Gamertell

It’s refreshing to hear that there are gamers in the community using their gaming knowledge towards a positive, educational experience that benefits students.

That is what one teacher in Trenton, New Jersey did when he took his favorite pastime and created an after school program that challenged as well as exercised all the skills an average fifth grade student learned throughout their school year.

“I have been playing video games since I was four years old (so I guess that means 20 years now),” said Giancarlos Alvarado, a Parker Elementary School fifth grade teacher and the founder of the Video Game Design Institute after school program, during an exclusive Gamertell interview. “I have owned most of the major video game systems with the Sega Saturn being my all time favorite!”

I sought out to find Alvarado after reading his article on Game Career Guide published on December 6, 2007. I was amazed at what his students were capable of creating, utilizing skills that probably would have taken me three years to just learn the basics. But I wanted to know more about his project - it seemed vague in his blog post. I wanted to know what benefits his students are gaining from this program and why we should teach them at a young age. Is it even possible for children to comprehend game development?

“Students of any grade can comprehend game development. I have taught students in Kindergarten how to create their own video game and even though they weren’t the best,” Alvarado explained. “The thrill those kids got from playing something they just created on their own was an incredible sight to behold. In my classroom, video game development is supplemental material to my daily lessons. A lot of my students’ work such as essays, writing prompts, etc. is actually going to be integrated into the video game we are currently working on. In other words, video game development is reinforcing what they have already been taught.”

He said even though the games the students create are for entertainment, they don’t realize the benefits of reinforced educational skills until they have completed the game.

“I truly believe that video games can be a useful tool in the classroom. The only thing children want to do is have fun. Teachers need to make school as fun as possible in order to maximize student learning,” Alvarado said. “Video Game Design Institute is an educational after school program design to teach students the process of creating games. Even though we are creating video games for entertainment purposes, through the design process we are reinforcing reading, writing, art, music, problem-solving, computer science and analytical skills all of which correlate to the state’s educational standards.”

With the controversy over violence in video games being the hot topic in the news lately, I had to ask Alvarado if any of this bad publicity had any effects on the program.

“First, I would like to point out that I teach students how to create video games in two different settings,” he answered. “I teach my 5th Grade class how to create video games and we are working on a game called “Earthquake Terror: After Shock that was entered into the Independent Games Festival Student Competition. Second, I started up an after school program called Video Game Design Institute, which teaches kids how to create their own individual video games. While VGDI was only officially started in July of 2007, I have been teaching kids video game design since 2003. That being said, one of the requirements I place on my students before starting a video game project is that the game must not be violent in order to avoid any confrontations from parents, administrators, the press, etc. The video games created by my students are purely for educational purposes. Other than that, the issue of video game violence has never really come up in either my classroom or at VGDI.”

The game Alvarado’s students wrote and created as a class is a student-created, unofficial sequel to Peg Kehret’s children’s book entitled Earthquake Terror which follows the adventure of twelve-year-old Jonathan who is left to care for his partially paralyzed younger sister, Abby, after his mother broke her ankle on a hiking trip and his father took her to the hospital. While waiting for his father to return, an earthquake strikes leaving Jonathan and the family dog to protect Abby. The game the students created takes place immediately after the events of the book, and was submitted into the Independent Game Festival where it competed with thousands of entries and was selected as one of 125 other finalists to participate in the 10th annual Independent Games Festival scheduled for February 18 through 22, 2008 in San Fransisco, California.

Alvarado attributed the success of his project to the parents, co-workers and administrators who were completely sold on the educational value of the project since the day he was given a chance to demonstrate the educational benefits the students can earn through the project.

“While video game development is not for everyone, there are other ways that teachers can implement video games into their curriculum. For example my students have been participating in ‘First in Math’,” Alvarado said. Out of curiosity I had to ask if any teacher could teach game development, in which he explained that it would be more effective if someone who was computer savvy and understood game development taught the class. “Since I am the teacher, it is my job to teach my students the ins and outs of game development. However to train a teacher, especially an older teacher who did not grow up with technology like the younger generation today, would prove to be very costly and difficult. Starting the club itself would not be that difficult as long as the school has a decent computer lab. Finding someone who is well versed in a middleware program such as RPG Maker or any of the other programs out there would prove to be the real challenge. My knowledge of RPG Maker XP was almost entirely self-taught. I must take the time though and acknowledge my younger brother who is an RPG Maker nut and has helped troubleshooting when I needed it the most.”

He said although his program is relatively new, he has hopes that it will be an even bigger success next year when the program restarts after the school’s winter break on January 7, 2008.

“VGDI is currently operating within two different after school programs,” Alvarado said. “By next school year, I hope to expand the program to at least 2 more schools and/or community centers. A lot of logistical hurdles need to be addressed before further expansion, but I am confident that we will overcome those.”

Read Alvarado’s article [Game Career Guide] Site [Fantastic Fiction: Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret] Site [Independent Games Festival]