The following sections summarize the information we have gained from interviews with MeshEd stakeholders as well as external subject matter experts (SMEs).
Betsey started the meeting by discussing how the the courses at MeshEd are focused in content creation. The courses are designed by Dan and Julia, and each course has 10 sessions. According to Betsey, all the course content, communication, and program data is currently living on Google software (Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Survey, etc.). The ultimate goal of MeshEd is to move away from Google sites and to make their own platform for students. By doing this students will have better accessibility to course content and it would also protect the students privacy. At the beginning of the meeting, Betsey said that our group could possible work on course development, as well as building said platform. Consultant Jonathon then pointed out that the limitations of developing a platform would be the firewalls but up by schools MeshEd collaborates with. There is also the issue with accessibility for parents and students. Jonathon pointed out that Google is accessible because most parents have or have access to making a google account and there is privacy measures in place for students by the schools. Betsey then discussed how MeshEd desired more of a delivery mechanism rather than a platform.
After this discussion it was realized that with the amount of time we have and the resources, we will be moving away from the platform idea and design a new course instead. The discussion then shifted into how MeshEd develops their courses. Betsey told us about how they already have an outline and core learning documents that they will share with us. These documents will guide us in building a course in their standards. Betsey then discussed how they develop their overarching learning goals. She said that they usually start backwards, thinking about what they want the final project/product to be. From there they work backwards and develop learning objectives and goals. Betsey told us that MeshEd is looking for a coding/gaming course and asked us if we could develop a course in that subject. She also mentioned that when using outside resources, we have to make sure they are not behind a paywall and are accessible to all.
Betsey and her team then discussed the timeline for when they are "piloting" new courses. Luckily for all of us, piloting season will begin in May which is when this project will be done. Our goal is to have a gaming & coding course done by May of 2022.
Can you walk us through the beginning stages of your action lab design process? Our initial thoughts are to work with a backwards design model, and then using the unit guide as our reference, build out the scope and sequence of the course through the doc you sent us, then work on building the individual slide decks and portfolios, etc.
Julia always starts with what she wants the children to make. What is the "thing", as she said. From there, she looks at the finished product and thinks about the skills required to complete it. She then outlines 3-4 critical skills that the students need to learn to complete the project. For example, in the podcast course, Julia knew she wanted to the students to create a podcast. From there she narrowed down those skills to interviewing skills, script writing, and audio editing. She begins with the scope and the sequence, she told us it's hard to start with standards without knowing what the "thing" will be. She also discussed how early in the design phase she prepares the digital portfolio template. We then asked what other elements we should be including in our design. She told us the MeshEd always requires the creation of a vision board in the early sessions. Julia also explained that session 9 and 10 are fixed, 9 being a presentation prep session and 10 being the presentation time. So in reality, we are designing curriculum for 8 sessions. The middle session are very reliant on the course subject and are much more flexible than sessions 1, 9, and 10.
From your perspective, what do you find to be most challenging in designing learning for these action labs?
Julia said that the biggest challenge she faces is time. The courses are taking professional skills and adapting them for younger audiences. Julia then discussed how she tends to lean her curriculum to be overly academic. She said this is an issue to keep in mind because these courses are suppose to be fun. Yes, they will be rigorous but they are enjoyable. She advises us to take a step back when we feel that our course may be becoming overly academic. The priority is to create a high quality, light, and fun course that teaches children unique and professional skills. She tells us that the students favorite part of the course is when they get to interact and create together. She emphasizes that we find ways to tap into that and have the students interacting with each other while staying on topic of the course.
We want to make sure we are adhering to the CASEL, HQPBL, and the digital portfolio frameworks. How do you stay focused on these frameworks when designing learning for MeshEd?
Julia states that HQPBL is easier to align with. She also stated that many things are already built into HQPBL, such as the authenticity of the profession, which is exciting for the children to learn. CASEL is a bit harder to incorporate, and she said to include some elements but not all elements need to be included. Julia suggested that we have the CASEL documents up as a reference to help keep it in mind during the design process. Julia also advised to take note of what naturally works within the CASEL structure and to use that as a guiding point.
Can you tell us your position at NYU and your connection to games and game design?
Practitioner of games, worked with a UMich prof based on a gameful pedagogy, developed GradeCraft
GC designed with course in mind
Can you walk us through your process in researching and planning the games and play in education course?
Gameful pedagogy, read syllabi from other courses
Think about meaningful experiences in the course
What are students doing in my course
Mandatory versus optional
Opportunities given to people who want to learn more
Choose the way students like to complete their homework (individual/ group)
Assigning points is an area of challenge, iterative process
Rules are in a game to elicit behavior in the players, can guide the behavior in the course
Extrinsic rewards
After settling the points, established the activities, built the world
What kind of skills does a game designer need in today’s world?
Depends on where you want to work
Create compelling characters
Affordances, limitations of games
Holistic view of a game
Some idea of narrative, interactive storytelling, know how those stories work
A little bit of technical/programming- platforms/difficulty
Asset/art creation
Game mechanics
What they are/how to apply them
How they all work together
Game elements
What 21st century skills should we foster in the classroom for students who want to become game designers?
Teamwork
Project management
Communication
Time management
Conflict resolution
Collaboration
Is there a game or software that comes to mind that you would want to share with middle schoolers?
Scratch
Field has moved forward- Roblox
Focus:
Game mechanics
Suggests leaving coding at the end. Design a tabletop game, then a digital game, then get into the tech side of things
Kids need a grasp on what makes a game fun, what makes a game interesting
A game is not just the interface
Discuss what is a game
Start with a physical game, move into the digital realm
How do we know if something is a good game?
Playtest
Design the game and make others play it
Nothing will remove the testing element
Experience
Can you tell us your position at NYU and your connection to narrative in design?
Chief Instructional Technology Officer for NYU
Deputy for Operations for back to campus effort during COVID
Grad school focuses: Cognitive Science, Digital Media, Education (international)
Focus on leading change: narrative helps motivate people to change
Ben teaches a narrative design course for ECT students and an organizational change course for ALT doctoral students
Can you walk us through your process in researching and planning the narrative course?
3 pieces:
Understanding the fundamentals of narrative: what are your favorite characters (film, book, commercial, series)? What makes them your favorite?
Create a portfolio that has a narrative.
What’s your personal narrative and how will it be perceived by your audience?
Focus on narrative in different media. Create a piece of content using each medium.
Each project has: an audience, concept design, storyboard, theory
What tools, digital or otherwise, are helpful?
Design an analog game first. Forces a storyboard.
Could be the game they know they will eventually turn into a digital format.
Then you can pick the parts you will convert into digital (in the interest of time).
Narrative brings together disparate elements:
Work in groups to draw together ideas from different people to practice linking them together in one narrative.
Keep it simple:
Possible tools: Powtoon, SketchUp
What are some key narrative elements that are important in game design and coding (or other digital design projects)?
Narrative is part of everything students do: character, context, rise in conflict, resolution to conflict, finality.
Our audience matters: explore narrative elements for our specific learners.
Learner analysis
What are the 4 most popular games for our demographic?
Start by having students define the narrative elements in their favorite games. (Play the game and discuss - what are the themes in the game? Pick games based on themes that will appeal to our audience).
Manage expectations: coding a certain element of the narrative.
The Power of Small Wins - HBR
Are there any game building platforms and coding platforms you would recommend exploring?
Adobe suite
Discord
Just give an introduction to these tools at least - know what they are.
What are some examples of past coding and narrative projects your students did?
The ones that stand out are the ones with memorable characters.
Make sure the deliverable is reasonable.
Maybe students could animate one aspect: a setting, vehicle, character
Storyboard a conflict (kind of like a montage in a movie - it’s like a look into the director’s storyboard).
How do the different animated elements come together?
Summary of Learning Design
Starting analog to build narrative muscles
Use simple tools to make level playing field
Portfolio with a narrative
The focus is not on the “game” but on the narrative. The game comes second.
What is the main focus of the course? Games or narrative?
Include game analysis
What’s your favorite game? What makes it good?
Does the narrative or action drive appeal?