eGame Design Project: ZigScriptOverviewThe 1970s were a golden age of face to face simulations. No equipment necessary. As a learner you'd be given a sheet of paper with a paragraph description of your role and another sheet with a scenario described. For example, you might be one of six truck drivers in some business that requires moving things around. The boss has just purchased a new truck and you have to decide among yourselves who gets it. Each of your role descriptions includes information about the driver you're playing as well as the truck you're working with. The stage is set for impassioned argument, cajoling, and intrigue, the end result would be some lessons learned about communication, empathy, or even just trucks Role plays like that have died out a bit since those days, displaced by the shiny objects many of us spend hours in front of. It takes some confidence to conduct this kind of lesson and most educators working today haven't experienced many of these and are thus wary of giving them a try. Can we use technology to make it easier to teach this way? I think we can. The ChallengeZigScript is (will soon be) a platform for designing and delivering face to face role plays. It will take advantage of the ubiquity of smartphones and use them to lessen the logistical overhead of passing out role cards and scenarios. Instead, players will glance at their phones to see who they are and what they're acting about. By providing an authoring tool for creating these role plays, ZigScript will meke it easier to plan ahead, test and revise these experiences. Moreover, delivering information via smartphone means that the simulation can be become more dynamic. In the truck driver simulation, for example, you can send a message to Truck Driver B that his wife just told him that she's having an affair with Truck Driver F. Changing the situation on the fly will ensure that the exercise stays lively. Range of ApplicabilityZigScript would be appropriate for teaching a wide range of soft skills to everyone from adults down to miiddle school students. It would also lend itself to foreign language instruction and to debateable issues where well intentioned people might disagree. When does life begin? What should the Super Committee do about entitlements? Boxers or briefs? Resources & ExamplesHere are some resources for designing online roleplays in general which will be useful for conceptualizing a great ZigScript. These are different from ZigScript in that they are played with people at a distance. ZigScript is for role plays done face to face.
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