Excelsior College's Pioneering new online Class Designed as a Game

1. Secrets
The Game Is On
Excelsior College
The Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning
Washington, D.C.
16 May 2014
Lee Sheldon
Associate Professor
Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Photograph courtesy of the CareHart Foundation

2. Secrets
The Game Is On
Excelsior College
The Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning
Washington, D.C.
28 January 2014
Lee Sheldon
Associate Professor
Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Photograph courtesy of the Chromogen Corporation

3. Secrets
The Game Is On
Lee Sheldon
Associate Professor
Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Excelsior College
The Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning
Washington, D.C.
28 January 2014
Photograph courtesy of the CareHart Foundation
line

4. This is not about a MOOC!
Here's some background…

5. Collateral learning occurs at the
convergence of two distinct, undeniable
forces:
and the human attributes of
that hunger for both.
storytellinggameplay
curiosity imagination
Introducing Collateral Learning

6. Gameplay

10. Tradition

11. “Good morning,
you all have an F.”

13. “However you can all level up.”

15. We brought it.
To the classroom.
Higher grades, better participation, better retention, almost perfect attendance.

16. Story

17. The Skeleton Chase
Skeleton Chase 2: The
Psychic
Skeleton Chase 3:
Warp Speed
Indiana University
2008-2009

20. The Lost Manuscript
Rensselaer Polytechnic University 2011

21. Final exam:
a police interrogation

22. Lost Manuscript 2: The Summer Palace Cipher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Emergent Reality Lab 2013

23. Well you can bet tonight it's raining in Dublin
In the morning or the evening about the same
And thousands of miles away
I miss you more and more each day
But the strangest thing is how I miss the rain...
-Kevin McKrell

24. A New Land
These
Far
Hills

25. A New Land

28. Online

29. Gameplay + Story + Online
Secrets
Excelsior College Fall 2014

31. “Greetings from the future! I tried for quite awhile
to figure out how to open this video. I wanted to
be impressive and welcoming. But when I finally
said it on camera it sounded kind of silly. Oh well,
hopefully you’re still watching!
My name is Audra Casey. And I am speaking to you
from…get ready for it…the year 2084! I kid you
not!”
The Collective
Video Script
Believe

32. Primal Empathy
“Primal Empathy or PE is a kind of psychic
harmony that allows us to connect with one
another, not really telepathic, but an ability to
form a tight, instinctual empathetic bond that
transcends national, cultural and racial
differences.
If all humankind can learn to strongly identify
with one another then hatred and war will be
evils of the past.”
Video Script

33. “Hey there. So yeah, I expect you’ve seen
The Collective’s peace and harmony
speech. We heard they were going to try
something radical. I guess that means we’re
succeeding. They can’t defeat us in 2084, so
they’ve reached back into the past to try
and change the rules.”
Fortress 9
Video Script
Resist

34. “They probably painted a pretty rosy picture about
how PE helps us to understand each other better, to
walk in the next guy’s shoes, yeah? That’s actually
kind of how it works with somebody else who’s also
had their DNA “supplemented.” But what this has
done is turn our world into the haves and have nots.
Want all that good feeling directed at you? You better
have had your DNA upgraded. Otherwise you might
just get ignored.”
Video Script
Choose

38. Secrets: Gameplay, Story and Learning
• Videos from the future?
• Primal Empathy?
• Research that was begun in our time?
• Are these really the questions that must be answered?
• There are secrets within secrets.
• Students must question what they are being told; learn about the nature of identity on
the Internet; investigate web sites both real and fictional.
• Their investigations (research, solving puzzles) are tightly integrated with the curriculum
of the class.
• Students will share their knowledge of the Internet with one another as they learn more,
and as long as they trust each other…
• There are even secrets about their classmates…
Trust no one

39. Secrets Online
Tom Wetherall is a likable, intelligent
member of the class who says he works
for an Organic Health Food Company. He
doesn’t. He is in fact one half of the hint
system, and a character in the story (bad
guy), controlled by the instructor and a
teaching assistant.
Ann Bennett is another likable, intelligent
student in the class. She is the other half of
the hint system, a character in the story
(FBI cybercop on the virtual trail of a
dangerous conspiracy). Ann is also
controlled by the instructor and a
teaching assistant.
Together they drive discussion and the story.

40. Secrets

41. Collateral learning occurs at the
convergence of two distinct, undeniable
forces:
and the human attributes of
that hunger for both.
storytellinggameplay
curiosity imagination

42. Secrets
An online class that is also a narrative-
driven game, deeply integrated with all
aspects of curriculum and normal class
interactions.
Students want to learn.
So they can discover the truth behind
Gameplay + Story + Online

43. Secrets

44. Secrets
a new kind of online class

45. Thank you!
Excelsior College
Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning
Washington, D.C.
16 May 2014
Chromogen for a Better Tomorrow