Today was the my Learning Technologies Master of Education Student Showcase and I presented my Final Project “Harvey the Husky: an Adventure Learning Game”!
In 2012 I completed the Online Distance Learning Postbaccalaureate Certificate from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities because I was looking for some theory and methodology for online teaching, then in 2013 I learned that those classes can be used towards their Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Learning Technologies, and in 2014 I started the program, part-time. Part-time, part-time. With a class here and a class there. I finally finished! Yes, April/May was the prefect storm of important academic events happening all at the same time.
Originally I wanted to write a paper on Adventure Learning or MOOCs (massive open online courses) for my Final Project, but I was told no. I needed to do something that involves technology and education, so I asked if I could create a game and was told YES! Have I ever created a game before? No. Do I know anything about coding? Nope. I am not much of a gamer since the Atari went out of style back in the 1980s, but I wanted to create a gaming app that would also include Adventure Learning. My original idea was to create a game for adults that involved the humanities and in the end I ended up with a game for children on the environment and global warming. I was inspired by Dr. Aaron Doering’s Arctic Transect 2004 and Timber Tales, which was a four-legged husky update (aka blog) from the trail, and which then inspired some kids to create a sign that said: “Timber for President!” when the expedition came home.
For my game I purchased and used a great game development software called Construct 2 which involves no coding and while it was occasionally tricky to use, its pretty user friendly. I hired a friend to create some wonderful 8-bit graphics (and drove her crazy with all the changes), I also purchased a basic template to have a place to start from, and I also purchased sounds for the objects and music to play in the background. People told me that it would take time to do and to scale back and I thought I did, but wow, it took a lot of time to do. One day I spent 3 hours “non-coding” in the music and getting the program to have the music pause and then play again. There were also a few things that I could not figure out and I don’t know if they are “Melissa technology issue” or a “template issues.” I also started to create a webpage on Google Sites and hated that software and then I decided to create a blog on WordPress and hated that, so right now I will house the Harvey the Husky game instructions and information on this site. The next step is to clean it up the game and release it as an iTunes App for $0.99.
Here is the Harvey the Husky storyline: Harvey the Husky is part of a scientific expedition in the Arctic studying global warming and has lost his way. Harvey needs to survive by collecting as many items as he can to take back to the scientists and expedition. Can Harvey avoid the negative effects of global warming? Can Harvey get back to the scientists in time? Only you can help Harvey!
For a while you can play the game here: https://googledrive.com/host/0B0MFqbgom3IEWXAwd0tfLS0xSFE/index.html
Here is Harvey:
Here are a few images from the game:
So tonight was the student showcase where all the students that were graduating (there were 8 of us) presented our Final Projects. The first part of the night was the presentation where we had 5 slides and 4 minutes to talk. I noticed that some people spoke longer than 4 minutes, while I think I talked really fast and might have ended early. All the students had these amazing projects and they are all projects that they will continue to work on and some I believe are hoping to turn theirs into businesses and sell them. Next we went into the LT Media Lab and had some great food (the LT Dept always has fantastic food at their events) and then we did the showcase part of the night, where you stood next to a computer and people came around to talk to you about your project. It was like a poster event at a conference, but without the poster. I was able to get “Harvey the Husky” to upload and had a link that I brought up on the computer so that the game could be played. It was really fun watching people play the game.
So there is just a reflection paper to turn in next week and then in a few weeks I will have my MEd in Learning Technologies.
Here is the official blurb: “Please join us May 6th from 5:00 – 7:30pm for the 6th annual Learning Technologies Master of Education Student Showcase. During this event, LT M.Ed. students who will be graduating this Spring or Summer will showcase their final projects. Refreshments provided.
Beginning at 5pm, there will be a short presentation from each of the eight students to provide an overview of their work (room 260). This will be followed by an “un-poster” show in which these students will share samples of their work with you on large screen monitors & posters throughout the LT Media Lab space.
Please join us for this celebration and opportunity for community to come together to learn from and with one another!
Showcase: LT M.Ed. Student Final Projects
Date: Fri, May 6, 2016
Time: 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: LT Media Lab & Room 260
Learning and Environmental Sciences Building”
