Research

I'm still waiting to hear from Alaina, but in the meantime I figured I'd start doing my own research.  It's been pretty generic so far, really only glazing over the subject--what I really need is the firsthand account I'll hopefully be getting from Alaina and her peers.  However, I did find a list of traits that I think will be very helpful when considering my audience.  According to this webpage...

"A learning disabled student …

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  Has poor auditory memory—both short term and long term.
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  Has a low tolerance level and a high frustration level.
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  Has a weak or poor self-esteem.
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  Is easily distractible.
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  Finds it difficult, if not impossible, to stay on task for extended periods of time.
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  Is spontaneous in expression; often cannot control emotions.
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  Is easily confused.
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  Is verbally demanding.
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  Has some difficulty in working with others in small or large group settings.
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  Has difficulty in following complicated directions or remembering directions for extended periods of time.
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  Has coordination problems with both large and small muscle groups.
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  Has inflexibility of thought; is difficult to persuade otherwise.
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  Has poor handwriting skills.
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  Has a poor concept of time.

"

This webpage also lists the following tips for instructing these types of students:

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• Provide oral instruction for students with reading disabilities. Present tests and reading materials in an oral format so the assessment is not unduly influenced by lack of reading ability.
• Provide learning disabled students with frequent progress checks. Let them know how well they are progressing toward an individual or class goal.
• Give immediate feedback to learning disabled students. They need to see quickly the relationship between what was taught and what was learned.
• Make activities concise and short, whenever possible. Long, drawn-out projects are particularly frustrating for a learning disabled child.
• Learning disabled youngsters have difficulty learning abstract terms and concepts. Whenever possible, provide them with concrete objects and events—items they can touch, hear, smell, etc.
• Learning disabled students need and should get lots of specific praise. Instead of just saying, “You did well,” or “I like your work,” be sure you provide specific praising comments that link the activity directly with the recognition; for example, “I was particularly pleased by the way in which you organized the rock collection for Karin and Miranda.”
• When necessary, plan to repeat instructions or offer information in both written and verbal formats. Again, it is vitally necessary that learning disabled children utilize as many of their sensory modalities as possible.
• Encourage cooperative learning activities (see Teaching with Cooperative Learning) when possible. Invite students of varying abilities to work together on a specific project or toward a common goal. Create an atmosphere in which a true “community of learners” is facilitated and enhanced.

"

In considering this project, I also realized I can go in and talk to our very own Lita Clary over at Counseling and Student Support Services for more in-depth information on how to work with these types of students.  She recently gave a talk to the SCAD Mentors and Tutors, focusing primarily on dealing with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of autism that is growing increasingly more and more common--currently, 1 in every 110 births has Asperger's.  She has already been very informative about this disability, so I think it would be worth going to talk to her to see if she can provide me with any additional information.

Project Considerations

I'm still waiting for a reply from Alaina, but in the meantime, I've started to think about the various things I'll need to consider for my project.  Since I aim to support the education of special needs students, I'll need to be very considerate of their specific situations, and constantly remind myself that I'm not designing for the typical audience.

First and foremost, I need to consider what assumptions I can make in regards to my audience's understanding and capability.  This may very well require a lot of research on the different disabilities which are frequently found in special needs classes: is the understanding very low, or is the audience merely unable to express their understanding?  Can I at least assume they can still process and understand instincts, the basic needs conditions for survival?

On a related note, what are the most common disabilities found in special needs classrooms, and what, specifically, are the resulting impairments?  What is impaired, and how does it do so?

With these two things in mind, I come to the major, overarching problem that needs to be solved: how do I convey, teach, and train the necessary information effectively, and how do I generate the internal motivation to learn?  How do I reach my audience so centrally that the act of experiencing the presented content no longer poses a chore, but rather an opportunity, or even a pleasure?

These, I think, are the major challenges I'll need to face throughout this project.  They will influence each and every step, each and every design decision I make.  I very much anticipate that I will be doing as much learning through this process as I hope to eventually emulate, if not more so.

Pitch Decision

Last Thursday, I ended up pitching the following three ideas:

1. a facebook interpretation of a forum-based RPG
2. a d10 homebrew
3. an educational game

I'll be honest--when I was putting my initial three pitches together, I had my heart pretty set on one of the first two.  They were the things I was most familiar with, so I suppose it was to be expected.  Though, even as I was presenting that third pitch, I slowly began to sell myself on the idea--the class pushed me the rest of the way over.  I got a lot of great feedback and ideas for developing an educational game, and I think it will be not only extremely beneficial for my portfolio, but also a really fun and interesting experience.  My peers really helped me to see the potential of this direction, and I'm really excited to see where it takes me.

My friend Luke's sister, Alaina, happens to be an educator for special needs students.  He said she'd been telling him how they had a bunch of "educational games," but they were neither fun nor effective.  He passed me her email so I can take a look at the games currently at her class' disposal and get their feedback.  Creating a game to aid the educational experience of special needs students sounds like a very interesting direction for my project, and a very meaningful one.  If the end result is good enough, I'd be thrilled to see if it can actually be used in the classroom setting and make an impact in the world of education--we'll see!

Another friend--and invaluable mentor--Chris Schmidt suggested creating some sort of system so that teachers could input their own content.  While I currently have no idea how this would be accomplished, I think it's definitely something to pursue--after all, each and every classroom runs differently, even if they're the same subject run by the same teacher.  Making the game able to be adapted towards any class' specific needs would be an invaluable asset to the project, so I will definitely be exploring this aspect as well.

All in all, I have high hopes for this project.  I'm a bit worried about seeing its completion, but even if I can just get a fully-functional prototype in Flash or something, there's no reason the game can't be taken to an outside team to be completely developed into something actual teachers and students can start to use in schools.  I'm very excited for the quarter!

Day One

Here's the start of Studio I.  Over the summer, I've been thinking about what project I'll do.  Currently, my ideas are:

1. Adapt Nanashi to a facebook format
2. Create an entirely new facebook game inspired by forum-based RPGs
3. Develop a table-top RPG using White Wolf's d10-system

We'll see where it goes from here.