Authentic Learning Projects: Best Class/Community Partnership EVER!

Today is the day that our final product from Game Design came to fruition.  I can't believe that this actually happened.  About six months ago, the curator from the Napa Valley Museum, Meagan Doud, called New Tech High, looking for interns to help with a future exhibit about Indie Games.  They sent the call to me, thank goodness!

At that time, I boldly suggested that instead of recruiting a few interns, why didn't we just have the two Game Design classes I teach take on the exhibit as a school project?  I had no idea how awesome it would be!

I took the idea to the students and asked permission to let go of the last project of the year, which was to center around coding and drones.  Some were reluctant, because, hey, who doesn't love tinkering with drones? But most saw it as an opportunity to do something real and substantial, related to the Game Industry, a field that about half of the 45 students were interested in entering upon graduation from high school, or college.  

We split the teams up into different sections, some covering music, art, 3D  modeling, video, interactivity, early childhood educational components, game mechanics and game careers.  Students picked their own areas of interest and away we went.  We met with the curator every two weeks, either in person, or via Skype to review questions, status reports and next steps.  Two students, one from each class, came to me and asked if they could be the overall project managers. Could they essentially be in charge of the exhibit?  Um....yeah!  They happened to be two seniors, one who is pursuing Game Design in college next year, and one who wanted to try on the mantle of leadership. Every team also had team project managers (PMs), who were responsible for communicating with the other team PMs, the Lead PMs and with Meagan. There were several PM meetings outside of class to make sure that everyone was on the same page with the project. 

 Students were asked to consider several target audiences, ranging from families with small children up to attendees from the Veteran's home on the same campus as the museum.  Together, we learned about project management skills, from Gantt charts, to Scrum Meetings, to managing resources and deadlines, to using the Design Thinking Method to get clear about prototypes and deliverables.  This was a hefty, real world project.   It also turns out that we have a New Tech parent who designs exhibits for a living!  At the last moment, he jumped in to show off his own work and help the Game Design students really think deeply about how to best engage exhibit visitors.  

In addition, students learned about 3D modeling, motion graphics, 2D graphics, color theory, writing for signage and exhibits, research, game mechanics and game careers, prototyping, video filming and editing, presenting, and above all, collaboration.

I really do hope, that if you are in the area, that you stop by and see the exhibit.  It turned out better than I ever could have hoped and I am SO proud of the work that we ALL did together.  

"Down the Rabbit Hole" runs from July 15, 2016 through January 8, 2017 at the Napa Valley Museum in Yountville, CA, in the Napa Valley and it features 10 Indie Games.  There are some great movie nights and Family Fun Days offered, including a Retro Game Marathon, Model Building, Learning about Binary Code and Pixel Art.  Look at the very bottom of the blog post for the info. on the show and activities.

For me, finding authentic learning projects is a personal passion, and I am convinced that they can not only be done, but done well, can give students real-world experience, and can provide the impetus for some amazing learning.  If you have questions for me about authentic learning projects, you can always contact me on twitter @lisagottfried or leave a comment on this post and I'll get back to you.

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