Tools

Gaming to Learn: Little Big Planet Club Showcases "Big" Talent

By Kacey Drescher

Story Created: Feb 10, 2012 at 12:26 AM MDT

Story Updated: Feb 10, 2012 at 12:43 AM MDT

Eight students at Sunnyside Elementary are playing video games at school - but it's not what you think.

The students are researching everything from medieval times to the Winchester Rifle Company, all on their own accord and it's all in the name of gaming.

It’s not every day that a 6th grader has already chosen a career path.

“I’ve kind of been wanting to be more of a concept artist when I grow up,” says Sunnyside Elementary sixth-grader Sarah Jackson.

But it’s not every day you get to play video games at school and Sarah isn’t just playing games, she’s building them.

“An artist for video games,” says Jackson.

Thanks to the Little Big Planet Club students like Sarah are showcasing their big talents, learning the basics of game design. Little Big Planet is a popular Playstation 3 game, as you play the game; it gives you the tools to make it. The group of four boys and four girls, in grades four through six are learning the components of game design, everything from sounds to background colors, to themes and concepts.

“You’ve got people learning how to write, people learning programming, you have people learning how to use math, how to use art and how to work together, “says Addatudez Entertainment Company President Josh Hughes.

The youngsters are letting their creativity flow and building their own levels in a real video game – something lead game designer, Hughes, says gives context to their schoolwork, inspiring perpetual learning in the real world. Hughes tells ABC 5 that the students have been researching topics all on their own, checking out library books and offering to come in during school vacations to work on their game. Hughes says Little Big Planet allows the students to experience an advanced teaching tool, creating designs and characters in just a matter of months - that in the gaming world would take a typical programmer years.

“[This] shows people from a very young age that learning things is not just something you do to please someone else it’s something you do to enhance yourself and your ability to experience the world around you,” says Hughes.

Computer industry specialists say the gaming industry is an $11 billion dollar work force and igniting a spark in the component of game design at such an early age creates endless possibilities for the future.

“These kids can time-travel; they can imagine computers of the future, things they’re imagining right now
are what they’re jobs are going to be,” says Tom Glover, a small business owner in the field of computer programming.

That limitless potential even has Sarah’s friends taking notice.

“A lot of my friends go up to me at lunch and say Sarah where are you going and I’m like I have to go to Little Big Planet and yeah, I just feel like they’re like really proud of me,” adds Sarah.

Hughes says the future stars of game design will get their first taste of success with Little Big Planet.

Students will be showcasing the levels they've built at the STEM Expo in April.

Sunnyside hopes the Great Falls School District will take notice and incorporate similar programs district-wide.

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Mark Casey said on Wednesday, Feb 29 at 10:09 AM

Well it's no suprise that children are learning from LittleBigPlanet 2, the tools and how to combine them are complex as it is.

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