Two of Tyler's students using Gamestar

We’re starting a new blog series here to showcase some of the amazing teachers who have been using Gamestar Mechanic in their classrooms and to encourage them to share their stories, ideas and projects with other teachers.

Today, we’re talking to Tyler Watts.  Tyler has been using Gamestar Mechanic for three years now with his students in Kansas City, MO.

Tyler, thanks so much for being a part of our new teacher series! We’re excited to hear more about the ways you’re using Gamestar Mechanic and other game design tools in your classroom. Why don’t we start with a little background on you – where you’re from and what you teach.

Tyler:  I am from Kansas City, MO, and I teach at KIPP Endeavor Academy, a charter middle school that teaches grades 5-8^th. I teach Computer Science, which focuses on teaching programming and computational thinking. We work to become producers of digital content rather than only consumers of it.

What made you start using Gamestar Mechanic with your students?

Tyler:  I used Scratch with great success with my Computer Science students, and they would learn how to create animations in Scratch well. When I told my students to make a game, they would struggle on where to start. It was evident that they knew how to play games, but lacked game design knowledge. I needed something to teach them the elements of game design, and that is what caused me to find Gamestar Mechanic.

Were there any challenges in the beginning and if so, how did you overcome them?

Tyler:  I faced two challenges in Gamestar Mechanic. The first was that some students lacked the hand-eye coordination skills to complete some of the timed Platformer levels. This challenge was overcome by allowing me showcase my NES skills. I will show a student how to get to the end of a level and purposely lose at the end, so that the student completes it for themself. I encourage students to ask for help from a peer before coming to me.

The second challenge was that students love Gamestar Mechanic too much! I signed up my first group of 123 students up for Gamestar on a Friday, and over 30% of them logged on to Gamestar over the weekend. This statistic amazed me because, due to the Digital Divide, many of my students do not have Internet access at home, so some were going to the library just to play Gamestar. They were choosing to do game design just because it was fun! I didn’t tell them that they could or could not log in to Gamestar at home.

How have you seen game design impact your classroom?

Tyler:  Game design encourages students to think of how many small elements can form together to make a product. This thought process teaches computational thinking, which supports problem solving and STEM skills. Thinking of your audience for a game teaches a student empathy and digital citizenship because it encourages students to think of others’ experiences. Finally, game design encourages creativity, which I agree with Sir Ken Robinson in that it is a new “literacy” for the 21^st century.

How do you see game design impacting education as a whole?

Tyler:  In the United States education system, we are removing the fun and playfulness of learning. Playing is a natural element of the way that the human mind learns. Game design challenges students to think creatively, collaborate, and problem solve. These skills will be key for success in our students’ future.

Are you using other game design tools with your classes? And if so, do you start them on one and then move them to another or how do you decide which tools to use?

Tyler:  Gamestar Mechnic prepares students for MIT’s Scratch. From Scratch, students move on to MIT’s AppInventor to design apps for Android phones.  Other resources that I am thinking about using are YoYo Game’s GameMaker and or AgentSheets.

What inspires you as a teacher? What keeps you driven to engage your students?

Tyler:  Seeing the joy of creating something on a computer either in Gamestar, Scatch, or AppInventor. As the video at Code.org says, programmers are today’s wizards.  They can make something out of nothing, and share it with the world.

What else would you like to share about your classes or your teaching practice?

Tyler:  Instead of describing in words, I would rather show a video of my students that was created by one of my professors, Dr. Friend, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. It can be found at http://vimeo.com/51598746.

Thanks again, Tyler, for sharing your story with our audience!

If you’re a teacher using Gamestar Mechanic in your classroom and want to share your story, please get in touch!

We talk a lot about literacy when we talk about Gamestar Mechanic: digital literacy, computer literacy, games and game system literacy. It’s important to note that in the Gamestar world, there is a ton of good old reading and writing literacy as well. Kids create story-lines for their games told through written intros/outros and in-game messages. Kids comment and review each other’s games using their own words. And in the Gamestar Quests, kids follow the story of Addison through motion comics. These comics tell the tale of a budding game designer going on an adventure in a world where everything is powered by games. These comics and fun and exciting, but they do involve reading, and often kids just want to play games instead of read.

Samson explains balance in a game

One strategy I’ve found effective in a classroom is to start off the class away from the computer and have students discuss the class’s topic before even logging into Gamestar. The Quest comics contain a lot of information about game design through the adventure story, and to make sure your students read this story, we’ve made the comics in PDFs. You can print these and look at them as a class before going onto the computers. Often kids discover a favorite character from the comics, one who represents the kind of games that they like.

Check out this page in the learning guide to download all the Quest Comic PDFs.

Also, if your students are into creating their own dialogue, we have all the Quest Comic PDFs with blank speech bubbles as well. Students can fill in their own ideas, changing the story or the characters according to their imagination. I’ve found this activity to be particularly fun and effective in ELL and creative writing classes. Enjoy the comics!

We’ve started a new YouTube channel for Gamestar Mechanic.  I’ve been busy making our first two videos for teachers.  One video describes the Iterative Design Process of creating a game, and how to facilitate this process in the classroom.  We often encounter teachers who doubt their skills when it comes to gaming and “tech stuff.”  This video explains how you don’t need to be a super tech savvy teacher to still be a great facilitator of kids learning through game design.

The second video is all about Class Projects, a feature in Gamestar where you can assign game design challenges as assignments (or even homework!) to your class.

Check out these videos here!  Also, let me know if you have any topics you’d like to see in a tutorial video.  You can comment on this post, or email me at katya@elinemedia.com.

Enjoy viewing!

Attention Texans and festival goers: SXSW is just a few short weeks away. The Gamestar team will be out in force at a couple of events around youth game design.

To start things off on Monday, March 5th, Katya and I will be hosting an introductory game design workshop for teachers featuring Gamestar Mechanic. The workshop is part of AMD’s Game On pre-conference event hosted by SXSWedu. The day will include a bunch of exciting events, including several other workshops featuring other great youth game making tools and programs. For more information and to register, check out this link.

After SXSWedu, I’ll be sticking around for SXSWInteractive to host E-Line Media’s interactive youth game making booth at Screenburn. The Screenburn Arcade features great content from the commercial games industry, but this year we’re letting kids create games at the festival, too. Our booth will feature walk-up workshops in game design for kids as well as showcases and live demos by Austin-area youth game designers. Screenburn is open from March 9-11 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin and, best of all, admission is free. For more information, check out our event page or this article from the Austinist.

Hope to see you there!

I’m constantly impressed by the work teachers are doing in their classes using Gamestar Mechanic. In Michigan, Mike Petty is working on a project that ties game design to learning about ecosystems. Even better, he’s documenting the process to share with other teachers! Check it out here.

You might recognize Mike from as one of the teachers whose lesson plan is featured on our teacher site. In his posts about his class’ project, Mike includes many more lessons and worksheets that he’s used with his students. The resources on his site link to activities in Gamestar, worksheets and journal prompts on games and ecosystems, and even a Glogster assignment on the Scientific method.

One of my favorite parts of Mike’s project is that he builds off of and links to the game design project site by Kevin Hodgson (featured in the blog previously). This is a super example of teachers sharing knowledge around game design and iterating and customization each other’s ideas. I know not every teacher is a gamer or game designer, but it’s interactions like these that make me excited about the prospect of all different kinds of teachers sharing knowledge to make game design work in their classrooms.

I think it was when we walked past the battery of TV cameras and photographers in the East Room that it hit me: these kids are being recognized at the White House… by the President… for designing video games!

As the leader of the Gamestar Mechanic team here at E-Line Media and coordinator of the National STEM Video Game Challenge Youth Prize, I had the pleasure of accompanying two of our 2010 winners as they participated in the White House Science Fair on February 7th.

Tuesday’s event was the second Science Fair to take place at the White House during President Obama’s administration and represents his commitment to recognizing outstanding student achievement. As the President put it in his remarks to the students

Now, it is fitting that this year’s fair is happening just two days after the Super Bowl… I’m looking forward to having the Giants here at the White House so we can celebrate their achievements.  But what I’ve also said — I’ve said this many times — is if we are recognizing athletic achievement, then we should also be recognizing academic achievement and science achievement.  If we invite the team that wins the Super Bowl to the White House, then we need to invite some science fair winners to the White House as well.

Over 100 youth from a variety of STEM-oriented competitions attended the event, and let me tell you: these are some impressive kids. From students designing improved football helmets to help prevent traumatic brain injuries to the youngster who invented a waste-free sugar packet that dissolves in water, the ingenuity displayed by these talented young people was something amazing.

Representing the STEM Challenge were Shireen Zaineb, now in 8th Grade, from Milwaukee, WI. Shireen designed her winning game using Gamestar Mechanic as part of her work in technology class at the Milwaukee Montessori School with teacher Sherri Dodd — one of our first Gamestar Mechanic educators!

Joining Shireen was Jasper Hugunin, also in 8th Grade, from Islander Middle School in Mercer Island, WA. Jasper coded his own game from scratch using Javascript. Jasper’s game is designed to teach the player introductory computer science concepts like writing code, logical reasoning and debugging as they lead a robot through a series of mazes.

Along with a select group of students attending the event, Jasper had the opportunity to exhibit his game for the other kids and dignitaries present. Hearing Jasper describe the thought process that went into designing his game — to the likes of astronauts, Senior Department of Education officials and even Bill Nye the Science Guy — really reinforced for me all of the reasons that we think game design is such a great activity for young people.

When we launched the STEM Challenge in 2010, we knew that designing a digital game has tremendous learning benefits. Two years later, through the support of our sponsors and outreach partners, it’s truly incredible for me to see the competition grow and the work of our students be recognized at the highest levels.

I managed to snag a few photos of the event, which you can see in this slide show. You can also see the full video of President Obama’s remarks here.

The 2012 edition of the STEM Challenge the Challenge is accepting entries from middle, high school and collegestudents, as well as educators, through March 12, 2012 at stemchallenge.org.

Congratulations to Shireen, Jasper and all the amazing kids who participated in the White House Science Fair!

It’s almost February, the month of love and chocolate and Digital Learning Day.  On February 1st, 2012, thousands of teachers and millions of students will pledge to use technology in new, innovative ways in their classrooms.

The National Writing Project suggests three ideas for Digital Learning Day:

Start a Conversation: Discuss technology in learning, including tweeting with the tag #DLDay

Try One New Thing: Explore tech resources, start a new digital class project

Showcase Success: Have students present what they’ve created with technology

With Gamestar Mechanic, you can encourage students to make games in honor of Digital Learning Day, have them review each other’s games as part of the conversation, and present their work as artifacts of digital learning.

If you’re already using Gamestar in your class, try to use it in a new way on February 1st.  Have you tried modeling stories in games?  How about designing a game that that makes a social impact statement?  There are a ton of ideas about how to use Gamestar with traditional school subjects in the Learning Guide.  And, if you’re a premium teacher, try assigning a Gamestar Class Project to your students (look in your Workshop under Classes).

Happy Digital Learning Day! Hope it’s an innovative and inspiring one!

Game Alley is a community spot in Gamestar Mechanic where designers publish their games to share with the Gamestar network.  There are thousands of Game Alley games, and many of them are creative and special.  Today, I’d like to highlight a game that is doing something completely new:

The Alpha Collab: Part 1 by zenwarrior54

Here zenwarrior54 created the first two levels of a story.  zenwarrior54 set up the beginning of this adventure and purposefully did not design any further.  The outro of this game calls upon another designer to create the next chapter of the story.  This is how zenwarrior54 describes the premise:

“HELLO EVERYBODY! I had an idea for a series of games: I would make the first one in a series, then decide another player to make the next part, then when that player is done making that part, he/she would decide the next player to make the next part. And it goes on. Anyone can participate if they are called forth, so this will be a series that really belongs to the entire community.  So here we are! Now for the actual game: You are a young boy named Samuel . . “

And the game begins with the story of Samuel setting out on his quest.  I highly encourage you to play the game here – it’s a level about collecting information, no enemies and no chance to get hurt.

While Game Alley was not initially constructed for this kind of collaboration, the kids who make up are community are exceptional and invent new ways to share all the time.  Collaborative storytelling through game design is a real opportunity for learning (creative thinking, problem solving, expression).  This sounds like something I would assign in a class, but instead, it was born organically in Game Alley.  Now I’m waiting for Part 2!

Sample student storyboard from Kevin's site

Kevin Hodgson is a teacher in western Massachusetts (my home!) who uses game design in his sixth grade classroom.  Kevin has done a lot of work with game design in general and Gamestar specifically.  In fact, we’ve showcased one of his lessons as an example lesson on our teacher site.

Now Kevin has set up a site of his own documenting his classes use of Gamestar Mechanic for a science video game project.  This site is simple, thorough, and packed with games and videos about his students’ work.  Kevin says:

My hope is that my own sharing out of our science-based video game design project will inspire you to consider doing the same for your students, moving them from the role of “player” into the role of “creator.”

This site takes you through the process from brainstorming to collaborative design to game reviews.  He even speaks to using game design as a catalyst for reluctant writers.

I’m super impressed with this site and I hope it inspires other teachers to present their work in such an exciting and accessible way.  This is something that both student and teacher should be proud of.

Thanks for sharing, Kevin!

Happy New Year! 2011 was a big year for Gamestar Mechanic.  Thousands of players joined our community, and we added countless features to the Gamestar world.  One such feature is just beginning to hit its stride: custom backgrounds.

We received a multitude of requests for custom backgrounds before we implemented the feature.  Even though there was demand, we took our time carefully planning the feature before putting it in the game.  A good custom background matches the gameplay and story of the game.  It’s not distracting, and it’s not offensive.  And, of course, it is a background that you are legally allowed to use.  To earn the right to use their own custom backgrounds, players must go through the Custom Background Challenge where they learn how to make backgrounds appropriately and responsibly (available to premium users in the Workshop under Challenges and Contests).

I’d like to highlight some awesome games with custom backgrounds.  Check ‘em out!

Train to Nexus (Easy) by Alakazam

This long game tells the story of Rick, a normal office worker who leaves work one day to unknowingly embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  Backgrounds are landscape and sky photos.  (Despite the title of this game, it isn’t that easy).

The Wyvern’s Rage by nitrox116

This is another difficult and long game, but it takes only one look at Level 1 to see the impact of the custom backgrounds.  nitrox116 creates an enchanting and spooky mood using the backgrounds and in-game messages.  I also like how this game’s levels switch between Gamestar backgrounds and custom backgrounds.

Tales of Versagon by Omni_builder

This game is one long level that creates a rich world where the hero (you) must take on multiple quests.  The background is hand-made by Omni_builder and each pixel is mapped carefully to the game space.  Even if you don’t finish this whole level, it’s worth it to take a look at this background and appreciate the hard work and precision put into it.

What are the ways custom backgrounds could be used in the classroom?  They can definitely bring an artistic and personalized angle to any game design project.  Let me know if you try out using custom backgrounds with your students!