A platform for the authoring of educational games (original) (raw)

Extensible Multi-platform Educational Game Framework

2011

This paper presents an extensible multi-platform educational game framework. This new framework enhances the point-and-click adventure game model used in a preexisting educational game framework (eAdventure) by extending it with new game metaphors and interactions. These include minigames (e.g. puzzles, stories, word-games) suited for a greater variety of subjects (e.g. math, history, science) that are configured through a plug-in architecture. Targeting multiple platforms allows for the transparent deployment and use of the developed games in new mobile devices (e.g. tablets) and other systems of growing interest in the educational community. Unifying these aspects into one platform is a challenging task because it must implement the appropriate balance between expressivity, game production costs and possibilities to re-use successful educational game models. The basic adventure metaphor is used as a backbone to provide a strong narrative to drive games and engage the students.

PLAGER-VG: platform for managing educational multiplayer video games

Multimedia Tools and Applications, 2017

Information and communication technologies, in general, and multimedia systems, in particular, are currently incorporated into the learning processes with certain normality. Furthermore, the scientific community agrees that video games, as a specific expression of these technologies, present additional benefits that improve many student skills. In an educational context which uses video games as learning tools, the need for a well-defined framework to develop effective educational games seems evident. However, most educational games are not supported by specific architectures; perhaps because the existing ones do not include fundamental aspects such as collaboration, adaptation or gameplay, or its conceptual language is hardly understandable to the educational team. With the aim of fill this gap, we here describe the architecture PLAGER-VG to design, execute, monitor and adapt collaborative learning processes supported by video games, focusing the paper in the design and personalization Multimed Tools Appl

Instructor-Oriented Authoring Tools for Educational Videogames

2008

Digital games are becoming a rising trend in e-Learning due to their potential educational benefits. However, their application is hindered by issues such as their high production costs and the difficulty of getting instructors involved in the development process, a required aspect in order to achieve educational value. In this paper we propose to tackle those issues by developing new, instructor-oriented, authoring tools for educational videogames. These principles are carried out in the platform: a complete instructor-oriented authoring toolkit for educational point-and-click adventure videogames.

lt;e-Adventure3D>: an open source authoring environment for 3D adventure games in education

Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, 2008

Computer and videogames are rapidly entering the field of Technology-Enhanced Learning. Among the different approaches and game genres, adventure games have been pointed out as one of the most appropriate choices for education. Enthusiast instructors are looking for tools to develop their own educational games, but there are few tools for the rapid creation of modern adventure games with no

A WEB based Platform for Learning Games composing-Basic Concept and Architectural Aspects

This paper aims to introduce a concept for a WEB based platform for learning games composing. The learning games should take its own place in the educational process therefore the defining of architecture of learning game is needed. This architecture could serve as a starting point of learning games development, based on certain didactical approach with clear defined pedagogical goals. The possibility to implement his own learning games thru a web based platform for learning games composing could give the instructor a powerful educational tool in the classroom.

Collaboration platform for public and private actors in educational games development

Passey D., Bottino R., Lewin C., Sanchez E. (eds) Empowering Learners for Life in the Digital Age. OCCE 2018. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 524. Springer, Cham, 2019

This paper describes innovation platform development for co-creation of serious games. Innovation platforms offer modes of collaboration for schools, universities, citizens, and companies. The main actors of this project are three universities and two science centres in Finland. Several modes for collaboration have been tried in order to discover permanent structures that would benefit various stakeholders. Interests of different stakeholders have been analysed in order to find conditions for successful co-creation. Problems that prevent efficient collaboration have been identified, which are predominantly financial issues. Moreover, some more game specific issues have been discovered: the understanding of use of games in education and pedagogical goals and methods are not necessarily shared between game developers and educators. Game developers seek to create games that are entertaining whereas educators want tools that support curriculum goals and enhance learning. However , the idea of collaborative design practices in learning has been welcomed by all stakeholders. In particular, the co-creation in science centres has started successfully, bringing small start-up companies and school students together around educational application development where science centres act as facili-tators. Recommendations for best practices in universities are drafted in order to find efficient ways of implementation.

Deploying and debugging educational games using e-Learning standards

Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2012

Development, packaging and deployment of educational games following e-Learning standards has benefits, such as improved reusability and interoperability of contents. Moreover, standards can facilitate that games exchange data with other software agents (e.g. Learning Management Systems -LMS) in a standardized manner, which opens up a wide range of possibilities for next generation Game-Based Learning experiences. However, the application of standards to games poses a technical challenge. There is a clear need for tools that simplify this process for teachers and educators with limited technical background. In this paper we present how the platform is addressing this problem, with special focus in the exchange of data to/from the games. Tools being developed for facilitating packaging, deployment and debugging of educational games with standards are described. On the one hand, these tools facilitate testing and debugging since they allow simulation of game deployment with active communication without needing a back-end LMS. On the other hand, they smooth the learning curve that is needed to understand the standards and their possibilities when combined with games. Finally a case study focusing on the SCORM standard is presented.

The Project: Facilitating the Development of Educational Adventure Games

2005

Game based learning can be seen as an interesting approach to learning, but the complexity of today's videogames demands from developers a robust foundation in a variety of technologies. On the other hand, the educational part of game based learning requires the active participation of field experts. The collaboration between those experts and game developers is always difficult. The project addresses this problem by offering an authoring environment for educational adventure games that does not demand a deep formation in Information and Communication Technologies. The author (an expert in a specific field) only needs to write documents that describe the contents of the videogame following the XML syntax and feed them to the engine. In turn, the engine produces a fully functional game from those documents.