Project: Multiplayer Learning, Quests, and Community

Keywords: Fall 2023, Games & Learning, Connectivism, Hard Fun, Engagement Design, Curriculum Development, Canvas

Project At A Glance

Client

I worked for the Learning Agency itself. My contacts where Brad Hinson and Rosanna Miiller Salas. We settled upon developing courses arounds a Games & Learning Certificate that was also outlined and developed by myself.

Overview

Honestly, I wanted to create courses that I would enjoy taking as a student. That was a personal driving force of this project for me. Consequently, I leaned heavily into open-ended learning experiences and was able to envision and deliver a modular framework for Connectivist Learning, lovingly nicknamed Side Quests! This was an enormous project that allowed me to combine my pedagogical and technological expertise with my instructional design skills.

Process

In a nutshell, I outlined my vision and goals for the courses and the certificate. Then I worked through aligning goals and outcomes with those preexisting from the program. After these foundational materials were settled, I developed the materials of the courses, the Main Quest / Side Quest paradigm. Finally, I combined all of this work with specific focus on community engagement within a Canvas course that could be shared with the Learning Agency.

Outcome

By the end of my experience, I was able to develop about 80-90% of the Games & Community course. I still need to settle on resources for my Main Quest modules and finalize the Syllabus. During my internship, I was able to outline several components of the Games & Learning Certificate. If given the opportunity to continue with this project, I anticipate another 90 hours would allow me to finish the Games & Community course, and likely the Games & Society course as long as I'm able to utilize the Main Quest / Side Quest framework.

The Vision - A Summary

At the start of my Learning Agency experience, myself, Brad Hinson, and Rosanna Miiller Salas brainstormed all the possible projects that could be pursued over the course of a semester, for 90 hours worth of work. In the end, it was decided that I would help produce a Games Certificate building off of the preexisting Games & Learning course and the idea for a Multiplayer Learning experience that Brad had previously entertained.

In short, this meeting would lead to the development of a Games & Community course (Multiplayer Learning), and the foundations of a Games & Society course. Together, alongside the Games & Learning course, these three courses would comprise the newly envisioned certificate.

Setting Design Goals

At the start of the project, I sat down to determine the goals the would drive the development. Although not exhaustive, the following list are ideas that I kept at the front of my mind during my time on this project:

Outcome alignment between program, certificate, and courses. Using the established Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Arts in Education and Human Development, as well as the LDT program competencies as a foundation, drawing inspiration from the other LDT certificates outlined, and referencing the current course learning outcomes, all of these aspects will be pursued in alignment of one another. This is intended to provide connective tissue between pre-existing materials and newly created content. For example, the existing Games & Learning course will be used as a cornerstone in this alignment process with the undergraduate and LDT program. From these connections, all other outcomes will be aligned.

Course alignment of activities, experiences, and projects. Using my experiences across the LDT program and my time in the Games & Learning course, the final products will pull from the design inspiration of the rest of the program. The products created should look and feel like UC Denver School of Education & Human Development courses, both in terms of outcomes, but also in terms of student experiences. For example, collaborative annotation through tools like Hypothes.is will be foundational in the student experience. At the same time, the projects for each course should be independent and also related. Put another way, there shouldn’t be a final portfolio at the conclusion of every course, there should be more diversity in projects.

Course identities established to be connected and independent. The products of this project should not only exist to stand on their own, but when completed together, they should build students' understanding across games and the goal of the certificate. In other words, students would be able to take any of the courses, in any order. There are no prerequisites, but learning about the intersection of games across topics would be enriched with each additional course in the certificate completed.

Wrap generated content around the pre-existing Games & Learning course. Since a Games & Learning course already exists as part of this prospective certificate, any additions should complement and not supersede this course. In other words, the goal is to avoid having to redesign or make alterations to the Games & Learning course at this stage. Additionally, the Games & Learning course will directly inspire the goals and activities of other courses in the certificate.

Communicable to others. To make it easier to share the details of the certificate and make it marketable, there is an intentional simplicity in how the courses are related to one another. One course covers games and learning, another covers games and society, and the other covers games and community. Each course is a deeper dive into games in the context of those selected domains.

Custom pathways, gameplay, and game elements and mechanics are considered in the design. Within this certificate about games, there are game-inspired elements to the courses. The Games & Learning course has already established a play journal for students to experiment and share their experiences with games. There’s also a game deconstruction or game design project in that course that seeks to give students some hands on game design experience. The Games & Community course (also called Multiplayer Learning) will contain branching pathways that will be composed of a Main Questline that everyone will follow and various Side Quests for students to explore based on their interests. Not to mention, there will be a “Trailblazer” Side Quest option for students to engage in self-directed scholarship based on their interests. Additionally, the Multiplayer Learning course will give students the opportunity to play some games in community with one another and lead discussions around these experiences. Although not all of these ideas are set in stone, these game elements of the course will be prolific in the certificate.

Flexibility of developed courses. The produced courses shall be designed for compatibility with both 16 week and 8 week semester formats. In practice, this requirement means, at most, 8 Unit Modules will be developed for courses. Future adjustments can be made for the Multiplayer Learning course by adding or removing Side Quests options. Additionally, the courses will be designed to accommodate asynchronous and hybrid formats of interactions.

Fulfilling to students. More important than anything, the goal of this certificate and the courses contained will be to enlighten students, foster community within the experience, and showcase games for veteran players and those new to such communities. In other words, the intention of this certificate is the fulfillment of students.

Do no harm. This includes many design considerations such as socioeconomic concerns of not adding to students’ course costs. In practice this will mean using free games and freely available resources in the courses. There are also technological concerns related to the tools selected, their data collection practices, and intrusive applications in the realm of surveillance capitalism. In a nutshell, there will be intentionality around disclosing concerns and avoiding tools, practices, and designs that may knowingly or unknowingly harm students.

Development Highlights

The following are various highlights from my work that are were important to the project in different ways. I'm especially excited to share the Main Quest and Side Quest framework. It was one of my greatest aspects of this development that will influence my design going forward. That said, the following are highlights are being shared in a pseudo chronological manner:

Certificate Visualization

To help communicate the original vision of the certificate, I produced a visualization to codify the various domains of focus for each course. This was a helpful reminder to keep me focused on one course at a time. Not to mention, this was a great way to share with others the vision of the certificate.

Learning Objective Alignment

This was a necessary first step in the development of this project. Before I could map the pathway forward, I wanted to see the journey to this point. That meant delving deeply into the Bachelor of Arts in Education and Human Development Student Learning Outcomes and the MA in Learning Design & Technology Competencies. From this existing outcomes and competencies I was able to develop and outline a curriculum map for the Games Certificate and the individual courses being developed.

The "Certificate in Games in Community, in Society, and in Learning" student learning outcomes are as follows:

1. Use games as the basis for community engagement strategies and fostering authentic personal connections.
2. Critique the societal impact of games including social and ethical considerations. 
3. Apply critical digital pedagogy and learning theory principles in the use of games in curriculum.
4. Design learning and social experiences using games or gameful learning strategies to support scholarship and relationships.

These certificate learning outcomes informed the following course goals and learning objectives being produced for the Games & Community course (Multiplayer Learning):

• Exploring and discussing playfulness, curiosity, and wonder in games, gameplay, and gameful experiences within communities.
• Explore the connection of games to narratives, social and cultural contexts, and  the role of narrative in games.
• Complete the main quest of foundational materials for connecting games and community.
• Create a pathway of study based on personal interests through provided sidequests and open-ended modules.
• Design and facilitate community learning activities using games and gameful practices, including assessment of these activities.
• Develop a repository of resources and games to support Multiplayer Learning.
• Apply Multiplayer Learning principles to various educational and social contexts.

At the conclusion of the Games & Community course, students will be able to:

1. Determine the roles and implications of games within communities.
2. Develop learning activities using games and gameful learning practices to foster community engagement.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of developed learning activities.
4. Synthesize a collection of resources to support pursuits of games in the context of Multiplayer Learning.

Course goals and learning objectives already existed for the Games & Learning course and were the primary source of inspiration and alignment. Additionally, some goals and objectives were outlined for the Games & Society course, but they haven't been finalized at this stage.

Key Assessments

Determining appropriate assessments, final projects, and methods for students to demonstrate their learning was also on my mind while developing the curriculum map. Please note that the Games & Learning text was pulled from the same page as the MA in Learning Design & Technology Competencies. However, the included outcome alignment is for the Learning Outcome Alignment section above.

INTE5320 Games & Learning - Final Portfolio. Culminating portfolio with written report in which students synthesize their developing understanding about games and learning, including a synthesis of personal play experiences, understanding of theory and research, and assessment of the potential implications of games for learning. (Outcomes 1, 3, 4)

INTE???? Multiplayer Learning - Lesson Plan or Professional Development. Culminating project in which students design a lesson plan or professional development session involving games as the instructional solution to a learning need or opportunity, following an intentional iterative design process. (Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4)

INTE???? Games & Society - Public Facing Resource. Culminating project in which students create a fully developed resource, such as a website, blog, or open document to serve public interests in games and their impact on an aspect of society. (Outcomes 1, 2, 4)

Main Quests and Side Quests

Potentially the greatest idea I had for the project. It is heavily inspired by previous work but it is essentially a framework to support self-directed learning. It splits the course in half "Main Quest" which are traditional modules where student are reviewing the same resources and sharing in the learning experience. In juxtaposition, the other half of the course are "Side Quests" were students can pursue any topic in relevant scholarship they desire. First the students need to declare their topic, then they can pursue scholarship from a myriad of mediums and sources. As part of this investigation, students will gather and submit the scholarship they explored before joining in discussion with the course. Typically discussions in courses are about diving deep into singular resources, but Side Quest discussions are more about making connections between a multitude of scholarship. There are additional opportunities for students to share games that are connected to the scholarship being explored as well. In practice, this framework draws heavily upon Connectivist Learning theories, but rather than leaning on social media or other networks, students are engaged in a collaborative literature review that is the centerpiece of their scholarly explorations during the Side Quest. This framework also offers modularity where it could be used in other courses and it could easily be increased or decreased in the amount it is included in a course.

The following visualization is how I determined to divide the course into Main Quest versus Side Quest modules:

Community Engagement

Another important aspect of the course for me was integrating games and developing community within the course design. Inspired by the Games & Learning course that contained journals around individual play experiences, in Games & Community students will be asked to have shared play experiences—Multiplayer Learning experiences. These are short activities that are offered over the entire semester and student need only engage in a couple. However, this is the opportunity for individuals to host a short game of D&D or play some Discord games or any multitude of free gaming experiences that recommended in the course. Paired with a reflective discussion activity, this is meant to be a fun aspect of the course where students can pause for a moment and consider the material in the context of Multiplayer Learning.

Speaking of Discord, rather than using Slack or Teams for the student back channel, Discord will be utilized. It is difficult to develop a course around Games & Community without including the most prevalent location for gaming communities. This will be similar to past Slack integrations into LDT courses, but will draw on some of the playfulness of Discord. Students can opt to create a professional Discord account if they prefer not to use their personal Discord account. Plus, I'm looking at integrating elements of Canvas into Discord. Since Canvas has an RSS feed for the Announcements, it may be one of the elements that is easily synced into Discord.

Canvas Course Development

Finally for highlights, I wanted to share at least one screenshot from the Canvas course development process. The following is a completed Side Quest module with each of the sections outlined.

Final Reflection

First off, I want to take a moment to recognize that opportunities like this don’t come often. Being able to combine my experience with ideas I’ve honed in this program in an open-ended environment has been phenomenal. Not to mention, producing something that I’m passionate about meant I was enjoying the work I was doing throughout the semester. As with any project, there were moments where ideas flowed and other moments where the work was more of a struggle, but overall, I feel proud of the work I did this semester for this project. I’d be excited to continue working on this certificate to complete the Games & Society course. Not to mention put the finishing touches on the Multiplayer Learning course.

I’ve had visions for courses like the one I developed this semester. Fusing the existing knowledge students bring to any learning experience with the focus of topics themselves was particularly valuable. There’s also lots of GOBLIN DNA in the work I’ve done this semester. Honoring where I’ve come from aside, I like where I landed with the design of the Side Quests in particular. They are more than self-directed learning opportunities, they offer a framework for collaborative literature reviews. There are aspects of this work that may inform my next iterations of GOBLIN, not to mention the courses I am involved with in my professional work.

During my experience I got to act as subject matter expert, instructional designer, and educational technologist. This crossroads of roles allowed for several efficiencies, but it also meant there was an enormous amount of work to complete. The Side Quest is an ideal example of what this intersection of roles yielded for me. Knowing how to blend the learning with the experience and the technology helped showcase what I was able to complete in such a short time frame. For context, our office often estimates that instructors will need to work for ~160 hours in order to complete a course. And that work is alongside an instructional designer, course developers,  and an educational technologist. These human-hour estimates don't account for the time required for media production either. In other words, trying to create a finalized course in 90 hours is a momentous task.

The curriculum map that I produced at the start of this project is equally important to the prospective certificate in games and learning. Particularly because it outlines the direction for the Games & Society course that would serve as a companion for the Multiplayer Learning course. Like I mentioned, if given the opportunity, I’d love to complete the remaining pieces of the prospective certificate. Especially since I’ve already laid the groundwork for the final course. In an ideal world, there may be some alterations I’d like to recommend for the Games & Learning course as well. Although I intentionally built the Multiplayer Learning course around INTE5320, I’d love to make adjustments to the alignment of the course. Not to mention, if other courses in the certificate use the Main Quest / Side Quest model, that would be another reason to revise the Games & Learning course. 

If I had more time to work through this project, I’d also love to spend more time on my own literature review. There’s lots of scholarship I found in analogous courses, but I’d like to provide some new resources. For example, the Playful Pedagogy In The Pandemic: Pivoting To Game-Based Learning by Emily K. Johnson and Anastasia Salter is a resource that came out this year. I could see it being used in any of the three courses of the certificate, but feel like it may be best suited for the Games & Society course. This is one example of recent scholarship that would contribute towards a stronger scholarship foundation of these courses in general. Doing a proper review of scholarship takes time though, especially when I find resources I want to read in totality.

Over the course of the project, I did a lot of building backwards. Put another way, I’d start at the end goal and work my way back. Although this was easier for me to pursue, it meant that some pieces, the syllabus for example, aren’t completed. Part of this hesitation stemmed from the desire to complete my investigation of the resources to use in the course. That is a piece that is a central piece that is missing from the syllabus. Additionally, I have some ideas of how I would create grade distributions if the Multiplayer Learning course needed traditional grades. Alternatively, I’d love to delve into single-point rubrics to lean more into an ungraded paradigm.

In the end, I’m excited for what I was able to accomplish over the course of the Fall 2023 semester for the Learning Agency. 🙂