360-PlayLearn:
Gamification and Game-Based Learning for Virtual Learning Environments on interactive television
Gerard Downes 1 , Paul Mc Kevitt 1 , Tom Lunney 1 ,
John Farren 2 & Catherine Ross 2
1 University of Ulster, Magee, The Imagineering Quarter,
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
E-mail: gdownes@gmail.com, {p.mckevitt, tf.lunney}@ulster.ac.uk
2 360 Production Ltd., The Imagineering Quarter,
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
E-mail: {john.farren, catherine.ross}@360production.com

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Outline
• Background
• Aims & Objectives
• Related work
• Design of 360-PlayLearn
• Relation to other work
• Conclusion & Future Work
• Acknowledgements

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Background
• Digital Creativity & Creative Technologies
• The Imagineering Quarter http://www.paulmckevitt.com/imagineering-quarter/
• Project Kelvin (MAM, e.g. HBO ‘Game of Thrones’)
• Digital Derry http://digitalderry.org/ &
CultureTECH http://www.culturetech.com/
• Digital Action Team (DAT)
[University of Ulster & 360 Production Ltd.]
• City of Culture, 2013 http://www.cityofculture2013.com/

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Aims & Objectives
• Online education on interactive TV
• Combining entertainment & education content (edutainment)
• STEM, history, archaeology & general knowledge
• Deployment on desktop, mobile & TV devices

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Related work
• Online Learning e.g. Udacity (Stanford), edX (MIT/Harvard),
TED, Khan Academy, YouTube
• Gamification (Zichermann & Linder, 2010) e.g. AmbiLearn (TreasureLearn) (Hyndman et al., 2012)
• Game-Based Learning (GBL)
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) e.g. PlayPhysics (Munoz et al., 2012)

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Media Asset Management (MAM)
• Annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval & distribution
• Digital photographs, animations, videos & music
• TeleScope Enterprise (North Plains Systems, 2012)
(Commercial)
ResourceSpace (Dwiggins, 2011) (Open Source)

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
The Cloud
• Hosting & distributing of edutainment content
“If computers of the kind I have advocated become the computers of the future, then computing may someday be organized as a public utility just as the telephone system is a public utility…
The computer utility could become the basis of a new and important industry.''
--John McCarthy, MIT Centennial Celebration, 1961 (AICS-1997)

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Architecture of 360-PlayLearn

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Gamification API

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
360-MAM interface with ResourceSpace

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
360-Cloud interface with Google App Engine

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Relation to other work
• Gamification & Assessment for learning
(e.g. AmbiLearn / TreasureLearn)
• GBL VLEs on interactive TV
(e.g. PlayPhysics: Emotional modelling, DBNs)
• 360-MAM & 360-Cloud give advanced VLEs

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Conclusion
• 360-PlayLearn, 360-MAM & 360-Cloud
• Constructivist approach (Vgotsky / Piaget / Papert)
• Problem-based / project-centred learning
• Widening access & education for all
• Pervasive platform on interactive TV

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Future work
• Requirements analysis
• Implement 360-PlayLearn platform
• Acquire global media assets (Project Kelvin)
• Evaluation of 360-PlayLearn

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Acknowledgements
• DEL & 360 Production Ltd.
• Ted Leath (Information Assurance Manager)

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Thank You
• Any questions or feedback ?

Introduction | Background | Aims & Objectives | Related work | Design | Relation | Conclusion
Up Donegal !!