A Generic Serious Game Shell for Diversifying Distance

A Generic Serious Game Shell for Diversifying
Distance-Learning Methods
Louise Sauvé, Sylvain Sénécal, David Kaufman et Lise Renaud
Télé-université, [email protected];
HEC Montréal, [email protected]
Simon Fraser University, [email protected]
UQAM, renaud.lise@uqam
Today, it is possible to play games on consoles, personal computers and also the Web. Some of these
games are qualified as serious because of their pedagogical objectives. In order to equip teachers to develop
serious games, a research team designed a Generic Serious Game Shell (GSGS). This environment
facilitates the creation of serious games adapted to distance learning without the need fordata-processing
knowledge.To develop this environment, we relied on an interactive creative process, which proposes five
stages: (1) Preliminary analysis (target audience, learning environment and context of use, pedagogical and
technological expectations, definition of a serious game structure); (2) Design (description of the game’s
components and learning content); (3) Media Development (technical requirements, computer graphics
development and multimedia programming and functional tests); (4) Validation of the GSGS (trial) and
(5) Evaluation of learning (creation of a serious game with the help of the GSGS, validation of the content
by experts, experimentation with target audience, revisions if necessary). In the context of this presentation,
we will discuss the guidelines (pedagogical and technological) that directed its development. We will
demonstrate an example of a serious game that was created using the GSGS to develop autonomy and an
understanding of cause and effect relationships in high school students to encourage them to be responsible
consumers of water : Escouade H2O.
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