Development of Mobile Phone Instructional Video Games

The PPT presentation from this event can be downloaded by clicking here.

Join us at TLT 2007 (April 3rd and April 4), as we discuss how to develop educational games for moble phones. The presenter will cover the pedagogical and design issues of using this platform for instructional content. This will include examining how specific types of instructional objectives can be mapped to gaming activities and how those activities can be tailored to work well within the confines of a cell phone.

Next, the presenter will discuss how to implement those activities on a cell phone. He will provide an overview of the Java ME platform and how to develop for the platform using MIDP 2.0. The presenter will also discuss 3D game development using the Mobile 3D Graphics API. Special emphasis will be placed on using the phone's networking capability to develop collaborative learning activities and the tracking of learner performance. Specifically, the presenter will show how to use the Generic Connection Framework and the Messaging API (JSR-205) to (a) exchange data with web sites, (b) exchange data with databases, (c) synchronize gaming activities using datagrams, and (d) send/receive text messages from within an educational game.

Last, the presenter will discuss how to deploy educational games in manner that works on the major US cell networks (Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Cingular/AT&T). Each of these networks has fairly specific procedures for deploying content on their network. For example, Sprint requires that any game or application that accesses the networking services of the phone be digitally signed with a Java Digital Code certificate. Cingular and T-Mobile do not have these requirements.

Summary of Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to integrate learning objectives into gaming activities that work well on cell-phones
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the cell phone platform as an instructional and as a gaming platform
• Learn how to track learner data by interfacing the phone's networking capabilities and traditional web/database technologies
• Gain an overview of developing 2D and 3D mobile applications using Java ME (MIDP 2.0) and the Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G)
• Understand the specific procedures for deploying mobile games over the major carrier's networks (Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Cingular/AT&T)

Connection to the "Mobile 3D Instructional Game Development" Workshop?

Attendees interested in a more hands-on experience at making mobile 3D video games are encouraged to attend the Mobile 3D Game development workshop co-sponsored by E-Games and the Envision Center.

Presenter information:

Carlos Morales is an associate professor of computer graphics technology at Purdue University where he teaches mobile game development. He currently has numerous grants to develop educational games. Prior to coming to Purdue, Carlos worked at High Voltage Software developing console games. He is the co-author for Mobile 3D Games: From Start to Market.