This document discusses games and programming education programs at two Washington state prisons - Clallam Bay Corrections Center and Olympic Corrections Center. It outlines the student population and curriculum challenges faced in a prison setting with no internet access. It then describes the IT solutions developed, including virtualized servers and file sharing, to overcome these challenges. Finally, it provides examples of game and software development projects completed by students in C#, Blender, and other tools.

1. Games Behind Bars
Peninsula College
Clallam Bay Corrections Center
Brian Walsh – Corrections Education Director
Ray Pulsipher – CSE Instructor
Serious Play Conference 2013

2. Play in Prison? Really?

3. Olympic Peninsula Who we are:
• Washington State Community
College
• Contracted by State Board of
Community and Technical Colleges
(SBCTC) to provide education at
two prisons
• Located on the rural Olympic
Peninsula with 70,000 residents
Clallam Bay Corrections Center
(CBCC)
900 bed adult male maximum,
close and medium facility
Olympic Corrections Center
(OCC)
370 bed adult male minimum
work camp

4. • Wide age range 18 - 75
• Diverse backgrounds
– Race
– Gang Affiliation
– Education
– Mental health
– Substance Abuse
• How long have they been locked up?
• Length of time until release
Student Population

5. • Adult Basic Education
• Bookkeeping
• Horticulture
• Small Business
• Baking
• Green Building
• Game/Mobile Programming
Our Programs – CBCC and OCC

6. • Long Commute
• No remote access
• Updating curriculum and current events
• IT Issues – system updates?
• Getting online tools into the classroom
• Multiple campus locations
• Trying new things can be tough
• Limited options for homework – no electronics in their cells
• Budget
• Maximum security – Following the process when bringing
stuff in
Curriculum Design Challenges

7. • Creating our own internet
– Take over root level DNS
– Virtualize servers for easier movement in and out
of the facility
– Clone anything we can (websites, linux distros,
etc…)
– Run standalone copies of software or licensing
servers where possible
IT Challenges – NO INTERNET!!!

8. Build Some Roads
Start with some infrastructure
and how about some free software too?
We run 11 different virtualized
Linux or windows servers on
one box
We use Nas4Free for
our NAS solution

9. Proxmox server
VMs are big files, this allows
us to take them out of the
institution for
updates/maintenance.
Also allows us to build them
elsewhere and bring them
in or clone them for use on
other sites.
Syncing content of
individual apps like Canvas
can still be tricky. Backups
to IMS format is easiest
method right now.

10. Viewing Student Screens - ITalc
• Windows or Linux software -
http://italc.sourceforge.net/

11. • Differences – Teaching outside and in
• Project based learning and flipped classrooms
• Staying productive for 3-6 hours
• Peer pressure inside (good and bad)
• Learning to love books
• Teaching life long learning skills
• Encouraging innovation
Building A Learning Culture

12. Games Inside
• Game playing
• Game building
• Business projects with game elements
– Social networking site with mini games
– Construction project tools
– Entrepreneurship projects
• Students coding instructional content

13. • Visual Studio and Xamarin Studio (C#)
• MonoDroid (android dev in C#)
• Netbeans (java, php)
• Eclipse (android dev)
• Kloxo (hosting html5/css/javascript/php/mysql)
• Irrlitch (3D engine)
• Qt-project (cross platform c++ with mobile support)
• Blender
• Gimp/Photoshop
• Gamemaker
Tools We Use

14. Student Projects – Learning C#

15. Student Projects – C# Music, Sort, Tron

16. Student Projects – C# Matrix and
Console RPG

17. Student Projects – Othello and Frog
Jump Puzzle

18. Student Projects – 3D Rendering with
Blender

19. Student Projects – 3D Rendering with
Blender

20. Student Projects – Making Wesnoth
Levels

21. Student Projects – 3D Models with
Blender by tracing

22. Student Projects – C# Social Media
Website

23. Step Down – Preparing Inmates For
Release
• How can we better prepare inmates for
release?
– Role play does not work well in prison due to
social pressures
– Orientation simulations on entry to and exit from
a high stress environment
– Preventative Activities
• What real world skills will make student
successful?

24. Where next?