Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Richard Levy, PhD, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Canada, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Ronald Owston, PhD, Professor of Education & Director of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Annika Orich, Germanic, Slavic & East Asian Studies University of Calgary, Canada, Richard Levy, PhD, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Canada, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Ronald Owston, PhD, Professor of Education & Director of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Annika Orich, Germanic, Slavic & East Asian Studies University of Calgary, Canada, Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy Across the Curriculum

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Educational Value of Playing Games –Serious Games (Stone 2002; Becta 2001, ; Kirriemuir & McFarlane 2003; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee 2004 Develop new skills and knowledge Motivate students –The value of immersions (Littlewood 2004) The Role of active participation –Social interaction –Problem solving –Opportunities for exploration –Competition Role Playing and Immersive Environments in Teaching

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Learning Objectives –the learning goal must be important; –the learning goal must be difficult; –the learning goal must be plausible and enhanced by the use of VR ( Johnson, Hoher, Ohlosson & Gillingham 1999 ) Role of the teachers –Active participation –Introduction of the problem –Leading discussion Learning Objectives and Immersive Environments

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Game Development Principles –Virtual environments (VE’s) should be designed for collaborative learning (Johnson et. al. 1999); –VE should support wandering or walking through the space (Johnson et. al. 1999); –There should be a metaphorical reference to some aspect of the physical world to enable students to interact in a real- life setting (Li & Maher 2000); –Audio, text, video, object behavior, and navigation should support different learning styles (Li & Maher 2000); –The virtual world experience should be critical to the problem-solving task Learning Objectives and Immersive Environments

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy –Instruction must be guided by the principle that “learners use language as a means to an end” ” (Lee, 2000) –Task-based instruction is central to the game –The game needs to be learner-centeredness (Swan 2005; Willis 1996; Skehan 1998; Willis 2003) –In playing the game, the mastery of language is critical for successfully meeting the game’s challenges –learning language is not the explicit goal of the game from the player’s perspective—rather it is a means to a desired end Role Playing in Virtual Environments

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Context: –Curriculum: Medieval Studies is a unit of study in the Ontario, Canada –Game Objective: Treasure Hunt Students assume a virtual character and are asked to solve a mystery about a knight’s armor that has gone missing using a sequence of oral and written clues. Solving a riddle provides the clue to finding the next clue Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Scene: The game begins inside a medieval chapel in the historic part of an Austrian City –Word and number problems –Architectural scenes set the stage for interaction –Clues: Chest Stain Glass Monk Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Scene: The game begins inside a medieval chapel in the historic part of an Austrian City –Word and number problems –Architectural scenes set the stage for interaction –Clues: Statue Keys Golden Knight Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Workbook –Promotes interaction between students – the workbook serves as the medium for documenting and solving problems, encouraging social interaction between the pairs of students playing the game –Language skills – in solving the game’s mystery students learn about synonyms, anagrams, crosswords, and simple number problems –Math skills – in solving some of the clues students will perform mathematical calculations, like that of the area of a square, and must consider the logic of a chessboard –Writing skills - recording clues and events –Introduce European culture and literature - during the course of the game students are introduced to medieval myths and stories, architecture, poetry, and medieval texts –Provides teachers with an easily accessible work – Workbook is a record of student performance during the course of this exercise –Simplifies improvements to the game - fewer resources were required to create the actual VE. Changes to the story line can be easily accommodated by merely changing audio tracks, characters and clues Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Subjects: Private School, Calgary, AB –5 th Graders: Two classes (11 and 17 students) –4 th Graders: One class ( X students) Testing –Day 1: Introduction Objectives Story line and biographies of the characters. Students as a group were introduced to the game by playing through a clue including solving a problem using a sample booklet. Reading selection was given to the students which would prepare them for the game –Day 2: Game Play Before playing the game, students filled out a brief survey –Age, gender, –Video game play outside of class Practice test - navigating and controlling game Students played through the actual game in class in pairs A pre and post-test of terms was used to measure recall of terms used in the game. Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Focus Group Session: –What do you remember of the virtual world? –Do you think you learned something by playing this game? What did you learn? –Was it difficult to play the game? If so, what was difficult about it? –Was it very hard to switch between the virtual game and the booklet? –Should be used in the classroom? Why or why not? –Did you like playing the game? What did you like best, what the least? –What would you add to the virtual environment? Student Responses

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Instruction Issues: –Can games motivate interest in reading and math? –Can games improve recall? Game in the classroom: –What is the expectation of the students in using a virtual world in the classroom –Are the expectations (production standards) lower for educational games than commercial games Graphics Audio Game play Do girls and boys have a different strategy when playing games? Research Questions

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Initial Findings Recall by Question

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Initial Findings Game Play MaleFemaleMaleFemale Grade 4 No Percent Once a day84100%73% Once a week 40% Once a month 30% Total811100%73% Grade 5 Once a day9456%29% Once a week7644%43% Once a month 20%14% Once in the last year 20%14% Total %

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Initial Findings Motivation

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Initial Findings Attitudes towards the game –Serious connoisseurs of games demand quality Graphics Animation Game Play –What did you learn Parts pf the knight’s armor Medieval architecture It wasn’t very educational because when you get to the age of 18, you won’t really going to care if you are a golden knight?

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Initial Findings Attitudes towards the game –Dislikes Structure of booklet –turning pages, students only write down what they need to solve the clue Missing clues, getting clues by accident (random walk) Characters talk fast

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Conclusions Learning Objectives –Games can be used to motivate students, –Games can reinforce recall –Games can provide an opportunity to apply math and language skills acquired in class Games and Expectations –Differences in attitudes and abilities can be seen in 4th vs. 5th grade students 5th graders are more experienced game players and expect a higher production values in any game they play. Boys were more likely to merely play the game without consulting the booklet Girls took a more measured approach. –Future refinements Abbreviated book Second camera Ability to hear a clue twice after an elapsed period of time Provide a tangible benefit in playing the game by providing an opportunity to joust with your arch enemy at the end of the game after you have successfully found all of the armor.

Richard Levy, PhD, EVDS, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Ronald Owston, PhD, Annika Orich Richard Levy, PhD, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Canada, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Ronald Owston, PhD, Professor of Education & Director of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Annika Orich, Germanic, Slavic & East Asian Studies University of Calgary, Canada, Richard Levy, PhD, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Canada, Herbert Wideman, PhD, Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Ronald Owston, PhD, Professor of Education & Director of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies York University, Canada, Annika Orich, Germanic, Slavic & East Asian Studies University of Calgary, Canada, Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy Across the Curriculum