Introduction to Game Design Class - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 126

After careful selection, I settle in the back of the room and assume my role of observer. More
students trickle in. They must be freshmen. They have the stiff air of their class. Pretending to know
what they are doing by furtively getting their cues from those already settled. As they sit down,
most open their laptops and start typing away. Those not on a laptop are on a cell phone, iPhone,
or droid. They look like any other student on campus. At Rensselaer, regardless of your major,
you ' re an engineer.

There are two doors. The one we all used, opposite the windows, by the teacher s podium, and the

one almost hidden at the shadowy end of the class by the whiteboard. This is the one Lee chooses
to enter the classroom. He

'

s wearing a T-shirt and Bermuda shorts and is holding a handful of
papers. At first, not everyone pays much attention to him. Though older, he could be one of them.
Probably a staff member working on a degree of some sort. They

'

re used to that. They type on.
Some have struck up a whispered conversation with their neighbors. The class is starting soon, and
you don

'

' t want to seem too rowdy on the first day.

Rather than join one of the groups, however, Lee stops by the long table in front of the classroom
and stands there, looking around. A few students look up before dismissing him again. A TA,
maybe? Not worth their attention either. Some are beginning to look concerned. Where

' s the

professor? It ' s twelve noon. A younger man is accompanying Lee. They readjust their thinking. You

can t professors supposed to wear suits

and ties on the first day of class? Carry laptops or some academic-looking things?

' t have two TAs in a class of 25. I see puzzled looks. Aren '

Slowly the students are beginning to pay attention to Lee. Very superficially at first. He introduces
himself and his TA before launching into the syllabus. That

' s the familiar first day of the semester

traditional routine. They ve already been through a couple of these. They expect him to get into the

grading stuff, the attendance and conduct policies, the no-late-assignment spiel

'

and they start

...

drifting again. Not for long.

... �
A lot can happen in a nano second. And a lot does happen between the moment the students hear
“

“ You all have an F, says Lee, unless

In that infinitesimal amount of time, they come together as one against the
injustice. I hear a few

F � and “ unless. �

They are ready to stand up for their rights as
students, argue this newcomer to the ground. But as Lee continues, barely raising his voice, yet
reaching the back of the room, they realize they have entered

“ What? �“ Hey! �“ Not fair. �

“ the game. � Comprehension sinks

in. Excitement rises. They ' re already plotting to be the first to get to Level 1.

Although multitasking resumes, the flying fingers on the keyboards have shifted purpose. Text a
friend to urge him to get into this section of the course. Google

“ Lee Sheldon � to check on the non-

assuming man standing in front of them. Brush up on gaming terminology without appearing to

...

be doing so. I catch Personally, I would have fed the

entire syllabus into these search engines. I am an educator, not a gamer.

“ raid, �“ XP, �“ mob, � and “ 1337 skillz. �

And as an educator, I see beyond the game. This is the ultimate situated learning opportunity
where the subject being taught is the vehicle used to teach it. It uses the language that needs to be
spoken, the behavior that needs to be learned, the process that needs to be followed. It has the
messiness of life, and the rigor of academia.