STTR Phase I: Platform for students to easily create and share educational simulation-based games

Diamond Tree Llc, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This STTR Phase I project is to develop a web-based platform that enables students to quickly create and share educational games that can be based on a wide variety of subject matter, including STEM subject matter. This end result of this project will be a responsive web application that enables students to create educational games using nothing more than an internet connection and a modern web browser. Designing a simulation is a pedagogically rich task, as it requires that students not only understand the concepts involved, but that they create a mental model in which the concepts form a coherent system. The promise of this platform is that it puts students in the role of a simulation designer, but without the need for the extensive technical knowledge, specialized software, or time commitment that creating a simulation game typically requires. The game mechanic of this platform is simple and flexible enough that it can be used to create learning games relevant to a large number of disciplines, and the authoring tools take only minutes to learn. It is this team's hope that this project will facilitate the creation of thousands of educational games that address subjects that no games have addressed before. This project is innovative on several fronts, and collectively these innovations will enable the platform to expand what is possible in educational gaming and research on serious games. This platform is accessible to anyone in the world through a modern web browser, no plugins required. The platform also provides an extremely intuitive authoring environment that allows students to easily create powerful simulations, regardless of their technical expertise. The platform's simulation game mechanic can be adapted to a wide variety of subject matter; it is not designed around any specific field. Every game a student creates is given a unique URL that they can share with their teacher, their peers, or whomever else they choose. The platform also provides an easily searchable catalog of the games that have been created and shared by others throughout the world. The goal of this project is to successfully develop a prototype of the platform, and to then evaluate the technical feasibility, usability, and commercial feasibility of the prototype. This will be evaluated with a combination of usability tests, surveys, interviews, and quantitative data gathered with analytics software and other tools.