Panel presentation at the Games Learning Society conference, University of Wisconsin, June 2010

1. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks:
Design-based Learning Models in Informal Settings
Kieth Braafladt Cynthia Matthias Brian Myers Ricarose Roque
Games + Learning + Society Conference
University of Wisconsin-Madison
June 2010

2. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks

3. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks

4. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
People’s Computer Center, Menlo Park, early 70s

5. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks

6. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
Eric Zimmerman, interviewed by Henry Jenkins (December 21, 2006)
Retrieved July 23, 2007 from
http://www.henryjenkins.org/2006/12/an_interview_with_eric_zimmerm.html

7. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
Game Maker Academy organized in 2006, initially as a recurring
library-based game design program using the Game Maker
platform
Conceived as a way of leveraging our successful open gaming
events and competitive gaming tournaments in order to give
youth and teens an opportunity to play the role of media
creators, not just consumers
Provided a context for the promotion of specific 21st century
literacy skills: systems thinking, information management,
creativity with digital media content, storytelling, logic, and
programming, thus aligning our goals with the Library’s
traditional role as a supporter and provider of literacy education.

8. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
Game Maker Object Editor

9. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
In early 2007 we began offering our first Scratch
programs
We began to see greater diversity among
participants, with a broader age range and more
girls in attendance
Many kids would come back to repeat
these programs (both Scratch and Game Maker)
and we watched as relationships formed among
these youth and teens

10. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
Some of the more engaged participants decided to form a club in order to
sustain the creative environment of the workshops, and to play a role in planning
and assisting with additional workshops
Meetings were irregularly scheduled at first, but then began occurring on a monthly
basis in one of the library meeting rooms. Members met in order to
• plan additional Game Maker and Scratch workshops,
• invite professional guests,
• plan game competition events
Club members began inviting figures from the gaming industry and from
academia as guests (Rachel Nador, left, and Patrick Curry, right).

11. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
Members invited to form a teen panel at the ALA’s 2007
Gaming, Learning and Libraries Symposium

12. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
By the summer of 2008 the club had been together long enough that its
members began to see it as a formal institutional entity
• Game Design Club web site was created - www.gamemakeracademy.org
• Members began thinking and discoursing critically about the club, its scope,
structure and its future (sense of ownership and responsibility)
• Members began delivering presentations to one another as a component of their
monthly meetings (controller mapping, 3D effects, content editing and editing tools)

13. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
GDC members began facilitating workshops themselves beginning in
2008
A couple members have even been hired to facilitate Game Maker and
Scratch programs at neighboring suburban libraries
Members have encouraged and helped to develop additional design
workshops and programs, built around the Alice, Robocode and
Greenfoot applications.
The club regularly hosts gaming tournaments that draw 20-30 teens. The
most popular of these have been the retro tournaments, which sometimes
include parents.

14. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks

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Reflections
Gender disproportion
Affinity => community => shared goals => collaboration
Informal learning spaces: how persistent?
Homes, Clubs, Museums, Community Centers,
Park Districts, Libraries, Online Communities
Learner-centeredness => ownership
Playfulness

16. Turtles, Gobos, Greeps and Brick Blocks
www.gamemakeracademy.org
www,gamedesignclub.org