IT 7220 Multimedia for Instruction

Spring/Summer 2010

Instructor: Tim Boileau

Wayne State University
Instructional Technology
College of Education
Detroit, MI 48202
ap9028@wayne.edu
313.333.9849 (M)

Date/Time: Online: http://blackboard.wayne.edu

Wiki: http://WayneIT7220.wikispaces.com/

Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description (WSU Bulletin)

Prerequisite: IT 6110; Windows and Web literacy, or consent of instructor.
Instructional design and development applied to multimedia instruction, using
games and simulations. Instructional strategies for higher-order learning, including
problem solving. Alternative design and development methodologies. Essential
multimedia production tools and techniques. Students form design and development
teams to create an engaging game-based learning experience.
Course Objectives
Learners will:
1. Use a systematic design and development process for games
2. Use prototypes to communicate with a client or subject matter expert
3. Create learning objectives for games and simulations
4. Determine the key rules for a game.
5. Document designs with storyboards and prototypes
6. Demonstrate proficiency in authoring using Flash CS4 and ActionScript 3.0
7. Create a game as a group project to demonstrate concept covered
1
Textbooks
Required (available at Amazon.com and usual sources):
Aldrich, C. (2005) Learning by Doing – A Comprehensive Guide to
Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other
Educational Experiences. Pfeiffer.
Atomic Learning Software Tutorials (www.atomiclearning.com). User name:
waynestate; Password: coed
Optional/Recommended Flash Tutorial:
van der Spuy, R. (2009) Foundation Game Design with Flash. friendofEDWe
will be using this text to develop Flash foundational skills if you are new to
Flash.
Rosenzweig, G. (2008) ActionScript 3.0 – Game Programming University.
Que Publishing.

Course Assignments:
Most assignments require that your work be submitted electronically. In most cases,
that means sending it as an email attachment. Later in the semester, you may upload
project files to a server using an FTP utility.
Assignment: Create a Personal Web Page in the class Wiki
Create a simple page. This will require to you to register for the IT7220 wiki at
http:// wayneit7220.wikispaces.com.
The page will help your classmates and myself know who is in the class and what
your interests and objectives are.
Your page must include at least these elements:
• A picture of you. You can position and resize the image in the edit mode. If the
photo includes other people, either crop the photo to get it to show just you or
point out who you are.
• A paragraph or two, describing your background and interests. Be sure to use
correct spelling and grammar.
• Three links to sites you find useful.
Test the page using both Netscape and Internet Explorer. You may update the web
page during the course if you like. Assignment is due on May 20, 1010.

Assignment: Review Electronic Games

The purpose of this assignment is for you to develop some familiarity with various
approaches to digital games. You may review games you find on the web by doing
a search.

Write a short paper (1000-1250 words) that describes the game you tried and what
2
you found. Consider these points:
 Did the game state the rules up front? Did you discover any more as you
played?
 What did you like, and why?
 How engaging was the game? What made the game engaging or not?
 What support was available (i.e., instructions for game interface)?
 If the game is not an instructional game, would it be possible to make the game
into a learning exercise? If so, what would you do to make it instructional? If
not, why not?
 If the game is instructional, how well does it meet the learning objectives? How
would you improve it?
Submit your paper electronically, using the digital dropbox feature on the course
BlackBoard site. You may submit MS Word files, Adobe Acrobat PDFs or HTML
(web) pages.
Your paper must include
th
• Complete reference to the game, so I can look at it. Use APA style (6 edition).

• Illustrations, graphics or sample pages from the game to show the interface,
interactions and style
• Your personal reactions to the sites you visited.
Once the papers are submitted, I will evaluate them and provide electronic
feedback. Assignment is due on June 10, 2010.

First Flash Assignment

Design and develop a Flash greeting card. The greeting card can be one of two
styles: an animation in one “scene,” or a more traditional card with two “pages.”
You may want to look at http://www.bluemountain.com or other greeting card sites
for inspiration and examples.
• The card must include text and graphics.
• Provide a way to navigate back and forth between pages (if a 2-page card) or
replay (if an animation).
• Publish and upload the .swf file to our web server (optional).
• Send the .fla file to me via Blackboard.
We will share your cards on the class website. Assignment is due on June 24, 2010.

Assignment: Midterm Examination/Research Paper

A research paper covering the effect of games on learning will completed in lieu of
a midterm exam. A separate rubric will be provided by the beginning of the third
3
unit. Assignment is due on July 19, 2010.
Final Project
Your final project is a game or simulation, to be completed using Flash. Working as
a small team (three to five people), plan, design, develop and try out a single-player
game.

Process
1. Create a team. Teams will be self-selected. Try to make sure that the
members of the team have different skills.
2. Decide on the style of game and content of your project.
3. Design a single-player game. Decide on the concept, audience, instructional
and game objectives, rules, world, and other features listed in the lecture.
Write up your design and turn it in as a team assignment.
4. Submit the design for approval by July 8, 2010.
5. Create a plan for getting the work done. Your plan should define the scope of
the project, tasks, who is responsible for each task, completion dates, and
dependencies (which tasks have to be completed before others can start). This
plan doesn’t need to be turned in separately, but will be part of the final
project.
6. Work through the design and development process described in class, or your
own variation of the process. Storyboards done in Flash or PowerPoint will
save time over doing them all on paper.
7. You must prototype and try out your concept, interface and rules. Develop a
portion of the game and try it out with users to gain feedback. Revise your
design as needed and document the changes.
8. As you work, publish and upload your files to your group website.
9. Pilot test the complete game. Record your observations and revise as
necessary.
10. All project deliverable are due on August 5, 2010.

Deliverables
1. Design document
 Audience
 Need for the product
 Objectives
 Concept
 Rules, including scoring
4
  Look and feel
2. Project Plan
3. Prototypes
4. Prototype and pilot reports
5. Final game

Reflection Paper
The purpose of the reflection paper is to give you the opportunity to reflect back
over the course and see how (or whether) it has changed your view of instructional
technology and, especially, games and simulations. This paper should be one to two
pages in length.
• What was the most important thing you learned in the course? Why?
• What requirement of the course stretched your capabilities?
• What was not worth the time, given your job or career aspirations?
Assignment is due on Aug 6, 2010.

Class Policy
• All policies stated in the Graduate Bulletin of Wayne State University will be
adhered to.
• It is assumed that a graduate student will take on the roles of active independent
learner and scholar.
• Papers must be turned in electronically, on time, free of spelling and
grammatical errors. Assignments turned in more than 24 hours late cannot
receive a grade higher than 90%.
• Papers must be the student’s own work. References to others’ work require
citations in APA Style (6th ed.). Copying of other work, even with citation, is
plagiarism and is not acceptable.
• I will post notices on the Blackboard site or I will email them to the class.
Students are responsible for checking the Blackboard announcements and email
regularly.
• You may submit papers as MS Word files, Adobe Acrobat PDFs or HTML (web)
pages. Do not submit other formats without checking with me. If you are
sending from a Mac, remember to append the correct file extension (for
example, .doc or .docx for a Word file) so the file is readable on other platforms.
Papers submitted in other formats or otherwise unreadable files will receive a
grade of 0. You may resubmit such papers, in which case they will be treated as
late papers.

5
• Wayne State University is committed to providing the best possible educational
experience to all students, regardless of disability. Students requiring reasonable
accommodation should contact the instructor or Educational Accessibility
Services (http://www.eas.wayne.edu/).
• I will not give a grade of I (Incomplete) unless you and I have agreed that your
grade will be I. Incomplete means you can finish the class work without any
further instruction If you have simply not finished all of the work, your grade
will include missing assignments, scored as 0 points. . Incompletes automatically
become a grade of F if work is not completed within one year.

Plagiarism:
Plagiarism includes copying material (any more than 5 consecutive words) from
outside texts or presenting outside information as if it were your own by not
crediting authors through citations. It can be deliberate or unintended. If you're in
doubt about the use of a source, cite it. Students caught plagiarizing information
from other sources will receive a failing grade in the course. University policy states
that students can be subject to multiple sanctions, from reprimand to expulsion as a
consequence of academic dishonesty. To enforce this policy, all outside references
must be submitted with assignments.
Class Schedule
The readings, when assigned, are necessary for the discussion each week. So
complete the assigned readings for the week before class. The class discussion will
not duplicate the readings, but I do expect that you have read them. Supplemental
articles will be available in BlackBoard, either as links or as papers. See the Course
Documents in Bb.

The van der Spuy and Rosenzweig readings generally include exercises to be
completed in Flash. These are not graded but are required for development of the
skills you will need to complete the project.

6
Unit Date Reading Topic Notes
A = Aldrich
S = Spuy
R = Rosenzweig
1 May 10-23 Introduction to Games
and Simulations
Flash: Interface
A Ch. 1-5 Understanding Genres Wiki page creation
S Ch 1-2 Flash: Basic Concepts assignment due
May 20.
May 13 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
2 May 24-June 6 A Ch. 6-7 Planning for Design
S Ch. 3-4 Flash: Movie Clips
A Ch. 8-11 Design for Doing
S Ch. 5 Flash: Logic in
ActionScript
May 27 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
3 June 7-20 A Ch. 13-16 Implementation Game paper due
S Ch. 6 Pragmatics June 10
Flash: Character
control
R Ch. 1-2 Flash: Adv
ActionScript
June 10 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
4 June 21- July 4 R Ch. 3-4 Flash: Basic Game Flash Greeting Card
Frameworks assignment due
Games for Learning June 24
Flash: Memory
Games
Simulations: Games
for Business
Rieber: Multimedia
Learning in Games,
Simulations, and
Microworlds
June 24 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
5 July 5-18 A Ch. 18-20 Design for results Research Paper due
S Ch. 7, 8 Flash: Collision July 19
detection; OOD for
games
A Ch. 23-25 Case studies Game design due
S Ch. 9 Flash: Data July 8
management
July 8 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
6 July 19-Aug 6 R Ch. 9 Flash: Word Games Project due
Lab time August 5
R Ch. 10 Flash: Trivia/Quiz Reflection paper
Games due August 6
7
 Unit Date Reading Topic Notes
A = Aldrich
S = Spuy
R = Rosenzweig
Lab time
July 22 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Aug 5 Virtual (Live) Classroom 6:30-8:30 p.m.
* Schedule is tentative and may be adjusted to meet the needs of learners and
accomplishment of objectives.

Grading System:

Task Weight Due

Create a personal page 5% May 20
in Wikispaces
Review games 10% June 10
First Flash Assignment 10% June 24
Midterm exam/ 20% July 19
Research Paper
Design for Final 10% July 8
Project Game or
Simulation
Practice Flash 5% Various
assignments
Final project 35% August 5
Reflection paper 5% August 6

Graduate Grades:

95-100 A
93-94 A-
91-92 B+
85-90 B
82-84 B-
80-81 C+
70- 80 C

8
Withdrawal Policy
- Students who withdraw from a course after the end of the 4th week of class
will receive a grade of WP, WF, or WN.
o WP will be awarded if the student is passing the course (based on work
due to date) at the time the withdrawal is requested
o WF will be awarded if the student is failing the course (based on work
due to date) at the time the withdrawal is requested
o WN will be awarded if no materials have been submitted, and so there
is no basis for a grade
- Students must submit their withdrawal request on-line through Pipeline. The
faculty member must approve the withdrawal request before it becomes final,
and students should continue to attend class until they receive notification via
email that the withdrawal has been approved. Withdrawals can be requested
at any point from the fifth week of class through the study day.

Attention Students with Disabilities:

- Wayne State University is committed to providing students with disabilities
an equal opportunity to benefit from its programs, services, and activities. If
you have a disability that limits your participation in class in any way, please
inform the professor and alterations in the course will be made. All printed
materials are available in alternative formats.
- If you feel that the limitations imposed by your disability will interfere with
your ability to successfully fulfill the requirements of this course, you are
strongly encouraged to contact Student Disability Services (formerly
Educational Accessibility Services) in room 1600 Undergraduate Library to
request an accommodation. Phone: (313) 577-1851. Email: eas@wayne.edu
- The SDS (EAS) Student Handbook, found online at the link below, includes
departmental procedures and policies, in addition to the many forms that may
be used to request the services and accommodations that you desire.
o http://www.eas.wayne.edu

Religious Observance Policy:

Because of the extraordinary variety of religious affiliations represented in the

University student body and staff, the Wayne State University calendar makes no
provision for religious holidays. It is University policy, however, to respect the faith
and religious obligations of the individual. Students who find that their classes or
examinations involve conflicts with their religious observances are expected to
notify their instructors well in advance so that alternative arrangements as suitable
as possible may be worked out.