About
This web site is dedicated to a project being developed by Gemixin Ltd. The project entails developing an educational level using the PlayStation3 game Little Big Planet, that will be free to play and will be primarily aimed at 11-18 year olds (USA – middle and high school students). The level will teach key Computer Science concepts such as binary code, logic and programming, in a fun, easy to understand and engaging way.
The project is the result of a winning entry in to the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Competition, which is designed to support the most novel uses of new media for learning. This year, MacArthur teamed with Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Electronic Arts (EA), the Entertainment Software Association, and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation to support new and creative user-generated levels and adventures to engage young people in learning in the two games. The intention of the competition is to promote “participatory” learning, which operates under the notion that individuals, specifically young ones, learn best through sharing and involvement. The competition is administered by the virtual network of learning institutions, HASTAC, and is part of the Obama Administration’s Educate to Innovate initiative.
The idea behind the level is that the player’s character is trapped inside a computer and they must help him/her to escape. Along the way they will encounter challenges relating to how a computer works, as well as fun gaming elements such as vehicle driving and platforming. The level will be suitable for 1-4 players so it can be played either solo or cooperatively.
The level will be a conceptual ‘inside a computer’ rather than a serious one to make it more fun and flexible.
There will be 5 challenges along the way where players can win prizes and points.
Challenge 1: This will be about binary code and players must match blocks of 1s and 0s to a digital number. So for example they’d need to set the blocks to 101 if the digital number was 5.
Challenge 2: Players must make a light bulb light up by completing the circuit. This will consist of logic gates and inputs.
Challenge 3: This is a special co-op challenge where 2 or more players must work together to pass data between the CPU and memory sections of the computer.
Challenge 4: A challenge where the objective is to assemble the hardware components in the correct way.
Challenge 5: Players need to move the events and responses in to the correct places to make a video game work. For example ‘move player left’ must be linked to ‘press left keyboard key’.
All of the challenges will be presented in a non-technical way and will be available in a range of difficulties. A helpful character will also be on hand to offer tips and advice.
