Tuesday, August 30, 2011
3dmotive
Signed up for 3dmotive. com in order to get the tutorial video on vertex painting for use in the fort to bring brick and building textures back and forth from old to new.
http://www.3dmotive.com/training/udk/advanced-mesh-paint-with-udk/
http://www.3dmotive.com/training/udk/advanced-mesh-paint-with-udk/
Summation #9 - Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props
The book Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props is a book created to give new and experienced users an idea on how to construct assets for a game environment. The book is based in Maya but at times shows you how work would look in a actual game engine such as UDK. It is divided into two large parts. The beginning chapters are about texture creation and while the later is about modeling low poly assets for game importation.
The first part of the book about texture maps goes over the basics of all game texture maps, diffuse, normals, and specular. These are the most common three maps used on all game assets. A Diffuse map is a texture map that gives a asset its basic colors and is the most basic and widely used of all the maps. The Normal map is a texture map that is a bluish purple color used to imitate variations or dips and bumps within a assets surface. It does this by used precomputed information that gives the texture a Red Green and Blue channel that is used to immolate depth on the surface by reflecting light in different ways. Normal maps are created specifically for games because they do not take to much processing power to import and use in engine and they help give assets in a scene more depth than they normally would have on a base mesh model. Specular is the last map that is extremely important. This map gives information on how the surface reflects light and is based of a grayscale image. This grayscale image gives the game engine information on how light reflects or is absorbed on the surface of a material. For instance if I had a shiny metal object the Specular map would be a bright gray to a white to show the engine that it has a reflective surface, while if I was making something like a tire, the specular map would be more black so to not reflect to much light. The important thing to remember with specular is that all objects react to light in one way or another.
The later chapters of the book focus on modeling assets that are low poly for use in game engine. The three major models created are a revolver, a racecar, and a city skyscraper. The most important one relating to my project is the skyscraper as he uses modularity to construct the building. Modularity is the use of small chunks of a building fitted together to create the whole. This is done so that you can import a smaller number of geometry pieces and maintain a quality but fast running environment.
Overall the book was helpful in understanding pipeline organization and overall understanding of modular design.
Works Cited
McKinley, Michael. Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2010. Print.
The first part of the book about texture maps goes over the basics of all game texture maps, diffuse, normals, and specular. These are the most common three maps used on all game assets. A Diffuse map is a texture map that gives a asset its basic colors and is the most basic and widely used of all the maps. The Normal map is a texture map that is a bluish purple color used to imitate variations or dips and bumps within a assets surface. It does this by used precomputed information that gives the texture a Red Green and Blue channel that is used to immolate depth on the surface by reflecting light in different ways. Normal maps are created specifically for games because they do not take to much processing power to import and use in engine and they help give assets in a scene more depth than they normally would have on a base mesh model. Specular is the last map that is extremely important. This map gives information on how the surface reflects light and is based of a grayscale image. This grayscale image gives the game engine information on how light reflects or is absorbed on the surface of a material. For instance if I had a shiny metal object the Specular map would be a bright gray to a white to show the engine that it has a reflective surface, while if I was making something like a tire, the specular map would be more black so to not reflect to much light. The important thing to remember with specular is that all objects react to light in one way or another.
The later chapters of the book focus on modeling assets that are low poly for use in game engine. The three major models created are a revolver, a racecar, and a city skyscraper. The most important one relating to my project is the skyscraper as he uses modularity to construct the building. Modularity is the use of small chunks of a building fitted together to create the whole. This is done so that you can import a smaller number of geometry pieces and maintain a quality but fast running environment.
Overall the book was helpful in understanding pipeline organization and overall understanding of modular design.
Works Cited
McKinley, Michael. Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2010. Print.
Summation #8 - 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds
The book 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds in an in depth look at creating a game world based in game engines such as UDK or Steam. Although it does not direct go into importing objects or actors into these engines, it does show you how to prep textures, models, and other assets that you would later put into your overall environment. The main focus of the book is divided into different parts of the production pipeline. The beginning of the book focuses on understanding the uses of scene optimization. Scene optimization is making the best use of all assets, textures, effects, and other additives in your environment for each pieces overall use. For instance if I have a small cup in a kitchen scene and want to texture it, I would be best using a smaller size texture map since the player will never able to seen an extreme amount of detail in a small cup. The same goes for the geometry of the cup, I would keep it very limited in polygonal count in order to optimize the cup to run fastest in the scene while still maintain the overall quality of the scene. In the reverse direction, if I were creating a large space ship that has crashed on a planet, I could use a larger amount of geometry and maybe even use wider array of texture maps due to the fact that based on player scale the textures would be quite visible if they were low resolution and it would impact the overall look and feel of the environment.
As the book goes on it goes into great detail explaining making texture maps and the ways to go about adding noise variants to a map. This is don’t through specific overlays and blending textures through Photoshop or other image editing software to give the most believable texture you could give to your assets. By adding variants to your textures through overlays and blending you are able to avoid repeating patterns and bland texture samples.
Toward the end of the book the author talks more about a specific environment that he created for the purposes of the book and go through a step by step process of creating that environment. The scene depicts a jungle base with a front gate into the complex. By using the techniques shown in the previous chapter he shows the proper way to model all of the assets and then goes about setting up proper UVs. UVs are the spacial coordinates used to assign textures to each face on a polygonal object. Then he textures the scene and final renders the scene in Maya to show a mock up of how it would look in game.
Works Cited
Ahearn, Luke. 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds. Amsterdam: Focal/Elsevier, 2008. Print.
As the book goes on it goes into great detail explaining making texture maps and the ways to go about adding noise variants to a map. This is don’t through specific overlays and blending textures through Photoshop or other image editing software to give the most believable texture you could give to your assets. By adding variants to your textures through overlays and blending you are able to avoid repeating patterns and bland texture samples.
Toward the end of the book the author talks more about a specific environment that he created for the purposes of the book and go through a step by step process of creating that environment. The scene depicts a jungle base with a front gate into the complex. By using the techniques shown in the previous chapter he shows the proper way to model all of the assets and then goes about setting up proper UVs. UVs are the spacial coordinates used to assign textures to each face on a polygonal object. Then he textures the scene and final renders the scene in Maya to show a mock up of how it would look in game.
Works Cited
Ahearn, Luke. 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds. Amsterdam: Focal/Elsevier, 2008. Print.
Summation #7 - Half-Life²: Raising the Bar
In reading the book Half-Life²: Raising the Bar I wanted to take a closer look at one of my favorite companies and how they were able to create some of the best games on the market. Valve, the developer and designer of Half Life 2 is also know for creating games as Left 4 Dead and Portal, both of which in my opinion were some of the most interesting games to play both because of story, characters, environment, and overall mechanics specific to each game. Valve has a very different way about going about creating games and I feel some of these tactics may be what is needed to push mainstream gaming in an educational direction. Also I feel that the game Portal is one of the best examples of approaching the ideas of divergent thinking in a game which is one of my main focuses.
Through the book different parts of the production workflow are examined and broken down from the concept design all the way up to creation. Mainly I wanted to focus on the two parts that specifically relate to my thesis, which are environments and mechanics. The environments for Half Life 2 when it first came out were absolutely mesmerizing. As you go from level to level you get a real understanding of the connection of style and realism. This connection allows Value to design a believability environment while still being able to stay within the limitations of consoles and PCs alike. Early concepts were able to establish the overall ideas of how transitions between the city streets and other various parts throughout the city.
The other important part of the book I found interesting was the chapter on the game mechanics. Weapons such as the Anti-Gravity gun add a whole new thought process to the game and how the player interacts with their surrounds. These mechanics in Half Life 2 were the beginning thought processes to design future game mechanics such as Portal’s portal gun. Also designs for making rapid movement through portals as well as cinematic transitions making the game have a movie like feel.
Overall Half Life 2 is best able to capture some of the more innovative and widely used techniques in the industry today. These techniques were built on to create many of the games today that are considered to promote the most out of the box thinking available in gaming today.
Works Cited
Half-Life²: Raising the Bar. Roseville, CA: Prima Games, 2004. Print.
Through the book different parts of the production workflow are examined and broken down from the concept design all the way up to creation. Mainly I wanted to focus on the two parts that specifically relate to my thesis, which are environments and mechanics. The environments for Half Life 2 when it first came out were absolutely mesmerizing. As you go from level to level you get a real understanding of the connection of style and realism. This connection allows Value to design a believability environment while still being able to stay within the limitations of consoles and PCs alike. Early concepts were able to establish the overall ideas of how transitions between the city streets and other various parts throughout the city.
The other important part of the book I found interesting was the chapter on the game mechanics. Weapons such as the Anti-Gravity gun add a whole new thought process to the game and how the player interacts with their surrounds. These mechanics in Half Life 2 were the beginning thought processes to design future game mechanics such as Portal’s portal gun. Also designs for making rapid movement through portals as well as cinematic transitions making the game have a movie like feel.
Overall Half Life 2 is best able to capture some of the more innovative and widely used techniques in the industry today. These techniques were built on to create many of the games today that are considered to promote the most out of the box thinking available in gaming today.
Works Cited
Half-Life²: Raising the Bar. Roseville, CA: Prima Games, 2004. Print.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Summation #6 - Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames
The book Game On: the History and Culture of Video games is a wide collection of thoughts and concepts on understanding the phenomenon of video games and how it has become as big as it is today. While reading through the chapters the one that caught my attention the most was the chapter entitled violence and the political Life of video games. In doing research for my thesis I really wanted to more fully understand the idea behind action oriented game play being the top seller for games and why the typical education game either does not have any sales or is just generally boring.
In this chapter I really feel like Clive Thompson, the writer really hit the nail on the head. He explains how at one point in American history the TV was the newest form of technology and at that point your parents would usually say something along the lines of “TV will rot your brain”. Interestingly enough video games have taken the place of television because now that group of teenagers using those TVs has grown up and TVs are now common place. This all goes along with the western fear or change through technology and understanding its role within society. Hundreds of tests and studies have been done on television and how it affects the human mind. Strangely enough with all the controversy games portray there has only been a handful of inconclusive studies about gaming and even a smaller amount on its effects on youth and if it can instate violence.
A further look into violent gaming can show statistically that guns misfiring in homes or businesses actually has a higher death rate than “video game” caused violence. Also added to that how many of these deaths blamed on video games actually occurred because of the violent games the shooters were playing. Video games have become the violence scapegoat and the idea is that all children who play games will become psychotic killers. A close look at the current trend in games actually puts the player more often in control of a police officer or of military personnel more times than in control of a psychotic killer. This should actually make the public look more into the mentality that police officers are running around instating justice by killing hundreds of thugs rather than the idea that just shooting a gun in a virtual world makes your son or daughter a trained killer.
Overall much more conclusive evidence is needed to prove or disprove that game cause violent tendencies and unless we can remove the violent stigmatism behind gaming then educational games will be that much harder to get into our school systems that can actually educated and provide a wealth of knowledge to our current generation of upcoming students.
Works Cited
King, Lucien. Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames. New York, NY: Universe Pub., 2002. Print.
In this chapter I really feel like Clive Thompson, the writer really hit the nail on the head. He explains how at one point in American history the TV was the newest form of technology and at that point your parents would usually say something along the lines of “TV will rot your brain”. Interestingly enough video games have taken the place of television because now that group of teenagers using those TVs has grown up and TVs are now common place. This all goes along with the western fear or change through technology and understanding its role within society. Hundreds of tests and studies have been done on television and how it affects the human mind. Strangely enough with all the controversy games portray there has only been a handful of inconclusive studies about gaming and even a smaller amount on its effects on youth and if it can instate violence.
A further look into violent gaming can show statistically that guns misfiring in homes or businesses actually has a higher death rate than “video game” caused violence. Also added to that how many of these deaths blamed on video games actually occurred because of the violent games the shooters were playing. Video games have become the violence scapegoat and the idea is that all children who play games will become psychotic killers. A close look at the current trend in games actually puts the player more often in control of a police officer or of military personnel more times than in control of a psychotic killer. This should actually make the public look more into the mentality that police officers are running around instating justice by killing hundreds of thugs rather than the idea that just shooting a gun in a virtual world makes your son or daughter a trained killer.
Overall much more conclusive evidence is needed to prove or disprove that game cause violent tendencies and unless we can remove the violent stigmatism behind gaming then educational games will be that much harder to get into our school systems that can actually educated and provide a wealth of knowledge to our current generation of upcoming students.
Works Cited
King, Lucien. Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames. New York, NY: Universe Pub., 2002. Print.
Summation #5 - Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games
This book discusses the use of video games and the implementation into a learning environment. It goes into detail about the controversy behind video games and the stereotypes it posses and how to better merge games and education in a symbiotic middle ground. It is compose of multiple essays ranging from the general concepts of using games in education to direct examples of games the already do have specific learning goals and processes.
The article that interested me the most was Chapter 5 Learning about learning from a video game: Rise of Nations. This chapter is a direct recollection of the author as her describes the important of the game Rise of Nations. The idea of Rise of Nations is not a strange idea. It is a game based on different times during our own reality with character based in our reality as well. These characters are based on different races or groups of people throughout history and in the game you wage war against other groups for domination of specific territories. The game is top down based and your characters are moved in units, this type of game is called a real time strategy game(RTS).
The author illustrates that RTS games were hard for him at first. He explains how games may also seem extremely hard to teach and learn for older generations like the baby boomers because it is like learning something new and foreign for the first time. This attributes the delay of games being used directly in the classroom. The author goes on to explain his experiences with the game, explaining the quick reaction times necessary to play. As he uses his mind and moves his characters on screen with his mouse he is able to form a spatial sense between himself, his hand and movements, and the virtual world. This is a vital type of learning which is commonly overlooked in a testing based education received in a normal school system.
The Author goes on to directly show the correlation between skills enhanced and used in games compared to typical education and how best to integrate the two in a harmonious blend. The methods discussed here directly impact the ideas I wish to carry across with my thesis game as well.
Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. Good Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. New York: P. Lang, 2007. Print.
The article that interested me the most was Chapter 5 Learning about learning from a video game: Rise of Nations. This chapter is a direct recollection of the author as her describes the important of the game Rise of Nations. The idea of Rise of Nations is not a strange idea. It is a game based on different times during our own reality with character based in our reality as well. These characters are based on different races or groups of people throughout history and in the game you wage war against other groups for domination of specific territories. The game is top down based and your characters are moved in units, this type of game is called a real time strategy game(RTS).
The author illustrates that RTS games were hard for him at first. He explains how games may also seem extremely hard to teach and learn for older generations like the baby boomers because it is like learning something new and foreign for the first time. This attributes the delay of games being used directly in the classroom. The author goes on to explain his experiences with the game, explaining the quick reaction times necessary to play. As he uses his mind and moves his characters on screen with his mouse he is able to form a spatial sense between himself, his hand and movements, and the virtual world. This is a vital type of learning which is commonly overlooked in a testing based education received in a normal school system.
The Author goes on to directly show the correlation between skills enhanced and used in games compared to typical education and how best to integrate the two in a harmonious blend. The methods discussed here directly impact the ideas I wish to carry across with my thesis game as well.
Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. Good Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. New York: P. Lang, 2007. Print.
Summation #4 - Game Art: The Graphic Art of Computer Games
In reading Game Art: the Graphic Art of Computer Games you get a inside look at artistic process that goes into creating a game from start to finish. This book was put out in 2003 so it can seem a little dated at times but the general principles remain the same. The chapters each detail a different kind of art style or part of the pipeline. With each of these parts you receive a explanation of the process and then a walk-through of a particular designers pipeline in completing that piece of the game.
There are a few pertinent parts of this book relating to my thesis. The first is the explanation of first person exploration. This explains how the movie industry at one point tried making their films in the first person view but were unsuccessful because as you continue to watch from that view you begin to grasp that although it is if you are in the film and seeing it first hand, you have not control on what is happening to the character and therefore cannot really be the character in the film, breaking the believability. On the other hand games do this quite successfully, as the player has direct control of their movements which is the reason for an increase in sales first person games compared to the over the shoulder, top down, or side scrolling counterparts. This first person view also gives more incentive from players to explore their surroundings as it is all based of the direct perspective of the camera, which only gives the player a limited scope at any point in the game.
The second interesting part of the book was the chapter on environment detailing. This chapter provides how the professionals can make a seemingly open and vast world, condensed and controllable within the gaming engine. This is done through lighting, low poly background models, sky domes, and other such tricks that can give the player a real feel of infinity. This feeling helps to establish the believability within the game, making for a more immersive and memorable experience.
Lastly the chapter about middleware was quite interesting. Middleware is a product or software that has one particular purpose or goal that is integrated into the game engine to reduce time for the developers and artist involved. This is similar to the program speed tree which is a random tree generator used in many games such as oblivion. With speed tree the artist is able to create a few trees and set parameters for those trees, then by changing a few details about the tree in speed tree the program is able to set up the whole world with random assortments of trees which all look unique.
In whole the book does a good job of breaking down parts of the art production pipeline and makes it understandable to the common reader.
Works Cited
Morris, Dave, and Leo Hartas. Game Art: the Graphic Art of Computer Games. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2003. Print.
There are a few pertinent parts of this book relating to my thesis. The first is the explanation of first person exploration. This explains how the movie industry at one point tried making their films in the first person view but were unsuccessful because as you continue to watch from that view you begin to grasp that although it is if you are in the film and seeing it first hand, you have not control on what is happening to the character and therefore cannot really be the character in the film, breaking the believability. On the other hand games do this quite successfully, as the player has direct control of their movements which is the reason for an increase in sales first person games compared to the over the shoulder, top down, or side scrolling counterparts. This first person view also gives more incentive from players to explore their surroundings as it is all based of the direct perspective of the camera, which only gives the player a limited scope at any point in the game.
The second interesting part of the book was the chapter on environment detailing. This chapter provides how the professionals can make a seemingly open and vast world, condensed and controllable within the gaming engine. This is done through lighting, low poly background models, sky domes, and other such tricks that can give the player a real feel of infinity. This feeling helps to establish the believability within the game, making for a more immersive and memorable experience.
Lastly the chapter about middleware was quite interesting. Middleware is a product or software that has one particular purpose or goal that is integrated into the game engine to reduce time for the developers and artist involved. This is similar to the program speed tree which is a random tree generator used in many games such as oblivion. With speed tree the artist is able to create a few trees and set parameters for those trees, then by changing a few details about the tree in speed tree the program is able to set up the whole world with random assortments of trees which all look unique.
In whole the book does a good job of breaking down parts of the art production pipeline and makes it understandable to the common reader.
Works Cited
Morris, Dave, and Leo Hartas. Game Art: the Graphic Art of Computer Games. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2003. Print.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Summation #3 - Fort Sumter National Monument: Where the Civil War Began
The book Fort Sumter National Monument: Where the Civil War Began tells the story of how the historically important Fort Sumter came into existence, its time in service, its importance, and its transformation into a historical monument for present day. The fort was conceived during a series of fortification projects set up during the revolutionary war to prevent attacks on the coast by the British. The fort was named after Revolutionary War General, Thomas Sumter who had defended American soil during many major attacks by the British. After its completion it was one of three major forts located in the Charleston SC area.
After South Carolina declared its secession in 1860, Major Robert Anderson, who was loyal to the Union pulled his troops out of the local Charleston fort of Fort Moultrie and relocated his troops without orders to Fort Sumter in order to keep a footing in the Charleston area. Anderson feared with the secession of South Carolina that union support would soon crumble to and he and his men would no longer be safe in South Carolina. The South Carolina government asked multiple times for Union forces to evacuate the Fort over the course of the next few months, to which the response was always a respectful no. Lincoln sees what is happening at Fort Sumter and agrees it is important to support Anderson in his defense there and sends ships to aid him in defending Fort Sumter. As the ships arrive in South Carolina, Charleston Confederate forces decide that the time for waiting is over and begin their bombardment of Fort Sumter from the surrounding forts and beaches. After about three days of bombardment the Fort has suffered sustainable damage, most damage being caused by fires breaking out within the fort and burning up most of the supplies, munitions, and buildings. These fires were caused by special cannon fire known as hotshots which were heated cannonballs that started fire when coming into contact with wood or fire burning surfaces. This causes Anderson to finally relinquish the fort to Confederate forces on the agreement that there be a canon salute in honor of the battle and that all of Andersons men go unharmed to join the already stationed Union ships in the harbor. With the surrender of the fort this becomes the first major confrontation of the Civil War which surprisingly has no casualties except for one accidental death during the cannon salute at the surrender of the fort.
By 1868 the fort had sustained large amounts of damage to the outer and inner walls. This year was the beginning of the reconstruction and preservation of the fort into the national monument it has become today.
Works Cited
Bostick, Douglas W. Fort Sumter National Monument: Where the Civil War Began. Charleston: Charleston Postcard, 2011. Print.
Bostick, Douglas W. Fort Sumter National Monument: Where the Civil War Began. Charleston: Charleston Postcard, 2011. Print.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
New Books
I have invested in some new modeling books to help me into the process of understanding how to model for game and integrating my models into UDK.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Visit to Fort Sumter
Went with a friend to Fort Sumter. I got to take about 500 some odd pictures for reference and use for texturing. I was also able to pick up another book about Fort Sumter as well as talk to some of the historians there about the history of the fort.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Summation #2 - Toys, Games, and Media
Through reading the book Toys, Games, and Media one is able to more fully understand how the phenomenon of how current games and media trends have evolved. This book describes the evolution of the toy through history into the use and cultural understanding of “war toys” during the 1930s-1950s and the evolution of the these toys into the modern day toys being used today.
Through the beginning chapters studies are made to show the ways people interact with toys and how culture and society as a whole perceive and understand the use of toys and their intended audiences. Reading along specific instances about phenomenon such as the Pokémon series card games and the overnight success of children’s heros such as Harry Potter and how these simple yet productive ideas were able to catch children’s attention into making them each a multimillion-dollar success. Then leading on to suggest how toys and games the use these successes to build similar copies that will lead the consumer to be interested and buy into the next big thing.
By using direct case studies of some of the more up to date toys and game such as online gaming and video games you are able to better understand the interactions people have with the games themselves as well as each other when a community interaction is put into place. Using games like first person shooters and then comparing interactions with straightforward games intended for educational use, information was collected from observation and questioning of players on how they use their senses to interact with each other and how both have different ways of stimulating the player.
This is where the most interesting to me was in talking about the different form of stimuli received from playing games.
“Touch sense arises from stimulus to the thousands of mechanoreceptors contained within the skin and produces tactile perception of heat, pressure, vibration, slip, and pain. Kinesthesia is sensed by end organs located in muscles, tendons, and joints, which are stimulated by body movements, limb position, and applied forces. These contribute to the analysis of weight size, and shape. Cognitive processes analyze the information provided by the sensory and motor systems.”
It is through these stimuli that a player or an interactee can experience understanding of interaction and use of the senses that is not as actively available with standard educational tools used in technology-less schools.
Through the beginning chapters studies are made to show the ways people interact with toys and how culture and society as a whole perceive and understand the use of toys and their intended audiences. Reading along specific instances about phenomenon such as the Pokémon series card games and the overnight success of children’s heros such as Harry Potter and how these simple yet productive ideas were able to catch children’s attention into making them each a multimillion-dollar success. Then leading on to suggest how toys and games the use these successes to build similar copies that will lead the consumer to be interested and buy into the next big thing.
By using direct case studies of some of the more up to date toys and game such as online gaming and video games you are able to better understand the interactions people have with the games themselves as well as each other when a community interaction is put into place. Using games like first person shooters and then comparing interactions with straightforward games intended for educational use, information was collected from observation and questioning of players on how they use their senses to interact with each other and how both have different ways of stimulating the player.
This is where the most interesting to me was in talking about the different form of stimuli received from playing games.
“Touch sense arises from stimulus to the thousands of mechanoreceptors contained within the skin and produces tactile perception of heat, pressure, vibration, slip, and pain. Kinesthesia is sensed by end organs located in muscles, tendons, and joints, which are stimulated by body movements, limb position, and applied forces. These contribute to the analysis of weight size, and shape. Cognitive processes analyze the information provided by the sensory and motor systems.”
It is through these stimuli that a player or an interactee can experience understanding of interaction and use of the senses that is not as actively available with standard educational tools used in technology-less schools.
Works Cited
H., Jeffrey, David Buckingham, and Gilles Brougère. Toys, games, and media. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004. Print.
Summation #1 - The Digital Classroom: How technology is changing the way we teach and learn
Through reading the book The Digital Classroom: How technology is changing the way we teach and learn you are introduced to some key factors in how current day classrooms are being integrated with modern day forms of technology and media in order to form a more cohesive and complete form of learning that applies to multiple students different forms of learning. The part of the book review some of the myths surrounding the idea of implementing the computer in the modern day classroom and how it can have progressive or inverse effects on learning depending on how it is introduced to children in the learning environment. These myths are then supported by arguments on how to remedy them and why they are caused. Many of the problems seem to stem from the inadequate training of teachers on how to effectively use the technology then to approximately introduce the use of the technology into the class seamlessly. Some of these methods could be improved with learning courses provided for teachers on understanding the available technology, and also establishing guidelines within all schools on the important and full potential the technology can and will serve.
Further into reading the book goes on to explain the steps that a teacher will follow in order to implement the technology into their classrooms. The entry stage in which the teacher is introduced to the technology and often times this is where many teachers proficiency in using the technology ends. The next stage, the adoption stage, where teachers begin to try to blend technology and learning by using simple programs like word processors and such. The following stage, the adaptation stage, is where the teacher begins to thoroughly integrate technology with more advanced tools such as presentation tools, visual and graphic programs, and other content specific software. Next, the appropriation stage happens, where teachers have full understanding of the access to the technology and wonder how teaching was done as well without it before. Lastly, the invention stage where teachers want further access to technologies they feel could improve the learning ability of students in their classroom even more.
Lastly the book develops ideas and simple plans for managing technology based on the curriculum or subject matter being taught. For instance a sample is given on how to manage tutorial secessions for a math class through online interaction and how to make math problems more clear through organization through word processors and online available software.
Overall the book focuses mainly as a resource guide for teachers to better understand available technologies and how they are best integrated into the classroom.
Overall the book focuses mainly as a resource guide for teachers to better understand available technologies and how they are best integrated into the classroom.
Works Cited
T., David. The digital classroom: how technology is changing the way we teach and learn. Cambridge: Third Printing, 2000. Print.
Colorado Article
Read and interesting article about the implementation of teaching teachers directly how to develop educational games and media design for the classroom.
Anas, Brittany. "Teachers Learn to Program Games at CU." Colorado Daily [Colorado] 7 June 2011: 5. Print.
Anas, Brittany. "Teachers Learn to Program Games at CU." Colorado Daily [Colorado] 7 June 2011: 5. Print.
A local paper article about teachers enrolling in a class to learn how to create their own games to educate their students. Learning multimedia gaming design teachers will understand the technology and be able to directly influence the creation of the education materials that the students in their classes interact with.
EasyBib
Created a profile on EasyBib. The site allows me to catalog my annotative bibliography information and allows me to access it from anywhere I have the web.
Click here for my updates on the Bibliography
http://easybib.com/key/e8465a
Click here for my updates on the Bibliography
http://easybib.com/key/e8465a
Minecraft Teacher
This is the blog of a teacher that teaches the game Minecraft in the classroom.
http://minecraftteacher.net/
Interesting relationship to the game world and types of lessons he teaches his students from such a simple yet innovative game as minecraft.
http://minecraftteacher.net/
Interesting relationship to the game world and types of lessons he teaches his students from such a simple yet innovative game as minecraft.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
WIP Outline
Education for use in Middle to High school age bracket has become increasing difficult for teachers to teach and with schools become increasingly overfilled and students becoming less interested in their studies as they grow older, keeping their interest sparked can become increasingly difficult. History is a favorite subject of mine and has become increasingly overlooked at times as students try to cram years of information about their states, countries, and world history over the course of a couple years. I propose that by interacting with them through an outlet which most students use commonly today, the computer, you can establish 3D environments where a student can explore while gaining intense amounts of knowledge that may ordinarily be forgotten or hard to teach within a normal day’s lesson plan.
“The field of instructional technology has witness tremendous growth in research and development of interactive multimedia learning environments in recent years, especially computer based environments.” (Rieber)
Learning is an important part of the development process for any adolescent. It shapes our morals, goals, thought processes, and overall understanding of the world around us. In recent years that has been a steady increase in the number of middle school and high school dropouts (Snyder). Studies have proven that the old methods of “chalk and talk” are not a valid as they once might have been and recent studies have proven that the majority of high school students are kinesthetic learners (Snyder), compared to the traditional learning style which mostly accommodates the auditory listeners. Kinesthetic learners are students who learn mostly by doing directly or by having some form of hands on control of what they are directly learning. In terms of learning history, a extremely hard thing to illustrate visually, this lends itself to the direct use of 3D generated historical environments in which students can explore and with simple tasks, be able to learn lessons by exerting their own methods of learning the material.
Historical Reenactments have been used to illustrate and show history visually acted out in front of a viewer. These reenactments have been generally used throughout time to reconstruct historical sequences for educational purposes. One of the for reenactments being the Passion Play, the depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus, which started Oberammergau, Germany as a way to stop the Bubonic plague from continuing to destroy their town (Sticca). It now is continued every ten years as tradition to portray the historic event to all of the attendants. Historical reenactments are most common around areas of the United States where the original 13 colonies were established and where major civil war battles took place. Many of the reenactments are funded by the state or city to give educational background to the cities heritage and history. From these Historical Reenactments, educational values can be directly interpreted into a computer generated 3D environment thereby enhancing perspective on historical events and processes while learning through direct visual experience.
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