John Dewey to Farmville

3 Decades of Learning

BING GORDON [email protected] Partner, Kleiner Perkins May 2011 , , Ideo: Inspired by John Dewey • Dewey – “Learn by doing” • Electronic Arts – “Software worthy of the minds that use it.” • Ideo – “Design thinking” • Facebook – 10 friends is a “win”.

Why, Why, Gamify???

• patterns are the new normal. – Rewired brains? Rewired expectations? – Data structures and architectures – User interface

• Interest, engage, retain. – 3x/week, 4-24 months. - 2 to 10x improvements! How economists used to learn math How Future Economists Will Learn Math “Manipulatives ”

• Quantity and arithmetic: – Rating systems – Surface numbers • Algebra and algorithms – Find the “money plays” – “Resource management” and scarcity – “cheat” websites • Probabilities and statistics – “maximization” Numbers are everywhere! (free! On Facebook) Collections and “rares” Resource management in Farmville Constraints and quantity Learning NFL Math (John Madden Football) • Passing – 34att/game, 59% completion – 7 yds/pass att. – 3% int • RiRunning – 28 runs/game – 4.1 yds/run – 3% fumble The math of the tackle (Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, etc)

• Tackle if contact = 70% -.5 (break tackle – tackle) • Yardage from contact = greater of 1 yard or 3. 5 yds + . 1 x (Str- Str) + f(angle)*35 3.5 For Cellphone users..

: 94% of all children 11-13 years of age have mobile wireless wiki. Answers .com Phyyypsics in your pocket! The Math of (PC, Mac) • Personality attributes: social, active, etc • NdNeeds an dObjtd Objects +5 comfort couch, +3 hunger fridge • Relationship scale 0-100 • Career rankings 1-10 • Economy Math of the Sims Science Project

• Start with “creativity ” skill 0 • Fastest way to earn 1000 simoleons • LtLots o f grap hs an d c har t!ts! And if you don’t have enough computers ilin your classroom • Casino math: Roulette – manipulate the payout – Gather data from students – Compete with macros

• Casino math: Blackjack – Manipulate the payout – Count cards, short deck – Compete with macros

• Survivor Dice – 6-sided, xx-sided – Dice an d co in-flip pro ba bilities English

• Word comprehension – Decoding menus and rules

• Writing and story-telling – User GCGenerated Content – Sharing and modifying

• Critical reading “My son is running home from schl”hool…” •“… to get on his computer. He won’ ttgo go outside. He’s ppaylayinga n , called . What should I do?” The new short short story is a Quest! as literature manipulatives The new “ alphabet game” The T-Man Story

• “With his eyype problems, your son may never read.”

• So he played videogames.

• 4. 0 at Cal; Master’ ssat at Carnegie Mellon

• Now a producer for Electronic Arts

The most important UGC is Text (1% upload, 25% download)

•“Aileen City is such a great place to live. The parks are beautiful and the highways are never jammed. Come to Aileen City!” • “Joe City is a towering spectacle of glass and concrete. It is not just a city, it is an economic dynamo!” • “You have to watch the citizens to understand Jennville. They shop, they bustle, their houses are perfect.” “My son won’t read books…”

•“All he wants to do is play videogames. He especially likes this one called Medal of Honor…” • Ambrose used over 1400 interviews … – Once the battle starts, the excitement and fear of the grunts sweeps the reader up into their personal histories.

• The player takes on the role of Lt. Mike Powell, storming Omaha Beach. – often compared to Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan; many of the levels are direct quotations of the scenery (or even complete sequences as in the Omaha Beach mission) in the film.

• The narrative centers on the experiences of Easy Company, and includes the American landings in Normandy. – A large amount of literary license was taken with the episodes, with several differences between recorded history and the film version. Math

• What percent of American men between the ages of 18-25 saw action on D-Day?

• How many D-Day casualties were reported (injuries, deaths) for Axis and Allied forces?

• Compare the probability of D-Day survival in each of the 3 works, and history? English

• Character development: – Compare the development of one character in each work. – What is their goal? – What skills, beliefs, lessons do they learn? – What is your favorite “scene ” for this character and why? History • “Eyewitness accounts” – How do the differ in each work?

• If you were th e hi st ori an… – How would you assemble the “official history” of an important event like D-Day? Find an example.

• What liberties… – Do each of these works take from historical accounts you find on the internet? “Gamification” Principles of “Gamification” Getti ng st ar ted • The first 5 seconds! – “I am smart. This is what I expected.” • First session – “This is fun. What I expected, but a bit better.” – “I know what I am going to do next session, and I like it.” • Firs t sess ion ru les: – “Win first, win fast.” – Reason to return. Principles of “Gamification” Stayi ng engage d

• Great second session: 2x •“Invest” and avoid“ wither” :: 4x • Viewable profiles: 2x • Bad ges /Ac hievemen ts: 2x • Stories: 25% • UGC and Decoration: 4x, for 25% of players • Social obligation: 4x, for 25% of players • Numbers, stats, cards: 2x for 10-25%. Principles of “Gamification” Gifts 30x Brags! Principles of “Gamification” Co-op preferred to Principles of “Gamification”

• VlValue w hthat you ma ke, va lue w hthat you earn. • “Golf courses should look hard, play easy.” • 90% of players are 90% of the way. • Constraints are actually fun. • Experts fail fast. • ElEveryone else: – wins fast, wins first. My Own “ Lit Club” Experience

• Middle school students remembered movie scenes from 2 years ago, but not books from last night. • Answer: “cross-media” assignments. Creative writing: Script a movie!

• Which page would you start the movie on? • Which actors would you cast? • Editing: A movie screenplay only has 100 pages; which parts of the works would you expand or delete? • SdtkSoundtrack: What music would you use? • Drama: what ending would you use? Creative writing: design a game!

• Camera view: – First person, third person, god view? • Heroes: – one protagonist? Group or party? Which chappygyters/scenes would you use for a game? Why? • Resource management: – Scarcity? Achievements? Level designs and balance? • Story line: – Quests? A single throughline? Gamers “Think Different”

• Self-paced.

• Save and restore.

• Micro-productivity.

• Live life in levels.

• “Always open closedd d doors.” The Game Plan for Class

• Design for wins, esp in first session.

• JtJust-in-time l earn ing. – Index, not table of contents.

• Co-op is better t ha n co m peti ti on. – Gifting is more powerful than achieving! “ If you want to make videogames some day…

Study English, Math and Movies.”

“We never thought of videogames.” You are the future.

• Thank you

• bgor don @kpc b.com And teachers should have fun, too! • gaga