Play as a Padagogy...

Playing a game consists of the following; a set of variables that determines the players, the locations, etc... and then there are the rules that tell you what you can and can't do... then there is the mission to be completed... which more or less is the playing process... and lastly there is a reward which signify getting the mission completed.
Looking at the words highlighted above [Variables, rules, mission, process, reward] I can find resonance in my own understanding of design process...
So... for me using playing a game as a method of teaching design is meaningful, interesting and rewarding... adding to that students feel more at ease and have more fun....

For today's classes in Multimedia and Web... I came up with an idea of making students create their first storyboard...
After dividing them to groups... each group had to write on separate sheets the following:
- Name of a celebrity
- Date and Time
- Place
- Name of an activity
- Name of an event

Then we shuffled those and hand picked one of each category for each group... then each group had to come up with a fantastical story that combines their keywords...
Afterwards they had to draw a short storyboard max. 5 frames to tell their story.

One of the key elements in this exercise are the ideas of chance and juxtaposition... these two concepts had their peak during surrealism which arguably had its second renaissance in the age of computer games... and in many ways are seen in the digital design and multimedia... [think of a trash bin next to your documents on your desktop with a mouse running around...]

Words chosen by students were variant from Julia Roberts to Mit3b Il Sagar.... from 16th century to distant time in future... from the jungle to Paris... from dancing to fencing... and from Christmas Eve to Jerash Festival...
Forcing themselves to create narrative that combines these words smoothly and "convincingly"...

In less than an hour time... Here are some samples of students works... which I have to say was quite good...