Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
whether it was on the classroom door or on the classroom walls. The avatars
gave everyone a secret identity. The Hero Creator tool was a fun and helpful tool
where students could customize their own fantasy character. For the less
imaginative students, a random hero chooser allowed the website to pick a
hero for them.
Choice
Just like in some video games, the students had a choice of assignments to
complete. In the various chapters, I always listed more than the required
assignments or labs for the students to complete. It was up to them to choose
which ones they worked on and finished. This availability of choice is similar to
the choices that a player has in a video game. There are different paths to take,
but the ultimate goal (earning an A) is still the destination.
By having these extra choices, students could pick which assignments to
complete and build their experience points. I found out some students
completed all the assignments, wanting to really boost their experience points
or
on some points that were missed on a previous assignment or test.
Some students indicated they liked having a choice of the lab activities since it
allowed them to pick the ones that appealed to them the most and avoid those
that may have been confusing.
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catch up
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Lingo
Although I did not use or stress the actual crafting, quests, guilds, or bosses
lingo, I did implement those ideas and made it a point to describe that those
exercises were helping the students build their skill level so they would not only
pass the test, but also improve their own abilities with the computer program. So
when we spent class time finishing Microsoft Word labs, like creating flyers, it
was clearly understood the purpose was to develop word processing skills. When
we took notes, it was also for the benefit of building upon the skill level. What
we were doing was crafting, completing quests, and working in guilds, even
though it wasn
'
t explicitly mentioned.
But having the students know the reason why they were taking notes, complet-
ing lab assignments, or working on group projects did seem to provide a clearer
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