game design course

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Week 10, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

One motivator that impulses me to be researching in games for learning is: I love to learn and I get bored in lectures. Actually, I confess: I am not a good student even though I am very well trained to be one. 😉

However, last year someone told me that it is time for me to share something of what I have learned. Additionally, I want to do it. So, the idea to give a lecture started to emerged. Today, it is a reality, and…… wowow! Teaching is VERY challenging!!!!

The first lecture of my game design course was yesterday, March 7, 2012 (I should remember that day). I have a chance to hear about some of the participants before the actual course started, because I requested them to email me to hear their motives to join the course. From my perspective it is an interesting group of people and VERY diverse.

The first day I gave the introduction to the course with some of my background. Then the real lecture started by introducing some history of games. I based myself on the work of Huizinga and Callois.

Today I briefly gave an insight of design thinking by Cross and Verganti. Latter I focus on games as dynamic systems of interaction, so after a brief engineering explanation of what systems are I focus my efforts on game mechanics. I used a taxonomy of game mechanics from Schell.

Honestly my feeling is: even that I am putting my best effort on preparing the lectures, I am not making justice to transmit the work of those thinkers…. Undoubtedly, I need more practice. I had been nervous, specially because I am not used to be on stage. 

The course participants are many, so the ideas that I had for an interactive lecture cannot work as I thought. In addition we have the long distance connection with Kuopio.….. If someone knows me, yes I am pushing for new ideas 😉 the technology has been very reliable so I hope it continues like this next week, because I am ready to have some fun 😉

Yes, I cannot avoid to be myself. I will keep on teaching, but maybe we can try new  methods 🙂 After the first exercise day (Monday in Joensuu and Tuesday in Kuopio), maybe the conditions for a more interactive type of lecture will emerged…. let’s see 🙂

Meanwhile a photo taken by Heikki Immonen from the very first day of the course.

my first day of lectures

my first day sharing a bit of what I have been learning

 

short-film competition in SciFest 2012

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Week 9, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

Many things are happening and seeding the seed of some others, which triggers my inner with different emotions and thoughts collapsing me in a chaos. Consequently I can get frozen in order to write good – and fast – sentences for my blog. In few words, I am processing life and lacking behind blogging. Need to find a balance on this! 🙂

However today I really want post about the SciFest’s World-Wide Short Film Competition about Energy.  We start to brainstorm about the film competition sometime in November 2011, I recall. Now it is a reality. Honestly, I am very curious to see what people will submit in the competition?

Also I am learning that spread the word is not an easy thing. Marketing people really have a big job at front of  them.

Then, wondering how many Finnish and foreign videos the competition will get. Also of which type? as the videos can be made with friends, parents, children or by oneself. The only requisite is to use a mobile phone and one’s creativity! Share your ideas with us : )

CFP Short Film Competition

CFP Short Film Competition

If one gets intrested in the call, here is the PDF of the call of participation.

my hatred and my attraction: writing, writing, writing……

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Week 8, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

It is not a secret that my written language skills are poor. They start to develop very late. Regardless of my good education and that I learned the “know-how” of reading and writing since pre-school. I did not acquire THE writing skill. Amazing!

I remember my pre-school teachers testing me on how many words per minute I could read, as well as if I knew my vocabulary or if I was able to spell. However, I do not remember teachers asking me if I understood the meaning of the words, or teachers who could explain me the root of words and the art of writing.

Undoubtedly, the “know-how” to write is not the same as to have THE writing skill. It was not until my PhD that I face the fact: I do not have the writing skill. It is a shocking fact. Later, while talking with a dear friend of mine who is a good writer, she informed me that I actually speak carolingio not even Spanish!

Oh man! I have a long path and a hard work in front of me.

However, I decide to succeed on my PhD, despite the lack of writing skills. Then, and perhaps as a logical consequence, some kind of hatred and impotence towards writing emerged. I have a pressure to advance and it is expected that I know how to write, and the lack of the writing skill is holding me back. So frustrating! The only solution: write, write, write, write…..

Nevertheless from hate, love can emerge. Suddenly, I start to understand the purpose, the beauty and the importance of writing. The game of words and meanings. But overall, I start to gain inner awareness of the importance to share a written message as clearly as possible to others. Writing help us to think.

Still I am very, VERY, behind in my writing skills, but now I want to learn to write. Still I feel frustrate and angry, but the attitude has changed somehow. It is taking me time, and it will take me more time. But the important thing is: I want to learn to write. Perhaps, one day, I will be able to do it!

book review – berlin at war

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Week 7, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

Book: Berlin at War. Life and death in Hitler’s Capital, 1939-45
Author:  Roger Moorhouse
Type of book:  History
Theme: The WWII experiences from Berlin residents.
Thesis:  The perception and experiences of the WWII from the eyes of Berlin residents.

The book has a series of categories relevant to understand how the Berliners lived across time, before the war until its end. The categories include food (rationing food, clothing, interaction with other immigrants, discipline, fears, propaganda, weather). For me, it is the first book I read which focus mainly on “ordinary” German citizens, instead of the Nazis or the Jewish.  The information and research done for writing the book is vast and well documented. If one wants to gain more insight of a specific topic is possible to search for it on other sources.

The author helps the reader to understand and to focus on one specific category per chapter – e.g. food – simultaneously one is connected to the wider historical context. The process allows the reader to immerse in the scenes and descriptions of the book, reflect on them, and at the same time one is not lost in them.

I did not want to stop reading the book, I enjoyed it and at the same time was an eye opener. Earlier, I read the amazon’s reviewers and someone mentioned that there were other similar books before this one, so this book was not adding nothing new. Perhaps the comment of the reviewer is true, and it will be interesting to read the other books. However, as someone that picked the book randomly from a bookshelf at the airport, because the title and topic called my attention, I am very pleased that I bought it and I feel I learned from it.

Berlin at War

Berlin at War

pay attention to context: from gamification to pleasurize

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Week 6, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

The first time I heard about gamification was with the work of Jane McGonigal and later in a video of Jesse Schell, I even have read about this new system of evaluation relating grades to experience points.

McGonical and Schell are leaders on the arena of game design. Schell’s book, The Art of Game design, in my humble opinion is a gem. However, in regard to the topic of gamification, I have my doubts. I do not find the gamification arguments convincing. My impression is that the proponents of gamification are losing the point of games, play-space and real life. Myself, I subscribe to those individuals who think that gamification sounds like a  disguise of a behaviorist conditioning of everyday activities for competitive societies.

The reason I am writing about this topic is because a friend of mine, Javi, wrote about gamification, and an interesting exchange of ideas emerged. He put me to think when he wrote that: gamifiation is a trend, supported with the idea that marketing agencies want to utilize game design techniques but they do not really know how, specially with a critical mass of players and a new generation coming.

Of course Javi gave me food for the thought, specially when I think on a new generation which is used to reality shows and having all pervasive….

In order to reply to Javi’s comment I watch the video he suggested me:  The Pleasure Revolution: Why Games Will Lead the Way by Schell (embedded below).  The actual reflection of Schell makes more sense to me than the earlier explanation of gamification. Schell bases his analysis on the positive psychology and context.  He changes his focus from gamification to pleasurize or improved motivational design.  To me, as you can imagine from the title of my dissertation hypercontextualize games, I found more common ground with the actual reflection of  Schell than in earlier talks. Perhaps more posts about the topic will emerged.

My conclusion, at this moment, from my talk with Javi is: yes marketing strategies will change. They must change in order to survive. I still think that gamification might not be the way. However, I think we will be finding more ARG and transmedia activities than earlier. Nevertheless, whatever is the new marketing path,  CONTEXT will be its key concept and resource.

To the time!