Presentation by Ruben Puentedura for Connect@NMC live session on May 18, 2009 -- see http://www.nmc.org/connect/rubenp

1. Telling Stories, Playing Games
Ruben R. Puentedura, Ph.D.

2. Four Engines of Transformation
Social Computing Digital Storytelling
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Visualization and
Educational Gaming
Simulation

3. Educational Gaming

4. Formal Definition of Play (Salen & Zimmerman)
quot;Play is free movement within a
more rigid structure.quot;
Salen, K. and E. Zimmerman, Rules of Play : Game Design Fundamentals. The MIT Press. (2003)
Formal Definition of Game
quot;A game is a system in which
players engage in an artificial
conflict, defined by rules, that
results in a quantifiable
outcome.quot;

5. Games and Abstraction
• Some videogames are more like real-life simulations:
• Others are more abstract:
Games and Goals
• Some videogames are driven by real-life type goals:
• The goals in other games are more arbitrary:

6. Games and Narrative
Interactive Fiction
Role-playing Games
• Provide domain-specific analytic
and problem-solving approaches
MMOGs • Enhance skill transfer to related
Commercial Critical Gaming
tasks or domains
• Enhance general skills or
ARGs cognitive processes
Sims Games
• Provide domain-specific content
• Provide domain-specific analytic
and problem-solving approaches
Real-Time Strategy Games Instructor-Created
• Enhance skill transfer to related
tasks or domains
Educational
• Enhance general skills or
Turn-based Strategy Games cognitive processes
Student-Created
• Develop specific social
structures
• Improve participant motivation
Twitch and Rhythm Games
R. Puentedura, “I Taught It, Bought It at the Game Store: Repurposing Commercial Games for Education”.
NMC Summer Conference Proceedings. (2007)

7. Digital Storytelling
The Layout of Lascaux
Source: Alain Jaubert, Lascaux, Préhistoire de l'art. Arte Video (1996)

8. Autun Cathedral

9. Nonlinear Narrative Geometries: “Look Behind You”
Daniel in the Lions’ Den Samson Destroying the Temple
Christ Appears to Mary Magdalen Noah’s Ark
Fall of Simon the Magician
Liberation of Saint Peter
Ascension of Simon the Magician
The Prisoners in the Furnace
Sacrifice of Isaac Nativity of the Infant Jesus
Floorplan Source: http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/11316.htm
Daniel/Christ Appears
Prisoners/St. Peter

10. Forms of Digital Storytelling
Pictorial vocabulary;
Narrative sources; Narrative transitions; CDS Seven Elements; Narrative structures;
Narrative constraints Text/image integration Montage structures Narrative flows Ludic elements
Image Sequential Moving Interactive Interactive
Assembly Art Image Media Fiction
5-Card Nancy Comic Life Premiere Pachyderm Inform 7
R. Puentedura, “Digital Storytelling: An Alternative Instructional Approach”. NMC Summer Conference Proceedings. (2008)

11. Five-Card Nancy
http://www.7415comics.com/nancy/index.html
Pachyderm and Structure
http://pachyderm.nmc.org/

12. The Formal and Structural Questions
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics. HarperCollins. (1993)

13. The Basic Screenplay Paradigm (Field)
THE The Story:
PARADIGM
WORKSHEET
ACT I ACT II ACT III
First Half 50% Second Half
25% 75%
Dramatic Context Dramatic Context
Midpoint
about page 60
Plot Point I Plot Point II
(approx. 20-30) (approx. 80-90)
17–25% 67–75%
SET-UP CONFRONTATION RESOLUTION
Copyright ! 2000 Syd Field
S. Field, Screenplay - The Foundations of Screenwriting, Third Edition. Dell Publishing. (1994)
Modular Storytelling Example
Perm. 1 Perm. 4 Perm. 1 Perm. 4
Dyn. 1 Dyn. 6 Dyn. 3 Dyn. 4
First Perm. 2 Perm. 5 First Perm. 2 Perm. 5
Story Step Dyn. 2 Dyn. 5 Story Step Dyn. 1 Dyn. 2
Perm. 3 Perm. 6 Perm. 3 Perm. 6
Dyn. 3 Dyn. 4 Dyn. 6 Dyn. 5
Player A Player B
L. Sheldon, Character Development and Storytelling for Games. Thomson Course Technology PTR. (2004)

14. Bibliography
• Educational Gaming:
• Salen, K. and E. Zimmerman. Rules of Play : Game Design Fundamentals.
Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2003.
• Salen, K. and E. Zimmerman. The Game Design Reader : a Rules of Play Anthology.
Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2006.
• Lakoff, G. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things : What Categories Reveal About the
Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
• Randel, J.M., B.A. Morris, C.D. Wetzel, and B.V. Whitehill. “The Effectiveness of
Games for Educational Purposes: A Review of Recent Research.” Simulation &
Gaming (Volume 23):261-276, 1992.
• Fletcher, J.D. and S. Tobias. “Using Computer Games and Simulations for
Instruction: A Research Review.” Proceedings of the Society for Advanced Learning
Technology Meeting, 2006.
• Puentedura, R. “I Taught It, Bought It at the Game Store: Repurposing Commercial
Games for Education”. NMC Summer Conference Proceedings, 2007.
Available online at:
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2007-conference-proceedings
• Puentedura, R. “Beyond World of Warcraft: the Universe of MMOGs”. NMC Summer
Conference Proceedings, 2007.
Available online at:
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2007-conference-proceedings

15. • Digital Storytelling:
• Jaubert, A. Lascaux, Préhistoire de l'Art. Arte Video, 1996.
• Puentedura, R. “Digital Storytelling: An Alternative Instructional Approach”. NMC
Summer Conference Proceedings, 2008.
Available online at:
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2008-conference-proceedings
• McCloud, S. Understanding Comics. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
• Field, S. Screenplay - The Foundations of Screenwriting, Third Edition. New York:
Dell Publishing, 1994.
• Campbell, J. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New Jersey: Princeton University
Press, 1972.
• Propp, V. Morphology of the Folktale. Trans. L. Scott. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1968.
• Sheldon, L. Character Development and Storytelling for Games. Boston: Thomson
Course Technology PTR, 2004.
Hippasus
http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog/
rubenrp@hippasus.com
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