Playing for Keeps
Classroom–turned-startup gives students a leg up in the Gaming Industry
Technology students expect to learn about design cycles, teamwork and product testing. But learn those skills while playing video games? In Professor Al Doyle’s classroom turned quasi startup, that’s exactly what happens.
The course, Education and Entertainment Design, is a hands-on introduction to the design, product testing and iteration (improving versions) of a game-designing platform used by a number of large technology companies. Professor Doyle’s class introduces Graduate School of Technology students to the product testing cycle by allowing them to evaluate and test this platform and supply feedback to the maker.
DESIGN, PLAY TESTING, ITERATION
In the 14 years that Professor Doyle has been a member of the Touro faculty, students in his classroom have helped companies launch three different game design platforms. “These are programs that are used by designers to create video games,” explains Professor Doyle. “In doing so, they learn the basics of game design – design, play testing, new iterations. It makes learning fun.”
PREPARING FOR THE GIG ECONOMY
For many people, a career in the technology field means working within the “gig economy,” where workers often do their jobs off-site and for only as long as the project lasts. “Knowing how to collaborate and communicate,” explains Professor Doyle, “often cross-culturally and remotely through an interface such as Skype, is extremely important. The skills learned in this course, prepare them for this kind of work.”
DOODLEMATIC COMES TO TOURO
The game platform program that students are testing this academic year, Doodlematic, is an automatic game creation tool for kids, parents, teachers and designers. This platform is a “low threshold and high ceiling” game design engine, meaning that it can be used in a simple and basic way by a child as young as five and in a complex way by a game or app creator. A grade school game designer can create a drawing, snap a photo of it, and turn it into a simple game. For teachers, the same platform can be used to create interactive worksheets, while developers can utilize Doodlematic’s features to develop fully functional apps and games. Touro students beta-test the product by “playing with the platform,” deciding what would improve the product, and then delivering this information in a set format back to the company. “Learning to review a product for its strengths and weaknesses is a key part of game creation,” explains Professor Doyle, “and a valuable skill for someone entering this field.”
ADVENTURES IN VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY
In addition to game platform testing, students are exposed to some of the most state-of-the-art technology being used today in education and entertainment, including augmented reality and virtual reality. Field trips have taken students to one-day workshops at Microsoft. On other trips, students have visited a virtual reality studio where they learned about programs that help architects and designers walk through a building or theatre to test for sight lines, egresses and make changes before a structure is erected. Recently, they assisted Google in testing an augmented reality platform for kids at an elementary school. When they aren’t testing products or out in the field, game designers visit their classroom either in person or virtually via Skype, to talk about their work and careers.
When students are asked to rate Professor Doyle’s course with a number between one and ten, the reply is often an enthusiastic “11!” However, above and beyond the obvious fun the class provides, it helps prepare students for the work world. Recently, a student who had been interviewing for internships was asked what he knew about virtual and augmented reality. Having taken Professor Doyle’s course, he was able to speak about it with some authority and landed an internship in theme park and game design utilizing virtual and augmented reality at Universal Studios in Florida.
