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Warcraft et al: A Cross-Curricular Approach to MMO’s

Warcraft et al: A Cross-Curricular Approach to MMO’s. By Mark Suter. Overview. + and – of using VW/MMO's My Projects Others' Projects Implement your cross-curricular project Choices of VW's and MMO’s Getting Funded Project Central (Keeping it together!). The +’s. Student Motivation

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Warcraft et al: A Cross-Curricular Approach to MMO’s

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  1. Warcraft et al:A Cross-CurricularApproach to MMO’s By Mark Suter

  2. Overview • + and – of using VW/MMO's • My Projects • Others' Projects • Implement your cross-curricular project • Choices of VW's and MMO’s • Getting Funded • Project Central (Keeping it together!)

  3. The +’s • Student Motivation • As part of a reward system (Pavlovian) • Appeals to existing interests • hard to reach students (The “Go ahead and fail me” students) • Alternative Assessment (definition) • Performance – Observing the student • Authentic – Connecting to the real world, real meetings • Portfolio – Pick the best, could be done in the VW

  4. The +’s (cont’d) • Project Based Learning (George Lucas' Education Foundation-Edutopia) • Real-World Problems (using VW) • Small Collaborative Groups…or independant • Edutopia: “Students more likely to retain info”

  5. The –’s • Restrictions • EULA's (teen-SL gone, WoW 13+ with parent) • Student Safety- • “...the worst ethical stance we could take is to turn our heads away as if these environments didn’t exist.   It appears we better get busy in schools figuring out how to educate kids on safe and appropriate use, and learn how to use them to our advantage for educational purposes.” -Lisa Dawley on her blog

  6. The –’s (cont’d) • Cost • WoW $15/mo per account • Initial Software purchase only (Everquest2, Lord of the Rings) • Learning Curves • Supplemental project or full time? All students or some? • Student to student jealousy

  7. World of Warcraft: 1st Try, 2007 • student funded • exploratory – Emulate others’ success • Cross-Cultural? Article 2 (forum attempts) • Machinima -built in to Mac WoW (w/ 3 players, one as cameraman) • Student discontent at level caps (they paid for it) • Unbalanced experiences in-game

  8. World of Warcraft: 2nd Try, 2008

  9. World of Warcraft: 2nd Try, 2008 • Grant Funded (Martha Holden Jennings Foundation) • ½ Traditional students, ½ IEP students • Getting other teachers involved (with little extra work for them • motivated students = receptive teachers • Language arts (Blog, Story writing for machinima) • Math (individual tutoring, “I want to know my average DPS with different weapons and armor.”

  10. World of Warcraft (cont’d) • Potpourri of Topics: • Gov't (Money experience) • Machinima,-acting out a story they wrote, narrated. • Economy • Inflation? Farmers… • Cornering a market • Resellers…

  11. World of Warcraft (cont’d) • Catherine Parsons Article • Cognitive Dissonance Guild • K-12 + Higher Ed • Asst. Superintendent for curriculum for Pine Plains Central School District, NY

  12. Second Life: Boise State University Part of the EdTech Master’s Program

  13. Second Life: Boise State Class • Learning Curve • Physical distance mitigated • Real relationships • meta-communication during “class”. • In-world simulations vary in quality • Health students on an arterial roller coaster

  14. Lord of The Rings Online • Machinima, International Players • LOTRO: Music Composition – GREAT supplemental/cross-curricular • Now Free! http://www.lotro.com/ • Player Music System (manual in-game play: • ABC music notation:(in ASCII format)

  15. LoTRO Music System

  16. Avatar Storytellers (site) • Pay only • Create custom characters to use in machinima-like storytelling • Geared for 5th - 7th grades. Can be adapted up or down.

  17. SecretBuilders (ages 5-14) • Interact with historical figures (AG Bell, Thomas Edison, visit their house, chat with figures by choosing questions, character profiles. Simulates talking to a friend in a VW) • Write Newspaper articles (reflections) • Safe for kids • Free, option of pay subscription to be a builder • Teacher console to create student accounts (geared for education) • Interview with teacher using it here on Chris Haskell’s blog (Boise State University)

  18. How to implement your own • Unlimited $$$ and the best graphics will still fail without a comprehensive plan. • Plan your objectives FIRST. • Start looking at worlds SECOND. • Commercial off-the-shelf vs. Education • Places to start looking…

  19. Choosing a VW/MMO • Youth-oriented MMO's matrix by cost, target age, and dev status: link (2008)

  20. Choosing a VW/MMO • Kzero -Virtual Worlds Statistics (2010) • Chart of VW's by age (Q2, 2010) • Ideas for Worlds to check out

  21. Choosing a VW/MMO • MMORPG.com gamelist – reviews any/all MMO's, sort by cost, release year, etc.

  22. Project Central: What to Include • About the project/Security Measures • Objectives • Timeline (1 week? 3 months?) • Opportunity for constant feedback, documented • Blog? Wiki? Written? Podcast Friday Summary show?

  23. Project Central: Getting Permission • From Administration • Align to standards • Letter to present at a board meeting pointing out motivation, cross-curricular projects, PBL

  24. Project Central: Getting Permission • From Parents: Letter sent home

  25. Questions? • If Time Permits... • WoW Auction House Demo • WoWMachinima Demo • This PPT and other files available at www.marksuter.com • THERE IS ONE “T” IN SUTER

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