Epic educational programming interactive consortium

EPIC
Educational Programming Interactive Consortium

The University of Texas-Pan American
Chelse Benham
Project Manager/PI
Television Producer
1201 W. University Drive, AB 129
Edinburg, TX 78541
956/316-7996
cfbenham@panam.edu

Harry Evry, CEO/Co-PI
Gamescapers
805/231-9096

Lynn Crandall, Director/Co-PI
USC IGM Art Gallery
323/442-1144

This document is commercially confidential and proprietary to The University of Texas-Pan American and its partners. No
part of this document may be distributed or reproduced without prior written consent.

Authored by Chelse Benham
October 19, 2005 Page 1 10/12/2010

Capacity Statement
The University of Texas-Pan American – Managing Partner to conduct testing
& evaluation, develop core curriculum, provide training – UTPA brings to EPIC
the Hispanic Telecommunications System Consortium (HETS.org) of which it is a
founding member with a long history of collaborating with organizations in an
effort to promoting the access of Hispanics to higher education and training
opportunities through educational telecommunications and distance learning.

UTPA is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) and comprehensive, public
coeducational university established to serve the higher educational needs of
South Texas and a four county region. As one of the fastest growing areas in the
country, UTPA has an enrollment of more than 17,000 students.

Many of the students are first generation college students in an area where more
than 38% of Hispanic students drop out of school by the 9th grade. One of
UTPA’s prime directives is working to address this crisis in education by finding
new methods of communicating and teaching at-risk students.

Gamescapers/Harry Evry – Consultant, Game Designer, Programmer, Author,
Instructor developing curriculum, teacher training /game play design working with
students – Project lead working with focus groups in the Las Angeles school
districts

University of Southern California IGM Digital N Art/Lynn Crandall – Conduct
work group research and testing and evaluation – Working closely with
foundations and organizations for resources and support

Johns Hopkins University – Conduct work group training for Maryland,
identifying and preparing specific schools, their teachers, academy directors and
administrators.

Los Angeles Unified School District – Pilot test sites

Ulysses Grant Technology Magnate – Pilot test site

Rio Grande Valley School Districts – Pilot test sites

Dynamic Technologies Corp. – Emerging technologies, production of TV series

KMBH PBS Harlingen – PBS station affiliate – production support for television
programming (last money in television program)

Marc Prensky – Consultant/game play design expert

October 19, 2005 Page 2 10/12/2010

As a response to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s
A. Executive Summary (CPB) American History and Civics Initiative, The University
of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) is actively combining
pedagogical research and digital technology to create a
series of educational video games, interactive educational tools, classroom readers and
television programming along with other supplementary materials, curriculums, software
and applications to create a sustainable pipeline for development and certification of a
growing library of interactive educational media.

By working with key partners such as Gamescapers, the University of Southern California
Institute for Genetic Medicine (IGM) Digital N Art program, John Hopkins University Center
for Technology Education and PBS affiliate KMBH-TV60 in areas of technology, television,
print and interactive media, UTPA will use the Los Angeles, the Rio Grande Valley and the
North Eastern school districts as incubators to work with teacher and student focus
groups to design, plan, build and test educational materials.

This unique public/private/institutional partnership is named EPIC, the Educational
Programming Interactive Consortium, and represents the coming together of a team of
respected and proven pioneers in the areas of education, technology, curriculum and
media development.

Mission:
UTPA has commitment “in-kind” services and $10,000 seed money for the research and
development of the proposal narrative. By fusing curriculum content with technology to improve
national test scores among eleventh graders, UTPA commits itself to this project in an effort to
meet the challenge and educational promise of creating new methods of teaching American
history and social studies. UTPA will accomplish this by focusing on the issue of immigration as a
catalyst in American history.

B. Background and Need
According to education experts, the decline of education in
the United States is attributed to an antiquated system of teaching that no longer resonates with
digital savvy students. The 21st century students’ entire lives are inundated with computers, the
Internet, videogames, video cameras, cellular phones and other digital items. As a result of these
digital mediums, students think and process information fundamentally differently from their
predecessors.

School curriculum has not changed to meet the needs of students. Instead, it relies heavily on
one dimensional materials from the past. It is yesterday’s education for tomorrow’s students,
which leaves many of today’s students frustrated with school, and searching for new outlets and
opportunities to be engaged at a higher level.

To address the crisis in education, it is necessary to create a new means of communicating and
teaching information. This is done by using the digital tools and technology that students are
accustomed to and enjoy using.

There is compelling evidence that today’s student population from kindergarten through college is
uniquely different than past generations. The difference goes radically beyond what we
traditionally accept as a generational difference. Neurobiological research exposes profound

October 19, 2005 Page 3 10/12/2010

differences in thinking processes and cognitive function among subjects from this population who
have experienced constant exposure to modern technology (Prensky, 2001).

Subjects studied demonstrate a kind of neuroplasticity that is constantly reorganizing itself, and
that ongoing stimulations may actually change brain structure.

Unlike prior assumptions, these observations affirm that brain transformations continue
throughout life and indeed affect thought processes. Stimulant technologies such as television,
the computer, video games, cell phones, the internet, etc. all affect the brain and its means of
processing information. Children growing up today are saturated with digital information and they
are not appropriately guided, in most cases, to the substantive civic engagement necessary to
develop them as integral units of a democratic system.

Social psychological research reveals that contemporary students demonstrate a cognitive
malleability indicating that thinking patterns actually change based on experience. However,
these changes do not take place casually; they only occur when the subject pays attention to the
sensory input.

The observed differences in thought processes are so profound that they are equated to the
same differences we observe in the thinking processes among different linguistic groups. These
findings have led to the origination of the terms DIGITAL NATIVES and DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS
(Prensky, 2001).

Digital natives are typically the kindergarten to college age group, while digital immigrants are
those above that age group who may have become “fluent” in the newer technologies, but were
not born into the digital saturated era.

For educators this fact has dramatic implication. In short, we do not speak the same language as
our students. Long standing instructional approaches honor sequential, step-by-step
methodologies that quickly lose the attention of the digital native’s hypertext mind that craves
parallel processing, interactivity, seeks networking and thrives on multitasking.

Digital natives are more than capable of intense focus but simply choose not to pay attention to
an instructional approach that does not meet their cognitive needs. Digital natives bring new skill
sets to classrooms that are not honored in current educational approaches. These skills include
highly developed levels of visual literacy and spatial intelligence, the ability to multitask, a
propensity for networking and a preference for placing learning in a fast-paced gaming milieu.

These phenomena require a departure from currently favored instructional methods. Digital
immigrant educators working in traditional systems that honor legacy content (reading,
mathematics, science, literature and history) are challenged to translate that content into the
language of the digital native; to honor the value of new skills sets; to expand curricula and
embrace the future content promoted by digital technology (software, hardware, robotics,
nanotechnology, bioinformatics,) ethics, politics, sociology, and languages.

To gain the attention and participate in fulfilling the educational promise of the malleable digital
native mind, the development of instructional methods and materials must be based in their
language. This language requires fast-paced instruction that incorporates graphic-rich, non-
sequential presentation that offers parallel tracks, random access, interactivity and opportunity to
network. To speak digital native requires an instructional approach that brings cognitive gaming to
the learning process.

The use of games as a tool of education is by no means unprecedented. Harry Evry, in his book
Beginning Game Graphics, writes, “Games have been around since the beginning of civilization.

October 19, 2005 Page 4 10/12/2010

Before the first child learned to walk on two feet, games were already a proven technique of
natural education.

The tools and technology of the interactive classroom can be applied effectively to a large
number of academic subjects. As EPIC’s initial focus for development, UTPA chose the subject
of immigration and its importance, role and impact on the history, economy, laws, government,
social-structure and development of the United States of America.

Richard M. Lerner, Tufts University, in his book Liberty: Thriving and Civic Engagement Among
America’s Youth, writes, “An understanding of the details of the emergence in human evolution of
developmental regulation-this bi-directional or reciprocal relationship between a person and his or
her social world-points to the importance of concepts such as civic engagement, moral identity,
transcendence of self, and spirituality in attaining an appreciation of the scientific foundations of
the idea of America.”

Most states have social studies/history curriculum that ask teachers to address the role
immigration has played in America’s history. However, few aspects of American history have had
such wide sweeping influences on politics, culture, and society as the role of immigration has
had. As a result of this global migration to America, our national identity is dubbed the “melting
pot.”

Although there are a few earlier efforts at discussing immigration history, most are regional in
approach or focus on one particular group or period of immigration history. This proposal seeks to
tie all the periods of immigration together and show how immigrants were changing the face of
America. A study of the history in the context of immigration allows students to address issues of
diversity, xenophobia, expansionism, industrialization, urbanization, assimilation, reactionary
policy making and political upheaval.

New institutions were formed at the expense of older ones on both sides as original settlers and
new arrivals tried to create societies that were either compatible or diametrically opposed. Even
among the new settlers there were tensions between religious differences and ethnic diversity.

There has always been “voluntary” and “involuntary” immigration in American history. African
slaves were brought involuntarily to the “new world,” while Mexicans and Native Indians
involuntarily found themselves suddenly in a new country without actually moving their
communities as settlers occupied and took the land from them under the “manifest destiny”
doctrine.

Because of these and many other means and reasons of immigrating over time, the Western
European face of America began to dramatically change leaving earlier Americans feeling
threatened. Xenophobia resulted and the creation of exclusionary programs and laws designed to
force assimilation of immigrants prevailed.

By the turn of the twentieth century xenophobia, national security concerns and economic
developments caused shifts in immigration policies which excluded some groups while
encouraging others, especially those from Latin America.

Immigrants poured in from Mexico drawn by employment opportunities and pushed by political
tensions from their own country. By the 1930s, the goodwill had turned sour as economic
pressures closed the doors previously open to Latin Americans and ultimately, led to mass
deportations of Hispanics.

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American history would continue to reflect a fluctuation in immigration regulation. Both World War
II and the Cold War saw changes in immigrants and immigration policy as national and global
issues again influenced the patterns of movement into the United States.

Consequently, no other subject has so closely aligned itself to the history of the country as those
concerning and involving immigration.
Furthermore, issues related to immigration introduce students to much more than simple
geography and immigration history. To have a complete understanding of American history,
students have to learn legal, economic, ethnic, and cultural history in its full capacity. By using
immigration history as the platform for study, students will discuss historical issues and at the
same time address contemporary issues influencing national policy today. They will learn how
groups and individuals assimilated, fought for their identity and at times sought to restrict other
ethnic groups from coming to the United States.

As a learning outcome to studying immigration, students will have a greater
understanding of the economic and political underpinnings of American infrastructure and
the fluidity of history, as insular events are woven into the larger picture of the United
States’ past. Therefore, the study of immigration is relevant, timely and a perfect device to
learn all of American history.

C. Vision and Objectives

Vision:

EPIC, the Educational Programming Interactive Consortium is a two pronged initiative,
dedicated to designing a new paradigm in classroom education, while simultaneously creating a
growing, self-sustaining, self-perpetuating community of interactive educational developers.

ICE, the Interactive Classroom Experience changes the way teachers and students
learn about American history, social studies and civic participation, while modeling a new
paradigm in classroom education.

IMA, the Interactive Media Authoring program will offer students valuable career skills
and experience, while inspiring and training a generation of innovative educational
content developers.

Furthermore, EPIC plans to augment and extend this classroom training with experiential skill
building, in the form of community involvement in the areas of festival, event and parade
planning, newspaper publishing, documentary writing, media production, public art projects,
environmentally sustainable community beautification projects and the local and global legislative
and infrastructure understanding underlying these activities. This aspect of the program will result
in career-ready skills upon graduation. Partners already engaged in this area are: Auschwitz
Museum, Poland – Information and Publications Department, Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope,

October 19, 2005 Page 6 10/12/2010

Connect L.A., The Polish Consul General, Los Angeles; The Green Technology Institute of the
Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation.

Values:
The properties should be:
• Universally, immediately and persistently appealing to teachers and students alike.
• Adhering to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) History Exam for
essential knowledge and skills of American history for eleventh graders.
• Improving test scores among student users.
• Used by teachers as a tool for teaching.
• Engaging, surprising, rewarding, entertaining, innovative and educational.
• Easy to use.

To address the crisis in education, it is proposed by UTPA to:

Develop and test a new paradigm of classroom education, by altering and augmenting
the typical classroom experience and utilizing interactive digital technology to offer a new
means of communicating, contextualizing and teaching information.

Use tools and interfaces that students are accustomed to and enjoy using to impart an
understanding of the context and relevancy of the lessons of American History.

Create a classroom experience that instills a sense of excitement, engagement and
anticipation in the students.

Establish an environment that fosters classroom discussion, friendly competition and
creative debate.

Develop an interactive technology platform which will deliver into the classroom a rich-
media immersive experience capable of imparting curriculum knowledge through
environmental simulation and simulated personal experience.

Develop a user-friendly media authoring, designing and scripting environment which can
be easily taught to and effectively used by a large base of media-savvy students and
teachers.

Develop an easily accessible high-technology career training curriculum, which will
motivate, challenge and empower students to develop and utilize valuable technological
skills.

Develop an on-going sustainable pipeline and growing academic community for the
production of an ever-growing library of new factually-based and historically-accurate
interactive game scenarios for simulated content.

Develop a distribution portal and a sustainable process for the delivery, refinement,
certification, authentication, and dissemination of this growing media library.

Create ancillary materials that support the video game teaching tool.

Create complimentary video programming as a companion to the classroom materials to
be used within the game and to be aired on PBS.

Long Term Objectives:

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• To develop, inspire and support a growing community of skilled and innovative interactive
educational content producers.

• To create a sustainable organization and self-propagating system for the continuing
development, refinement, certification and distribution of interactive classroom content.

• To create an interactive online portal and community to support the Interactive Classroom
Experience, and provide appropriate and effective support media, textbooks and class
materials.

• To create complimentary television programming for PBS general audiences.

• To create an effective set of tools, training materials, tutorials and online support for
interactive educational authoring and educational media programming.

• To design and produce an educational video game for eleventh graders synchronized to
core curriculum knowledge and skills outcomes required by the National Assessment
Educational Progress History Exam.

Expected objectives for learner outcomes for eleventh graders:

1)Students should be able to develop an analysis of the complex cultural
diversity of American society as a consequence of immigration and
migration.

2)Students should be able to evaluate how immigrants influenced the
development of urban and rural cultures in the U.S. and their
influence upon periods of history and involvement in important
events.

3)Students should be able to explain how labor, the economy and politics
changed as a result of the interaction of various ethnic groups in
America’s social and cultural development.

4)Students should appreciate the complexities of the “American”
character and the struggles that people went through to become
“American” citizens.

5)Students should recognize his/her place in the world, and his/her place
as an active/responsible citizen of the United States and the world
through a comparative multicultural perspective.

6)Students should develop critical thinking skills as he/she is forced to
make crucial choices which influenced life and death decisions,
assimilation and civic participation.

7)Students should be able to exercise social studies skills including
understanding maps and charts, analyzing primary sources, and
writing.

Short Term Objectives for Research and Development Phase:

• Collect qualitative and quantitative data.
• Establish system of measurements and testing.

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• Identify and organize participating schools, teacher/student works groups.
• Outline core curriculum strategy.
• Acquire software engine and internet portal.
• Establish certification process and regulating body.
• Establish equipment requirements for developing gaming scenarios.
• Research materials, contacts and production channels for television programming.
• Outline series episodes.
• Develop series treatment.

Customer:
Teachers are expected to use created properties to teach students about American history for the
purpose of increasing retention and test scores among their students. The television
programming may be used in classrooms, but it is expected to appeal to general audiences for
PBS.

User:
Eleventh graders will use the properties to enhance their educational experience and help them
to retain more information and improve their test scores. Some students will participate by
creating their own interactive scenarios, while others will participate by interactively experiencing
history in a simulated context.

Other Parties:
Hardware providers, computer companies, cellular phone service providers, textbook & digital
education publishers, media developers, PBS and other key partners and advocates that wish to
support, use and participate in the EPIC program.

User Proposition:
EPIC will generate value for each and every student who participates in either the Interactive
Classroom Experience (ICE) or the Interactive Media Authoring (IMA) program. Participating
schools and their faculties will gain two valuable new curriculum offerings, and the ancillary
benefits of an engaged and inspired student population.

Business Model:
Both component programs (ICE and IMA) will be based upon a core of innovative technology and
intellectual property which redefines not only the way classes are presented, but also the manner
in which academic media is created, updated, distributed and licensed.

The backbone technologies, core content and intellectual properties will be licensed, managed
and controlled in such a manner as to maximize academic impact, quality and effectiveness, and
sustain the growth, spread and continuing development of this new channel for interactive media
distribution.

The specific details of the business model will be further defined in the course of the initial phase
of development, but EPIC’s participating partners stand to receive a substantial ongoing return on
their investments from the licensing of the core systems, tools, technologies and intellectual
properties which form the foundation of these programs.

Competition:
Very little penetration and success of educational video games has occurred within school
environments. Educational games such as “The Oregon Trail” and “Carmen San Diego” are well
known and well received games, but they are generally considered out dated and lack the
complexity and story combinations to attract today’s digital natives.

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Many simulation based games with ancillary educational components have achieved commercial
success, but the inaccuracy and lack of educational focus of these games has generally limited
their use in the classroom.

Constraints:
Market penetration, curriculum integration, development tools, distribution platforms, educational
gaming design complexities and funding are all significant constraints of this project.

Scope:
As a result of creating new digital educational tools and making them available and affordable to
school districts nationwide, UTPA and its EPIC partners envision helping teachers become more
technologically equipped to instruct high school juniors in the areas of American history, civic
participation and social studies. The interactive content will adhere and incorporate national
standards set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) History Exam for
essential knowledge and skills of American history.

To fill the long-term need for interactive educational content, the Interactive Media Development
program, developed in partnership with Gamescapers, John Hopkins University and the USC
IGM DNA Project will train and empower high school students to wield the tools of digital media
authoring and join an ever-growing pool of potential educational content creators.

EPIC’s partners believe that, unlike much of the core curriculum that focuses on insular events,
understanding the people, cultures, immigration patterns and social environments provide a
broader understanding of the underpinnings and infrastructure of the United States’ economic
and political evolution. By linking the past to the present, students grasp immigration issues and
understand future challenges facing American society.

UTPA is also producing a companion television series covering great immigrant inventors who
have impacted the course of American history with their inventions. This program is geared for
PBS audiences.

This initial phase is to research and develop these ideas, and develop a long-term staged
development, production, testing and deployment program, and an operational business plan for
the coordinated management, continuing growth and sustainable operation of these programs.

Mission,
The Rio Grande Valley will use the following schools in the Valley to pilot the program:
Donna, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA), PSJA Memorial, Carter, Juarez-Lincoiln,
Weslaco East, PSJA North, Edcouch Elsa high schools, the Ulysses S. Grant
Communications Technology Magnet schools and Los Angeles Unified School District.

D. Strategy and Plan

ICE:
EPIC’s Interactive Classroom Experience (ICE) will be used by teachers to transport
students back in time to a period of history being studied in class and synchronized with
class syllabi.

ICE invites students to learn a wide variety of skills and strategies by interacting and
collaborating with period environments, historical figures and other characters in a
simulated game world. Principles of empathy, agency, verisimilitude, role-playing,
sensory immersion, challenge, reward and social interaction will engage players and help

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them to suspend their disbelief and become emotionally and intellectually invested in and
attached to their “avatar”.

By directing the game play, teachers can synchronize the game to core curriculum areas
enabling the video game to become an educational tool and an extension of the
classroom in a virtual setting. Students will experience the world through the objective
lens of time and history, and through the subjective eyes of a wide range of real and
imagined typical, unusual and extraordinary individuals.

The following passage is a possible classroom scenario that illustrates how ICE may be
implemented each day in a class.

EPIC’s Interactive Classroom Experience

Setting the Stage:

Each class begins with a short newsreel-like mini-
documentary that introduces the period and significant events of
the time. (these will be produced as part of EPIC)

Introducing the Scenario:

Students are assigned a role to play, and receive a
personal briefing introducing the simulated situation and the
character they shall play. The students in the class may all play
the same characters, or may be assigned different characters
within the same or similar scenarios.

Discovering the Environment:

Students enter the simulation and begin to explore the
simulated environment. Simple choices and interactions are
encountered to establish a sense of urgency and investment in
the student’s character, build comfort with the interface, and
expose fundamental information about the character and his or
her environment.

Critical Mission:

Characters or events within the game will lead the
students into their critical mission or primary challenge. It may
be quite obvious or completely unexpected. It may be as
complicated as reforming a political party, or as simple as finding
a job. The game scenario naturally weaves the issues of
immigration into the larger context of American history.

Outcome Analysis:

Upon completing the simulation, students and their teachers
shall engage in a discussion of their choices, observations and outcomes
throughout the simulation. Students may be assigned to perform a
variety of follow up exercises based on their virtual experiences. These
may be individual or team assignments such as writing editorials, diaries,

October 19, 2005 Page 11 10/12/2010

plays, essays or speeches, and producing flyers, posters,
advertisements or public service announcements.

All items found in the virtual environments would be authentic and accurate. Clicking on an object
might reveal information unique to that object in the form of text, photograph, illustration or video
programming designed to be inserted into the game. Items may be of interest to the player
because of their capacity to inform the player or further the character’s ability to navigate through
the game. As a result, EPIC’s Interactive Classroom Experience provides the students with a
broader, deeper understanding of history, grounded in the context of personal experience.

IMA:

EPIC’s Interactive Media Authoring (IMA) program invites students to discover the tools,
technologies, skills and methodologies of interactive game design and development, based on
the Gamescapers’ model of hands-on team-based learning. Student’s will experience the game
development process as they research, design, model, prototype, script, test and debug their own
historical simulations and interactive game scenarios.

Digital media students participating in the game design and IMA classes will learn the tools,
methods and skills of level design, scripting, environmental modeling, and interactive story telling,
while they research, model and virtually recreate a particular moment in history. Under the
guidance of their teachers, students will work in teams as they employ the art and technology of
game design in the development of their own historically accurate simulations and factually based
game scenarios.

Gamescapers and USC IGM Digital N Art program have been developing and teaching game
design and digital media classes in the Southern California area for more than two years. Under
the leadership of author, programmer and technical director Harry Evry, and master educator
Lynn Crandall, Gamescapers and the USC IGM Digital N Art program, in cooperation with UTPA
faculty and John Hopkins University, will oversee the research, test and development efforts for
the simulation technology, the authoring environment and the interactive media development
curriculum.

ACDC:

EPIC’s Academic Certification and Distribution Committee (ACDC) will coordinate and maintain
the interactive delivery pipeline, responsible for the generation, refinement, certification,
packaging and distribution of interactive classroom experience media and content.

EPIC
Educational
Programming
Interactive
Consortium

University of The University of John Hopkins
Southern California Texas-Pan American University Center for
Lynn Crandall Educational
USC IGMAG Technology
Gamescapers

October 19, 2005 Page 12 10/12/2010

The development process undertaken herein will include:

The research, design, testing and implementation of an effective technology and media
platform for the delivery of the interactive classroom experience.

The research, design, testing, and implementation of an easy to learn, easy to teach,
authoring, modeling and scripting environment for creating historically accurate
interactive classroom experiences by using student/teacher work groups.

The development, testing and implementation of academic curriculums to effectively
teach history through simulation, and to effectively teach the development of immersive
interactive simulations in a hands-on team-based classroom environment.

The research, development, testing and production of effective support media to
complement and enhance the interactive educational experience.

The development, operation and administration of a sustainable organization for the
propagation, support, certification, licensing, distribution, and standards and practices
coordination for both educational gaming programs and the growing library of interactive
media content.

Therefore, there are two development streams within this production model. (1) Interactive
Media Authoring (IMA) curriculum puts teachers with students to work in groups building gaming
scenarios with design software for (2) Interactive Classroom Experience (ICE) participants. ICE
participants play and learn from the game scenarios drafted by the IMA group.

Independently, the two programs both effectively provide valuable insight and opportunities to
their students. Collectively, the two programs provide the foundation for a growing community of
educational developers, and a vast ever-expanding library of rich interactive classroom
experiences. It is hoped for that many of the students who participate in the ICE program may
eventually go on to develop their own interactive history scenarios in IMA class.

In creating these new digital educational tools, making them affordable and accessible,
and training and fostering a growing community of creative educational software
developers, the EPIC program will help reinvigorate school districts nationwide.

Play testing, curriculum testing and pilot programs will be conducted at public and private high-
schools in the culturally diverse greater Los Angeles community, the Rio Grande Valley and the
Maryland area more universities and school districts may join as the program develops.

Video Game
Characteristics

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Name: Immigration Nation
Primary target users: Teachers/high school juniors
Secondary target user: general public, individual sale
Platform: PC based, cellular phone, website
Genre: Role-playing, simulation
Game duration: 40 hours in-class operation, 100 or more extended
Player: Multi-user, collaboration
Distribution: School districts nationwide
Sales/Revenue: License to districts for a fee, market for individual sale, cellular phone tie-in,
commercial branding and marketing
Functional Goals and features:

Reacts to user action and inaction
• Reacts to button pushes
• Acts when no buttons are pushed
• Acts in some unpredictable ways that encourages activity
• Reacts to actions
• Play-like activities
• Exhibits moods
Participates in games as both single and multiplayer game character.
• Simple design
• Customizable Character
Points/reward system (currency)?
• Points for activity
• Points for game play
• Usable for features and customization
• Upgrades, New Features, New Plays/Abilities
Development/Growth (?)
• Choice of initial appearance
• Changes through action or reward points
• Renewable game senarios
Involves User in a Social Group
• Collaboration/multi-user interaction
• Pre-set interactions
Is accessible from multiple platforms
• PC
• Cellular phone

“Immigration Nation,” is a role-playing, simulation education game that enables students to
explore the different periods of American history marked by massive waves of “voluntary” and
“involuntary” immigrants into the country and to help students understand the economic and
political changes that resulted from those waves of immigration.

This complex multi-user video game requires students to learn a wide variety of skills and
strategies by collaborating with other players during the game. As a result of the psychologically
immersive and mentally challenging strategies used, players are expected to become emotionally
attached to their “avatar” (the representation of the player in the game) thereby compelling them
to continue play outside the classroom.

“Immigration Nation” would be used by teachers to transport students back in time to a period of
history being studied in class and synchronized with class syllabi. By directing the game play,
teachers can synchronize the game to core curriculum areas enabling the video game to become
an educational tool and an extension of the classroom in a virtual world.

October 19, 2005 Page 14 10/12/2010

It is expected and required of this project that students and teachers will be used to
design the game by working closely with professional curriculum developers and
technology design experts. By incorporating students and teachers in the actual game
design process, EPIC ensures the end-users’ participation is fully documented during the
designing of the video game to produce a product that reflects the needs and desires of
the user.

Based upon a highly advanced artificial intelligence program, this real-time strategy game adapts
to players skills and abilities as they improve through “leveling-up.” The game will force players to
make important decisions that lead to successfully entering the country, obtaining work, food and
shelter, seeking education opportunities, forming communities and assimilating into American
culture and at the same time providing a new means of teaching important facts and concepts of
American history and social studies to students.

The game naturally weaves the issues of immigration into the larger context of American history.
This is the advantage “Immigration Nation” – the video game – has over studying singular periods
in history. It has the ability to integrate major historical events together to illustrate, in a virtual
world, a broader understanding of the infrastructure of the United States’ synchronized with core
curriculum.

It is the game-play psychology, continuously improved and newly generated game play scenarios
that contribute to the sustainability and longevity of “Immigration Nation.” As a complex game,
“Immigration Nation” provides the player with a broader, deeper understanding and a more
complicated combination of story, skill and required mastery. To truly learn with a video game,
research has determined that it requires a variety of cognitive abilities be employed such as:
handling struggle, cooperation, social interaction with others, sharing information and creative
problem solving. All these skills would be engaged during the game play.

Cellular Phone Game Application

Fact: half a billion cell phones sold each year (Prensky, 2005)

Cellular phones are miniature CPUs and perfect for innovations such as:

Downloadables (games, video)
Short Messaging Service (SMS)
Graphics
User-controlled operating systems
Camera
Geo-positioning systems (GPS)
Voice recognition

Such devices also allow for optional hardware and software accessories such as:

Thumb keyboards
Plug-in screens

Cellular phones offer a wide range of options for its use. With just a basic model, voice-only
phones, a number of subjects can be learned such as: language, poetry, literature, public
speaking, writing, storytelling and history. Add LCD screens and cellular phones become a
miniature highly mobile computer. It is expected that the “Immigration Nation” video game will be
disseminated and made accessible through the cellular phone. By working closely with a cellular
phone content provider, EPIC will build the video game designed for cross-platform applications.

October 19, 2005 Page 15 10/12/2010

Cell phones are getting smaller and more powerful each day. Futuristic models are just around
the corner. Randi Altschul, inventor and owner of the patented disposable cell phone (a mere 2
inch x 3 inch with a thickness of three credit cards made entirely of paper with a circuit board
printed with metallic conductive ink and LCD screen) is working closely with UTPA. Such phones
will cost less than a dollar a piece. (Pat. NO. 6,452,566; 6,405,056; 6,405,031, 6,351,629;
6,144,847; 6,061,580; 5,983,094; 5,965,848; 5,875,393; 5,845,218)

Furthermore, Altschul has patented the paper laptop that would sell under $20 dollars each. Both
revolutionary technologies are possible acquisitions to roll-out with the dissemination of the video
game.

Concurrently with this grant, UTPA is seeking an Emerging Technology Grant from the
State of Texas to manufacture these products.

As one possible option, phones like these (subsidized by carriers) could be handed out in
classrooms preloaded with the software for class projects. This is an excellent opportunity to
provide cellular phone access with educational video gaming services to students.

Cellular phones have enormous innovation potential. Thus, it is imperative to incorporate cellular
phone technology into the greater vision of the “Immigration Nation” video game. By creating a
cross platform application of the video game, developers afford players greater access to play the
game in a variety of ways.

Television
Programming
Title: The Immigration Innovation (working title)
Applicant’s Role: Producer
Audience: General
Genre: Documentary series (unknown number of episodes)
Production Medium: Beta SP, Digital Beta, Digital video
Distribution Medium: video
Support: Interactive website
Stage: Pre-production, research and scripting

Brief Project Summary:

The story of immigration can best be described by its impact on America. The United States of
America, by its very nature, is an unique “invention” unto itself of civic participation based upon
democratic values. A relatively new country, it is an amalgamation of early immigrant cultures and
born from exploration. America formed into a world power relatively quickly because of the many
contributions of its people.

“Immigration Innovation” episodic series looks at the contributions and innovations that are
attributed to the skilled and unskilled labor (i.e. building of the railroads, factory workers etc.) of
immigrants and the innovations and improvements that resulted. The series will chronologically
move through time, focusing on different groups and how each one altered what came before.

“Immigration Innovation” will explore the various inventions discovered by immigrants that
changed the face of the country. One episode may be completely devoted to immigrant inventors,
while other episodes may focus on minorities, women and young inventors. Each episode will
reflect and illustrate the historical impact that these people had on the country while
complimenting as supplemental information to be linked to the video game.

October 19, 2005 Page 16 10/12/2010

Students playing the game will be shown various parts of the series as it correlates to the time in
history within the game. The television programming mirrors the action in the video game.

Through archival footage, photography, patent documents and other historical materials,
interviews with experts and inventors, “The Immigration Innovation” series investigates how
ingenuity and cultural traditions brought to the United States created the foundations that
catapulted the country into a global economic leader and world power.

Just a few examples of such ingenuity include:

Albert Einstein, (1879-1955) born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, embarked
on the construction of unified field theories, although he continued to work on the
probabilistic interpretation of quantum theory, and he persevered with this work in
America. He contributed to statistical mechanics by his development of the
quantum theory of a monatomic gas and he has also accomplished valuable
work in connection with atomic transition probabilities and relativistic cosmology.

An Wang (1920-1990), a Chinese-born American computer scientist, is best
known for founding Wang Laboratories and holding over 35 patents including
patent for a magnetic pulse transfer controlling device which related to computer
memory and was crucial to the development of digital information technology.
Wang Laboratories was founded in 1951 and by 1989 employed 30,000 people
and had $3 billion a year in sales, with such developments as desktop calculators
and the first word processors. Wang was inducted into the National Inventor's
Hall of Fame in 1988.

Dr. Enrique M. Ostrea, Jr., received patents for methods of testing infants for
exposure to drugs or alcohol during pregnancy. Ostrea, who was born in the
Philippines, immigrated to America in 1968. Ostrea continues to be honored for
his contributions to pediatrics and neonatology.

Tuan Vo-Dinh, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1975 from Vietnam, has received 23
patents mainly related to optical diagnostic equipment, including his first patents
for badges that can be optically scanned to determine exposure to toxic
chemicals. Vo-Dinh utilizes similar technology in which there is an optical method
of cancer detection.

Flossie Wong-Staal, a Chinese-American scientist, is a leader in AIDS research.
Working with a team that included Dr. Robert C. Gallo, she helped to discover
the virus that causes AIDS and a related virus that causes cancer. She also did
the first mapping of HIV's genes. Wong-Staal continues to work on a vaccine to
prevent AIDS and treatments for those with AIDS. Her patents, which were
granted with co-inventors, include a patent for a method of testing for AIDS.

Market research does reveal limited programming on the topic of immigration. PBS just released
its series “Destination America.” It tells the history of worldwide immigration to America through
the lens of specific freedoms that millions of immigrants have sought in the United States for
nearly four centuries. The four episodes will trace America's roots as a nation of immigrants from
the perspective of peoples seeking liberty - Freedom from Want, Freedom of Religion, Freedom
to Create and Freedom for Women.

October 19, 2005 Page 17 10/12/2010

Another video was produced, but not made for general television audiences was "Minority
Inventors: America's Tapestry of Innovation," – a video produced by the United States Patent and
Trademark Office that tells the story of minority inventors of the past and the present.

“The Immigration Innovation” is the television companion to the video game and would appeal to
general audiences. It makes a nice edition to PBS programming as a highly informative and
entertaining series that enlightens audiences about the many contributions in the form of
inventions that immigrants have made to the United States. Such a series would broaden
people’s knowledge and appreciation of immigrant contributions to American culture.

CPB and Investor Funding will be used to: research material and develop a television
proposal, treatment and outline for the series.

Textbook reader for student
Ancillary Teacher classroom aid
materials Treasure chest for class room – imitations of historical objects that
students can hold and explore (?)

Marc Prensky – Consultant/game play design expert (work for
E. Managing Key hire)
Partners’ Roles Harry Envy & Gamescapers – Consultant/game play design
working with students – lead focus groups in the Las Angeles
school districts (in-kind services)
University of Southern California IGM Digital N Art – Conduct work group research and review
and:

• Identify and prepare specific schools, their teachers, academy
directors, parent support groups, administrators, union leaders,
school board members, local and city superintendents.

• Oversee the documentation, evaluation and development of
strategies for refinement, expansion and replication of the pilot
throughout its process and report every six months

• Build a Development and Financial Management team to ensure
the sustainability of the project, most importantly, bringing in
personnel from the Marshall School of Business for that purpose
as well as our board of directors and financial personnel from the
Mayor's and other public officials' offices.

• Provide direction and the site for media launches of the projects
and achievement unveilings.

John Hopkins University – Conduct work group training for Maryland identifying and preparing
specific schools, their teachers, academy directors, administrators.
KMBH PBS Harlingen – PBS station affiliate – production support for television
Programming (last money in television program)
National Association of Inventors – Consultation and research for television
Programming

October 19, 2005 Page 18 10/12/2010

NOTE: Both UTPA and IGMAG teams will forge partnerships with the League of Women Voters,
the Bradley Legacy Foundation, L.A. City Council Members, County Supervisors, State senators
and assembly persons, LAUSD Leadership, in particular, LAUSD COO, Bob Collins, LAUSD
Board of Education members, The Catholic Archdiocese, Charter School programs, Chambers of
Commerce, Consulates and Sister Cities International leaders interested in exchanging these
data in their countries, university programs and foundations and corporations seeking to share
and leverage resources.

The UTPA and IGMAG will oversee the sustainability of the
F. Standards, project will provide data, plans and financial models that
Measurements and demonstrate the project’s long-term viability, including
Testing Methods information on potential funding sources during and after CPB’s
involvement in the project.

Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected initially for the following purposes:

1) determining what technology (hardware) is currently available in selected schools that will
be piloting the project
2) determining what gaming technologies are appealing to high school age-students
3) measuring the effectiveness (student outcomes) of the gaming technologies through
assessments aligned with national/state standards
4) measuring student interest in the gaming technologies as a learning tool
5) measuring teacher interest in using gaming technologies as a teaching tool

Qualitative:

1) Initially focus group interviews will be used with high school students to gather
information about gaming technology use, and their perspectives on using gaming
technology in the classroom
2) Initially focus group interviews will be used with teachers to gather information about the
technology available to them, and their perspectives on using gaming technology in the
classroom

Quantitative:

1) A survey instrument will be designed for teachers (mostly digital immigrants)
(Prensky, 2001) regarding the use of gaming technology in the classroom. (This can
also be pre- and post-use.)
2) A survey instrument will be designed for students (digital natives) (Prensky, 2001)
regarding the use of gaming technology in the classroom. (This can also be pre- and
post-use.)
3) Pre-test and post-test: National/state standards (NAEP 11th grade History exam
objectives) related to the U.S. immigration lessons that will be covered in the game.

THE INSTRUCTIONAL DE SIGN PROCESS

S TAGE 1: I DENTIFY I NSTRUCTIONAL G OALS
Question: What do you want learners to be able to do or know?
Task: The first step in the instructional design process is to determine the
instructional goals or the desired outcomes of the instruction. The
purpose of this stage is to specify the knowledge, skills and attitudes
learners must acquire. Instructional goals are stated in global terms and
are based on a needs assessment or an analysis of what the learners

October 19, 2005 Page 19 10/12/2010

need based on an analysis of the current level of performance and the
optimal level of performance.
Contributor: Subject matter expert (SME)
Deliverable: A statement of the intended outcomes of the instruction

S TAGE 2. C ONDUCT T ASK A NALYSIS
Question: What does the learner need to know or be able to do to accomplish the
goal?
Task: A task analysis involves dividing the subject matter into its individual
parts, sequencing and organizing the content. There are two steps in the
process. First, the goal must be categorized into one of the four domains
of learning (verbal information, intellectual skill, attitude or psychomotor
skill). Second, a concept map should be created by indicating the main
concepts and subdividing the main concepts into more discrete concepts
until they can no longer be subdivided.
Contributor: Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Instructional Designers
Deliverable: A concept map illustrating the main concepts and all subordinate
concepts

S TAGE 3. A NALYZE L EARNER C HARACTERISTICS
Question: Who is the target audience?
Task: The third step in the ID process is to describe the target learners and the
learning environment. The target audience should be described in terms
of demographics, prior knowledge, attitude toward content, academic
motivation and ability levels. In addition, the instructional designers
should analyze the environment or context in which learning will occur
and document the resources available to learners. Steps 1-3 can be
completed simultaneously.
Contributor: Subject Matter Expert (SME), Instructional Designers, Researcher
Deliverable: Profile of the target audience and the learning environment

S TAGE 4. W RITE P ERFORMANCE O BJECTIVES
Question: What are the specific learning objectives?
Task: Instructional objectives are detailed statements of what the learner will
be able to do at the end of the instruction. Each of the skills or concepts
identified in the instructional analysis is converted into behavioral
objectives. Objectives should include an action verb (state, define,
describe, construct, etc.) and a detailed reference to the subject matter.
Deliverable: A statement of the learning objectives corresponding to each step or
node in the task analysis

S TAGE 5. W RITE A SSESSMENT I TEMS
Question: What questions will the students answer or what tasks will the students
complete?
Task: The assessment instrument is written before the instruction is developed
to focus the efforts of the designers, developers and SME’s. Test items
can be either fixed response (multiple-choice, matching or true/false) or
can be performance assessments in which the student is asked to

October 19, 2005 Page 20 10/12/2010

complete a task, which is then evaluated by a teacher using a predefined
rubric.
Deliverable: An assessment instrument for each unit of instruction

S TAGE 6. I NSTRUCTIONAL S TRATEGY
Question: Now that I know what to teach, how will I teach it?
Task: This stage is the ‘heart’ of the entire instructional design process. It
includes a specification of the pedagogical strategies to be used to teach
the various concepts and skills. Although there are a plethora of
strategies one could use, they should all address (somewhere in the
delivery) the following nine ‘events’ of instruction:

1. Gain attention
2. Inform learner’s of objectives
3. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge
4. Present content
5. Provide learning guidance
6. Elicit performance
7. Provide feedback
8. Assess performance
9. Enhance retention and transfer

Although the macro instructional strategy to be used can be quite global
such as the use of a game it is important to ensure that all of the events
of instruction are being addressed somewhere during the use of the
gaming strategy.
Contributor: Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Instructional Designers; Developers
and Media Experts

S TAGE 7. D EVELOP I NSTRUCTIONAL M A TERIALS
Question: What materials will be used to teach the content?
Task: This stage involves developing the first draft of the instructional materials
to be used and involves creating narrative describing the game in
general terms; a flowchart showing the sequence of events in the game,
storyboards showing each of the screen shots and indicated the
multimedia elements to be included on each screen or page. The
narrative, flowchart and storyboard are used to develop a prototype of
the instruction for formative evaluation.
Contributor: Developers and Media Experts and entire team for formative evaluation
Deliverable: A narrative describing the instruction or game
A flowchart showing the flow of the lesson in a technology based
environment.
A storyboard showing a screen shot for every screen to be included in
the lesson.
The multimedia elements to be used in the lesson (graphics, audio clips,
video clips, a text )
A prototype of the lesson or game

S TAGE 8. F ORMATIVE E VALUATION

October 19, 2005 Page 21 10/12/2010

Question: Is the instruction effective?
Task: This stage involves piloting the first draft of the instructional materials
developed in several one-on-one sessions with members of the target
group. The piloting the materials in a small group setting consisting of
target learners. The goal of this stage is to assess the effectiveness of
the instruction by assessing 1) the performance of participants and 2)
obtaining feedback from users.
Contributor: Developers and Media Experts and entire team for formative evaluation
Deliverable: An interview to be used during the one on one and small group sessions
and a description of the data to be collected.

S TAGE 9. S UMMATIVE E VALUATION
Question: Is the instruction ready to be released.
Task: Conduct and large scale field trial of the final unit of instruction
development to determine how it functions in the intended learning
environment and with the target audience on a large scale. The purpose
of this stage is to identify and eliminate any user problems that may
arise.
Contributor: Researcher, SME, Designers, Developers (entire team)
Deliverable: Data collection instruments identifying the data to be collected and
reports summarizing the data collected.

Sample of survey:

_____________________________________________________________________________
High School History Teacher Technology and Video Game Use Survey
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) American History and Civics Initiative

The following survey was created by the CPB Grant Staff to gain a better understanding of the
uses and potential uses of technology and video games within the high school history classroom.
The information that you provide will allow us to build an rationale for writing the CPB grant,
eventually culminating in a video game, Immigration Nation, to be used as an instructional tool.
Information from this survey will be reported in group format, therefore your identity is not
necessary. Your responses are extremely important and we hope that you take the time to
carefully read each item and respond accordingly.

Please check the grade level of your primary assignment and indicate the subject(s) taught.

 9th grade
th
 10 grade
th
 11 grade
th
 12 grade
Subjects Taught:_________________________________

Please fill out this short survey and return it to your AVID coordinator or fax to Dr. Karen Watt at
956-316-7077.

PART I

How often do you use each of the following technologies in your instruction?

October 19, 2005 Page 22 10/12/2010

Please rate each item on a scale of 1 to 5, (1=never, 2=rarely, 3=regularly, 4=everyday)

1 2 3 4 Presentations, Power Point or other computer-based
1 2 3 4 Course Web Pages/Sites
1 2 3 4 Email/listserv
1 2 3 4 Content specific software (e.g., reading, science, math instructional
software)
1 2 3 4 Other (please specify)

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________
PART TWO
Basic Skills Checklist

Survey Key: Please complete the survey below by selecting one of the
1 = unable choices (indicating your best estimate of your skill or knowledge
2 = adequate level) about each of the technology related indicators. A 4
3 = familiar means that you are very knowledgeable and fluent with a
4 = fluent particular skill indicator whereas a 1 means that you are
unfamiliar or have little knowledge about that topic or skill.

1 2 3 4
• Create a Web page
• Send email messages and send/receive attachments
• Use advanced features of a word processor (tables, headers and footer,
macros, table of contents, columns, etc.)
• Access a specific Web page (URL) and search the Web using a variety of tools
• Cut, copy, and paste text both within an application and between multiple open
applications
• Create and use bookmarks/favorites
• Scan a document
• Create an electronic presentation
• Download and decompress files
• Create, copy, move, rename, and delete folders
• Use formulas and/or functions in a spreadsheet
• Copy a graphic from a website
• Reduce, enlarge, or crop a graphic and convert graphics from one file format to
another
• Use an X-box.
• Use Play Station or Play Station II.
• Use Nintendo.
• Play games on the computer such as Solitaire, Free Cell, and Hearts.
• Play video games, such as Sim City.
• Play online games such as Second Life.

October 19, 2005 Page 23 10/12/2010

• I give my class access to video game technology.

PART III

Please respond to the following.

1. Within the next 5 years, how would you like to see yourself using video games as a method
of instruction in the classroom?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey!
_____________________________________________________________________________

G. Project Timeline Upon being awarded, the educational design process would
occur over one year.

Stage one:
Initiate response to award from all partners
Outline the requirements and features of all properties of the products Game
Conduct Task Analysis
Game Conduct Learner Analysis
Game Create work teams of students and teachers
Game Begin Technical feasibility study
TV Research inventors and their biographies and impact on American history
TV Determine number of episodes
TV Determine number information shorts 2 minutes in length to play between
Programming
TV Begin drafting television treatment

Game Identify and confirm work teams in all regions
Game Create concept ideas
Game Produce final list of salient features and functions – rank by priority
Game Functional specification
Game Develop concept presentation format (artwork, graphics, model)
Conducting Task Analysis
Conducting Learner Analysis
TV Continue R&D for Television

Refine the concepts and development timelines
Game Focus/work group feedback
Game Create a production schedule for model
Conducting Task Analysis
Conducting Learner Analysis
TV Outline each episode
TV Begin scripting
TV Continue Research, archival search

October 19, 2005 Page 24 10/12/2010

Stage Two:
Game Write performance objectives
Game Focus/work group interaction
Game Design User interface and navigation inputs
Game Design visual and look and feel, working model for user input
TV First draft of script for episode one
TV Finish rough draft of Treatment

Game Write Assessment Items
Game Design Instructional strategy
Game Focus/work group interaction feedback development process
Game Complete requirements specification
Game Review interface, navigation and screen layout issues
Game Draft proposal copy and presentation pitch
TV Outline all episodes
TV Locate living inventors/arrange interviews

Game Design Instructional Strategy
Game validate navigation model

Stage Three:
Game Design Instructional strategy
TV Treatment/episodic scripting development

Game Design Instructional Strategy

Game Develop a portion of Prototype

Stage Four:
TV Final draft of treatment
Draft proposal for Phase II for Prototyping

TV Final draft of scripting for all episodes
Draft Proposal for Phase II for Prototyping

TV Develop production budget
Draft Proposal for Phase II for Prototyping

Organizational Flow Chart
October 19, 2005 Page 25 10/12/2010

Core Team
UTPA
President

Chelse Benham Function
Project Representative/
Coordinator Business Plan
Developer
Dr. Alberto Davila
Ismael Delgado

Research &
Sponsored
Projects/
Dr. Wendy
Fowler

Dr. Michael Dr. Jeanne Yanes Dr. Karen Watt Dr. Veronica Chelse
Faubion Lit Review COE End User Estrada Benham
Curriculum Qualitative/ COE Teacher TV Specialist
Developer Xusheng Wang Quantitative Liaison
Instructional Researcher
Technology

Dr. Alberto Dr. Brian Dr. Dr. Dan Steve Copold Dr. Carmen
Davila Butler Jennifer Knight Video Gaming Pena
Immigration Mata Designer IT design
Expert UTPA Expert methodology

EPIC Flow Chart
EPIC
Educational
Programming
Interactive
Consortium

University of The University of Johns Hopkins Gamescapers
Southern California Texas-Pan American University Center for Interactive Gaming
Lynn Crandall Managing Partner Educational Provide software
USC IGMAG Technology development and
Gamescapers training

Los Angeles Ulysses Grant Rio Grand PBS KMBH- Dynamic
Unified Technology Valley School TV60 Technology
School Magnate Districts Harlingen, Corp.
District TX

October 19, 2005 Page 26 10/12/2010

Financial Plan
This list is a preliminary list of funding opportunities. As EPIC moves forward it is
expected that this number will grow and more institutions and funding agencies
will be added. UTPA began drafting this proposal late in the RFP process.
Adequate time to generate more than one grant application has been prohibitive.
The University of Texas-Pan American anticipates to draw upon more resources.
Presently, UTPA & the EPIC partners will be applying to the following:

Commercial Partners

• Texas Instruments Incorporated Venture Grant and Granite Ventures
(formerly H&Q Venture Associates). The purpose of the fund is to invest in
early-stage technology companies focused on DSP software and
hardware applications and other areas of strategic interest to TI. Examples
of areas of interest to TI include wireless handsets and base stations,
wireless LAN, broadband communications, and emerging technologies
related to the communications market.
• Hewlett Packard Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative is designed to
support the innovative use of mobile technology in K-16 education, and to
help identify K-12 public schools and two- and four-year colleges and
universities that HP might support with future grants.

State Partners:

• Emerging Technology Fund with the Office of the Governor for the State of
Texas for matching funds for the development and manufacture of new
digital technologies that will be of use for the EPIC program. The Texas
Emerging Technology Fund is a program designed to help Texas create
jobs and grow the economy over the long-term by expediting the
development of new technologies, the commercialization of those
products and attracting, creating or keeping jobs in technology fields that
will form the backbone of our economy for the future. The program will
work through partnerships between the state, academia and private
industry. Proposal due February 1, 2006

Federal Agencies:

• National Endowment for the Humanities We The People initiative –
Matching grant from NEH Proposals due February 1, 2006
• National Science Foundation - The Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory
Improvement (CCLI) program seeks to improve the quality of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all
undergraduate students. Based on a cyclic model of knowledge

October 19, 2005 Page 27 10/12/2010

production and improvement of practice, CCLI supports efforts that
conduct research on STEM teaching and learning, create new learning
materials and teaching strategies, develop faculty expertise, implement
educational innovations, assess learning, and evaluate innovations. The
program supports three types of projects representing three different
phases of development, ranging from small exploratory investigations to
comprehensive projects. Due January 24, 2006
• Department of Education – Enhancing Education Through Technology
Program The primary goal is to improve student achievement through the
use of technology in elementary and secondary schools. Additional goals
include helping all students become technologically literate by the end of
the eighth grade and, through the integration of technology with both
teacher training and curriculum development, establishing research-based
instructional methods that can be widely implemented.

Institutions that further EPIC’s reach

• Minority Serving Institutions Consortium – UTPA is a founding member
and hosting site for a January 2006 MSI Conference with this large
consortium of higher education institutions around the country for all
minorities.
• Hispanic Telecommunications System Consortium (HETS.org) is the first
bilingual distance learning consortium dedicated to serving the higher
education needs of Hispanic communities. Founded in 1993 to capitalize
on the reach of evolving communications technologies in response to
historically low Hispanic college success rates, HETS today has member
institutions in California, Florida, New Mexico, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
New York, Puerto Rico and Texas, with a new international affiliate in
Colombia.

October 19, 2005 Page 28 10/12/2010

Instructional Design Process

S TAGE 1: I DENTIFY I NSTRUCTIONAL G OALS
Question: What do you want learners to be able to do or know?
Task: The first step in the instructional design process is to determine
the instructional goals or the desired outcomes of the instruction.
The purpose of this stage is to specify the knowledge, skills and
attitudes learners must acquire. Instructional goals are stated in
global terms and are based on a needs assessment or an analysis
of what the learners need based on an analysis of the current
level of performance and the optimal level of performance.
Contributor: Subject matter expert (SME)
Deliverable: A statement of the intended outcomes of the instruction

S TAGE 2. C ONDUCT T ASK A NALYSIS
Question: What does the learner need to know or be able to do to
accomplish the goal?
Task: A task analysis involves dividing the subject matter into its
individual parts, sequencing and organizing the content. There are
two steps in the process. First, the goal must be categorized into
one of the four domains of learning (verbal information, intellectual
skill, attitude or psychomotor skill). Second, a concept map should
be created by indicating the main concepts and subdividing the
main concepts into more discrete concepts until they can no
longer be subdivided.
Deliverable: A concept map illustrating the main concepts and all subordinate
concepts

S TAGE 3. A NALYZE L EARNER C HARACTERISTICS
Question: Who is the target audience?
Task: The third step in the ID process is to describe the target learners
and the learning environment. The target audience should be
described in terms of demographics, prior knowledge, attitude
toward content, academic motivation and ability levels. In addition,
the instructional designers should analyze the environment or
context in which learning will occur and document the resources
available to learners. Steps 1-3 can be completed simultaneously.
Contributor: Subject Matter Expert (SME), Instructional Designers, Researcher
Deliverable: Profile of the target audience and the learning environment

S TAGE 4. W RITE P ERFORMANCE O BJECTIVES
Question: What are the specific learning objectives?
Task: Instructional objectives are detailed statements of what the learner
will be able to do at the end of the instruction. Each of the skills or
concepts identified in the instructional analysis is converted into
behavioral objectives. Objectives should include an action verb
(state, define, describe, construct, etc.) and a detailed reference to
the subject matter.

October 19, 2005 Page 29 10/12/2010

Deliverable: A statement of the learning objectives corresponding to each step
or node in the task analysis

S TAGE 5. W RITE A SSESSM ENT I TEMS
Question: What questions will the students answer or what tasks will the
students complete?
Task: The assessment instrument is written before the instruction is
developed to focus the efforts of the designers, developers and
subject matter expert. Test items can be either fixed response
(multiple-choice, matching or true/false) or can be performance
assessments in which the student is asked to complete a task,
which is then evaluated by a teacher using a predefined rubric.

S TAGE 6. I NSTRUCTIONAL S TRATEGY
Question: Now that I know what to teach, how will I teach it?
Task: This stage is the ‘heart’ of the entire instructional design process.
It includes a specification of the pedagogical strategies to be used
to teach the various concepts and skills. Although there are a
plethora of strategies one could use, they should all address
(somewhere in the delivery) the following nine ‘events’ of
instruction:

1. Gain attention
2. Inform learner’s of objectives
3. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge
4. Present content
5. Provide learning guidance
6. Elicit performance
7. Provide feedback
8. Assess performance
9. Enhance retention and transfer

Although the macro instructional strategy to be used can be quite
global such as the use of a game it is important to ensure that all
of the events of instruction are being addressed somewhere
during the use of the gaming strategy.
Contributor: Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Instructional Designers;
Developers and Media Experts

S TAGE 7. D EVELOP I NSTRUCTIONAL M ATERIALS
Question: What materials will be used to teach the content?
Task: This stage involves developing the first draft of the instructional
materials to be used and involves creating narrative describing the
game in general terms; a flowchart showing the sequence of
events in the game, storyboards showing each of the screen shots

October 19, 2005 Page 30 10/12/2010

and indicated the multimedia elements to be included on each
screen or page. The narrative, flowchart and storyboard are used
to develop a prototype of the instruction for formative evaluation.
Contributor: Developers, Media Experts and entire team for formative
evaluation
Deliverable: A narrative describing the instruction or game
A flowchart showing the flow of the lesson in a technology based
environment.
A storyboard showing a screen shot for every screen to be
included in the lesson
The multimedia elements to be used in the lesson (graphics, audio
clips, video clips, a text )
A prototype of the lesson or game

S TAGE 8. F ORMATIVE E VALUATION
Question: Is the instruction effective?
Task: This stage involves piloting the first draft of the instructional
materials developed in several one-on-one sessions with
members of the target group. The piloting of the materials will be
in a small group setting consisting of target learners. The goal of
this stage is to assess the effectiveness of the instruction by
assessing 1) the performance of participants and 2) obtaining
feedback from users.
Contributor: Developers, Media Experts and entire team for formative
evaluation
Deliverable: An interview to be used during the one on one, small group
sessions and a description of the data to be collected.

S TAGE 9. S UMMATIVE E VALUATION
Question: Is the instruction ready to be released.
Task: Conduct a large scale field trial of the final unit of instruction
development to determine how it functions in the intended
learning environment and with the target audience on a large
scale. The purpose of this stage is to identify and eliminate any
user problems that may arise.
Contributor: Researcher, SME, Designers, Developers (entire team)
Deliverable: Data collection instruments identifying the data to be collected and
reports summarizing the data collected.

October 19, 2005 Page 31 10/12/2010

Epic educational programming interactive consortium

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