The Great Sweet-Shop in the Sky David Squire Creative Director, desq

"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing." - Oliver Wendell Holmes The Great Sweet-Shop in the Sky e-content: mixed messages and mixed media  > Mixed Messages: e-learning  > When media is the big idea  > Mixed Media: PlayStation generation

 Mixed Messages: e-learning CBT Industry  Old school  CBT  educational software eContent Industry  Nu school  Edu-tainment  Leisure software (games)  Learning focussed  Training  Design focussed  Gameplay

 Mixed Messages: e-learning CBT Industry  Government funding  Not for profit  Co-operative  Research-led  HTML eContent Industry  Publisher/VC funded  Commercial  Competitive  Market-led  Flash/shockwave  Immerse/experience  Inform/Present

‘rich interactive experiences’+‘exciting and enjoyable’ ‘engaging and relevant’+‘activity based’+‘accessible’ ‘appropriate audio, animation & graphics’+‘game-play’ want need ‘Bite-sized learning’+‘learning objects’+‘accessibility standards compliant (W3C WAI, Bobby)’+‘IMS compliant’ ‘hardware minimum specs’+‘dial-up’+‘content interworking’ ‘mapped to curriculum’+’content portability’+interoperability ‘game-play’ ‘learning lara croft’ ‘educational big-brother’ aspire  Mixed Messages: e-learning

Channel 4Learning GridClub: Bafta award winning interactive edutainment & co- branded TV/interactive features.  When media is the big idea  Channel 4's multi- media service to schools  Support for Channel 4's adult educational programme  Adult interactive learning

BBC Digital Curriculum £150 million from its licence fee income on the project over the next five years. “Interactive digital technology has the power to make a huge difference to the way we learn.” “Our aim is to rise to the challenge of the PlayStation generation by making children’s content that is as compelling and personal as the computer games children adore.” Greg Dreg, DG BBC, Nov 1999  When media is the big idea

Guardian Education Interactive Ltd  Learn.co.uk  Online lessons & tests  Revision materials Teaching resources based on the vast Guardian archive.  When media is the big idea

Granada Learning  Anglia Campus  Learnwise MLE  Letts Educational materials  Pearson Education  When media is the big idea

 Consoles (PS1; PS2; Dreamcast; X-Box; N64; GameCube)  Handhelds (Gameboy; Gameboy Advance)  PC/Mac  iDTV games channels (Jambon, 2WayTV)  Mobiles  Mixed Media: PlayStation generation

From Transforming The Way We Learn (DfES) 76% 64% 88% 71% 36%

 73% of 7-29 year olds have played computer games  In the USA sales of games outnumber sales of books  "Adults, Not Kids, Now Dominate Computer-Game Market." (The Wall Street Journal April )  Mixed Media: PlayStation generation

Old school: predominantly male, with console gamers 14-25, PC gamers Nu school: The N-generation/Wired-generation – more gender balanced, greater age range, as the PlayStation-generation grow up & get jobs.  Demographic for PlayStation proved to be 29-year-old males.  PS2 & Xbox aimed at late-20 and 30-something consumer  Sony wants PS2 to appeal to non-games players: entertainment unit with DVD & Internet.  Mixed Media: PlayStation generation