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Kursusnavn (dansk):	Playable Media
Kursusnavn (engelsk):	Playable Media
Semester:	Forår 2019
Udbydes under:	cand.it., spil (games)
Omfang i ECTS:	7,50
Kursussprog:	Engelsk
Kursushjemmeside:	https://learnit.itu.dk
Min. antal deltagere:	15
Forventet antal deltagere:	0
Maks. antal deltagere:	50
Formelle forudsætninger:	Students from all ITU programs are welcome to join this course. If prospective students are not familiar with play design and its theories, they must familiarize themselves with the topic by reading the mandatory reading Play Matters. Students from the ITU's design programs are expected to be proficient in design research writing, prototyping, and practical design. Students from the ITU's software development programs are expected to be proficient in programming and prototyping. Programming knowledge is an advantage, but not a requirement.
Læringsmål:	This course is designed to introduce students to Play Design as a Critical Technical Practice. The goal is to give students theoretical and practical knowledge about play that they can use in different subject areas, from game design and interaction design to software development. Students who successfully finish the course should be able to: - Analyse and discuss the cultural importance of play as a form of expression. - Describe how play is used in the development of interactive services and games. - Explore and account for how play can be evoked from design practices and principles. - Describe the possible uses of play as an instrument or effect of the design of interactive services. - Explore the creative and expressive potential of play as a design approach. - Design and implement play experiences on digital environments.
Fagligt indhold:	This is a course about making people play. Prospective students should notice that this is not exclusively a game design course. The purpose of this course is to explore play as way of engaging with (digital) media. This course explores the notion that play design is a critical technical practice that is manifested in interaction design, game design, and other communication or artistic practices through the development of playable media. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to play design as a critical technical practice. To do so, the course has a theoretical component that introduces contemporary theories of play from the perspective of design theory. This component conforms the critical aspect of play design. At the same time, students will be introduced in the technical practice of play design, that is, in the practical aspect of making objects (playable media, from games to interactive services) as explorations of theoretical arguments. The course will focus on the theoretical development of play concepts, and the practical development of objects as arguments. In short, this course explores what playable media means, how that can be conceptualized within theories of play, and how to make technological objects that explore and illustrate these different ideas about play. In practice, throughout the course, students will get familiarized with different theories on play, and how they can be used to design services, products, and games. Prospective students should notice that this is a demanding course. Students are expected to produce 2 fully functional projects, as well as reading a selection of texts on play. The projects are expected to be handed in in functional form (as working digital prototypes), and students are also expected to be able to reflect on the contents of their reading and how they inspire their practice as designers. Playful design is a portfolio-based course, intended to expand the scope of the students' design practice. The course will give a hands-on approach to play theory, and an academic understanding of the practice of playful design.
Læringsaktiviteter:	The course is divided in four conceptual blocks. Each block consist of four lectures. In this course, students will work on 1 project. The project will have clear constraints, presented and discussed during class. Students will be free to choose which project topic they will work on, and how to approach it. The suggested topics are: - Playful digital service design - Toy design - Game design - Gamification design - Playground design - Activist media design - Playful social media design - Disobedient electronics - Artistic approaches to digital technology It is expected that students work in self-arranged groups of no more than 5 people.
Obligatoriske aktivititer:	There are no mandatory activities. Please, change this text ONLY when there are mandatory activities.
Eksamensform og -beskrivelse:	CG: Skriftlige arbejder i grupper uden mundtlig eksamen., (7-scale, external exam) There are three different types of hand-ins, depending on the students' interests: - Type 1: Prototype + Written report, 3000 words. Students will deliver a working prototype that has been tested at least once, plus a written report in which they use the prototype as a case study to illustrate some of the core concepts introduced in the course. This hand-in should be of interests for students who want to combine academic writing in the design/humanities domains, with practical development work. The prototype is graded according to its originality and innovation, rather than the quality of the implementation. - Type 2: Prototype + Tests + Written report, 1500 words. Students will deliver a fully functional prototype, plus results of at least 2 user tests, plus a written report in which they explain the development process of the prototype. This hand-in should be of interests for students who want to focus on technical development work. The prototype is graded according to its functionality and quality of implementation. - Type 3: Written report that analyses specifical playable media case studies from the perspective of the courses' theory, 6000-10000 words. This hand-in should be of interest to students who want to do critical, theoretical, analytical work in the domains of the humanities and design research. The report will be graded based on the use of course theory and on the insights provided by the analysis. A group is no more that 5 students.