1

Healthville

Christine Simms

EdTech 532

Spring 2013

A simulation exploring the Health 7 content

2OVERVIEW

3 Think of it as…

A mash-up where The Wizard of Oz meets The Magic School Bus meets The Legend of Zelda all wrapped up

in a Sims-like environment to deliver the content of 2.5 credits of

Health 7

4 Discovery Learning meets Information Processing Theory

• Learners engage actively with their environment

• Gather sensory information

• Process in working memory

• Storage and retrieval from long-term memory

• Generate responses that become a part of subsequent loops

5 Structure

Personal Health & Nutrition

Community Health

Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs

Safety

GOALS• Places to visit• People to talk to • Content to interact with

(video, audio, text)• Delivered to support Quests

QUESTS• Assignments to complete and

submit to instructor• Choice-driven

PUZZLES• Provide background or

practice • Support players in completing

goals or quests

FOUR UNITS

CONTENT DELIVERED VIA FEEDBACK

GENERATED

HealthPoints (HP) Used as in-game currency

Experience (XP)Advance player toward end-goal

Teacher Comments in response to quests submitted

6Learning Supported by In-Game Toys/Tools

Smarty : Communication tool. Familiar and student friendly, use for storage and retrieval of information, to text in-game characters, access applications, communicate with teacher, submit assignments,

BALANCE app : Much like a calorie counting app, but with less detailed features, players would use this tool to help them stay in balance as they make food and exercise choices as they study nutrition. It would not focus on the specifics of counting calories, but rather on the balance of fuel vs. activity.

Wellness thermometer : This toy allows players to check their current state of health – reported based on player choices in the game as well as graded work.

7Example Scenario Delivered as a “Goal”

Sometime after learning about the S.T.O.P. Technique via an encounter with an in-game character…

Player gets a text from his/her friend Taylor to come hang out at the park with a group of friends from school

Everything is great until Taylor’s cousin shows up, lights a cigarette, and passes it to Taylor, who shakes her head. He tells her she should try it because “smoking cigarettes is no big deal. Everybody does it.”

The player is prompted to intervene by the appearance of a text box with a stop sign next to it, reminding him/her of the S.T.O.P. technique s/he would already have learned.

When the player types response dialogue that fits the format below, s/he is rewarded with HP.

S.ay no in a firm voice

T.ell why not

O.ffer another idea

P.romptly leave

8Example of Content Delivered as a “Quest”

CONSUMERISM AND ADVERTISING

Research self-regulatory guidelines established by the children’s advertising industry

Consider these 5 basic principles

Advertiser have a special responsibility to protect young children from their own susceptibilities.

Advertisers should be careful not to exploit children’s imaginative qualities, creating unrealistic expectations for their products.

Advertisers should realize that children may try to imitate what they see in ads, which may affect their health and well-being.

Advertisers should provide examples of positive ad beneficial social behavior.

Advertisers should avoid social stereotyping and appeals to prejudice.

Visit the Healthville Movie Theater and view at least five of the available ads that market to children.

Write a paragraph or two describing the ads you evaluated, how closely they followed the industry principles, and any other thoughts you have on the topic.

Submit your work via Smarty.

9Examples of Content Delivered/Practiced via Puzzles

Mealtime!

Plate healthy meals from pantry/fridge

Reinforces portion sizes and balanced meals

Save preferred meals to access later

Safety Catch

Collect items needed to safely engage in various outdoor activities

Reinforces concept of safety equipment as connected to sports/activities

Can be utilized to support goal requiring player to teach a younger student about safety

10GAME SEQUENCE

11 Game opens in a black and white classroom…

Image from http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a180930-v8.jpg

Health textbooks lined up on shelf behind teacher

Teacher explaining learning by doing

Offers option to be immersed in the content and never have to crack the spine of a health book all quarter

Yes/No

12 Students who choose traditional assignments…

Redirected to a list of readings and written assignments

At the bottom are options to reconsider or print

13 Students who choose the gamification option…

Transported to the avatar creation screen to design their characters

Upon completion, transported to an identical classroom, but animated and alive with color

Teacher now appears as an avatar and is explaining how things will work

Image from http://www.alittleb.it/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/2avatar.jpg

14 Game play 3D GameLab style user-interface through Smarty

will allow players to select from quests within the four 7th grade health units

Personal Health and Nutrition

Community Health

Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drugs

Safety

Explore a virtual environment School

Surrounding Community

Gather information from realistic interactions with “the world”

Interact with in-game characters To gain information

To be presented with challenging situations in which to practice strategies and behaviors

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HealthPoints(HP) Necessary for buying artifacts within the game that will support the player in

achieving goals (for example: in order to purchase ingredients to make a healthy dinner for your family, you’ll need HP to spend at the grocery store, alternately, a player could choose to spend HP to purchase a garden plot in the community garden and seeds, then tend the garden to grow the desired vegetables.)

Gaining HP adds to the player’s XP (spending HP does not decrease XP.) Players who make positive choices will become healthier. Character will move

more quickly. Declining Health

Players who make poor choices will become less healthy, move more slowly, and exhibit a change in posture.

If a player’s health becomes very poor, s/he will be summoned and have to see the school nurse before being able to move on.

May indicate a poor match for the game-based course model May indicate intentional disregard for the setting Offer will be made to return to standard, text-based delivery or have one

more chance to be successful in the game environment “Second chance” players will have their health restored, but be subject to

more rapidly deteriorating health for the remainder of the game

Making Progress

16 Winning the Game

Earn 400 XP in each of the four units to be summoned back to the classroom to receive your “A”

Teacher will present character with a printable certificate

Student will continue to have access to remaining quests and the virtual environment for the duration of the course

17 Feedback Link

http://bit.ly/16B6dHN

Thank you so much for reviewing my work. Please use the link below to share any feedback.