Xbox One and UCI: University-Centered-Interface

I was procrastinating planning to teach my first ESL (English as a Second Language) group of kids by picking up a recent issue of Game Informer.  Amidst much debate over the new console release between Xbox and PS4, I was drawn to read up on the infamous Xbox One.  I have the PS3 and had no immediate desire to update, but my brother uses the Xbox currently and even he had some doubts about the Xbox One after a press conference on G4.

I was curious what the big commotion must be as ultimately they are just game consoles.  Yes, the apps have been adding up, but it is a game console nonetheless.  It seems, however, that Microsoft has been focusing on some pretty amazing things for their new console. These features seem to be an attempt to break from the confines of the game console market and instead become a sort of home entertainment managing system.  Unfortunately for them, it seemed users weren't entirely ready for that, but last I heard most of those issues were resolved after some careful listening by the developers.

But I digress.  One of my woes in prep for my ESL course was that, contrary to choosing activities from a text book as I anticipated, the director actually indicated this is a group of children in a summer program who may not be inclined to succeed in academic tasks. Instead I was referred to bring some games to the classroom. I agree, having fun is a great way to learn. But, board games? I don't have those anymore... now if there were a TV and I could bring Mario Kart, that would be a different story.  I could see it now, children throwing banana peels and turtle shells, laughing while learning colors, numbers, and the cardinals to indicate their places. I would have to do some more digging into what games would actually encourage speaking and learning the items, but it could be very good.  Problems with that however were clearly that this place isn't currently set up for that (but hopefully with blogs like mine to help get the word out, that can change), as well as the idea of lugging in a system, various games for that system, acquiring more as the kids develop and grow, and making sure that other instructors or employees/students of the facility don't steal my games.

Don Mattrick and the XBOX One

Here we come back to the article on Xbox live as presented in the July 2013 issue of Game Informer magazine.  I couldn't help but notice the features of this newest version of kinect and the ability to easily recognize users then log them into their corresponding Xbox live accounts.  I began to fantasize what it would be like if a facility such as this language center set up stations in each room with the consoles and created accounts for the teachers.  An instructor could walk into a room, instantly turn on the console and be signed into their account without wasting class time fumbling to get something set up.  We could verbally instruct the system to start a game of the student's choice.  No more lugging in giant boxes of games (as I will be doing tomorrow morning, apparently).  Everything will be ready and stored digitally and efficiently. Student scores can be logged in their user names per game.  They can practice speech on their own, but taking turns making the verbal commands to the system.  If the system cannot react, then possibly their accent needs work and they will know that without harsh feedback from us that might offend.

There's also the matter of constantly running apps that can easily be switched.  When running into any miscommunication or at a random student curiosity, one can switch by verbal command to google and pull up internet searches, youtube, email, and anything else and promptly switch back to game.  As for the world of serious games, the use of eye tracking and facial recognition to monitor player interest in the games can help designers understand what parts and tasks in an educational game are interesting and which are just tolerated, which parts require a higher level of mental gymnastics and which are lacking behind the user's current level.

These were only a few of the thoughts I had briefly while skimming the recent article and trying to relate to my current situation. I'm sure that should there arise a group of developers who addressed specifically the classroom possibilities for this system, a plethora of ideas would quickly rise.  Rather than simply addressing the UCI (user centered interface), we can begin to investigate the same personalization on a greater level. The systems and accounts could be varied for elementary school, high school, university, and language center styles.  If anyone else has comments on this, they would be most welcome.