LEARNING 2007 Conference
Orlando, Florida

From October 21-24, 2007, over 2,000 professionals assembled in Orlando for Learning 2007, the annual global gathering of learning professionals focused on learning changes. Four Champlain College game development students were hard at work on a “serious game” experiment: to build two GameLets (short, Web-based learning games) in 58 hours. The purpose of the experiment was to advocate the use of educational games for professional learning.

The Champlain Four: from left, Emily Benton, Lauren Nishikawa, Ben LaPointe, and Wes Knee	Conference organizer Elliott Masie outlines the parameters of the experiement

Hard at Work

For the next four days, the Champlain Four were hard at work on their GameLets, with their trusty support staff and faculty not allowed to touch a keyboard! They worked right in the middle of the conference, allowing attendees and passers-by to stop and say hello, and check up on their progress. For much of the graphics work, the team used Autodesk Maya, and the final product was exported to Adobe Flash and compiled for the game. Emily worked in Maya, and Wes, Lauren, and Ben all worked in Flash.

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The team's challenge made them celebrities at Learning 2007; people stopped by regularly to say hello and give support.	The Champlain Four worked for four straight days in full view of the conference attendees.

Game Time

After several sleepless nights and countless hours of game development, the team finally wrapped their project by creating not two, but three GameLets. They presented their games at the end of the Learning 2007 conference in front of the 2,000 attendees.

The Learning 2007 GameLet project showed the dedication, skill, and focus of the Champlain Four to put their minds together and create well-conceptualized programs with very little time to spare and with failure as a real possibility. They made several all-nighters and worked under immense pressure to meet their short deadline, and their results truly impressed everyone who witnessed their experience from start to finish.

Their three GameLets are avalable to play here. Check out what the Champlain Four accomplished in just four days!

Phase 6 is a game that addresses the six phases of public health risk that are associated with the emergence of a new virus that may produce a pandemic threat.

Asymbolation is a game that addresses the challenges to NextGen employees entering the workplace. The learning game is from the perspective of the NextGen employee entering the workplace, taking into account such factors as dress, behavior, and acceptance.

Dress Elliott is a fun gamelet that allows you to dress Learning 2007 organizer Elliott Masie in a variety of wacky outfits. This GameLet was created at 2:00 a.m., created as a surprise by Emily Benton as she waited for her teammates who were wrapping the coding on the other games.