›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Achievement Unlocked - Educated

ProfPanglossProfPangloss
edited October 2011 in Video Games
So, it turns out that RIT's Interactive Games and Media program will be beta-testing a new Microsoft initiative to implement achievements at college. I know a graduate student who's been working on implementing this at RIT, and my understanding is that this will scrape info about you from the school, such as where you've been spending your debit and which classes you're taking, to track your progress towards achievements in the school.

I think it's a neat toy, but I'm not totally convinced it'll be a critical driving force that'll "encourage our students to engage in social, collaborative, and creative activities."


Inb4 "suck on that, Scott"

Comments

  • trogdor9trogdor9
    http://play.rit.edu/
  • Nine BoomerNine Boomer
    http://play.rit.edu/
    You gotta be shitting me.
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    Hey, if it gets people to take their education more seriously I'm all for it.
  • KieyKiey
    I remember the professors talking about doing something like this when I was at RIT, so I'm not really surprised it finally happened.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    The countdown clock is counting down minutes at the speed of seconds. I don't have too much confidence in this project.
  • AndrewAndrew
    edited October 2011
    Are grades not achievements? And graduating?
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    And getting a job? And then eventually getting a tombstone? Getting in a crypt is like a high score board.
  • AxelAxel
    It's about encouraging you to do well. I know my 2D Animation teacher's personal achievement is that you have to make something awesome (generally outside of class assignments), show it to him, and be able to prove to him WHY it's awesome. This provides the valuable skill of teaching students to advocate for themselves in an interview situation (or so I assume). That's why this idea is so awesome, and that's why my department is so much fun.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Aren't grades not achievements? And graduating?
    Grades are indicators of how well you have executed a task. Achievements are indicators of completing a task. Sometimes an achievement indicates high level of skill or accomplishment, but most often they don't. Five headshots with five bullets with a sniper rifle? Great, but given enough time a monkey could do that. Three headshots with EVERY five bullets? You get an A!
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    Great Teacher MacRoss went to a "games in education" symposium where he saw an awesome presentation about a guy who used vijigames and achievements with spectrum children. He managed to get groups to go from remedial reading levels to functioning at or above grade level.

    So it can work.
  • gomidoggomidog
    my 2D Animation teacher's
    You know, now that you've let the cat out of the bag, I am going to make you show me your animation.
  • AxelAxel
    edited October 2011
    my 2D Animation teacher's
    You know, now that you've let the cat out of the bag, I am going to make you show me your animation.
    Edit: So, I totally realized this had no place being posted here. All of my art has been posted in the "Youtube video you have made" thread.
    Post edited by Axel on
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    I actually spoke to the woman who was at the Games Symposium who was from RIT and talked about this very program. They talked about several reasons why they specifically avoided grades and performance based achievements. I forget the exact wording, and I'd have to go look at the notes, but they did some research and experimentation in their last project and found people would be less likely to participate if they had achievement based grades and academic performance. While it's not going to net everybody, a large population of RIT is undeniably the gamer type.
    This project is also going to have some wider-reaching implications since they plan on releasing their findings and software for free to other schools once they perfect it. This kind of thing can be exceedingly useful in schools where you are trying to track and change behavior by creating a more direct and immediate link to positive reinforcement. Think of an elementary school were kids are still learning how to do things like sit in a chair for 30 minutes, or a school like mine where some kids have developmental and cognitive disorders. That kind of tool could be very useful. Not to mention that there are additional pieces of software being developed for teaching lessons like 3D Game Lab which gears teaching specifically in a game/achievement direction.
Sign In or Register to comment.