- Kurt Squire

background problem: literacy in underserved youth
paucity of engaging literacy materials for middle school

learning doesn't simply occur "in the head"
- physical space, groups, tools, etc.

augmented reality
technologies that have people out walking around in the world and augmenting the real world with data
have people look at the world around them via a game
as students come within 20 feet of a hotspot, it triggers characters, data, etc. using PDAs
the world is your playground, virtual time
2-3 week units
as you meet people, they give you authentic documents
location-based role playing games - driven by emotionally compelling challenges
can this improve math and literacy skills?
the grant has them teaching teachers to design games for the local area
right now Kurt creates model games that the teachers modify
developed 3 model games
using an iterative process, at the "project refinement" stage right now
weather-dependent in Wisconsin (May through September primarily)
found that recruiting teachers can be difficult, but pairs and finding specialists across the curriculum helps
have 30-40 teachers right now

phases:
1 - pre-game: confront challenge, enter roles, background reading
2 - game: "situate" experience, introduce complexities, gather field data
3 - work time: process information, use reading strategies; this is where the choices come in (if you were going to run another test, what would it be, based on your budget?)
4 - presentations: "test your mettle"
5 - debrief: encourage transfer

give employee orientation packets for roles
example of students solving problem of kids getting sick from a picnic near the water; the kids actually visit a well and collect water
teachers interject reading scaffolding activities
students build concept maps

another example game - "Dow Day - October 18, 1967"
a historical investigation
students role play as a journalist in 1967
inquiry-based learning, actual document-based learning
collaboration, but there's only one role that you play
first person you meet in the game is your editor
politically-charged time at UW (Vietnam protests, etc.)
Dow Chemical was on campus recruiting, student reactions varied
have to write articles and then make connections to events happening today

have baseline rubrics for assessment, but also allow the teachers to modify them
one science teacher required a final presentation, summative assessment based on oral language and how they presented and supported their arguments (they truly acted like scientists)

another example - "Hip Hop Tycoon"
what if a field trip is a problem? created this game to address this question
a game that builds on entrepreneurship and math
a place-independent game, which actually highlighted to them the power of having a place to actually go (was lacking in this game)
can you open a hip hop store in the local area?
issue of communicating the game curriculum (Word document would be 50+ pages)
how do you get a teacher who thinks it sounds interesting to look at all of this?
now using a website to introduce the game to teachers
kids are willing to read text when it's used to play a game
composed of mini-games
one mini-game was to print out a large amount of text; the kids didn't even flip to the second page, whereas they were happy to read it all on a PDA
they read the text in the context of something else (they've already taken on a role)
they will read more when they're doing it for themselves, as opposed to for the teacher

another example - "Greenbush," kids design a neighborhood game
they researched a local area, learned about the ethnic and racial diversity of a community that was bulldozed because it was thought to be threatening
the kids brainstorm how to turn that into an augmented reality game
- 4th and 5th graders did this!
they ended up creating plans for a community museum
students presented their research at a community conference
presented research to the city council and got a resolution passed
the kids didn't want to leave the city council meeting
resolution created an annual "Greenbush" day and committed them to never again demolish this neighborhood

game-based learning is a form of experiential learning
where it's a game and why it's a game is in the sense of everything they do plays a part of creating fantasy; things are more exaggerated in order to provide an experience or solicit a strong emotional reaction

Lake Wingra - a game about a small, local lake that has a lot of controversy around it
it might be dying and would require lots of work to bring it back (addressing storm water rainoff, etc.)
someone wants to put condos on the lakefront (do this to solicit that big reaction)
design the game to tweak the kids' understanding of dirty water, types, solutions, etc.
the game tries to push them and confront them
not just inquiry-based learning
the teacher really pushes them

here they passed out some Dell PDAs we could look at to see how students choose roles and what they see
kids fill out a job application, they have a preference, take into account their real-life experiences
the next day they are assigned a stakeholder they will be representing (fishing club, environmental group, Matthews Enterprises - the evil condo developer, the outdoor rec club, the neighborhood organization, etc.; 3 of the 5 issues are real, the other 2 are fictional)
there are 4 plans - the condo plan, a marina plan with urban development and a bait shop, one to reduce invasive, one to reduce storm drainoff
that's all you need to know to start the game

game is divided into 2 parts
- students play 3 different roles, get different data for each one
get responses from the condo builders, get theories for why the lake is dying from the environmental group, etc.
- the second part centers on the Biology Center where they develop theories about why the lake is healthy or not
introduces "contested space"
the kids take on these identities and argue (in the context of debate) about issues; they do this through the lens of a researcher
they grab that role and learn for the sake of learning
the kids collect evidence and work as a group to come up with what they must persuade is the answer
these games must be tailored to your classroom

the software they are using was developed by MIT
it's become a lot more user-friendly for teachers
students can watch video clips of characters talking while standing in the place the person is talking about
use video to think more closely about the environment around them

does require a classroom to have handhelds, which can be a problem, especially in schools that ban electronics
modified some games to allow three students to use one PDA

convinced administration by showing how the game meets state standards
simulation happens in the classroom without technology
handhelds are for use outside of the classroom

by uncoupling the content from the engine and moving design to easier software, hope to be able to scale the software to create these types of games

at this point, the room divided into one half using software on a laptop to enter data for use in the game and a second half using the PDAs to access data (I was on the laptop side)
maps were pre-loaded so that we could choose a location in the editor software
this is where students play the game (UW Campus, Monona, Lake Wingra, etc.)
then design virtual characters the students will interact with in that location

gls2007

it would be interesting for public and school libraries to work together to create local games based on local history - definitely something to follow up on