{"id":31,"date":"2008-05-17T10:42:16","date_gmt":"2008-05-17T15:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/games\/2008\/05\/17\/berkman10-workshop-wrapup\/"},"modified":"2013-09-26T14:49:49","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T19:49:49","slug":"berkman10-workshop-wrapup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/2008\/05\/17\/berkman10-workshop-wrapup\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkman@10 \/ WGBH workshop wrapup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/games\/files\/2008\/05\/photo_051608_002.jpg\"><img src='http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/games\/files\/2008\/05\/photo_051608_002.thumbnail.jpg' alt='\"Evaluation\" Working Group' align=\"right\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nYesterday afternoon about 40 participants of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/berkmanat10\/The_Dilemma_of_Games:_Moral_Choice_in_a_Digital_World\">Berkman@10 conference<\/a> met up to workshop a proposed WGBH transmedia TV show \/ online game. WGBH Project Director Blyth Lord set the scene with an overview of the project&#8217;s goals:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n<strong>The series will show kids how to think more deeply and creatively about the world they live in, and to make choices based on what they discover.<\/strong><br \/>\nWe have three curricular objectives:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>To develop in children an understanding of systems and the pathways to environmental sustainability<\/li>\n<li>To model and encourage positive attitudes and scientific inquiry skills<\/li>\n<li>To connect children to nature <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>With that set of goals in mind, the workshop broke up into small teams to tackle the project&#8217;s big questions. Our brainstorms after the break&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>(Big props to Shenja van der Graaf and all the conference organizers at Berkman; Gary Goldberger of Fablevision; Josh Diaz, Eitan Glinert, Marleigh Norton, Peter Rauch, Doris Rusch, and Jaroslav Svelch of GAMBIT Game Labs; Sam Gilbert of the Goodplay Project; and especially Blyth Lord and Marisa Wolsky of WGBH for making this workshop possible!)<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211; Gene Koo<\/em><br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/games\/files\/2008\/05\/photo_051608_007.jpg\"><img src='http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/games\/files\/2008\/05\/photo_051608_007.thumbnail.jpg' alt='\"Affect\" Working Group' align=\"right\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Engaging players with nature<\/h3>\n<p>How to resolve the apparent conflict between a TV show \/ video game (indoors) and a regard for nature (outdoors)?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Technology assumed: Web + phone cameras<\/li>\n<li>Gameplay:<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>grow a plant + pictures, profile that build up a virtual forest within the game<\/li>\n<li>offer a challenge the entire group tries to achieve (once the forest is successfully grown)<\/li>\n<li>looking at clouds &#8212; taking pictures, comments<\/li>\n<li>adopt a tree<\/li>\n<li>what&#8217;s in your fridge?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>what&#8217;s in there, where did it come from, what was the env. impact to get there<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>what&#8217;s in your school lunch?<\/li>\n<li>community maps<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>where does your water come from<\/li>\n<li>where are your parks<\/li>\n<li>geocaching<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Organized events<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Evaluation<\/h3>\n<p>How will we know what kids have learned, both in terms of scientific understanding but also in terms of their regard for nature?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>problem of unexpected player behavior<\/li>\n<li>a need for qualitative and quantitative evaluation<\/li>\n<li>passive observation of how players engage in game<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>length of play session, what were they doing, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>playtesting &amp; player observation<\/li>\n<li>What is it that you&#8217;re trying to figure out that they learned<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Systems understanding of the game<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Regardless of their actual play (e.g. destroying stuff)<\/li>\n<li>Cheat codes as a way to demonstrate how the game works<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>(Breaking rules as a way to demonstrate knowledge of rules)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>ONLY &#8220;saving&#8221; the ecosystem doesn&#8217;t show knowledge of system<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe killing everything is perhaps better for understanding how system works<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Show impact of system, not inculcate environmentalism<\/li>\n<li>A double SimCity setting in which you build your own and sabotage them, but if you do that you might destroy yourself&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Parent-accessible data from game backend<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Show parents why game beneficial to kids&#8217; learning<\/li>\n<li>Caveat: privacy concerns<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Affect<\/h3>\n<p>This game takes on the task of not just teaching understanding of a complex system (e.g. the water cycle within an ecosystem), but tries to lead players to care about them. Can a game accomplish that, and how?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Emotional hook for the story<\/li>\n<li>Entry point: the emotional point, or the cognitive engagement?<\/li>\n<li>Style: less photorealistic for kids to accept as &#8220;real&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>How to teach how systems are interconnected?<\/li>\n<li>What&#8217;s the overall goal?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Not to create environmentalists: Good vs. Bad<\/li>\n<li>But maybe to be Very Good or Very Bad?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>,.. and hard to achieve either<\/li>\n<li>This encourages reflection &amp; understanding<\/li>\n<li>Systems are complex : just turning off a power plant doesn&#8217;t solve the problem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Interlinking of micro and macrosystems so that levels are interconnected<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>How solving one game affects other games or meta-game<\/li>\n<li>Choices affect your character, character evolution, &#8220;points&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Not a win\/lose game, but to consider outcomes<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Looking at interaction between two decisions (food fertilizer, clear water)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Moral decisions require caring, anger<\/li>\n<li>A need for optimism to foster a sense of agency<\/li>\n<li>How to convey that these actions have consequences?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>A very difficult way of thinking<\/li>\n<li>But this gives you a sense of agency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Motivation<\/h3>\n<p>What will lead viewers of the TV show to play the game?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Look to successful commercial games&#8217; motivational hooks<\/li>\n<li>Narrative won&#8217;t be enough to pull players into the game<\/li>\n<li>Maybe the characters are what involve players<\/li>\n<li>While being careful around representation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Transmedia<\/h3>\n<p>What special capabilities are possible because this project will bridge across media (TV, Web, game)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What platforms are available, and how games can relate to them<\/li>\n<li>Assume for accessibility, stick to Flash-based Web games<\/li>\n<li>TV show encourages engaging in game and vice versa (positive feedback loops)<\/li>\n<li>Game comprises mini-games, each playing with a system<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>As every episode airs, a parallel game is published on the Website<\/li>\n<li>Play as the character from the show to try different outcomes (e.g. destroy rather than fix the system)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>How can TV show help gameplay<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Cheat codes in the show<\/li>\n<li>Or solution sets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Have winning the game expose episode content<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Outtakes?<\/li>\n<li>Trailer for next show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Game of Games<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Kids are increasingly good at deconstructing systems<\/li>\n<li>Thus mini-games should tie into a larger systems that interact<\/li>\n<li>So not self-evident that pushing this will affect that<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>FUNNNNNNNN<\/h3>\n<h3>Business Models<\/h3>\n<p>How will the project be financially sustainable over time?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Initial funding<\/li>\n<li>Commercial partnerships?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe some cross-branding: as family-friendly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Advertising tie-ins?<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Underwriting<\/li>\n<li>Product placements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Make an expensive awesome game that provides the footage for the show: machinima<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>See Japan&#8217;s shows<\/li>\n<li>Actual in-game footage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday afternoon about 40 participants of the Berkman@10 conference met up to workshop a proposed WGBH transmedia TV show \/ online game. WGBH Project Director Blyth Lord set the scene with an overview of the project&#8217;s goals: The series will &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/2008\/05\/17\/berkman10-workshop-wrapup\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1658,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113393],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}