Arising From Injustice is an educational alternate reality game about the history of Japanese Americans during World War II. The game delivers a fun and engaging way to not only learn about history but also develop language arts and 21st century learning skills, such as collaboration and creativity. In addition, the game is also a social learning experience in which players learn from and connect with their teammates and other players. This presentation was given at the Southern California Technology in Education Conference in April 2012.

1. Arising From Injustice
An Educational
Alternate Reality Game

2. What is an
Alternate Reality
Game (ARG)?

3. The Beast ARG

4. The Beast ARG

5. ARG Characteristics
• Play as yourself
• Takes place in the real and
virtual worlds
• Uses a variety of media and
technologies
• Collaborative gameplay
• (Emergent storyline and
gameplay)

6. World Without Oil ARG

7. World Without Oil ARG

9. Learning Goals
• Analyze the prejudice and
discrimination against Japanese
Americans during World War II
• Evaluate primary source historical
information, such as oral histories,
photographs, and historical documents
• Create collaborative projects using
various online media and tools
• Critique online media and text in a
constructive, thought-provoking
manner

10. Player’s Goal
Win the game

11. GAMEPLAY
Story – Puzzle – Mission

12. Story Overview
• Alice Sasaki found unconscious while
working on Memory History Cognition
(MHC) device in her laboratory
• You access Alice’s data on the MHC and
find yourself in the 1940s reliving Alice’s life
• You figure out that you need to help Alice
recall her memories in order to bring her out
of her coma
• Puzzles – part of MHC security protocol
• Missions – present Alice with memories of
her past

13. Puzzles
• Engage the teams in challenging,
collaborative exercises
• Expose the players to a variety of web
resources that they can utilize in the
Missions

14. Puzzles
Each player emailed clues to find three
individual characters embedded in various
online media, such as an oral history
about a Japanese American person’s
wartime experience.
t y D g F b
M l r I b .
http://bit.ly/rbDMgF

15. Missions
• Teams create media and content relevant
to Alice’s WWII memories
• Requires players to utilize the online
resources introduced by the Puzzles
• Points awarded for creativity and feedback
on other teams’ creations

16. Missions
Create Word Cloud

17. Missions
Create Video Slideshow
http://bit.ly/HEIQQr

18. Prototype Results
• Over 2,500 discussion board posts by 16
players in 5 week period
• Pre- and post-game survey analysis
showed some significant learning about
history and use of primary sources
• “…liked the fact that we were learning
something meaningful while we were
playing”
• “…the game was well thought out in content
and allowed the players to push the
boundaries of creativity”

19. Edu ARG Benefits
• Relatively inexpensive to
develop
• No programming skills required
• Any subject/topic

20. Edu ARG Challenges
• Embedding learning objectives
into game
• Competition vs. collaboration
• Assessment
• Creating an emergent, player-
driven storyline vs. linear story

21. Edu ARG Future
• Incorporate new media and
technologies
• New design ideas from entertainment
ARGs
• Teachers/trainers as game designers
• Students as game designers

22. Arising From Injustice
Randall Fujimoto
Gametrain Learning, Inc.
randyfuj@gmail.com
Twitter: @randyfuj