HS+DT+S2+-+Aadil

=Design Folder - Aadil Verma =

Unit Question (UQ)
Children learn by playing. How can a digital game be used to support and promote learning in AISD Middle school?

**Unit Question Interpreted** As said in the unit question, "Children learn by playing". I have seen many children in this school and previous ones that totally hate studying the old fashioned way and are always on the lookout for new ideas and trying to find out interactive ways to learn new things. Nowadays, many TV ads show how their companies product is going to change the face of education. I think that the unit question is making us think of ways to think of new ideas that will help students understand a concept better and the teachers teach it easily. Also, by 'promote', I think the unit question is asking us to make a game that not only lets the children understand the concept better but it is good enough so the children have fun with it. I can make a game on an interface which a) is easy for me to make and b) meets the requirements of a basic game and of the educational purpose

UQ Mindmap


Guiding Questions:

 * Who is the user and how old is (s)he?
 * What design platform should be used?
 * How can I make the product interesting and fun at the same time for the user?
 * What kind of game play should the product use?
 * What media should my product use?
 * What are the prime expectations of my user(s) for a game?
 * What topic should my game cover?
 * What techniques should be used so my game is physically appealing?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can I combine game elements of different game plays to get a hybrid game product covering all expectations?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can I find good and reliable resources to be inspired to make my final piece?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What content should I use in my game so people like it?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Investigation Plan:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The steps I will take to conduct my investigation:


 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Conduct user survey
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Evaluate Existing Educational Games for Early Primary Students
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">ETC.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. User Survey Brainstorm:

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I will create a survey for A) some kids of my targeted user age and B) the teacher of the kids who have some insights in the topic of education games. I think that this may provide me with essential information that will be first hand information. Also, first hand information of my minor and major user. My major user, the kids will help me better understand what my game should look like for them to enjoy and is fun enough for them to come and play it again and again. My minor player, the teacher who is the primary reason why the kids play those games would let me know at what intensity the game should be educational so the educational content does not distract the kids from having fun while playing the game.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think I will make a paper survey for the kids and personally interview the teacher. I will interview the teacher while the kids are completing the survey and this will save both my and the teacher's time. I am doing a paper survey even though it will be more harder because if I use electronic means to complete the survey, ex. Survey Monkey, the kids may have problems while handling the computers and my user age group is too small for handling computers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As I said before, I will be surveying the teacher and the kids of my targeted user age group, i.e. kids from 6-7 years of age. The teacher of the class is just going to provide me with general information that will further help me in what my design should be like, and existing resources that they use.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In the survey, I will ask the kids about their preferences for the genre of the game (ex. math or science), and also how long should the game be, ex. many levels of just a few levels, I will also ask them what type of game play should the game use, ex. arrow keys or mouse pointer or number/letter keys..

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. Existing Products:

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think that I can use some information given to me by my mother, who is a substitute teacher in KG, about what type of games they use to give their kids for homework. These are some games that she told me were used for educational purposes for kids.


 * ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Game name:** ==== || ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Comments:** ==== ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Logic Zoo:**

|| <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This game is generally given to students at the end of the year when they are expected to do some challenges to show their skills. It is a fairly easy game to think of but because of some technical problems, it only works half of the time. I particularly used this game as one of my example as I wanted to show how a bad game looks like and show that I did not want my game to be like this. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">([]) || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> thought that this game would be a very good example as a game that I could get inspired by as this is a first person game involving the use of the mouse cursor, to adding to that the character in the game, "Clifford" is one of the most popular cartoon characters in the school with small kids. This game is said to be one of the most played games in the school. I thought that this would be an ideal example to use as this is a popular game and I want to make my game just like this. Also, I can be inspired by this game to use some very famous character in my game so more kids play it. This game is a very basic game used by teacher to teach kids how to use a computer and encourage their inquisitiveness. As a result to that, the kids get more involved in the process of learning in the everyday class. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">([]) || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> took this game as my example as my mom said this also is an excellent game that kids love to play. I think that this can be my inspirational game as it's character is very popular among kids, and it's content is not hard that kids play it once and then never play it again. It has three different levels to choose from. It gets harder every lever. The fact that you can choose levels in the game is very vital as then the kid has the opportunity to know his own capabilities and then play according to his limitations. I think this is my inspirational game as it has an educational part in it, you have to spell in different scenarios, and it is very liked by kids so I would also want my game to have both the factors. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">([]) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Clifford's Treasure Hunt:**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Noddy spelling Game:**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mostly 99% of the educational games are free of cost and can be found on the web. I think that the reason for them to be so is that no one would actually bother to buy games for educational purposes because it is just not worth it. People may buy actual games that can be played hardcore day and night but buying games for Pre-K kids is just not the trend. I also think that most of the organizations making these games mostly make the games to support and promote learning so they let kids play it free of cost otherwise if people have to pay for it, they might just read books and not play games. I think that I have to take the "promote learning" part from the game making organizations as I was also told to make a game for promoting learning in our school and I think if I do just as I was told, I will stay on track and achieve my goal of making a perfect product meeting all the needs of the teachers in our school.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">3. Investigation: Helpful resources
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//(i) This is a website that is released by MIT which is one of the best institutes of Technology in the world and it was students from this institute that made the Scratch Interface.// <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//(ii) I think that this is a reliable resource as it has ".org" behind it and as I said earlier, it means that the website is made by an organization and is totally reliable.// ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//**Scratch Resource**// || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//**Comments**// ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Main_Page || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//A website released by MIT that is a whole wiki mad for the help of user of scratch all over the world. I think that this is a reliable resource because of two reasons://
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. http://www.spriters-resource.com/ || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> //This is a website made by the users of Scratch all over the world that has uncountable number of sprites that can be of potential use of my final product. I think that this resource is reliable as it has been used several times by my peers who have used Scratch before and is highly appreciated. My other reason would also be that sprites are basically pictures and in my opinion, pictures can be found anywhere but if I am getting them in a database, it just gets a lot easier for me.// ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 19px;">4. http://info.scratch.mit.edu/support/reference_guide_1.4 || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//This is also a website made by the MIT students and is of course reliable. I find this website useful as it is a complete reference guide to all the basic-complex instructions in scratch. I gave me vary brief idea of how i will make my game and also has a very useful resources page.// ||

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">4. Investigation: Survey
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Who**: a) //KG students// (Major user) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> b) //KG teacher// (Minor user)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**What**: a) //Students//: What type of game do you like? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What type of game play you like in a game? (Game play = Does the game involve using the mouse, keyboard or arrow keys?) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What subject do you like the most in class? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What is your favorite game? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Describe your favorite game a little. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What is your favorite TV character? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Do you like the game your teacher tells you to play? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What else do you want in your game that would make it better?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> b) **//Teacher//: What are some of the game databases that you already use?**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What do you look in games that you feel is important for the kids?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> What type of game play do the games you assign your students have?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**How**: //Survey monkey//: It would be easier and faster but some students might get confused. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> //Or going to their class and asking them orally//: Would be more elaborate to the students and they would understand better but the teacher might object as it will consume a lot of time.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**When:** Whenever the teacher tells me to come.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">When I got my survey answers back, I noticed that many of the students were very weak in Math and Bangla as they all put it in as the subject they do not like. Also, the survey showed me that the children like these few things in their games:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**URL's for my online survey:**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//**Survey URL**// || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//**Which user?**// ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L7KJLVT || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Student ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L98VVDY || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teacher ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Survey answers Summary:**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. The gameplay they like is mouse pointer or the arrow keys. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. The area in which they think they need polishing is addition. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">3. The games they like are games like "Bobo the monkey", "Clifford the big red dog" and "Fairy magic". <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">4. All of their games are given to them by their teacher and is somewhat likes by the students. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">5. The teacher does not pay attention to the gameplay or the graphics of the game, he just wants the children to understand the message conveyed and help them keep in mind for ever. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">6. The kids like to spend their time playing these games and what them to be graphically appealing, interesting, and story lines that they can relate to.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Looking and analyzing the above data, I have decided that I will make a game which revolves around math and addition (as Bangla is not my primary subject and I do not prefer making a game for that subject) which is fun, interacting, involving and easy to play which in turn leads the children to understand the topic and better function in class when questions on it are asked.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Design Brief: **//
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My final product is made for children of ages 5-6 who are in kindergarten and struggle with basic arithmetic like addition and subtraction which will be educational, fun and interactive that helps the kids understand the concept for further use in class.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**//Design Specification://** The game should be:

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">interactive
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">fun
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">educational
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">having compelling graphics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">easy to interactive with
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">good enough that kids play it again and again
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">of the correct length
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">relevant to the lives of the kids
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">easy enough to understand
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">having levels that get harder

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Design 1: **Simbition**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An interactive game involving one of the most famous Disney characters of all times: Simba. The game goes through a couple of levels which involve things like mazes, "Count the animals". An ideal game for a kid in kindergarten which is interactive, involving and has graphics that are appealing and relative to their daily lives. I also saw that kids of that age like a little bit of sounds and audio interaction and hence my game also has sounds that lets the children have a wonderful time playing the game and enjoying it to its full potential. I also noticed in my survey that the kids liked to just watch the game play most of the time and then put in some things that would again take the game a little bit further. After analyzing that, I made my game in such a way that it somewhat just skims through all the uninteresting parts and then lets the children put in essential information to let it start again. Here are some pictures of my game.







<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An interesting game where the player goes a series of settings for understanding the concept by linking it to the visuals. The game is different from the other games that these kids play and a lot more interesting. Kids like a little adventure in their games and this will fulfill that requirement. It will be focused again on math but a different topic this time; subtractions. Everyone says that subtracting is very hard (as I concluded from my surveys) and I want this game to be something that helps students overcome their problem. I have made some levels in the game that have different settings and help the kids remember the concept better by linking it to the visuals. This game has sounds as well as well organized visuals that help the user remember whatever (s)he sees on the screen and then use it whenever (s)he has to. Here are some screen shots of the game:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Design 2: **Math magic**

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I saw in my surveys that many kids like the game " Space junkies". I searched it up and saw that the game is very educational and a lot of fun at the same time. I decided that one of my three designs will be a game like that as I saw that 45% of the whole class liked the game. I played the game myself and made some notes about some things I wanted to have in my game too. First, the game was slow and easy to play that let the kids understand it on every step. Then, the game involved a very famous character that was liked by a lot of people. The character was unknown to me but I decided that I will have "Buzz Light year" as my main character. Also, most importantly, the game had an interesting story line that was relevant to the kids and they can understand it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Design 3: **Space rangers**

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Final product: //
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My final product will be "Simbition". I decided to do this as my character is most liked among my users. Also, the topic I am focusing towards is the basic thing they are learning this year and will be the most helpful to them. Also, I think that this game is the most visually appealing that I have made so far and this is a very important component in making a game for the user to play it again and again.

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 25px;">Design Plan:
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. Start with the backgrounds that are needed in the beginning of the game. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">2. When the backgrounds are made, find a character sprite relevant to your game idea. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">3. Manipulate the sprite to fit the game environment. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">4. Make the first background that will be used in the first level of the game. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">5. Make the first level of the game including all the coding and the actions of the character. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">6. Make questions for the first level of the game. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">7. Start making the second level background of the game. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">8. Finish the coding for the second level of the game. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">9. Finish the second level by making a question. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">10. Make the background for the third and the last level of the game. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">11. Finish the coding for the third level. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">12. Finish the third level by making the question. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">13. Make the final "Thank you" background for the game. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">14. Make sure in the game that when the user answers the question wrong, it loops back to the question again. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">15. Make sure that the backgrounds are interesting enough for the user age group.

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<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 25px;">Design Evaluation:
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">The following are some things that will be evaluated about my project: <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">1. Appealing look? <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">2. Game interface <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">3. Type of questions <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">4. Length of game <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">5. Impact of game on user <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">6. Ability of user to understand concepts after playing game <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">7. Is the user having fun playing game <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">8. Ease of production for maker <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">9. Simplicity of game for the producer to duplicate and user to understand <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">Evaluation Test:
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">I have a sister that is of the age group that I have made my game for and these are some of the tihgns she say about the game which is relevent to my evaluation: <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">//"The game you made is very interesting as it has my favorite TV character and pictures and backgrounds that I like very much. Also, the questions asked in the game are very useful for me in my class [considering that she is weak in Math] and help me in doing my HW faster. I also like that when there are long sentences, the game stops for the right time for me to read it. I have a lot of fun playing the game but do not like that when I press enter, the game starts all over again. I like typing so the game is a lot of fun."// <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">- translated into meaningful understandable phrases by Aadil Verma. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">I also asked my mother who is a software designer to look over my game and try to make it herself and this is what she said; //"The game is quite simple and incorporates a character loved by little ones. It is made using common sense and is not at all difficult to understand by someone who is trying to make it again. It took me about an hour and a half to look over the game, understand what each instruction does and make the game again without referring to the original copy of the game."//

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