importance of Computer Science as one of the Computing ... This analysis is based on the Bachelor's degree ... students from their first year of study in solving.
Computer Science students can help to solve problems of multiplayer mobile games Carolina Islas Sedano
Ekaterina Kuts
Erkki Sutinen
Department of Computer Science and Statistics, University of Joensuu PO. Box 111. FIN-80101, Joensuu {cislas, ekuts, sutinen}@cs.joensuu.fi
Abstract This study analyzes the possibility of involving Computer Science students in multiplayer mobile game development processes and using their knowledge to solve collaboration problems. We describe the importance of Computer Science as one of the Computing disciplines, and provide a summary of its knowledge areas according to their ability to help solve collaboration problems. This analysis is based on the Bachelor’s degree study program at the University of Joensuu, Finland. Research shows that it is highly possible to involve students from their first year of study in solving collaboration problems of multiplayer mobile games. Keywords: education communication
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mobile games, collaboration,
Introduction
Some researchers assert the need to improve the quality and impact of studies in the fields of education and technology (Reeves 2006). One of the possible solutions is to improve the research design based on development goals. Thus, the activity should be focused on creative approaches to solving problems while at the same time constructing reusable design principles. The development of games with educational purposes clearly falls within this categorization. As a consequence both objectives are constantly present in games. On the other hand, mobile technology is a new field of research. It offers the opportunity to embed learning within the environment (Schwabe & Göth 2005). Mobile devices have a number of unique advantages, such as accessibility for general use, a broad reach, a wide spectrum for executing tasks and constantly growing capabilities. In particular these functions enable us to use mobile devices in education (Mitchell et al. 2007). Combining game development with the use of mobile technologies offers us a wide set of possibilities. In addition, the learning experience can be enhanced due to the mobility and agility of participants in mobile games.
Copyright © 2008, Australian Computer Society, Inc. This paper appeared at the Seventh Baltic Sea Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli Calling 2007), Koli National Park, Finland, November 15-18, 2007. Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 88. Raymond Lister and Simon, Eds. Reproduction for academic, not-for-profit purposes permitted provided this text is included.
Computer Science has an important role to play in the growth of mobile games in general, regardless of educational aspects. Computer Science will not only help with the understanding of the technology but will also foster the formation and creation of interdisciplinary knowledge. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that any attempt to produce something by interdisciplinary means implies that as the complexities increase in the environment, so they do in the outcome. In other words, if game design and educational technologies already present challenges, once we combine them the complexities multiply. However, dealing with new approaches and technologies allows one to open a way for collaboration between disciplines. While this is a new phenomenon for the fields involved, it improves the possibilities of success. Mobile games can be one potential step towards this success. Mobile games are the most popular applications for mobile devices (Wagner 2005). Notwithstanding their advantages, educational multiplayer mobile games have a set of problems. Most of them have shortcomings in technological areas. We cannot avoid the fact that while the development of mobile devices is improving rapidly, devices with strong limitations are sill in use. Hardware problems include slow CPU speed, limited storage space, low precision on screen and the requirement of a large battery capacity for gaming purposes. Besides hardware challenges, mobile games also reveal problems in game play, personal understanding and software implementation. Focusing on educational multiplayer mobile gaming, it is essential to understand the communication and collaboration between learners or players (Antonellis et al. 2005). This knowledge is fundamental for further mobile game development not only with an educational purpose but in any type of mobile game. In this paper, after reviewing the literature, we observe the technology and communication trends that are presented in educational mobile multiplayer games, and their attendant challenges. In response to these challenges, we perform an analysis within the Computer Science discipline, searching to understand how this field can improve or solve communication problems. This is important for proper collaboration, and it also, in some cases, offers possible techniques for solving problems. The main criterion in the analysis of those techniques is an experience of solving similar problems in other areas. We are interested in ascertaining how students of computer science can help to resolve some problems
presented in educational mobile games and at the same time gain knowledge in related subjects of the discipline. Furthermore, we investigate how this can be integrated into the existing curriculum. Consequently, the scope of this paper includes the overview of existing educational multiplayer mobile games and their challenges. The next section contains an analysis of the potential of Computer Science to solve existing problems at the University of Joensuu, Finland. We continue with a section in which we discuss possible ways to engage students in this area.
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Mobile game collaboration problems
In our search of the common challenges in educational multiplayer mobile games we first reviewed published papers about existing projects or their prototypes. We identified 16 games that displayed both an educational and a multiplayer component (Kuts et al. 2007). Further analysis allowed us to find the communication types used today, among them private and public text, photo and video message exchange, calls, and game peripheral technologies. We define peripheral technologies as technologies that provide technical information from a game server about other players’ positions or actions to use the features of the modern mobile device. Considering collaboration as cooperation and integration of participants’ intellectual facilities, it is possible to analyse the main challenges through the design of collaboration actions in the reviewed material. We observed problems with game play (G) (e.g. coordination problems), personal and game understanding (U), hardware problems (H), and software implementation problems (S). Each group of challenges
was divided into two parts according to its type of communication. We visualize the data in Figure 1.
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Computing science potential helper
Eric Roberts, co-chair of ACM’s Education Board and professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, mentioned that “almost every major challenge facing our world is turning to computing for a solution, from conquering disease to eliminating hunger, from improving education to protecting the environment.” (Gold et al. 2007). It cannot be done just by computers per se. All those operations need human knowledge to use computers properly for specific purposes. However, from a Computer Science perspective one needs to have solid knowledge and skills that will allow one to implement technologies to resolve specific problems. Some of the basic knowledge is suggested by the major computing disciplines: Computing Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Technology and Software Engineering (Computing Curricula 2005). In this classification Computer Science covers a wide range of areas, from theoretical research to different development tasks. In this case, gaming is an even more complex multidisciplinary field, which includes computer science, information technologies, art and media. Year 1 term 1
Introduction to Computer Science (175111)
Programming (175112)
term 2
Programming (175112)
Discrete Structures (175114)
term 3
Programming (175112)
Computer Systems (175115)
Laboratory Project on Programming (175113)
IT passport
Data Structures and Algorithms 1 (175211)
Human Factors of Interactive Technology (175214)
term 1
Data Management (175212)
Procedural Programming (175213)
term 2
Laboratory Project in Computer Science (175215)
Freely elective courses
term 3
Data Structures and Algorithms 2 (175217)
Scientific Writing in Computer Science (175131)
term 4
Distributed and Concurrent Systems (175219)
Scientific Writing in Computer Science (175131)
term 4
Year 2
(G ) ay pl G
am
e
Oth analy ers: lang uag sis of target e, grou p
Savannah, Catch Bob!, Game based 25% on CS, Feeding Yoshi, Treasure
e am ) G (U d g an in al and on st rs er Pe nd U
n: icatio mun Com t, voice tex
Gopher, 25% REXplorer
Freely elective courses
Year 3
BuinZoo, Save the princess MobileGame 25% Human Pacman
H d ar
Oth
ar w e (H
n: ies tio ica log un hno mm l tec o a C er h rip pe
term 1
Introduction to Software Development (175220)
Software Project (175226)
term 2
Freely elective courses
Software Project (175226)
term 3
Theory of Computing (175221)
Bachelor’s degree thesis (175291)
term 4
Freely elective courses
Bachelor’s degree thesis (175291)
Im
)
er De s: sy vic ste e li m mit late ati o n n cy, s
pl S o em f en twa ta re tio n (S
)
CYSMN?, Bystander, Save the princess, Gopher, REXplorer, 25% Pacman, SciMyst, Human Treasure
Figure 1: Collaboration problems in educational multiplayer mobile games
Table 1: Discipline-based model
Digital Logic and HCI
Direct
Synchronization. The synchronization that should take place is between partners or a team, but also outside them. Time. To achieve stable player cooperation and collaboration, the players have to spend some time playing together, but normally mobile games do not offer enough time for it. Rules. For some games cooperation is not required, and you can reach the game goal by playing alone. In other situations game rules can be unclear or too difficult. Peripheral technologies. Technological misunderstanding for the players. Some games require special equipment and for some participants it can be problematic to use new devices.
Indirect
Social characteristics. The difference in education level, age, social background, or incorrect analysis of target groups bring challenges for the understanding of the game or devices. It can also present ethical problems.
Legal / Professional / Ethics / Society
Text, voice, video, peripheral technologies. System latency is one of the most limiting factors for communication problems. E.g. mobile providers do not support mostly video streams, or the implementation of voice conferences on mobile devices can be also complex. These can affect the players’ communication and learning level. Device limitations. Slow CPU speed, limited storage space, low precision on screen and requirement of large battery capacity.
Programming Fundamentals, and Computer Architecture
Peripheral technologies. Some games have implementation problems as they do not sufficiently enable hardware features within software, or tools for collaboration support.
Software Modeling and Analysis, Software Design, Software Verification and Validation, Software Evolution (maintenance), Software Process and others Graphics and Visualization
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Computer System Engineering, System Integration and HCI
Direct
CS knowledge areas
Voice and text. For games based on voice communication the frequent problem is a lack of understanding. This later leads to problems in strategy formulation and players’ confidence.
Indirect
Software Implementation (S)
Hardware related Personal and Game Problems (H) Understanding (U)
Game Play (G)
Multiplayer mobile games collaboration problems
User interface. Some games present insufficient or incorrect icons, color, characters between other interface features. In some cases it is not clear how to use game functions or navigate through the phones. Visualization. In location-based games, player does not always see new position on a screen. Other type of games do not visualize what the player is typing. For some players, written communication is difficult even in PDA.
HCI
Table 2: Collaboration challenges and knowledge areas To find disciplines that can help to solve the collaboration challenges of multiplayer mobile games we analysed the study curricula at the University of Joensuu. Table 1 shows disciplines according to the year of study. We observed obligatory disciplines for all students in the department of Computer Science and Statistics for the Bachelor’s degree. Turning next to the ACM Computing Curricula, we emphasize knowledge areas that can be useful for multiplayer mobile games, as shown inTable 2. Now it is possible to analyse disciplines at the University of Joensuu according to their challenges and knowledge area. In this way we formulated Figure 2, which allows us to understand the study program, and find combinations of knowledge and experience necessary for the exact game project. Freely elective courses might provide knowledge to solve some of the problems, but they are beyond the scope of this paper. We find that we can involve different students in multiplayer mobile game development processes from their first year of study.
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Discussion
The idea of involving students in multiplayer mobile game development is relevant today. It can help students to improve their knowledge not only in Computer Science, but in related fields. We want to emphasize that educational mobile games can offer learning experiences from an early developmental stage. For example, first year students can participate in group work even without deep knowledge in the subject, but offering them a foretaste of where they can go with their education. In this case, they have to solve small tasks or develop some features that allow them to work and study together with game developers and computer science experts. Additionally, with the works on offer and the ongoing university game projects, at the end of the development students can play with their product, and this might increase the likelihood of engaging people in the study. Moreover, this developmental route aggregates learning, including experience in related subjects, and also offers enjoyment while conquering challenges to reach goals; which is clearly desirable for students.
Figure 2: Bachelor’s degree study plan and opportunity to use students’ knowledge According to previous findings (Table 2 and Figure 2) we can compose Figure 3, which shows by year of study the number of disciplines that can help to solve challenges in multiplayer mobile games. We see that it is in the first year of study that students get most of the knowledge needed to help solve collaboration problems in educational mobile games. Furthermore, students’ attraction to the game development process from the beginning of the project and of their university study can help not only to improve knowledge but to understand further career preferences and to work together with competent people.
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References
Antonellis I., Bouras C., Poulopoulos V. (2005): Game Based Learning for Mobile Users. 6th International Conference on Computer Games: AI and Mobile Systems (CGAIMS 2005), Lousville, Kentucky, USA. Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report, 30/09/2005. ACM Press. URL: http://www.acm.org/ education/curric_vols/CC2005-March06Final.pdf. Accessed July 28, 2007 Gold, V., Wilson, C. (2007): Guide to Computing Careers Helps Students Develop Right Skills. ACM Press Room. URL:http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-
N um ber of disciplines
6
Game play
5 4
Software
3 2
Hardware
1 0
Understanding
1 year 2 year 3 year
Figure 3: Approximate number of disciplines by year of study that can help to solve problems
releases/computingcareers/ .Accessed July 28, 2007. Kuts, E., Islas Sedano, C, Sutinen, E. (2007): Communication and collaboration in educational multiplayer mobile games. Proceedings of Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age. December 7-9, 2007. Algarve, Portugal. (forthcoming) Mitchell, A., Cisic, D., Maxl, E. (2007): Mobile GameBased Learning – issues emerging from preliminary research and implications for game design. URL: http://domino.fov.uni-mb.si/proceedings.nsf/ Proceedings/D0C83B3C486A940AC12572EE007AD D88/$File/Paper105.pdf. Accessed July 13, 2007. Reeves, T. (2006): IT Design Based Resarch. Saving Instructional Technology from Irrelevance: The Promise of Design Research. URL http://www.uga.edu/grepit/events-it-design-basedresearch.html. Accessed August 10, 2007. Schwabe, G. and Göth C. (2005): Mobile Learning with a Mobile Game: Design and Motivational Effects. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 204. Wagner, E.D. (2005): Enabling Mobile Learning. EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 40, no. 3 (May/June 2005): 40–53. URL: http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/ erm05/erm0532.asp. Accessed July 21, 2007
