Ashera Ly, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Interdisciplinary art, Senior
There is increasing access to devices with youth, used in academic institutions and at home, but subject to irresponsible use, children at risk of exposing themselves to cyber threats. Digital literacy is a a significant asset in employment. Children will later lead the future of technology and internet activity. It is important that they know how to safely navigate digital spaces, especially in the face of digital predators, and personal information protection. Children should know what to keep private, and what courses of actions to take should they come across scammers and ads.
For this project, I created a prototype for a game that teaches / trains kids on internet safety, specifically on social engineering tactics. Children fall victim to various methods of scamming and phishing year by year. I will utilize research, web design and UI design principles to make an interactive education platform that features effective game-based learning elements to engage students and inform them of social engineering tactics. I will utilize AI tools to help structure the content curriculum and produce several visual references for visual themes and UI components. I examined different game-based learning models through various forms of literature in order to get an idea of what motivates and engages children in gamified learning environments. Some engaging elements being customization, reception of rapid feedback cycles, levels and phases with multiple learning paths, and rewards. After the research phase, I went into planning out the content and creating the prototype.
The game features an interactive story, where players can experience an underwater fantasy, being placed in the position of a hero saving a kingdom by use of what they learn in the curriculum. The structure of each module is divided into three parts: learning, practice, and evaluation. In the learning section, a specific cybersecurity-related lesson will be taught by a mentor figure character. In the practice section, players test their knowledge of the learning stage through exercises that yield rewards. The evaluation stage is where players engage more with the lore, confront the villain of the story, and test their knowledge all together in timed challenges and puzzles. The intention is for players and students to familiarize themselves with the material being taught while interacting with an unfolding story specific to the module.
This prototype is a little more condensed version of the user experience of playing the game. It features the three main stages in a single module, with a little bit of a story within itself. This app would typically go more in depth with story telling and module breakdown.