Synopsis for Around the World: two Views of Game Education Development (A Case Study about mentoring a program in Europe since 1996 and Getting Texas in the Game)

Towards the European Higher Education Area regarding Multimedia (in general) and Entertainment (in particular): A Case Study about mentoring a program in Europe since 1996

There are several entertainment studios in Spain (DLE, Arvirago, Gameloft, Virtual Toys, Pyro, Mercury Steam, etc.) producing hits for the international videogame market every year. Consumers spent 1454 €M (>1923 $M) in 2007, which is the 54% of the whole entertainment industry in Spain (videogames+cinema+video+music) and represents a nearly 20% within Europe [1]. La Salle School of Engineering [2] at Ramon Llull University [3] has been offering university studies regarding Multimedia since 1996. For the first time in Spain, both the Graduate in Multimedia Engineering and the Master in Creation, Design and Multimedia Engineering became official, last June 2008. These programs are fully integrated within the Bologna Process [4] that aims to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010. Therefore, the Multimedia field in general and the Entertainment Technology context in particular have a unique opportunity to speak aloud in these forums.

Within those carefully furnished studies we established and defined several horizontal and vertical synergies plus general and specific competences (Instrumental, Interpersonal and Systemic [5]) totally ii coupled with the industry needs. In fact, we carefully followed the Career Space document [6] developed by several international IT companies such as BT, Cisco Systems, IBM Europe, Intel or Microsoft Europe, among others. This document states the future needs regarding the European hiring space, and it explicitly demands a new profile: the Multimedia role.

Getting Texas in the Game  

With  more  than  90  development  and  publishing  companies  that  provide  almost  3,000  full‐time  jobs,  Texas  has  the  third  largest  concentration  of  game  companies  in  the  US.  The  Texas  Film  Commission  estimates  that  the  local  game  industry  will  spend  more  than  $177,000,000  dollars  in  Texas  this  year  alone.  

And  yet,  no  major  Texas  university  offers  a  game  development  undergraduate  program.   

The  Digital  Media  Council,  an  intermediary  non‐profit  that  connects  industry  to education,  is  leading  the  charge  to  develop  and  support  undergraduate  game  programs  at  the  University  of  Texas  in  Austin,  Texas  State  University,  and  Texas  A&M  University.

The  game  industry  in  Texas  needs  a  highly  skilled  and  motivated  workforce,  yet  lacks  the  time  required  to  navigate  public  systems.  Universities,  likewise,  often  lack  the  expertise  to  develop  and  deploy  curriculum.  The  Digital  Media  Council  brings  the  right  people  together  to  make  a  difference,  organizing  a  multi‐partner  collaboration  that  is  fluid  and  interactive  and  creates  a  feedback  loop  for  information  between  professionals  and  educators.   

 This  presentation  will  describe  the  formation  of  the  industry/education  advisory  committee,  detailing  a  curriculum  development  process,  industry‐led  trainings  with  faculty,  and  the  step‐by‐step  process  for  driving  community  and  administrative  support.