Gloria J. Reeves, McKinley Technology High School, DC Public Schools

her school is predicted to be at the forefront of preparing "techites" and the next generation of 21st century workers
the school represents hope and a new beginning for high schools and quality education in DCPS
in a third year resurgence, McKinley is demonstrating a penchant for innovation and creativity
they hosted a video gaming summit!
students are designing video games for classroom use
is the first school in the world to install a Vicon Motion Capture Studio for students to design games
unique in that the school combines a first class liberal arts education with a job skills development technical program
- students are prepared to go to college or directly into the workforce
technology is the adhesive that strengthens teaching and learning across the curriculum
social studies and history coming alive for students using powerpoint presentations, graphs, mp3 downloads, etc.
geography classes utilize GIS to construct, analyze, and reinforce mapping concepts
students create videos for pieces of music
art classes are designing on the computer

video game to take students on a tour of the library
edutopia article (October 2006) - "a new generation of kids will radically change how you teach"

there is an intense interest in gaming; this appeals to students
why not exert some effort to capture some of the gleam found in the eyes of students engaged in gaming - enthusiasm, joy, etc.

the idea of "what if..."
the lack of technology modeling at the school level

this is the first year they've had seniors since they reopened as a technology high school so started a "senior projects" class
- students use gaming technology to create a product for a nonprofit organization
- have already done a project for the American Red Cross about fire safety; will be available on the web soon

a student was assigned the project of creating a tour and orientation of the library as a game
- two students, Kellee Herbert and Larniece Brown

students had to render the physical library in a virtual setting; very time-consuming to add each book because they had to be done individually
using Maya software to create this

creating screencast tutorials integrated into the virtual world tour/game
shows a student looking up something in the catalog using embedded screenshots and then walking through the library to get to the item

issues:
- going to have to talk about a dress code for avatars (heh)
- question about content; there's another version of the game where kids come in blasting with a machine gun! (they don't use this one)

next step is to work more closely with IT and assemble a team of 8-12 students to work on the project (including over summers) in order to create a game that is commercial-shelf-worthy
maybe write grants to give students stipends to do this and expanded work
want to locate mentors in the gaming industry to provide additional guidance and expertise

looking at Teen Second Life for how they can use it for library instruction

there is incentive to meet students where they are, including their gaming interests

told the students, "whatever you create, just make it fun"
the kids added Gnarls Barkely's song "crazy" as the soundtrack for the library tour

using maya on mac professional computers (teen second life, too), which is why it might run better for them than it does on windows at the charlotte mecklenburg [public] library

"gaming life" column by kelly czarnecki is starting up next month in SLJ - she's looking for school librarians working with gaming

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