The Search for Harmony: Building a Game Development Tool for WordPress

FAIN: HD-248622-16

Stone Soup Productions, Inc. (Washington, DC 20036-2504)
Andrea R. Kalin (Project Director: September 2015 to present)

The development of an educational games module for the WordPress content management system. The prototype game would be associated with an upcoming documentary film on African Americans and classical music.

The process of creating information-rich websites has become more accessible to the public through content management systems (CMSs) like WordPress. New game development tools have also become available to creators for designing engaging experiences. However, there is a need for a tool that can create educational games with the familiarity of a CMS platform already in use in the humanities, rather than require learning a new program. The proposed tool aims to pair a game development framework with WordPress to allow media makers to develop educational games using a simple interface. The Search for Harmony is a case study game concept, about multicultural influence on classical music, that will help provide content to develop and refine the tool. The end product would reduce resources needed to create educational games of a certain type, foster websites that could repurpose game content, and encourage educators and others in the humanities to create engaging experiences for students.

Associated Products

Empowering Makers with “The Search for Harmony” (Blog Post)
Title: Empowering Makers with “The Search for Harmony”
Author: Nick Ray
Abstract: Short case study post on the early stages of the Search for Harmony project
Date: 4/22/2016
Primary URL: http://www.idmaajournal.org/2016/04/empowering-makers-with-the-search-for-harmony/
Blog Title: Journal Digital Media Arts and Practice
Website: International Digital Media Arts Association

The Search for Harmony (Web Resource)
Title: The Search for Harmony
Author: Andrea Kalin
Abstract: Landing page for The Search for Harmony project
Year: 2017
Primary URL: https://searchforharmony.org/

The Search for Harmony test case game (Web Resource)
Title: The Search for Harmony test case game
Author: Search for Harmony team
Abstract: The Search for Harmony test case game about George Bridgetower, which can currently be played online and source code available on GitHub
Year: 2017
Primary URL: http://beta.searchforharmony.org/full-game/
Secondary URL: https://searchforharmony.org/game-source

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