While I was enrolled in the Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Program at Utah State University (2004-2007), I became very interested in the use of digital game-based learning, immersive virtual environments, and instructional simulations as a way to teach humanities topics. At the time this interest fortuitously aligned with the emergence of the “digital humanities”…Read more The long arc back into 3D digital game-based learning
German Studies
Using R to analyze “The Flowing Light of the Godhead”
A few weeks ago I started learning the R programming language for use in quantitative and computational approaches to textual analysis. Although my areas of expertise are in 3D visualization and simulation, it seemed to me that a lot of work in the digital humanities is in textual analysis (e.g., text mining and topic modeling)…Read more Using R to analyze “The Flowing Light of the Godhead”
German language and culture skills: One way to stand out as a job candidate
When I was an associate professor of German, one area of program growth I was keenly interested in was language for specific purposes (LSP), otherwise known as a “Business German” or “German For Your Career” track. By making tangible connections between what students learned in the German program and internship or employment opportunities after graduation,…Read more German language and culture skills: One way to stand out as a job candidate
First steps on a new 3D project
I have always liked projects as a way of organizing and directing activity. They allow me to set personal goals, to measure progress towards this goal, to learn new technology skills along the way, and to create new knowledge through experimentation and analysis of the product. So, after a few years of not having any long-term…Read more First steps on a new 3D project
Virtual embodiment, deep learning, and the humanities
Although the topic of digital game-based learning and gamification did not make this year's New Horizon Report (it was mentioned in the 2014 report), I was happy to discover an interview with EDUCAUSE President and CEO, Diana Oblinger, in which these instructional approaches were mentioned first on a list of three trends that will impact…Read more Virtual embodiment, deep learning, and the humanities
A return to digital Helfta?
I found out just the other day that I have been accepted to participate in a Digital Humanities Summer Institute on Advanced Challenges in Theory and Practice in 3D Modeling of Cultural Heritage Sites at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in June 2015. The institute coincides with a project that I have been meaning to get back to…Read more A return to digital Helfta?
5-Minute German Grammar
I have been teaching the same introductory German sequence for, oh, 8 years now and yesterday I finally came to the conclusion that I need a change. Really bad. I want to spend more time in class actually working on important skills - speaking, writing, discussing cultural artifacts - and less time on covering grammar. I…Read more 5-Minute German Grammar
Bad Oberdinkelheim Gets a Wall
The last game I created was done under time pressure: It took me roughly 1.5 years to learn 3D modeling and texturing in Blender, game programming in Unity, and get the instructional materials created in time to teach the the topic of German waste management and recycling systems within the context of two-way prepositions. Oh,…Read more Bad Oberdinkelheim Gets a Wall
Article Published in ReCALL
It's been a long haul, but finally -- after several years of design, development, assessment, and evaluation -- the experiment results have been published in the ReCALL Journal: If you are interested and want to read more, you can download a PDF of the paper. Basically, as described in the abstract, the article reports on…Read more Article Published in ReCALL
Away For Much Too Long
It's been several months since posting my last entry and it's time to get back down to business. Reason for my absence has been partly professional, and partly pure digital distraction. Let's start with the last point first. After having played Battlefield 2142 for, oh, a *really* long time, I decided to step up to…Read more Away For Much Too Long
3 AM Game Ideas
What do you do at 3 AM when you have a bad case of insomnia and can't sleep? Well, what I usually do is think about things that need getting done, how to move projects forward, and ideas for articles. Sometimes I will think about aikido. This morning, however, it was the video game. Here's…Read more 3 AM Game Ideas
Fun with Error Messages
I have a few projects on the plate this summer: (1) getting my tenure portfolio together, which needs to be submitted on 15 September; (2) creating more grammar videos for the Elon German Studies YouTube channel, which now how 304 subscribers and has been viewed over 15,000 times in about 5 months; (3) work with…Read more Fun with Error Messages
Summer Plans: Getting Back to Basics
Spring break is upon us, which means that the semester will be coming to an end rather quickly. It also means that I will need to think of something to do during the summer. I will be working with an undergraduate student on her SURE project, but I also need to think of something for…Read more Summer Plans: Getting Back to Basics
Going Medieval, Minding the Store
Part of the joy of working at a smaller liberal arts college is the constant variation of tasks that one must do to move a program forward. The variety ensures that one does not bore quickly. On the other hand, part of the frustration of working at a smaller liberal arts college is the constant variation…Read more Going Medieval, Minding the Store
Game world, real world, classroom
After wrestling with the experiment data and the whole writing process, I finally was able to get an article out the door to ReCALL Journal. I will hear back from them in March (or before then) with reviewer comments. In the meanwhile, I'm trying to think of next steps for how to grow the project.…Read more Game world, real world, classroom
Activity Systems and Cognitive Maps
I have been working on a write-up of the data yielded by the research study at the end of Spring Semester 2012. Although I am not sure if this blog really gets the kind of traffic that I was originally hoping it would, I thought I would just throw some of the data out there…Read more Activity Systems and Cognitive Maps
Presentation at CALICO 2012
I have been working in the office this morning, getting travel itineraries and other things ready for my upcoming trip to CALICO 2012, where I will be presenting a paper there on the results of my experiment using the 3D game I developed to teach German. In any case, it should be a lot of fun…Read more Presentation at CALICO 2012
Transfer from Games to Narratives
The end of the semester and beginning of the summer is always busy: Thousands of things to catch up on, odds jobs that need doing, and countless receptions and ceremonies to attend. I finally had a chance to look at some of the data generated by the experiment I ran in my beginning German class…Read more Transfer from Games to Narratives
Back in the Saddle
It's been a long while since I have been active with game development and blogging. Time to get back into the swing, I think. My absence for this past year has been on account of responsibilities to the German program at Elon University, and getting a business German program off the ground. Central to this…Read more Back in the Saddle
Download Game Prototype
The Digital Bahnhof (DigiBahn) Project is an interdisciplinary software development initiative seeking to program a 3D digital game-based learning (3D-DGBL) environment for teaching German language, vocabulary, and culture to advanced high school and beginning university students. The current basic prototype addresses the topics of recycling and waste management in Germany and has been developed to…Read more Download Game Prototype
Creating Instructional Materials
Now that the game prototype is finished, I have been spending time getting the instructional materials ready. First to be created was the story, which the students will read before doing the related exercises and playing the game: I was able to find several websites dealing with recycling in Germany and Austria (Berlin sammelt and…Read more Creating Instructional Materials
Walk-Through for DigiBahn Game Level
A few days ago I made a video highlighting the finished game, essentially a walk-through of the environment. After capturing the video with FRAPS, I put the computer on standby and went off to teach. Once I came back to the office a few hours later I found, to my horror, that the computer would…Read more Walk-Through for DigiBahn Game Level
Score Screen Finally Finished
I've been busy with teaching and other sundry university service responsibilities, which has taken me away from game development these last few weeks. Thank goodness that I was able to get the majority of development done during Winter Term when I didn't have a teaching load. The final problem I faced was getting the player performance data…Read more Score Screen Finally Finished
Beer Bottles (Nearly) Imported
The new semester has finally started and, as anticipated, I've been busy with teaching and course preparations. I'm glad that I had time over Winter Term to code the game, get the functionality figured out, and polish the game interface. I'm going to test the game prototype in about two months and, as it currently…Read more Beer Bottles (Nearly) Imported
Start, Info and About Screens Finished
Took a break from doing modeling in Blender, where I still need to make game resources (bottles, cans, trash), and spent a few days getting the game start, about and information screens setup. With Unity, this was a snap to do and only required minimal scripting in C# and light image creation skills in GIMP.…Read more Start, Info and About Screens Finished
David Neville, PhD, MS 