360-PlayLearn:

Gamification and Game-Based Learning

for Virtual Learning Environments
on interactive television
Gerard Downes1, Paul Mc Kevitt1, Tom Lunney1,
John Farren2 & Catherine Ross2
1Universityof Ulster, Magee, The Imagineering Quarter,
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
E-mail: gdownes@gmail.com, {p.mckevitt, tf.lunney}@ulster.ac.uk
2360 Production Ltd., The Imagineering Quarter,
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
E-mail: {john.farren, catherine.ross}@360production.com
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Outline

• Background
• Aims & Objectives
• Related work
• Design of 360-PlayLearn
• Relation to other work
• Conclusion & Future Work
• Acknowledgements
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Background
• Digital Creativity & Creative Technologies
• The Imagineering Quarter
http://www.paulmckevitt.com/imagineering-quarter/
• Project Kelvin (MAM, e.g. HBO ‘Game of Thrones’)
• Digital Derry http://digitalderry.org/ &
CultureTECH http://www.culturetech.com/
• Digital Action Team (DAT)
[University of Ulster & 360 Production Ltd.]
• City of Culture, 2013 http://www.cityofculture2013.com/
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Aims & Objectives

• Online education on interactive TV

• Combining entertainment & education content (edutainment)

• STEM, history, archaeology & general knowledge

• Deployment on desktop, mobile & TV devices

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Related work

• Online Learning
e.g. Udacity (Stanford), edX (MIT/Harvard),
TED, Khan Academy, YouTube
• Gamification (Zichermann & Linder, 2010)
e.g. AmbiLearn (TreasureLearn) (Hyndman et al., 2012)
• Game-Based Learning (GBL)
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
e.g. PlayPhysics (Munoz et al., 2012)
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Media Asset Management (MAM)

• Annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval &

distribution
• Digital photographs, animations, videos & music

• TeleScope Enterprise (North Plains Systems, 2012)

(Commercial)
ResourceSpace (Dwiggins, 2011) (Open Source)
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

The Cloud

• Hosting & distributing of edutainment content

“If computers of the kind I have advocated become the computers of

the future, then computing may someday be organized
as a public utility just as the telephone system is a public utility…
The computer utility could become the basis of a new
and important industry.''
--John McCarthy, MIT Centennial Celebration, 1961 (AICS-1997)
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Architecture of 360-PlayLearn
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Gamification API
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

360-MAM interface with ResourceSpace

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

360-Cloud interface with Google App Engine

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Relation to other work

• Gamification & Assessment for learning

(e.g. AmbiLearn / TreasureLearn)

• GBL VLEs on interactive TV

(e.g. PlayPhysics: Emotional modelling, DBNs)

• 360-MAM & 360-Cloud give advanced VLEs

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Conclusion

• 360-PlayLearn, 360-MAM & 360-Cloud

• Constructivist approach (Vgotsky / Piaget / Papert)

• Problem-based / project-centred learning

• Widening access & education for all

• Pervasive platform on interactive TV

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Future work

• Requirements analysis

• Implement 360-PlayLearn platform

• Acquire global media assets (Project Kelvin)

• Evaluation of 360-PlayLearn
 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Acknowledgements

• DEL & 360 Production Ltd.

• Ted Leath (Information Assurance Manager)

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Thank You

• Any questions or feedback ?

 Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion

Up Donegal !!