Snapshot approaches citizenship education through the activity of news photography. It is intended to immerse users in a virtual environment where the social and cultural issues important to today's young people are played out, and engage them by asking them to take a stand as they investigate and report on the actions they observe. Skip straight down to article…

Project article

Team

Imaginary Productions Ltd
Futurelab

Outline

Snapshot is a narrative simulation adventure game in which you play an aspiring photo-journalist exploring and reporting on the events and happenings within a vibrant contemporary urban community. This is gritty realism in its truest sense; the hidden drama of everyday life as seen through the enquiring eyes of a teenager coming to terms with the world (s)he inhabits.

The essence of the game is simple: you take pictures and compile news stories of the people, places and events you discover around you. Sometimes these are assigned by your editor, sometimes they are the result of your own investigations. But in order to be effective, you need to talk to people: canvas views and opinions and generally keep your finger on the neighbourhood pulse. All of these affect the photo-story you submit for publication.

Moreover, the situations often demand you to get involved and take a stance. It's this stance that the game environment can respond to; the people around you respond to what you've reported and your character develops according to how much you actively involve yourself in the betterment of the community that you're part of.

Snapshot is a unique experiment. Deliberately mass market in its gameplay and dramatic appeal, its underlying themes and objectives are unapologetically educational. Players are confronted with the genuine dilemmas of citizenship, social responsibility and inclusion in today's society. With Snapshot, the artificial line between playing and learning is crossed and discarded - perhaps once and for all.

The game is initially aimed at teenagers in the 14-18 age bracket and is designed to be used in school to support citizenship, as well as media studies or English.

Learning research objectives

Overarchingly, through the Snapshot project we are asking:

1. How can we design a compelling and engaging game to support young people's development of citizenship awareness and media literacy?
2. How can we work with young people as consultants to develop game scenarios that are sufficiently engaging and challenging?
3. How can the game support the development of young people's citizenship skills, ie:
   • Developing a 'political literacy'?
   • Exploring different and conflicting perspectives?
   • Participating in active decisionmaking?

As with all Futurelab projects we are also interested in:

1. What this project tells us about the best ways of designing educational digital resources.
2. What this project tells us about how learning processes can be transformed through use of these tools.
3. How this project helps us understand the potential of next generation technologies to create intrinsically motivating and engaging learning experiences.

Research and development process

Snapshot has been developed in consultation with a group of 16 year-old students, who have contributed by defining the citizenship issues that matter to them, and by making mock photo-stories to illustrate potential scenarios for the game.

Parallel to the 'Gamemaker' workshop, Judy Robertson in consultation with Judith Good created a 3D version of the game-authoring tool, while graphic designer Mick Lockwood was employed to develop the main characters for the game.

The prototype is being trialled with students from Years 10 and 12 in Bristol. In these sessions, students are reviewing and evaluating the playable demo, and revising the existing storyboards to ensure that the scenarios are sufficiently compelling and engaging.

Contacts

Futurelab: Ben Williamson
Imaginary Productions Ltd: Jon Weinbren, intray@imaginary.co.uk




April 2005