Teaching Game Design to Children and Teens

Video gaming is playing a huge role in helping libraries serve the needs and interests of our users, especially teens. More and more libraries are hosting gaming nights and tournaments that give young people an opportunity to connect with peers and the community, explore new technologies, and hang out and have fun doing something they love.

What’s next? Teach them how to design their own video games. Give youngsters the tools and skills to create their own games and you’ve given them the opportunity to transfer their gaming knowledge to an environment where they become producers and programmers, crafting their own dream worlds that will challenge and entertain others. The Minneapolis Public Library, McKinley Technology High School in Washington, DC, and the Broward County Library System in Florida offer some exciting game design programs.

Minneapolis Public Library

The Minneapolis Public Library offered its first game design workshops in July 2006 as a project initiated by the Learning Technologies Center (LTC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota. A generous grant from the Best Buy Children’s Foundation has funded an impressive offering of teen technology workshops hosted by LTC staff through 2007. Partnering with the Science Museum gave the library the opportunity to offer teens exciting programs at no cost, with the added bonus that the staff at the Science Museum incorporates youth development principles (www.search-institute.org/assets/) into curriculum and other educational activities.

Game design sessions in 2006 focused on teaching teens how to use Scratch (scratch.mit.edu/), a free software program designed at MIT Media Labs. Science Museum staff had worked closely with MIT during the software’s early development, and Minneapolis teens were some of its earliest users. They learned how to create characters and backgrounds and program their games with motion and sound. Some sessions also focused on using Scratch to craft animated stories. Science Museum staff worked hard to foster a collaborative environment in these sessions, encouraging teens to share games, offer suggestions, and discuss their project goals.

Scratch offers game creators the opportunity to connect online and share with other Scratch users. Teens who participate in the game design workshops create accounts on MIT’s Scratch Web site and upload their games for everyone to play. Scratch’s site also offers forums, tutorials, galleries, and easy access to new projects. New game designers can connect with others just learning how to use the software through a group called New Comers United that was formed by a newbie.

By fall 2006, a select group of participants in the library’s game design programs were invited to join the Teen Tech Squad, a group that hosts Gaming Labs for teens interested in learning Scratch. Tech Squad teens attend 10 hours of training that combines advanced Scratch lessons with activities to empower them to teach their peers. They practice speaking in front of each other, work in teams to construct an outline for each session, and then create examples of game design techniques. At each session, they give an overview of the program, provide instruction in basic game design, and then work one-on-one with participants based on their individual needs. They are paid $25 for each session they teach. These teens have increased their self-esteem as they demonstrate expertise to their peers.

Libraries can offer game design programs without having to purchase expensive software and site licenses, thanks to Scratch. The program is available for Mac or Windows operating systems. If your library is willing to dedicate staff time to learn Scratch, craft a curriculum, and host the program, you’ll offer something teens never imagined they’d find at the library.

McKinley Technology High School

The Institute of Urban Games Design (IUGD) at McKinley Technology High School was developed during the summer of 2005 with the intent of using the “hook” of video games to give at-risk teens information about careers in information technology. This simulation and game development program is offered every Saturday on a semester basis (10 weeks). The game development curriculum includes programming, motion capture, architecture (3-D CAD), 3-D modeling, animation, and more. By the summer of 2007, over 500 students ranging in age from 8 to 18 from more than 150 schools in DC, Virginia, and Maryland had received training. Among the software used for the course is Maya for 3-D modeling (http://tinyurl.com/jpjqz), Poser for avatar animation (e-frontier.com/go/poser), Motion Builder for motion capture data (http://tinyurl.com/3a5uxm), Second Life (teen.secondlife.com), Virtools for Programming (virtools.com), Google Earth Pro (http://earth.google.com/earth_pro.html), and more. The real value of game design is that it offers teens the opportunity to take ownership of their education by using their creative skills to make a simulation/game that involves a course they are taking in school.

The game design program has also been instrumental in developing community partnerships with organizations such as The American Cancer Society. McKinley teens are creating the Relay for Life on the teen grid this fall for Teen Second Life. Avatars will complete a walk online to raise real money for the foundation. The FBI and America’s Most Wanted are other partners where McKinley students act as interns and work on special projects. Game companies such as Firaxis (firaxis.com) and 2K Games (2kgames.com) provide free software and speakers for the school program. Several students who have been doing TSL (Teen Second Life) scripting for several years have formed their own company and are meeting with potential investors.

Broward County Library System

The mission of Youth Digital Arts CyberSchool (YDACS.com) is to “provide every student, everywhere, at any time, with advanced learning and collaboration opportunities that are self-paced, infinitely repeatable, and include support and quizzes.” Many schools are offering CyberSchool’s fee-based courses as part of their curriculum from the third grade through high school. In the Broward County (FL) Library System, 60 teen participants from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds are taking part in the program, and younger children and adults have expressed an interest as well. The video game design courses—Video Game Design Basics, Platform Video Design, Video Character Design and Animation, Video Game Design CyberStudio—cater to a wide variety of learning styles. Participants move along at their own pace and can work independently or in a social group. These young people began to see that the library was relevant to their interests, and several joined other teen programs offered by the library, checked out game design books, and began using the library’s databases.

By accessing YDACS’s “Demonstrations and Overview” video from their Web site, you can learn how these courses encouraged many youngsters to create their own games. Among the memorable participants are Ben, a young cancer patient who envisioned a video game that he and other ill children could play to help beat their cancer. He was partnered by a senior video game developer from Electronic Arts, a large video game company, and they made a fun, inspirational game that can be downloaded for free. Jake, a home-schooled 12-year-old from South Carolina, developed a Role Playing Game (RPG) called “Revolution” that can be downloaded and played from “Student Gallery.” Cassie, a seventh grader, created a video game for her marine biology class.

The most exciting element of YDACS is the “Virtual Learning Community.” Jake, Jason, and a 14-year-old from Alabama became the first student mentors who work as a seamless virtual team to answer other students’ questions. They are also helping to develop a series of RPG courses and a few courses for a project with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

There is special pricing for libraries, schools, and community tech centers offering the courses. Classes for individuals generally start at $60 and run for a little over a month. One of the benefits of purchasing the course software is that librarians don’t have to take game design courses or hire someone else to teach it.

Given the proper tools and training, game design is a viable skill for youngsters of all ages. The games that they create can be played as part of gaming nights at the library. Once youngsters learn the skills of game design, their creativity and literacy skills will blossom. What a great way to teach them how to collect information, develop a story, and employ the resources available in the library.