Gaming for development: introduction to localization and internationalization of educational games;...
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www.sofos.nl 1 GAMING FOR DEVELOPMENT: INTRODUCTION TO LOCALIZATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES Pieter van der Hijden MSc Sofos Consultancy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Member of the ISAGA Advisory Council Ex-chairperson of the ISAGA Board ISAGA - International Simulation and Gaming Association 43 rd International Conference – 2-6 July 2012 Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Pieter van der Hijden (Sofos Consultancy) 2012 - Except where otherwise noted , content of this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License .
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Gaming for development: introduction to localization and internationalization of educational games; paper presentation at the 43rd Annual Conference of ISAGA, the International Simulation and Gaming Association (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2-6 July 2012); Pieter van der Hijden, Sofos Consultancy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Abstract Gaming for education and training can have a great potential for developing countries. Games can partially replace old and unattractive textbooks; they may compensate the lack of qualified teachers; and, last but not least, they give the children (and adults as well) the feeling to be connected to the modern world. Nevertheless, applying these games in this context, may lead to disappointing learning outcomes, especially when the games have been developed abroad. The main challenge for gaming in the context of developing countries is the lack of resources: gaming expertise, access to technology and funding. On the other hand, expertise on local conditions is high, crafting is widely spread and local labour is relatively cheap. The real challenge is finding the right balance in this mix of opportunities: developing games that can be applied in developing countries. One strategy is using games developed abroad, but adapting them for local use. Adapting these games to the local context (language, visualization, etc.) may improve their effectiveness and efficiency for learning. Such adaptation of existing games is called localization. In fact, during the building of the game, future localization should already be taken into account. This is called internationalization. Software firms paved the way in building applications to be used in different countries, languages and cultures. They in fact introduced the concepts of localization and internationalization in a rather straightforward way. In games, however, more attention has to be paid to the user experience and the use of multimedia. Localization and internationalization become more complex then. In this presentation we will introduce both concepts. We illustrate with examples the changes that might happen during localization. We reflect on converting an international symbolic solution into a local and concrete one and present some new insights on frame games and content. We conclude with an agenda for further research and development.
Transcript of Gaming for development: introduction to localization and internationalization of educational games;...
- 1. www.sofos.nlISAGA - International Simulation and Gaming Association43rd International Conference 2-6 July 2012Universitatea Babe-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania GAMING FOR DEVELOPMENT: INTRODUCTION TO LOCALIZATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL GAMESPieter van der Hijden MScSofos Consultancy, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsMember of the ISAGA Advisory CouncilEx-chairperson of the ISAGA Board Pieter van der Hijden (Sofos Consultancy) 2012 - Except where otherwise noted, content of this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. 1
2. www.sofos.nlAGENDA2 3. www.sofos.nlINTRODUCTION3 4. www.sofos.nlINTRODUCTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR4 5. www.sofos.nlINTRODUCTION ABOUT THE THEME5 6. www.sofos.nlEDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT 6 7. www.sofos.nlEDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT Causal model: Access to education &Quality schools Skilled Citizens Social end economicDevelopment Current situation: Imperfect system Backlog 7 8. www.sofos.nlEDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT Drop-outs Rural exodus Urban problems8 9. www.sofos.nlEDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT Focus on external factors Neighborhood, Parents,Food, TransportFocus on infrastructure Building, Systems,FurnitureFocus on teachers Better teacher training Issue: Not enough teachers Issue: Migration afterdiplomaSource: Mitra et al., 2008 Focus on learningmaterials9 10. www.sofos.nlEDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT Focus on learningmaterials Educational games Issues Localization Internationalization 10 11. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMES 11 12. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMES 12 13. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESWHY LOCALIZATION?Afrikaans - -- Asturianu - Azrbaycanca- - - - Bosanski - Catal - Valenci (Catal meridional) -- etina - More intense gaming Cymraeg - Dansk - Deutsch - Deutsch community -experienceDeutsch - Du - Deutsch - Kids -- - English -English - Pirate - en_kids - English - United States -Espaol - Internacional - Espaol - Argentina - Espaol - MotivationEspaa - Espaol - Mexico - Eesti - Euskara -- Authentic learningSuomi - Filipino - VakaViti - Faroese - Franais - Franais- Canada - Gaeilge - Gidhlig - Galego - - -environment- Hrvatski - magyar - - Indonesian - slenska - Italiano - - - -Kalaallisut - - - - Latin - Laotian - Lietuvi Understanding - Lithuanian (university) - Latvieu - Mori - Tainui - Transfer Mori - Waikato - -- Bahasa Melayu -- - - Nederlands - Norsk - Correctness nynorsk - Norsk - bokml - Norsk - Arans - Polski - Portugus - Portugal - Portugus - Brasil - Romansh Cultural issues Sursilvan - Romn - -- Slovenina - Slovenina - Samoan - Soomaali - Shqip - - Historical issues - - Srpski - Svenska - Finlandssvenska - sw - Tamil - -- Thai - - Tagalog - Create greater market Tongan - Trke - - -Ozbekcha - Vietnamese - Wolof - - -- isiZulu 13 14. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESSTEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLESource: Maas, 2008Game 0 Game 1 14 15. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESSTEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLEBackground by A. Fienieg, 1992Game 1Game 2 15 16. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESSTEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLEGame 2Game 316 17. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESSTEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLEGame 3Game 417 18. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESSTEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLEGame 0Game 418 19. www.sofos.nlLOCALIZATION OF GAMESLEVELS OF LOCALIZATION Levels of localizationLearning goalsLearning stylesGame patternsActionsObjectsVisualisation and soundLanguage Box and docsNo localization 19 20. www.sofos.nlINTERNATIONALIZATION20 21. www.sofos.nlINTERNATIONALIZATION Internationalization = Making a gameindependent of a specific context and easy tolocalize Language Visual symbols Sound (voice-over / sub-titles)21 22. www.sofos.nlFURTHER R&D 22 23. www.sofos.nlFURTHER R&D What are the costs and benefits of localizationat various levels? Which target groups need their ownlocalization? Nationallanguage, local languages, 2 languages? Urban area, rural area, interior areas? How to broaden the target groups, i.e. How tolearn to learn in a less localized context?23 24. www.sofos.nlCONCLUSION24 25. www.sofos.nlCONCLUSION Localization / internationalization increases theimpact of educational games Localization / internationalization usually islimited to translation and multi-languagelogistics Side effect: localization mechanism also usefulin enforcing learning elements in games Gaming for development requires moreresearch25 26. www.sofos.nlREFERENCES Chandler et al. 2012 The game localization handbook; 2nd edition; HeatherMaxwell Chandler and Stephanie OMalley Deming; Jones and Bertlett Learning;Sudbury (MA), USA, 2012 Localization Summit; Game Developers Conference; San Francisco (CA), USA, 2012;see: http://www.gdconf.com/conference/gls.html. Maas, 2008 - GameMaker4You [NL]; Diepenmaat Uitgeverij & Ontwerpbureau; TheNetherlands, 2008. Mitra et al., 2008 - Sugata Mitra (Newcastle University, UK), Ritu Dangwal and LeherThadani (The NIIT Institute of Information Technology, India); Effects of remotenesson the quality of education: A case study from North Indian schools; AustralasianJournal of Educational Technology 2008, 24(2), 168-180. Full text:http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/mitra.pdf. Schell, 2008; The art of game design, a book of lenses; Jesse Schell; MorganKaufman, 2008. Van der Hijden, 2011a - GS4D - Gaming/Simulation for Development;building and applying games for developing countries; Pieter van der Hijden;presentation at ISAGA 2011 annual conference, Jachranka, Poland, 2011 Van der Hijden, 2011b - Gaming for Development - building and applyinggaming/simulation in the context of developing countries; Pieter van der Hijden;presentation at JASAG autumn conference, Sapporo, Japan, 2011 26 27. www.sofos.nlSOFOS CONSULTANCY Thank you for your attention! Pieter van der Hijden MSc [email protected] van der Hijden (Sofos Consultancy) 2012 - Except where otherwise noted, content of this publication islicensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.27
