For this odd couple, difference is an asset. Julie Sykes, assistant professor of Spanish, and Chris Holden, mathematician and assistant professor in University Honors, teamed up to create Mentira, a mobile game for iPhone and iPod Touch that takes language learning out of the classroom and into the streets – literally and digitally.
In the game – played entirely in Spanish – students solve a fictional mystery based on a real place – Los Griegos in Albuquerque’s North Valley. The game combines virtual activities with visits to the physical neighborhood. Holden said people in the community have been friendly and willing to participate.
Sykes said the name Mentira, which means “lie,” refers to students using “language to determine who is giving them real clues and who is lying in order to solve the mystery and successfully complete the game.”
Students select paths and gather clues, with higher stakes as the game progresses. The program is primarily text-based, enhanced with maps and videos, and GPS may be added in future.
The game environment can make it easier to shift students’ priorities from grades to learning. Holden said with video games, “you’re more willing to fail, and that’s an intrinsic part of learning.”
Sykes and Holden developed the game with a team of graduate students and had the first pilot this summer, with two more pilot classes this fall. The full launch is planned for spring.
Students in the summer pilot caught some of Sykes’ and Holden’s excitement in interdisciplinary work. “It’s helping them connect their worlds – something we weren’t expecting,” Sykes said.
“Students liked most being part of something new and experimental and knowing their input would shape its future,” Holden said.
Mentira is also a model students can use to build their own games. “That’s why we’re using a simpler engine. You don’t have to be a programmer to create games,” Holden said.
Sykes and Holden joined forces after meeting at a game conference. Both had prior experience with creating educational games – Sykes with 3-D multiplayer games and Holden with mobile games.
As a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, Sykes developed Croquelandia, an immersive Spanish learning virtual world. UNM now uses the program in intermediate Spanish courses.
Sykes said the text-based game plus physical world interaction of Mentira and the 3-D graphics-based Croquelandia are complimentary. Both games are based on open source platforms. “We wanted to control everything we could so we could give them away,” she said.
The Mentira project is funded in part by Research Allocations Committee and Teaching Allocations Committee grants.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at October 26, 2009 12:21 PM