fromsocialgamestotheclassroom:educationaldesign

inspiredbyFarmville

seeds ofengagement

anePaperbysidneyevematrix

image:AndrewStawarz

Inayear‐endpresentationfortheSocialGamesSeattlemeeting,leaddesignerofFarmVilleAmittMahajanofZyngadiscussedwhat'sinvolvedin

thatmillionsofpeoplewillwanttoplay.

Ablockbustergamemustbedesignedtohavewideappealandgoodretention—keepingplayerscomingbackandactivelyengaged.

TherearemanyinsightsfromMahajan’stalkthattransferneatlyfromtheworldofgamedevelopmenttoinstructionaldesigninhighered.

Inwhatfollowswe’llhighlightthreeofthem.

1

building big social games

image:kcolwell

..2

2

Don’t turn people off isthefirstruleoftheday,accordingtoMahajan.

select material with broad appeal1. Buildingforengagementrequiresusingmaterialthatmanypeoplecanrelateto.Usingpeople’scommonknowledgeasaleverisaboutdevelopingproductsandexperiencesthattheycanconnecttoandunderstandinstantly—nosteeplearningcurveinvolved.

FortheFarmVillegamedeveloper,thatmightmeanoptingforagameworldfilledwithgrowingcropsandtendingtolivestock—thesameimaginaryscenarioschildrenhavegrownupplaying,withplastictoysfromFisherPriceandMattel.

image:ThomasHawk

..3

Butwhat about the classroom—wherecreatinglearningcurves,andoftensteepones,isourbusiness?

Todesignlecturesandlessonsthatareengaging,thepointaboutbuildingincommonlyknown,quicklygraspable,highlyrelatableconceptsmightmean:

(1) usingmorecasestudiestohumanizethematerial,(2) incorporatingnewsofthedayfromdailyheadlines(capturedvia

newsfeedsanddeliveredtoyourinbox),or(3) addinginsomepopculturereferences,fromcelebritiesto

televisiontoYouTube.

Alloftheseresearch/lessonpreptaskscouldbedelegatedtoanRAorTA,ifavailable.Ifnot,setupsomeGoogleNewsAlertswithkeywordstocatchnewsworthystoriesinatrendwatchingnet.

4..

image:Pragmagrapher

incorporate microsociality2 .

image:RennettStowe

AddictiveandhighlyengagingsocialgamesonFacebookaresocompellingbecausetheyleveragepeople’ssocialgraphs.Infact,likeitornot,socialgamingandsocnetconnectionsareincreasinglyseenasaviablealternativetoofflineface‐to‐facetime.

Wateringsomeone’scropsonFarmVilleisquicklybecomingabonafideandacceptablemodeofmicrosocializing,and“areplacementforhavingtogooutofyourwaytokeepintouchwithsomeone”observesMahajan.

“Everytimeyouplayagame,youbuild up relationships”

~Mahajan

5..

image:smannion

Back in the classroom,buildingeducationalexperiencesthataremoresocialmeansincorporatingactivitiesandassignmentsdesignedtoencourageinteractivityandclasscohesion.How?Thekeyhereisshareability.Designingopportunitiesforstudentstogiveandtakewiththeirpeersandenablingreciprocity.Thisallowsstudentstoincreasetheirvalueandcontributiontoasocialnetwork,bytradingculturalcapital.

Onewaytousethewebtoaccomplishthis:buildafreesite(aBloggerblog,Ningsocialnetwork,Netvibespagecast,orFacebookpage)wherestudentscurateandsharetheirresearch(linkstoarticles,news,videos,anything).Ifyouascribetotheviewofmillennialstudentsaseagerforattention,recognition,alittlemicrofame,andconstantfeedback,it’seasytoseehowthiskindofpublic,socially‐networkedinstructionaldesignispurpose‐builttoengageGenY.

6..

add visual pleasure3 .

image:BrianHathcock

Engaginggamedesignrequiresmassivegraphicappeal.Thepowerofvisualpleasureisnottobeunderestimatedwhenspectacularimagerycankeepgamersonlineandenraptured.

“Brightbeautifulgraphicsinasocialgamearetantamountto

~Mahajan

moments of joy

”

7..

image:presta

Backoncampus,sometimeinvestedindesigningtrulygreatPowerPoint(orKeynote,ifyou’reaMac)slidescanworkmagicandinfusetheclassroomwithadegreeofthatsamepleasure,fascination,andjoythatgamedesignersspeakof.

TreatyourselftoacopyofGarrReynoldsworkPresentationZenoroneofthebooksherecommendstoincreasethevisualandemotionalimpactofyourslidedesign.

3

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Need inspiration?

image:law_kevin

1.HereisalinktotheslidesfromAmittMahajan’spresentation:http://www.slideshare.net/amittmahajan2.Forevenmorehelpfulideasandinsightsfromthisgamedeveloper,visithiswebsite:http://www.amitt.com3.ExcellentresourceonpresentationdesignisGarrReynolds:http://www.presentationzen.com/

Resources Cited

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Attribution‐Noncommercial‐ShareAlike3.0License.

about the authorSidneyeveMatrix,PhD.Queen'sNationalScholar,Film&Media,Queen'sUniversity,Canada.Professorofdigitalculture,masscommunication&marketing,popculture,television,&filmcourses.Website:sidneyevematrix.net

image:richpix