Game Design Software

Members of the National Writing Project have begun working on integrating gaming design tools in their classrooms.  Game-making software like 3D Adventure Studio, Scratch, Game Maker, and RPG Maker XP all give the average person the ability to make simple video games.  Just as we assign students papers where they must take on the role of a character, we could also have students design a game.  For example, if a student is reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, they could be assigned the task of designing a game about the book. 

Currently, I am trying to figure out how to use this software in my classroom.  Today, I downloaded Game Editor onto one of the classroom computers.  It was the only program I could find that wasn't blocked by our filter.  That in and of itself was frustrating.  Then, I assigned a student who I know to be a gamer the task of figuring out the tool, and I am anxiously awaiting what he comes up with.  He is excited about the task, and asked if he could work on it at home too.  That was music to my ears, of course. While he works through the program, I'm left to daydream the possiblities.
In my imaginary text-based video game, the student designer would first create an avatar for Montag.  Then, they would set up the landscape to be appropriate to the text.  For Fahrenheit 451, this would mean most of the action would happen indoors, as it was next to illegal to be outdoors in this world.  The student designer could set up a task where the firemen were trying to burn all the books, and Montag had to retrieve them.  The virtual Montag could need to defeat his wife, Mildred, by turning off all the televisions in the house, just to get her character to stop and talk to him.  There could be a scene in which he has to dodge a speeding car, just as happened in the book.  Each of these scenes described above happened in the book, and could be prefaced with the full text quotes, or a student made summary.

To complete this task, students would be demonstrating understanding of the book.  More than that, they would be applying their knowledge to design something entirely new.  Good teachers know that students are proud when they truly get control of their work.  Furthermore, today's students like being on the computer.   By utilizing this software, teachers give the students a chance to show what they know about the novel in an exciting new way. I'm excited about the possibilites, once I can get past the stumbling blocks.
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