bombadilgames

scuola di vita

2011-02-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

sono al corso con la scuola di vita autonoma a locarno

Brandon Hall webinar on learning games

2009-10-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just attended a websinar with Gary Woodill from Brandon-Hall Research on "Evaluating Online Learning Games for your Employees". Positive, as we had interesting discussion with the other participants (14 altogether), and loads of useful references and examples.
However, I was a little bit disapponted about the definition of what a game is and its relationship with "content" - which was indeed the basis for framing the evaluation "model" (actually, a checklist). Game was the sum of narrative, objectives, and gameplay... rules? experience with other players? and why narrative up front? actually, in many of the small learning games we reviewed, there was no strong narrative...

I think there is still a long way in simply understanding the media before we can really come to sound learning applications.

SEE A Game - meeting

2009-09-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in Kristiansund, Norway, for a meeting of the EU project SEE A Game, in which we develop games for stimulating entrepreneurial attitudes (I do this for seed).
I'm in charge of designing the games, which are in nice shape so far: one is a collaborative card game (all against the system), the other is a competitive game which involves some strategy and creativity.
Stay tunes in the next months, when we will release the games for testers via the web!

Game design concepts - the course

2009-08-20T03:41:00.001-07:00

Over the summer I followed Ian Schreiber's free online course on Game Design Concepts. This is my first formal education on games. I actually had not enough time to do all the challenges and "homeplay" - but I must say I'm learning a lot, both in terms of vocabulary and ideas, and on design practices.
I'm also currently fighting with the final game design assignment... I did solo testing yesterday and the game came out almost completely redesigned :-))

The course is paired with a new release book, which is really really useful: Challenges for Game Designers, by Ian Schreiber and Barbara Brathwaite.

NEW DESIGNS! SEE A Game & enterpreneurship

2009-06-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Thank to my work with seed, I got a great task for the next two year: designing and developing two classroom games for fostering the development of enterpreneurial skills and attitudes. The project is called SEE A Game, funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Program.
What are enterpreneurial skills and attitudes? Well... risk taking, decision making, creativity, effective communication, leadership, time management - and may more!

One game is "competitive" and "with strict rules" and the other one is "collaborative" and "free-form" - that is at least how the task was detailed by project partners. As it turned out, I'm designing a role-based competitive simulation and card game... More on the games to follow soon!

Digital games in school

2009-06-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

A European conference on Digital Games in Schools was held on May 5th 2009, coordinated by the European Schoolnet Initiative.
http://games.eun.org/

Special Interest Group on Games and Learning

2009-02-02T05:38:00.000-08:00

I'm attending the Swiss Eduhub days where I have a slot for proposing a special interest group on games and learning. Notice it is games and learning, not videogames... L'et's see who shows up!

About design

2008-11-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

Here are some insights in design from Andy Gibbons (mind-opening as usual).

Andy is talking about the primary generator of design - aka pattern or generational principle. Take a pattern (e.g., a yo-yo). What could you add/subtract from a standard design keeping it what is is (a yo-yo)? How many variations can you generate?

I think that would be a good way to better understand the core of a game: is it the rules? The interaction? The narrative? The media?
Understanding the core of a game, its operational principle, how it works, is useful to create variations, learning from other games, focusing design on what really matters.

Games and learning

2008-11-06T11:20:00.001-08:00

I attended a keynote spech by James Paul Gee, about videogames and learning. He concluded saying that what we learn from videogames is that, as educators, we should learn to find the passion of each student and capitalize o it in terms of activity, smart tools and communities.
Not a matter of technology then, but of principles.
Also for non digital games!

Educational games & fun

2008-10-04T02:49:00.001-07:00

Here is an educational game developed in a European project - it's about sustainability and the environment.

http://honoloko.eea.europa.eu

It's quite a classic format for a game of this kind... What do you think? It is really fun? Do you really learn?

... finally some data!

2008-10-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

Finally a good research about videogames and teenager use of videogames! This report gives a rather clear picture of a much discussed problem with a lot of data.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Games_and_Civics_Report_FINAL.pdf

Minimalist game

2008-09-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

I tried to get as minimalist as I can in the design of a game board - and here is Quattro, a game played with 4 cubes on a 4x4 grid. Basically, 4 colors to arrange so to beat the opponent.

However, although simple, the rules are not minimalist... I guess there is asort of balance: with a very simple board, everything is in the rules. With a more complex board, that embodies part of the rules, you can keep roles more simple.

the meta-game

2008-09-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

... so i discovered what the name is for the largest part of fun in a lot of board games: when two players make an alliance against another, or when competition fires up beyond the rules - it's the meta-game!

Here is an interesting paper by Lehmann about it, and about what happens when digital games go online and make meta-playing difficult.

Revolver photo session, or the prototype importance

2008-09-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to save some time for a real photo session of the second prototype of my game revolver. It's a simple game with neat rules, but with a high potential for strategy making.
I saw once again that having good prototypes is paramount: the game is not only its mehanic, but the experience it generates in play. And that experience changes a lot if you are handling plastic, noble solid wood or metal. I think it's close to what is called "theme" or "story" in videogames, but this is more sensory, tactile.

More deeply, I found that working on the design of the objects and on materials gives fuel to ideas on the game, even on its mechanic. What pieces are more fun to touch and handle, for example?

The same holds for pictures when your present the game (given you can have people use the prototype)...

Interview with Hirokazu Yasuhara

2008-08-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a great Gamasutra interview with Hirokazu Yasuhara, lead designer in a number of videogames such as Sonic the Hedgehog for SEGA. Indeed, a wealth of ideas about game design in general.

The best features? How he sees Callois' work in practice and how he thinks of feedback in terms of short middle and long distance goals.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3769/game_design_psychology_the_full_.php?page=1

The world's hardest game

2008-08-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Gamer Brasilis, I found this game - I'm not a fan of videogames, but this is a very nicely designed game!
http://jogos.uol.com.br/jogosonline/the-worlds-hardest-game.jhtm

Plato II

2008-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Even instructional games should be free - you cannot force somebody to play or learn really...

"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."

The Republic, Book VII.536

Playing & ourselves

2008-08-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
- Plato

... I'd add that I also discover things of myself when I see me playing.

Montessori and games

2008-07-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

While working on a paper I came across the idea of exploring the educational method by Maria Montessori to see how she talked about games.
To my surprise, she does much more than that: her method has indeed lot to share with game design! Strange to hear, but two elements are worth noticing:

From free playing teachers can observe the nature of children in a unique way, so spontaneous action, when directed to a purpose, should not be hindered
Games are educational when they are directed, they have a goal - hence the emphasis on rules and games - as opposite to free playing.

Those interested can get the full text of The Montessori Method online.
(Indeed, I was not the first to find this link! David McDonough was one, ... and the designer of SimCity)

Bomberos: firefighters, math and strategy

2008-07-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

My son is a fan of trucks and firefighters, so I though it would have been nice to have our game for that. I also wanted something that helps him with numbers (another passion, which I'd like to develop before it becomes "homeworks" at school...) and with strategic thinking - a challenge for a 5-year-old.

The result is Bomberos, a children game with real trucks that load and use water - indeed, my son, and his friends have a great time every time we play it!

Status: fully tested prototype, ready for production; looking for producer.

Literacy and games

2008-07-11T09:25:00.001-07:00

Eric Zimmerman claims that 21st century literacy is more than accessing and generating analytically stored information through interfaces, but is taking part to complex organic
social systems in which you act, you do things that change the system itself.

... and this is what you can do with games, and with digital games.

This happens because games are complex systems - complex cultural phenomena, actually - not reducible to any single thing. We can identify at least two main components:
1. Rules, that can be broken down to math. Rules are unchanging, unbreakable, fixed - not much fun.
2. Play, that is interactions and social structures. Playing is submitting your behavior to the rules, and it is the opposite of rules: creative, imaginative, spontaneous.

The movement between the gears is called play. But that play/movement exist because of the gears (rules)! Playing is free movement within a more rigid structure.

(although playing can change the structure, as slang can change language).

[reporting from GLS 2008 Conference in Madison, WI]

GameQuest

2008-07-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Attending a workshop titled GameQuest: designing games for higher education, I realized there are three things that must grow together during a game development project.
1. System design - the game as an organic system (rules, feedback, etc.)
2. Screen/toy design
3. All driven by a focus idea: what kind of game is it? Competitive, challenge, exploratory

The focus idea is the core that keeps the project together, and depends on the gaming and learning vision of the team.
If in a team, 1 and 2 should be coordinated properly through design, development and feedback cycles.

Here is the facilitators' web site: www.engage.wisc.edu

[reporting from GLS 2008 Conference in Madison, WI]

Design perfection

2008-07-10T10:16:00.001-07:00

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when ther is nothing left to take away.

A. De Saint-Exupery

Design focus, verbs

2008-07-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in a session about "avoiding the curse of more", and a game designer called Patrick Lipo is making a really good point: game design should be focused, try to achieve depth locally, not breadth (design is made of constraints, not blank sheets).
How?
1. Ask, what is going to impact your players the most?
2. Identify pillar verbs = what your players will be doing 90% of the time: focus there!
3. Other verbs are secondary verbs = give variety to the game
4. Identify pillar values = what makes your game memorable? They should be short sentences, creamed out by your game: that's where you put your extra love.

... and care after the scale of a game: actions should not appear to be stapled together (kill everybody and confront your archenemy in a game of chess!).

Here is a post on Patrick's blog.

Patrick is really focused on action games. How would that be for other types of games?

[reporting from GLS 2008 Conference in Madison, WI]

Game research

2008-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Dr. Tony Betrus and myself started a research about game design and engagement... Want to have some fun and help us? try to win the game online here and complete the surveys!

Go to CircleClicker!

Cribbage

2008-06-16T13:37:00.001-07:00

While in the US at the "Gas and Steam Engine show" in a remote village in upstate NY, I cam across a cribbage board - an interesting card game!
Learn more on wikipedia

Bafa Bafa - intercultural game

2008-05-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Today within a project by seed, Isabella Rega and myself tried out for the first time for real a great simulation game for intercultural communication: Bafa Bafa

It is rather complex, but really effective, engaging and powerful. It requires come training before you can really use it, but it's really worth.

It us roduced by a US company, here is the link for learning more about Bafa Bafa

edu games

2008-05-16T04:35:00.001-07:00

Here is a very nice collection of links to educational games by ZaidLearn - thanks!!

http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2008/05/75-free-edugames-to-spice-up-your.html

Feedback

2008-05-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I went around to see some colleagues' work - some did a really good job. I'm ashamed I had very little time in the last 2 weeks, but I learned a lot from them.
As for the course - GREAT!
I ejoyed the open format, no LMS but blogs, and the style. I actually learned a lot, most in the first weeks concerning teh "theory" of OER. I know quite a bit no multimedia already, but the seocnd part was good in order to get familiar with some new tools. So, thanks to the facilitators!

For future improvements:
I agree on the advice of integrating comments into activities. Also, some skype conf would also do good - maybe mid-wayand end?

Thanks again also to all participants for their willingness to share!

A video from SL

2008-05-10T13:52:00.001-07:00

Here is a special kind of video, that is a machinima - a video made with a 3D environment. It's indeed a nice way to make nice videos...
This one comes from SL, and reports an interview with a non profit org. active in SL. It was made by a collaborator of mine, Roberta Savera (Seed Fairy).

Here is Second Chance Trees!

My video

2008-05-10T13:49:00.001-07:00

Here is a video - I couldn't produce a new one this week, as it's true, we have a lot of tools for making videos, but still it takes an awful amount of time...
This is a storytelling vide, I used with some students for working on both digital storytelling as an instructional method and Flash - yes, it's done with flash + audacity.
Enjoy the stampot!

Playing with pictures

2008-04-28T08:19:00.001-07:00

If you are a good photographer, and if you like SL, here is something for you!

----

SL - NOWOMANNOLIFE SNAPSHOT CONTEST

How do you see women in Second Life? How does this virtual world helps us better understand their invaluable role in our families and societies? How does it help discover even more their huge potential for the future?

Tell this with a picture!

Submit your best Second Life screenshot that represents the value of women, and win 5000L$!

Important dates:
- Submissions will be accepted until May 15th, 2008
- All participants will be notified by June 10th, 2008
- The award ceremony will be held on noWomannoLife Island on June 17th, 2008

More info available at http://www.seedlearn.org/photo2l/
The events will take place at this location:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/noWomannoLife/101/83/61

For further information, please contact Roberta Savera (SL name: Seed Fairey).
roberta.savera@seedlearn.org

Podcast

2008-04-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

After some delay due to trips - ere is my podcast... I like doing them, and I work with audacity since years. For this time I tried to use garage bad on my wife's mac... fund, but I prefer dirty work like with audacity...
I tried to use the two sites for pod sharing - both are not that nice, messy and pretty commercial. I really had some problems in finding the link to share on switchpod.
Also, no securty things in creating ccounts - this means they are aggressive in finding users, and this is not a good sign in general... :)

I never reflected before about audio and CC ,that was interesting...

Here is the podcast - I worked on games, again. No pics, sorry!
http://www.switchpod.com/users/botturil/feed.xml

Flickr

2008-04-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

This was a funny activiy! I learnt a lot of new things, from the online Photoshop to Flickr (I used that a lot, but had no account, being no photographer myself...). I wan't aware of the map feature on Flickr. I also assigned CC licences.

I decided to create an album of city pictures that can help transforming a real-life situation into an idea for game development - the first step I would propose in a game design workshop.
Here it is!

Let me kow what you think about it!

PS: I did not uploaded my pics to Wikimedia - I mean, they are already there and my cosmic consciousness blocks me from duplicating data across servers... :-))

Wikimedia

2008-04-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't know there is a full family of Wikithings out there! That is interesting. Wikicommons looks like the most useful, for media assets are always valuable - this is why I really love the Creative Commons initiative.
I had a look at the Italian parts of the other "products" - as usual, much less populated than the English ones... so language is the barrier that still makes a difference in access to free information. But there is no technology to overcome it!

I'm pondering still about Wikipedia. It works pretty well for technical things, when you have to learn the basics about a new topic. But I tried once to look for "comunicazione" (Italian for communication) and the result was rather disappointing... of course, the answer is: go ahead and contribute! Indeed, I left my two pence for the article, but that would be a huge work.
Actually, in the mind of most of my colleagues (teachers and professors), Wikipedia is a hell of uncontrolled and low-quality information...

In short I agree with Teemu - not perfect, not horrible, it works and it is useful.

We really need education to take advantage of this.

Education to learn to contribute to the community and not just snore on it when it is not perfect
Education to learn that in any case Wikimedia projects have a limit - they are as they are, and they are different from a book or other media. This is "media education", and critical sense that we and our younger must develop not to be fooled and think that "more accessible" = "higher quality".

Copyright and copyleft

2008-03-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

"Copyright and copyleft" is a highly ideologized topic...
So a sensible way to talk about copyright is not in general but starting from my own experience. let's give for granted that we can - that is the status of technology now. I think that "I care", in the sense that I'm convinced that I get ore reward spreading out what I produce, because this creates networking and social capital - and this is a real value. This is the way I work in the university, as a trainer, and with my NGO seed. From this perspective, the movement of copyleft and things like creative commons are a great support!

However, this does not work any more when it comes to game design. The design of a board game cannot be protected by law, so I do not publish rules and ideas, or I loose the chance of having the game produced. Apart from that, I share all the rest even about games - but that is why I understand those who apply copyright to their creations. Copyright is also a way to make a living for artists and creative professionals - we have no more mecenates as in the old times!

So, this is my general take on the topic - but as usual, individual applications may vary. For example, I do not share the monopoly of publishers on scientific content. This is usually content that is generated through public funding, and should remain public. It's OK to pay for a book (production and delivery cost!), but not to suffer the severe limitation in reusing the content.
This holds for all products financed by public money for research (also software!), unless this is an enterpreneurship grant.
Also, it is OK to protect music and images, but to not get frenzy about the reuse of any picture you download from the Internet. I know the borderline is blurred here, but some pictures are not creative work, just pictures...

So, there is lot to do. I think the real point is (a) a cultural change in approach: social capital as a benefit and (b) a change in public institution, who should start to consider the open way as an alternative.
However, I cannot imagine a world where everything is open - I still think people should be able to protect what they wish to protect, also for enterprises. And I still think that those who illegally download music and movies are lawbreakers. That is a matter of law, not ethics. Unjust laws might be changed, but until they are valid, we cannot break them.

An educator

2008-03-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

One of the most relevant Italians active in education - both as practitioner and as "theorist" - is Luigi Giussani.
Died a few year ago, he was a catholic priest, a university professor and high school teacher, and educator of a lot of people who joined his activities and movement. A square is dedicated to him in his home village, as "educator".
His main views on education are expressed in the text The Risk of Education, also available in English and in several other languages.

In Giussani's view, education is an ongoing process that spans throughout one's life in the neverending effort to become what we are: fully human, in relationship with the mystery and beauty of life. This is why education is a right - depriving someone of education means depriving her or him of a chance to blossom as a human being. He said that when an instituional power becomes oppressive we should fight so that "we can be forced to go around naked, but we are free of educatin our children".

Giussani never placed emphasis on free information, but was an active supported of it, as a basis for true knowledge. If we love beauty and truth, we fear nothing. He quoted St. Paul "view everything, and keep what is worth". More than focusing on "free information", Guissani pushed toward "free expression", even of ideas her personally believed false or even evil. Once he gave to a younger friend a copy of Marx's Capital in order to provoke him to go deeper in Communism, and decide if it was good or not. What really makes a difference is not the wealth of information, rather the exercise of critical analysis and judgment. That's where we learn.
(from an OER point of view, this supports the idea that we will really benefit of OER in so far there is an active community and active people behind repositories).

Following this line, all would benefit from free information, this is certainly desirable - but only if they are educated to use it, to analyze it, to judge it, and also to tell bad or false information and to send it to the trash. This means, in Giussani's terms, that information objects should be a way to put people n touch with each other, not an excuse to "automatize" learning, which is only possile to a limited extent.
(personally, I think that little information of high quality makes a bigger difference than a lot of information of low or unknown quality).
So, OER would be an opportunity for all, but also a challenge for teachers, as they would have to find new ways of working in order to eploit their potential (as it is already happening with other technologies). Educating, and using media to educate, is a responsibility.

Who would be against that? All powers: those who do not want free citizens, or those who make economic profit out of controlling information.
Beware: not all critics should be considered "enemies" - keeping multipe perspectives (including negative ones) is vital for understanding new phenomena...

African games

2008-03-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the center of Milano when an blac man tried to sell me some books. I nearly manage to dismiss him when he too out... A great book, full of interesting games from Africa. Some games are nearly the same all over the world - but there is a unique flavour at every location!
Published by Terre di Mezzo.

Revolver

2008-03-17T03:04:00.000-07:00

Find your six bullets and bring them home, playing block & attack against the opponent. A simple game of strategy and luck.

Status: fully tested prototype, ready for production; looking for a producer.

Exploring wikiversity.org

2008-03-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

I decided to explore wikiversity.
After a brief look around, I decided to drop the idea of working in the Italian section - true that it's there, but it's more a set of empty headings.
So, I tried to explore the English part, and i focused on games, which is on of the topics of interest I have, and one that I?d like start teaching (once my university decides that games are serious enough for being a subject matter... :-)). I read some of the materials and then punched in my contributions to some empty pages, or "not really complete" ones.

My impression is that yes, there is lot of good stuff, and might be useful. But how is it different from the normal wikipedia? I understand those who discuss about the difference between LEARNING objects and INFORMATION objects...

As a teacher, I'd be more interested in having lesson plans, or evaluation tools, for example, but I couldn't find them really.

In short, very positive reaction, I personally learnt a lot - but I'm still thinking about what it really means open EDUCATIONAL resources.

(I?m well aware that there are really well-designer educational products around, but I didn't meet them today in my area!)

Non profit activities in SL

2008-03-10T02:27:00.001-07:00

seed, a non profit active on technologies and education for non profit organizations, is managing a calendar of activities and events noWomannoLife Island.
Please visit the blog with news about it and support us!

Exploring OER projects

2008-03-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

A lot of interesting ideas, and a lot of things I could use for my classes.
However, I see three main points:

Quality: some things are very good, others are poor in terms of presentation. A good percentage of OER are text text text - which is good, but where's the point in having them as sequence of HTML pages? A PDF that I could print would be much better, for instance.
Language: As open as we can ever get, language is a barrier. I cannot teach in English, as not all my students can live with that, and Italian OER are very little
Time: good I can use learning materials by other, but while this can bring new ideas, it is not always doable, as it actually requires more time - I should not only prepare my things, be before that I have to search, review, select, understand, integrate...

This is why I really like the idea of having a community of people working on OER, rather than only a repository of stuff.

Ikka Tuomi on OER

2008-03-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

... great! Inspiring!
Why? For one simple reason: it really achieves the goal of grounding a potential buzzword (open educational resources) and makes it a powerful and clear-cut working concept.

The most interesting thing I've learnt is the difference between "open" in technological and social sense. This is a powerful distinction for my work, something I had in mind but never really managed to define.
Second, the idea of "non-rival" resource is key - maybe trivial for economists, but not for instructional and game designers like me... :-))

As a comment and critique, reading this opened me more doors... and in the end I think there's something missing. The view I got from the text is that OER are a state of mind. What does it mean? It is OK to identify types of openness and kinds of resources and tools... but in order to become a reality we need more than that: we need to think in terms of openness ourselves, and our profession as researchers and teachers. This is indeed a great challenge, as a real effect of scale will need a huge amount of people to get to this new perspective.
So, OER are a matter of people, not only tools and standards.

Another unclear point - and it is the only not really defined in the text, is knowledge. The author assumes that resources are good as such. This is fine for a general discussion, but it I'm nor really sure that all the learning objects out there are good - in terms of quality or presentation. That is, the production of resources is another key point. Fine to have lots of knowledge objects, but what if such knowledge is flawed, false, inconsistent, blurred, ideologically bent, etc. I'm no fan of copyrights, yet I think the advocates of quality control in formal publishing have some merit, indeed.
We have peer control - as in open source - but the matter is different. A flawed software doesn't work, that's it. False knowledge generates viced learning, and this at the expenses of (possibly) unaware learners. This has much heavier consequences.

For those who are not in the course but would like to see the text, it's here.

About me

2008-03-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

Well... the real core is that I'm the father of three kids and have the luck of a wonderful wife. Other than this, I'm an Italian living in Switzerland, and I work in the field of digital technologies in education. I do this both as researcher at the University of Lugano, where I coordinate the doctoral school RED-INK, and as project manager of a non profit enterprise called seed. In my free time I'm active as game designer.
I decided to enroll in this course as I really believe that the idea of OER can make a difference both in Western countries and in developing countries. I do not expect a revolution, but a progressive change in our mindset... and as a professional I think I must be able to work on that proactively. So I'd like to exploit the course and the expertise of those involved to improve my approach to this.

about this blog

2008-02-15T01:21:00.000-08:00

Hi! This is a space set up for those who like games but less videogames, playing but not gambling, game design and spending time working with their hands, not only with their minds.
... in the meantime, i'm using this also for the OER course from wikiversity, so a little bit of mess will be around :-)