[game_edu] The New "World Processor" (was ESA Foundation Computer and Video Game Scholarship)

[darius.igda at inglang.com]

Hello all,

I very much like how Ian expressed his point.

However, I have a slightly different perspective, if you could indulge me for
using a parable.

Suppose we were alive when the first hardware dedicated word processors and
desktop publishing software packages were released and schools considered this
the next 'wave of the future for writing'. (Well, I was alive then, but that's
beside the point.)

So the different school departments debated which of them should teach "word
processing".

Since most documents were written in English, the English dept. thought they
should teach this new "word processing".

But, since most of the written works created by authors (in all languages) with
these new "word processors" were fictional works created purely for
entertainment, the Multilingual Creative Writing dept. thought they should
teach "word processing". But, they insisted the software be called
"entertainment designing/developing software for words", and, for other uses of
"word processors", such should be call "serious entertainment
designing/developing software for words".

The CS dept. thought they should teach "word processing" since all "word
processors" were created by software programmers and the software had
key-stroke macros and scripts which would make everyone's writing faster and
more accurate.

The Engineering dept. described how "word processing" documents were essential
for explaining the "how" and "why" of their engineering diagrams. So they
wanted to teach "word processing for engineers".

Because "word processing" words were the same as hand written words really, the
distinguishing feature of "word processors" were the new resizeable, color
fonts and layout of illustrations and photos, the Art dept. wanted to teach
"word processing" to create the right emotional visual effects.

Since all words and expressions originated in the mind before ever being
expressed in the real world and one needed to train the mind and hand in this
new, non-linear form of thinking, the Psychology dept. wanted to teach "word
processing".

Business folks could use "word processing" to communicate more quickly between
businesses and the government as well, so the MBA dept. wanted to teach "word
processing".

The Law dept. was afraid that if just anyone used "word processors" it would
lead to confusion, so they want to teach everyone concise, precise ways of
using the "word processors".

Because most documents created by "word processors" needed to be printed and
published, the Typography, Printing, and Publishing dept. believed they should
teach "word processing".

Universities wanted to teach "word processing" to improve scientific papers and
set the "word processing" curriculum standards for other schools.

The best "word processing" professionals knew that this was an extremely
technical, complex, and multi-disciplined field and so desired it to be a
school of learning in its own right, an equal among peers.

...

So, most students learned "word processing" because they thought that if they
could be the best users of "word processors" they could get lucrative jobs in
Hollywood as writers. [Strike that.]

The schools taught "word processing" because they wanted to be known as centers
of the best and most creative "word processing" students and attract all the
businesses to the area that needed "word processing".

And they lived happily ^E^E^E^E^E^E productively ever after. The End key.
_________

Well, it didn't work like that.

Word Processors, and systems which provided that function, are a "communication
medium". They became prevalent in all industries and fields of study for
storing, sending, and printing the written word. One learned on the job and/or
from friends just the bits to make one's life a little better.

I assert that immersive, interactive, rule-based, emotive, shared, creative
worlds are a new communication medium, the "meta-medium" which encompasses all
the others. Hence, this medium will be used in all industries and fields of
study (emphasizing one aspect or another of the medium capabilities as needed
in the spectrum between "game", "simulation", and "performance"). It will
store, send, and share expressions of operations, processes, and rules of known
and imagined systems and systems-of-systems.

"Metaverse world creation tools" will appear in our productivity suites along
with the word processors, spreadsheets, slide show presentations, database
management, non-linear video editors/players, and social networking tools. The
metaverse world tools will then gradually absorb and supercede the
functionality of the other tools in the suite.

Folks will learn just enough to self publish on You-World, their Wlog
(mirror-world-blog), or add a little to the shared corporate history/forecast
simulation. In reality, accounting/ERP systems are simulations but only
expressed in numbers, words, and graphs to represent place, time, performance,
expectations, etc.

In time, one's avatar will just be a logo for, representation of, and doorway to
one's own system of worlds and the operations, processes, and reflections of
ideas expressed therein for others to visit.

Or so it seems imho. So, how do we teach that?

Cheers,
Darius Clarke
edusims.com
________________
Ian
Sun Mar 1 20:38:45 EST 2009

I think you could make a case for placing game design just about anywhere. It's
one of the most interdisciplinary fields I've ever encountered.

You're making the rules that govern a living world. You could argue that this is
essentially what is studied in a school of law... or theology.

A game designer doesn't build the game, but they make the specs and design docs
that other people follow in order to build it. That is essentially what an
architect does with buildings, so we could be in the school of architecture
(especially when you consider the use of architecture in level design).

A game designer is like a party host; we invite the player in to our world and
try our best to make sure they have a good time. Game design could grow out of
the field of hospitality services.

Game design has a huge amount of crossover with education; so much has already
been written about flow theory, and how the "fun" of games comes from learning
and skill mastery. So we could be in the school of education.

Game design is about creating a specific mental state in the player, so an
understanding of how the brain works would help greatly. We could be in the
department of psychology or neuroscience.

Game design involves taking a lot of separate mechanics and putting them
together in a way that the whole is more appealing than the sum of the parts.
This is essentially what a chef does too, so there is crossover between the
skills that make someone great in the kitchen and great on a development team.
Game design could arguably be part of the culinary arts.

I realize some of these are more of a stretch than others. My point is that it
doesn't really matter where it goes, because it can really go anywhere... as
long as the people teaching it know what they're doing, and as long as the
department can play nice with all the other departments that are dealing with
other aspects of game development.

- Ian