BY ALLIE SPANGLER
The Parthenon
The Marshall Community and Technical College is collaborating with the World Wide Workshop Foundation on an innovative statewide pilot program called Globaloria.
Idit Caperton, president and founder of the foundation and inventor of Globaloria, said she received an invitation from Gov. Joe Manchin's office in July to start the program, which introduces students to Web game design and workplace skills.
Caperton said the program empowers West Virginia youth to create and collaborate online.
"The governor and first lady were looking for an innovative technology program that would transform education throughout the state by using the latest Web technology and innovative content," Caperton said. "They wanted to engage students in making computer games, and Globaloria was the perfect solution for their needs."
Caperton said Globaloria is a cutting-edge, very advanced program that integrates all of the newest technology including Web 2.0, social networking, open content and game design.
Caperton said they wanted to create a first-of-its-kind learning network in West Virginia, with the goal of becoming a leading model for the nation in innovative education.
Lee Kraus, program manager for Globaloria West Virginia, said the program is being piloted in eight West Virginia schools including the MCTC and seven middle and high schools.
Caperton said all of the students are following the same curriculum and learning methodology provided by Globaloria; however, the younger students advance slower through the course, and the games they make are simpler.
Kraus said the MCTC is the only community college in the state piloting the program.
"In the future we are looking to expand the program to other community colleges in the state," Kraus said. "We are using the MCTC as an example for them to follow."
Patrick Smith, MCTC instructor of gaming and animation, said the Globaloria gaming course introduces students to computer game theories, methods and practices. Students design and build original Web games for education, social change and learning.
"Globaloria is like our book publisher," Smith said. "In this pilot, they want feedback from the instructors and the students about what we liked and what didn't work so well. Globaloria provides the content to guide the class, but the students are the main content creator."
Smith said Globaloria uses the content it provides to the class to promote self learning.
"There is no book for this class; the student is the content creator," Smith said. "I give them tools from Globaloria, and then they go out and create the work. Students can use the entire Web as their resource."
Students use online blogs and wikis to post their design work and also share their knowledge of how the game was developed, Smith said.
According to dictionary.com, a wiki is "a collaborative Web site whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it."
This creates a large community built on an open-source gaming style, where people can look at the source code of the game and learn from it, Smith said.
Caperton said all Globaloria content posted on the blogs and wikis is open and available for use under the "Creative Commons" terms that apply to intellectual property rights.
Caperton said users are free to share, distribute and transmit work and to remix or adapt work.
Acoording to the Creative Commons Web site, this means users must: attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor. For any reuse or distribution, the user must make clear to others the license terms of the work.
"This class isn't about Halo or other violent, mind-numbing video games," Smith said. "Our goal is to make sure our students create positive educational games that can then inspire other students to say, 'I really like this game. I want to know how they made it.'"
Caperton said the program provides students with a positive introduction of gaming and real-life work experience.
"Students can see what it is like to work in a fast-changing global economy, much like if they worked at Cisco, Google or even at MIT," Caperton said. "We want students to learn how to collaborate well in a virtual space, learn how to solve problems and work as a team, so one day they can work at a software company that designs games with someone in China."
Brandon Stalnaker is one of five high school students at the Randolph County Technical Center in Elkins, W.Va., taking the gaming course online through the MCTC for college credit.
"It is a lot of self learning, but the Web provides tons of information to use," Stalnaker said. "I like the program because it is a mixture of creativity and technology."
Smith said starting in the fall, it will be a full two year program with an associate degree in information technology.
For more information about the program, contact Randall Jones at (304) 696-3059 or jonesr@marshall.edu.
Allie Spangler can be contacted at spangler16@marshall.edu.
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