

Photoshop CS5

Powerpoint

Google images

Source of informationI am planning to make an educational game using power point since it is

quite interesting and easy. It is convenient and can be created very fast. My

plan is to make an educational game on mathematics and English.

Design SpecificationEducational Games are games that are have the aim to educate

people for a specific subject. Educational Games are usually designed for children who are in love with games. These games help the children to focus more on the study and enjoy their subject. Educational Games are more interesting, and that makes it very popular and many teachers use it to teach the young children.

Just like the classroom itself, educational games have many advantages and many disadvantages. Educational games come in different forms. Some might be on the computer. In this case, it can teach the important education about the computer and help them get familiar with it. This is very important because in today's modern world children need technology to fit into the society and learn how to cope with today’s problems. It can even help them with their typing skills.

A report in 2005 found out that the children who used proper software had improved their IQ skills, their Non- verbal skills and help them to have a Long- term memory.

Games can teach more than the subject. Not only teaching the student, it can also help the child to get excited about the subject. If the game is very good and the child gets excited every time they play with it, they will indeed be excited about the subject. It may even help pave the way to a particular interest the student has.

Developmental benefits from computer games:

Increased hand/ eye coordination Motor skills honed Problem- solving skills utilized Strategy and planning required to play Decision- making required for play Logic skills developed Goal setting Multi-tasking

An improved sense of self- esteem from mastering skills & progressing through levels

Social benefits from computer games:

Team- building & collaboration Negotiation Learning a sense of fairness Learning to take turns Online interaction Conversational skills

Educational benefits from computer games:

Assist in recall and information retrieval Helps to develop cognitive skills Can embed curriculum Provide opportunities for learning that may be inaccessible offline

3-4 year old children who use computers have significantly greater developmental gains such as increase in intelligence, nonverbal skills and structural knowledge, Long- term memory, manual proficiency, verbal skills, problem solving, abstraction and conceptual skills.

With advantages, come disadvantages. Computer games sometimes distract the students, instead of learning the concepts presented in the game, they are focusing attention on elements of the game that don't have to do with learning the concept. Once students get to the math problem, they might be tempted to click on all the game elements, guessing the answer instead of figuring out the problem.

Computer use in the home and school can give students little time to interact with each other so that they learn few social skills. Heavy computer use can isolate students, keeping them from making friends. Students who are already isolated and lonely often choose playing computer games in lieu of using social skills to communicate with others.

It’s hard to determine how long it will take a student to accomplish sub-goals and ultimately finish a game, which can pose a problem for teachers wanting to outline how long classroom units should take. While we could set a deadline for when students must end the game and move onto a new unit, we also run into the problem of students feeling discouraged from not successfully finishing a game. If we allow students to stay on a game until they finish, we run the risk of some students falling behind others. It also creates much more for the teacher to keep track of.

The main disadvantages of educational games are:

Can be addictive and take up too much of your time Can cause seizures Failing vision Fragile hardware Less exercise Less thought processing Low imagination

Bibliography

Coffey, Heather. "Disadvantages - Games in Education." Disadvantages - Games in Education. Google Sites, n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2013. https://sites.google.com/a/cortland.edu/researchproject2/disadvantages

Reason, Charlie, and Angela Hawks. "The Benefits of Educational Computer Games." The Benefits of Educational Computer Games. Slideshare.net, 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Aug. 2013. http://www.slideshare.net/Crysari/the-benefits-of-educational-computer-games

Rose, Suzanne. "Why Educational Games Are Important in the Classroom." Helium. Helium, 28 July 2010. Web. 25 Aug. 2013. http://www.helium.com/items/1906470-why-educational-games-are-important-in-the-classroom

Design

Brief explanation

For design I first have to explain about the designs that I will sketch. I have to mention my ideas. After that, I have to design 3 layouts with explanations. After sketching the 3 layouts, I have to choose 1 and create it in the create section. I have to explain the reason I have chosen. I also have to list the tools that I will use.

These designs are created by paint and they are developed to certain extent.

Design 1

This mage is a simple drawing that I made using paint. I can use this is inside the game because I like it and It’s very cute. I made this design first because it is official and it is quite easy.

Design 2

This is another simple drawing that I made using paint. It is very simple because I used paint shapes and I didn’t really know how to develop it. I don’t really like it because it is not very clear that it is an abacus

Design 3

This is a simple drawing using paint. I like it because it is in colors and it looks more interesting than other designs to me. It is colorful, interesting and it doesn’t look stupid. I like the colours in this and I got this idea from a clip art online.

Chosen design

I choose the third design because it is very colorful and it looks more interesting for younger primary students. The other drawings are quite boring and I don’t really like them. Maths can’t really have proper designs because the game is very simple and it is usually done in a very simple way.

Plan

I have to show the process of completing the task using a mind map. I have to write the main task in the center circle and draw sub circles to shoe the small tasks I will need to complete. I then have to compare tools that will be used and conclude what I will use. I have to plan chart too.

What to complete

Create the game

make screenshots of the game

Evaluate on the plan

Show the process of the

game

Create

Reflect on the product

Evaluate on the product by giving it to younger kids and to primary school

teachers

Ask few secondary school students and

teachers to evaluate on my design folder.

Relate product to real issues.

Evaluate

Conclude on the product

Comparing the toolsIn the investigation folder, I stated that I need:

Game maker 8

Gamecreator

GameMaker

Multimedia Fusion 2

Construct

Flixel

FlashPunk

Stencyl

Unity

UDK

XNA

BlitzMax

jMonkeyEngine

Torque

Photoshop CS5

Powerpoint

Google images

But now, I know that I need

Google images Power point Paint

These are very easy to use and they are completely enough for the game making.

Plan Chart

Investigation – 12 weeks

Design and plan – 8 weeks

Design – 4 weeks

Plan – 4 weeks

Create – 6 weeks

Create the game – 2 weeks

Make screen shots – 1 week

Evaluate on the plan – 1 week

Show process of the game – 2 weeks

Evaluate – 1 week

Reflect on the product – 1 day

Evaluate on the product by giving it to younger kids and to primary school teachers – 3 days

Ask few secondary school students and teachers to evaluate on my design folder. – 2 days

Relate product to real issues – 1 day

Create

Process

Process of this investigation is easy to understand and explain. As I already knew how to use power point to create game, this game was an easy game to be made.

Screenshots

Evaluation of the plan

I followed my plan all along. However, I did not use all the things that I thought I’ll use. I just used power point for the game and paint for the pictures. This game turned out to be an abacus game and it is just the way I planned it to be.

Evaluate

Reflection

I like my game, I think it is what a game a grade 1 plays can be. I did not use hard software and i used power point because I didn’t have any time at all. I like the way the rules are and I am proud that I was able to make some game like this. It took some time but I learnt something that I didn’t know it can be done before. I had fun with the game because the game is not complicated and the people evaluating this product can easily do it anyways.

Make the starting

page image

Making a game using power point

Put all the hyperlinks

Try the game

Ask grade 1s to enjoy playing with

it

Real issues

This can’t really be related to the real issues because using abacus instead of fingers is something important in the school. This is what I learnt to do when I was in Grade 1 and I personally think that it is very important that children learn the use of the abacus during the elder ages. It is a nice thing to use and this game can be related to both history and maths.

External evaluation

SsarvinnaA fun game to be played. Creative and a different concept of game. Gives an opportunity for one to learn how to use an abacus which is a good thing and is useful for kids. Nice design too.

ElizabethIt’s a very fun game to play, it’s quite creative and educational at the same time. This game also helps us to learn how to use the abacus. The game design is quite nice too.

Mr.NavidIt’s a good game for year 1 kids. It can be improved by changing background color and using images.

Conclusion

My challenge was to create a simple computer educational game using any software tool. This game have been designed for educational uses only. I’ve included drawings, storyboards, and a game story in my process journal. I have presented my game concept to my teacher and to my lower classes at the end of the project in this quarter.

Investigation

For investigation I’d explain the problem, explain how is the task relevant to real issues and how is the task related to area of interaction(s). I had to create a design brief and list the sources that we have to use. I had to evaluate the source of information and after that I had to do the design specification. I had to research and design tests to evaluate my product/ solution against the design criteria.

Design

For design I first had to explain about the designs that I sketched. I have mentioned my ideas. After that, I had to design 3 layouts with explanations. After sketching the 3 layouts, I had to choose 1 and create it in the create section. I

had to explain the reason why I have chosen that. I also listed the tools that I used.

Plan

I had to show the process of completing the task using a mind map. I had to write the main task in the center circle and draw sub circles to shoe the small tasks I needed to complete. I then compared the tools that will be used and conclude what I will use. I did a plan chart too.

Create

I created the game. I had to write the process on how I created my output. I explained what I did first, second and explained these steps using words and screenshots.

I explained any changes that I made to my plan. I explained if I did or not follow my plan completely. I evaluated my design specification. I explained if I stick with my design specification or did I make any changes.

Evaluate

I listed possible evaluation methods that I used to test my product. I have to evaluate its relevance to the real issues. I reflected on my design cycle: Investigation, design, plan, create and evaluate. I have to show evaluation methods.

Sources (MLA format)

Reason, Charlie, and Angela Hawks. "The Benefits of Educational

Computer Games." The Benefits of Educational Computer Games.

Slideshare.net, 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.slideshare.net/Crysari/the-benefits-of-educational-computer-

games>.

Rose, Suzanne. "Why Educational Games Are Important in the Classroom."

Helium. Helium, 28 July 2010. Web. 25 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.helium.com/items/1906470-why-educational-games-are-

important-in-the-classroom>.

Coffey, Heather. "Disadvantages - Games in Education." Disadvantages -

Games in Education. Google Sites, n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2013.

<https://sites.google.com/a/cortland.edu/researchproject2/disadvantages

>.

Unknown Author. "Word Search." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15

June 2013. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_search>.

Unknown Author. "Hangman (game)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,

17 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman_(game)>.

Unknown Author. "Save the Apples." Save the Apples. Unknown Publisher,

unknown publish date. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/apples/default.htm>.

Unknown Author. "Hangman." Hangman. Unknown Publisher, unknown

publish date. Web. 31 Aug. 2013. <http://www.hangman.no/ >.

Unknown Author. "Word Search Game." Vocabulary Games and Resources

Word Search Game Comments. Unknown Publisher, unknown publish date.

Web. 31 Aug. 2013. <http://www.vocabulary.co.il/word-play/word-search-

game/>.

Unknown Author. "Clueless Crossword – Free, Online Crossword Games for

Kids – Knowledge Adventure." Clueless Crossword – Free, Online

Crossword Games for Kids – Knowledge Adventure. Unknown Publisher,

unknown publish date. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/games/clueless-crossword.aspx >.

Unknown Author. "Science." BBC News. BBC, unknown publish date. Web.

31 Aug. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/puzzle.shtml>.

Unknown Author. "Igloo Shopping." BBC News. BBC, unknown publish

date. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/money/play/popup.shtml >.

Unknown Author. "Topmarks - Primary Resources, Interactive Whiteboard

Resources, and Maths and Literacy Games." Learn to Count with Fun

Counting Games for KS1 Children. Top Marks, unknown publish date. Web.

31 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting>.