To begin with, take a few seconds to look at the silouttes below.
Recognise any of them? Of course you do – they are the central characters in some very successful computer games.
I spent some time earlier this week with David from Denki, discussing the process of games design and we got onto the topic of characters in computer games. We talked about how important the lead character in a game is and how it relates to the success of game.
When we think about ‘character’ we often think about the characters personality, characteristics and their personal history/background. In the context of creating a computer game in school, it seems like the ideal opportunity to investigate character in an English class. After discussion and writing a charcters background, they should be able to use it to influence how the character should look. Which brings me on to my main point.
The look of a character should reflect their persona, however, the character itself should be easily idenifyable. Hence the silouettes at the top of the post. When creating an easily recognisible character, you are possibly creating a worldwide marketing tool. How many lunchboxes, wallpapers, mugs, birthday cakes, hats, trainers etc are branded with an iconic computer game character? There is a great post by Aldric Chan here that discusses the importance of character further.
Just off the top of my head, I see great potential for embedding game design, in particular, character design into the Curriculum for Excellence eg…
Write characters in English
Explore their characters further in Drama
Create distinctive character designs in Art, even model using clay?
I just stumbled upon www.tutpup.com. It looks like a great, competition and rewards based resource for maths and spelling. Really suited to the primary school. Tutpup is affiliated to the adopt-a-monster social networking come edugaming site MoshiMonsters.
With TutPup, teachers can join for free and set up a class code. Pupils can then be given that class code and use it to join. Pupils do not sign in with their names, they choose an animal, colour and number and that becomes their TutPup ID. For example, I am RedOwl11434. Below is a creenshot of the my home page.
When a pupil joins a class you create, you can watch their progress as they compete in competition with other pupils from all over the world in Maths, Algebra, Times Tables and Spelling games. Pupils graduate from each level by correctly answering 10 questions in 3 different games. Pupils can try their best to get onto the Wall of Fame, win awards for winning game and keep a record of their wins.
The screenshot above shows me playing against someone from the USA in a Maths Mix game.
I would love to hear from anyone who is using this resource just now, or if anyone intends to use it with their classes.
LTS in conjunction with 4ip worked with SixToStart to create and pilot an iPhone/iTouch App called TapTale. TapTale’s primary goal is to promote literacy through the reading and writing of tales using the tap, tilt, shake and swipe functions of Apples touch screen devices.
When creating a tale, pupils are asked to write chapters using the touchscreen keyboard on the device. In order to progress from chapter to chapter, the reader must use one of the tap, swipe, tilt or shake sequences. It is up to the author of the tale to decide what action must be taken for the reader to see the next chapter.
Once a tale has been created, users can upload them via the device to the taptale website. This allows other registered user to download and read their tales directly on the device. Registered users can provide feedback on any tale via the website using a ‘fridge magnet’ style form. Anyone can read the tales created directly from the site, but of course the tapping and tilting functions are not possible in this view.
This App looks really promising. I really like the idea of pupils incorporating the device’s actions in their tales. For example, each chapter could provide clues to what action is expected for the reader to progress.
Chapter : “… Anum waved goodbye to John …”
Expected Action – Shake Chapter: “… heard a knock at the door …”
Expected Action – Double tap
Encouraging pupils to read and write, provide and receive feedback using interactive and relevant technology should not only improve literacy skills but digital literacy skills.
Needless to say, I am delighted to be involved with the forthcoming pilot and am looking forward to seeing the impact it has.
2 Comments to Read 
Recognise any of them? Of course you do – they are the central characters in some very successful computer games.
The look of a character should reflect their persona, however, the character itself should be easily idenifyable. Hence the silouettes at the top of the post. When creating an easily recognisible character, you are possibly creating a worldwide marketing tool. How many lunchboxes, wallpapers, mugs, birthday cakes, hats, trainers etc are branded with an iconic computer game character? There is a great post by Aldric Chan here that discusses the importance of character further.
