Social Fun Park A VR Game-based Learning Innovation

A VR Game-based Learning Innovation

Soc al

FUN
P rk

Written by
Ainie Amanie Rukman @ Lokman, Nor Aliah Saifuddin,

Sharon Chin Fung Fung, Teng Kie Yin (PhD),
Lee Hou Yew, Qurratun A’in Muhammad Ali Jinnah, &

Evand Dunstan



A VR Game-based Learning Innovation

Social

FUN
Park

Written by
Ainie Amanie Rukman @ Lokman, Nor Aliah Saifuddin,

Sharon Chin Fung Fung, Teng Kie Yin (PhD),
Lee Hou Yew, Qurratun A’in Muhammad Ali Jinnah, &

Evand Dunstan

Social Fun Park:

A VR Game-based Learning
Innovation

Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak
Kota Samarahan
Sarawak

CHIEF EDITOR
TENG KIE YIN (PhD)



EDITORS
LEE HOU YEW
TAY NGUONG YONG



AUTHORS
AINIE AMANIE BINTI RUKMAN @ LOKMAN
NOR ALIAH BINTI SAIFUDDIN
SHARON CHIN FUNG FUNG
TENG KIE YIN (PhD)
LEE HOU YEW
QURRATUN A'IN MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH
EVAND DUNSTAN

ⓒ


Copyright Jabatan Kecemerlangan Akademik,
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak,
Jalan Dato’ Mohd. Musa, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.



First Print, 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means - electronic, photocopying, mechanical, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Jabatan Kecemerlangan Akademik,
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak.

Preface

Innovation, in the wise words of Thomas Smith, is "any change,
big or small, that makes a difference."

There are numerous things that may be done to make learning
and inclusivity more accessible to all children with varying
needs. All it takes to get going is a little bit of effort and
imagination.

This book narrates the process by which three aspiring
preschool teachers turn their initiative and imagination into
reality by creating Social Fun Park, a Virtual Reality Game-based
Learning Innovation, with assistance from their lecturers and
mentors. Social Fun Park is designed for all preschool children
who want to learn and practice social skills in a fun virtual
amusement park setting.

We hope that by publishing this book, we will be able to share
the benefits of Social Fun Park and how you can develop your
own game-based learning experience with everyone. As the
saying goes, the best way to multiply your happiness is to share
it with others.

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: OUR JOURNEY 1

From Zero to Hero

CHAPTER 2: SOCIAL SKILLS AND GAME

2.1 Social Skills 2
2.2 Target Audience 4
2.3 How Will The Game Help? 5

CHAPTER 3: PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

3.1 Social Skills in KSPK 7
3.2 Learning Standards 8

CHAPTER 4: MEDIUM FOR INNOVATION

4.1 Get to Know CoSpaces 10
4.2 Create with CoSpaces 11
4.3 CoSpaces Specialties 17

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 5: INNOVATION 19
22
5.1 Introduction to Social Fun Park 23
5.2 Overview of Social Fun Park 27
5.3 Amenities of Social Fun Park
5.4 Application of Social Fun Park 30
32
CHAPTER 6: HOW IT'S MADE: 38
SOCIAL FUN PARK
42
6.1 Setting The Virtual Environment 47
6.2 Adding Elements
6.3 Coding to The Elements

CHAPTER 7: ACHIEVEMENTS

Article (Indexed Journal)
Innovation ITEX'21
(WYIE Gold Medal & MYIE Award)

ii

CHAPTER 1

OUR JOURNEY

FROM ZERO TO HERO

The journey of making Social Fun Park was nothing short of a roller coaster.
We underwent a variety of different processes and hurdles to deliver the
greatest version of Social Fun Park to you.

It all began with a small group discussion on what could be done to make
inclusive learning more approachable and enjoyable for all children with
varying needs. Following that, we read through pages and pages of articles
to discover more about teaching, learning, and inclusivity. We decided to
publish our own article in light of the new information we had learned about
using virtual reality to teach social skills to children with autism spectrum
disorder.

The accomplishment of writing an article inspired us to become even more
eager to share our ideas, which is how Social Fun Park came to be. We did
everything we could do to connect virtual reality to the curriculum so that
children could acquire new skills more easily. We gradually and
successfully developed the enjoyable game-based learning experience that
is now known as Social Fun Park, with all the assistance and direction from
everyone in the group.

In 2021, Social Fun Park participated in the 32nd International Invention,
Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX'21) and was able to win Gold in the
Top 3 Tertiary Category as well as receive the Malaysian Young Inventors
Exhibition Award. We are really proud of what we have accomplished thus
far and are eager to share it with the rest of the world.

1

CHAPTER 2

SOCIAL SKILLS AND GAMES

2.1 SOCIAL SKILLS

Social skills are the skills that we use every day to interact and
communicate with others. They include verbal and non-verbal
communication, such as speech, gestures, facial expressions, and body
language.

Social skills are an integral part of functioning in society. Displaying good
manners, communicating effectively with others, being considerate of
others' feelings and expressing personal needs. As a result, social skills are
assumed to be the underlying prerequisites for a more fulfilling
interpersonal life, as one would be able to adapt to social situations and
demands (Jureviciene et al., 2018). This shows that social skills are basic
skills that need to be mastered by every individual, especially children.

Forming social skills is a fundamental part of child development. Social
skills help children interact with the world around them through
relationship development, verbal communication, and body language. This
is because social skills are ways of dealing with others that create healthy
and positive interactions. Children who have social skills can communicate
clearly, calmly, and respectfully. They show consideration for the feelings
and interests of their peers. They take responsibility for their actions, are
able to control themselves, and are able to assert themselves when needed.
Children learn social skills through experiences with peers, examples and
instructions from their parents, and time with adults. With this said, the
foundation for maintaining a more harmonious relationship with one’s social
surroundings all lies in the individual’s capability to socialise (Sakellariou et
al., 2019).

2

It is vital for children to use social skills because they are the route to
creating and developing relationships. They are needed for enriching social
experiences, and they lessen the chance of negative interactions. Social
skills allow children to learn from their peers and to be considerate to those
they will meet in the future. By having a positive impact on life experiences,
social skills also give children a sense of confidence and mastery over their
environment.
However, there are children who have problems with social skills, like
children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is because one of the
symptoms that affect them is a lack of or delay in social and communication
skills. For instance, a child with ASD might take another child’s toy without
asking for permission. This is viewed as negative behaviour by most people,
but a child with ASD might not understand. Even so, there are a variety of
ways and techniques that can be used to assist children in improving their
social skills.

3

2.2 TARGET AUDIENCE

i. Children with ASD ii. Preschool Children

According to the American Psychiatric This game is suitable for use by
preschool students aged 5 and 6 years
Association (APA), Autism Spectrum old. This is because preschool students
at this age have poor social skills,
Disorder (ASD) is categorised under making it difficult for them to
communicate with others. They are
neurodevelopmental disorders, which is embarrassed to ask the teacher
questions, do not want to share things
characterised by persistent deficits in with friends, do not want to wait their
turn while playing, and are less confident
social communication and social in interacting with others. As a result,
this target audience was chosen to
interaction across multiple contexts, assist preschool students in improving
their social skills through the game.
including deficits in social reciprocity,

nonverbal communicative behaviours

used for social interaction, and skills in

developing, maintaining, and

understanding relationships (APA,

2013).

iii. Special Education iv. Mainstream
Teachers Preschool Teachers

This game is also suitable for use by Children with special educational needs
special education teachers. They play an show difficulties during social
important role in ensuring that this interactions and have to learn social
activity can be carried out smoothly. The skills such as communication, problem
role of the special education teachers is solving, and behaviour management
very important in helping the social (Webster-Stratton et al., 2004). And with
development of the children. So, they this, there emerges a need to broaden
need to use a variety of strategies to teaching and learning strategies in the
improve children’s social skills. inclusive education classroom to cater to
Appropriate and engaging teaching the diverse needs of every child.
approaches can increase children’s Mainstream preschool teachers' support
active involvement during learning. and encouragement can have a great
impact on the improvement of these
children’s social skills.

4

2.3 HOW WILL THE GAME HELP?

Improve children's social skills through interesting activities
This game was invented to help children develop their own social
skills through a fun experience. This game is built around the
concept of an amusement park to attract children’s interest in
learning social skills indirectly. The social skills that were
implemented in this innovation are sharing things, adapting to
new situations, engaging in entry play and social ethics. For
example, station one requires children to wait their turn while
playing slides. This can cultivate patience in children when they
are faced with real situations. In addition, children are also able to
increase their self-confidence when interacting with other people
based on real-life situations. Through the game, children need to
interact and communicate with virtual agents to perform the
activities at each station. For instance, station four requires
children to communicate with one of the virtual agents to take
orders. This can train children to stand on their own two feet out
there.

5

Improve the digital skill of children and teachers

According to Cohen (2011), children today explore and learn
naturally through mobile devices. The game is a digital innovation
that requires children to play on devices like laptops, phones, and
VR headsets. In light of this, it is important for teachers and
children to understand how to use these technological tools to
ensure a successful learning environment. Teachers and children
will work to improve their knowledge of digital skills in this way. In
this era of a borderless world, teachers and children need to use
every technology available so as not to be left behind, especially
in the field of education, which uses technology a lot in the
teaching and learning process.

Provide teachers with 21st century teaching skills.

The use of technology in the teaching and learning process is very
important because it can improve the skills of teachers. Teachers
that are proficient in using technology can use it to better
communicate knowledge to children, which adds value to their
teaching. In addition, the experience gained while teaching
children also helps teachers broaden their knowledge of
technology systems. This is because during the teaching and
learning process, teachers and children will interact with each
other about what they have learned and exchange opinions on the
effectiveness of using technology, as well as give suggestions to
further improve the quality of delivery. In-depth knowledge of
technology is very important for teachers so that it can be applied
in the teaching and learning process to further facilitate students'
understanding.

6

CHAPTER 3

PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

3.1 SOCIAL SKILLS IN KSPK

Through the pillars in the framework of Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah
Kebangsaan (KSPK), social skills have been adapted into the domain of
self-appearance, which focuses on shaping children’s intrapersonal and
interpersonal personalities. This domain is expected to help children
develop a more positive self-concept, introduce them to the appropriate
ways to communicate effectively, as well as construct the skills to resolve
conflicts (Ministry of Education, 2017). The following are the selected
content standards and learning standards in the domain of self-appearance
that are to be incorporated into the innovation.

7

3.2 LEARNING STANDARDS OF
SOCIAL FUN PARK

KD 3.1.3 Show respect for the feelings and
opinion of others



Some children are close talkers. Others slither into the laps of
friends without being aware that it bothers them. Children should
be taught how to respect others' personal space. This mentality
teaches children to be patient while also lowering their risk of
getting into fights. These can assist children in developing
wholesome relationships and gaining a deeper understanding of
how others think and feel. Therefore, one of the ways to teach
children how to respect the feelings and opinions of others is
through play activities such as those found in this game-based
learning innovation.

KD 3.2.4 Express agreement and
dissatisfaction on matters politely



The issue of sharing is also an important one for children to
master in terms of social skills. According to Wan and Sharifah
(2017), through their study, a large number of preschool children
have problems sharing materials, especially during group
activities. They often scramble to the point of interfering with
teaching and learning sessions. According to Brogle et al. (2013),
sharing skills are not born naturally, but those skills need to be
learned. Therefore, one of the ways to improve sharing skills
among children is through play activities like those found in this
game-based learning innovation.

8

KD 3.2.5 Adapt oneself in various situations
for socialisation



Through the study of Wizliyani and Husain (2019), based on
observations made, there are still a handful of children who have
problems with social skills, especially with peers and people
around them. Also, some children were also found to be fond of
solitude, avoiding playing with friends, not active and more fond
of watching friends play. Therefore, one of the ways to help
children adapt to various situations is through play activities like
those found in this game. This helps children adjust when playing
with friends in the real world.

KD 3.2.6 Practise social etiquette in
relationships



Using phrases like "please" and "thank you" and good manners
can go a long way toward helping children gain attention for the
right reasons. Therefore, one of the ways to improve social
etiquette practise among children is through play activities like
those found in this game-based learning innovation.

9

CHAPTER 4

MEDIUM FOR INNOVATION

4.1 GET TO KNOW COSPACES EDU

CoSpaces Edu is a mixed-reality online application that allows users to
produce and interact with interactive media content. Users have the option
to demonstrate their knowledge in fresh ways by building simple or
complex virtual interactive worlds that are understandable to beginners.
Delightex, a firm devoted to providing cutting-edge solutions that help
revolutionise education for greater learning, developed CoSpaces Edu. They
picture a day when children will be rewarded with opportunities to learn
new skills and explore their potential by gaining an understanding of the
world around them. Building 21st century learning skills like collaboration
and coding while creating with CoSpaces Edu helps students become more
digitally literate and empowers them to become creators.

10

4.2 CREATE WITH COSPACES EDU

4.2.1 BUILD ANYTHING IN VIRTUAL
REALITY OR AUGMENTED REALITY

1.Virtual Reality (VR, 3D and 360 degree photo/video)
Virtual Reality (VR): a digitally realistic simulation of the real
world. To interact with the virtual environment, the user wears a
headset and controllers to engage with the virtual environment.

The various tools available for use:
Mobile VR, Samsung Gear VR,

Google Daydream, Oculus Go & ClassVR

11

2. Augmented Reality (AR)
The real world and digitally produced content are combined. To
view and interact with digital content, a user either uses a
camera-equipped device (like a phone) or a gadget that
produces holographic images.

Integrate the real world with your virtual invention.

12

4.2.2 EXHIBITIONS

Perfect for students to show off their knowledge.
In any grade or subject, exhibitions are a fun and simple way
to get students to relate to the information taught in the
classroom.

13

4.2.3 STORYTELLING

Do your students enjoy making their own stories?
Allow students to imagine their own stories or recreate ones
they have studied in class using their creativity and
imagination.

The Lion and The Mouse Fable Romeo and Juliet

Goldilocks and The Three
Bears

14

4.2.4 GAMES

Kids may easily programme their own game using CoBlocks,
a visual block-based coding language, and then tap Play to
play it.
Build, program, and then play the game you created.

Egg Hunt

Space Quiz Game

15

4.2.5 SIMULATIONS

CoSpaces Edu can be used as an online scientific lab.
A CoSpace Edu is the best setting for conducting
experiments and virtually simulating anything because
anything is doable there.

Anti Gravity Room

Covid-19 Simulation

16

4.3 COSPACES EDU SPECIALTIES

Teachers can utilise and adapt a
number of different lesson plans
from CoSpaces Edu for their lessons.
Teachers could find it helpful to set
up a little scenario with a few items
for beginners and then give students
directions on what else to add or
change. Giving students a fresh start
for a second class would allow them
to design and develop their own
projects to illustrate a topic, tell a
story, or build a simulation.

A scene can be co-created by
students in pairs or small groups
thanks to the simplicity of setting up
student groups. By assigning one
student to arrange things and
control the camera, another to
animate and create the foundational
actions for the objects, and so on,
teachers can divide the tasks among
team members based on the
production role. The CoSpaces Edu
gallery has a huge number of sample
projects that you may use as a
starting point.

17

Students could present their
CoSpaces Edu to one another after a
few creation days (or even a week of
online simultaneous creation) and
play each other's scenes or games
because CoSpaces Edu can be
shared. Additionally, there is
undoubtedly a chance for students
to collaborate on designs with peers
from other schools worldwide.

CoSpaces Edu is adaptable to any
subject according to any designated
curriculum. For example, CoSpaces
Edu can be adapted to language and
literature subjects. Teachers can
provide exciting foreign language
learning, visual literature studies,
and entertaining vocabulary
learning. Teachers can assign work
to students and manage the class to
follow their progress.

18

CHAPTER 5

INNOVATION

5.1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL FUN PARK

The Malaysian Government has taken strides to provide special education
through the establishment of special schools and schools with Special
Education Integrated Programmes (SEP) or Inclusive Education
Programmes throughout all levels as stated in the Education (Special
Education) Regulations 2013 (Teng, 2016). Inclusive preschool follows the
same fundamental rule of giving every child with different needs and
specialties equal opportunities to learn and adapt in their very first
experience with formal education. The implementation of inclusion in
preschool education allows children with typical development and those
with special needs to interact and build social skills with one another
through engaging in daily routines (Akalin et al., 2014). However, not all
children, especially those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), are able to
develop social skills without any help from adults. This is because children
with ASD show symptoms of a lack of social skills as they struggle with a
mental disability that causes difficulties in communication (Lutfi, 2018).
And with this, there emerges a need for inclusive education to broaden
teaching and learning strategies in the classroom to meet the diverse needs
of every child. Assistive technology such as the use of Virtual Reality (VR)
offers an active learning experience that could help children with ASD
effectively absorb their learning materials (Bennett & Saunders, 2019).
Hence, the Social Fun Park (SFP) was invented to help children with ASD
develop their own social skills through a fun experience. Children with
ASD's interest in learning social skills indirectly are attracted by the
concept of an amusement park. The social skills that were implemented in
this innovation are sharing things, adapting to a new situation, engaging in
entry play and social ethics.

19

The implementation strategy for our SFP innovation is that we provide a
consent form to parents and the school to allow us to carry out this
innovation with the children. After getting approval from them, we
proceeded to introduce SFP to the children. Initially, we provided a brief
description of this innovation first before conducting a pre-test on children.
Then, we give an explanation of how to use this innovation using the VR
headset. While the children are exploring SFP, we give them guidance so
that they can do the activities for each station in SFP well. After that, the
children are instructed to perform a post-test to get results about the
effectiveness of SFP innovation. Next, we give rewards in the form of
stickers to students as an expression of our appreciation for their
willingness to help us carry out this innovation. Last but not least, we
conducted a brief interview with parents to find out their view on the
implementation of this innovation on their children, and they gave a positive
outlook, saying they hope we can implement innovation like this again in the
future. We also provided a Google form to the teacher to get their feedback
about this innovation, and we received good feedback from her.

20

Based on the result analysis, we found that both children (Student A) and
another child with ASD (Student B) got a positive outcome. This can be
seen through the worksheets related to social skills used during the pre-
test and post-test, which have six questions overall. Before the children
were allowed to play with the SFP innovation, they tested for the pre-
test, and the result was that Student A got three scores while Student B
got zero scores. Even so, both children showed increased scores in the
post-test, in which Student A got five scores and Student B got one
score. This shows that SFP innovation is very helpful to children,
especially children with ASD, to learn social skills.

Our SFP innovation provides children in inclusive classrooms with a more
interactive experience in learning social skills according to the
framework of Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK). The
innovation is designed with a virtual environment of a park filled with fun
games and activities that require children to learn and apply social skills.
SFP provides children, specifically children with ASD, the opportunity to
experience social situations that they normally would have difficulties
facing in the real world. Therefore, with the help of this innovation,
children with ASD can understand and learn the appropriate social
interactions for each situation in the virtual environment. With this said, it
can help children to catch up on their learning progress effectively. Other
than that, SFP also gives a chance to teachers to use a variety of
technologies in their learning and teaching. In addition to that, the
teacher could use SFP to help the children with social skills. This is
because, by using VR, children can interact with virtual people and, from
that, it can help children, especially children with ASD, communicate with
other people in real life.

For recommendation, we hope that our SFP innovation can be expanded
to other topics based on KSPK so that children can develop holistically
not only social skills but also cognitive, physical, and emotional
development. In addition, this SFP innovation can also be used as
homeschooling materials with parents’ guidance, especially during the
COVID-19 pandemic. This is because children only need a VR headset to
learn something without leaving the house. As we know, VR allows
children to interact with what they see as if they were really there.

21

5.2 OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL FUN PARK

There are 7 stations in Social Fun Park. Station 1: Wait and Slide,
Station 2: Form Up, Station 3: Hoppity Hop, Station 4: Yum Yum
Corner, Station 5: Amazing Race, Station 6: Sandtastic, and Station
7: Yippie Ride. All of these stations are designated with different
objectives in order to develop social skills among students. Each
station has its own rules and learning process. We also provided each
station with virtual agents to help guide students throughout their
learning process.

You can watch an overview of Social
Fun Park and all the 7 stations by
scanning this QR code.

22

5.3 AMENITIES OF SOCIAL FUN PARK

Starting from station 1, students will learn to take turns playing
slides. This station allows students to show respect for the feelings
and opinions of others, as stated in learning standard KD 3.1.3. For
example, once students arrive at station 1, there will be virtual
agents that will guide them to queue up before they get to play
slides. The assistance of these virtual agents would prevent students
from simply playing slides without having to line up. But as they play
together, students will learn to respect others and take turns. As a
result, this station encourages students to practise taking turns in
social interactions with friends.

Station 1;
Wait and Slide
Learn to take turn

23

Stations 2 and 3 meet the learning standard KD 3.2.6 requirement of
practising social etiquette in relationships. These stations allow
students to practise social etiquette in relationships as stated in
learning standard KD 3.2.6. For example, when students reach
stations 2 and 3 in Social Fun Park, there will be virtual agents that
can guide students to follow rules in these two stations, such as
playing together. With the help from these virtual agents, students
would not be able to just come and play without following the rules.
But, they will learn to mix around with others and follow instructions
when playing together. Hence, these stations help students practise
social etiquette in relationships with their friends by taking turns.

Station 2;
Form Up

Learn to mix around
with others

Station 3;
Hoppity Hop
Learn to follow
instructions

24

Through stations 4 and 5, students will have to learn to adapt
themselves in different settings for socialisation by being
independent and seeking help from others, according to learning
standard KD 3.2.5. Virtual agents at these stations will encourage
the students to order food by themselves and seek help through the
maze game. Students will need to adjust to their new environment to
order food and play in the maze. With the support from these virtual
agents, students will get to learn to mix around with other people,
even if it is their first time seeing each other. This ability can be used
in the real world, particularly when students are in school with other
friends.

Station 4;
Yum Yum Corner

Learn to be
independent in
food ordering

Station 5:
Amazing Race
Learn to seek help

from others

25

Station 6 satisfies the requirement for learning standard KD 3.2.4,
which is to express agreement and dissatisfaction on issues in a
polite manner. At this station, students will have to share things to
build sandcastles and play together. When they reach this station, a
virtual agent will let students decide whether they want to play
together or alone. From that, students will know how to express
agreement or dissatisfaction politely with friends. This skill is very
helpful for students so that they can build positive relationships with
others and demonstrate good manners.

Station 6:
Sandtastic
Learn to share

Station 7 is a redemption station where students will get to redeem
their rewards after completing each station.

Station 7:
Yippie Ride
Redeem the rewards

26

5.4 APPLICATION OF SOCIAL FUN PARK

1. Scan the QR Code below to access Social Fun Park.

2. For a better experience, wear a VR headset, or you
can use your computer and mobile phone.

27

3. Once you’re in, you will see a huge amusement park
with virtual agents at the front gate.

4. You must buy a ticket first to enter Social Fun Park.

5. You can explore the Social Fun Park from station 1
until station 7.

28

6. At each station, you must follow the rules that are
stated to play.

7. If you do not follow the rules, you will have to restart
the station.

8. Finish all of the stations and redeem your rewards at
station 7.

29

CHAPTER 6

HOW IT'S MADE: SOCIAL FUN PARK

6.1 SETTING THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

The background and environment of a game are what make the virtual
experience more engaging and entertaining for the users. In CoSpaces EDU,
there are multiple options for scenes that you can choose from, which are
each tailored to serve different purposes. The scene you decide to choose
will be the foundation for how your CoSpaces Edu project will be designed.
Therefore, it is important to choose the right scene or background that is
most suited to the topic that you want to present in your CoSpaces Edu
project. For Social Fun Park, we chose the empty 3D environment scene,
which allowed us to design the environment of an amusement park from
scratch.

To select a scene, first click on the ‘CoSpaces’ icon on the top left corner of

the screen. From there, select ‘Create CoSpaces’ to get started on a

CoSpaces Edu project. Once clicked, a selection of scenes will be presented

to you. The options are "Empty scene", "All about me", "COVID-19 action

plan", "Multi diorama", "Large gallery", and "Parkour game". The names of

each scene give a little description as to how the scenes can be designed for.
In the case of

Social Fun Park,

the scene most

suitable for

designing a virtual

amusement park

would be the

‘Empty scene’

option. Therefore,

let’s select 'Empty

scene.'

30

Now that you have an empty scene, let’s start designing the environment
that we want. In the bottom left corner, click on 'Environment'. Here you will
see the settings that you can manipulate to design your environment.

Then, click on 'Edit'. A range of environments can be chosen to help build
your desired virtual environment. For the concept of an amusement park, we
chose the grassy environment, which is the fifth option. Once you have done
that, you can also add a background sound to your environment. To do this,
you must first have the sound that you want uploaded onto your computer.
Then click on the ‘Background sound’ option and upload your sound.

Well done; now you have the appropriate
environment for your virtual game.
31

6.2 ADDING ELEMENTS

Elements are important factors in any CoSpaces Edu project because
they help us to present our ideas visually to the users. Many elements are
used in Social Fun Park, which range from the CoSpaces Edu library to
external elements uploaded from the world wide web. Here is how we
added the elements to Social Fun Park.

6.2.1 ADDING ELEMENTS FROM
COSPACES EDU LIBARY

First, click on 'Library' at the bottom left corner. Once clicked, you will be
presented with several categories of elements, such as characters,
animals, housing, and nature. You can also build your own 3D objects by
selecting the ‘Building’ category. Here is how we built the pathway in
Social Fun Park.

32

Click on ‘Building’ and choose the flat square. When placed on the ground,
this flat square can be resized. To do this, click on the square. Then, hold
and drag the ‘resize’ button away from the square to make it larger. To
make the square smaller, hold and drag the ‘resize’ button inwards
towards the square. Another alternative is to right click on the square and
select ‘Transform’. Then insert your desired scale for the size of the
square you want by typing it into the ‘Scale’ option.

Now that you have the right-sized square, let’s change the colour. Right-
click on the square and select 'Material'. You will then be presented with a
range of colours to choose from. If none of the colours are what you are
looking for, then click on ‘Customize color’. Here you can drag and
pinpoint the exact colour that you want. Because we are building a
pathway, let’s set the colour of this square to a light brown.

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Now that your square is the right size and the right colour, let’s start
building the pathway. To do this, let’s duplicate the square we have. Right-
click on the square and select ‘Duplicate’. You will now have two of the
same squares. Repeat this process and arrange the squares into a
pathway of your liking.

Let’s make this pathway a little bit more interesting by adding a little
roundabout in the middle. Open the CoSpaces library again and select
‘Building’. Select the flat circle. Resize your circle to your desired size and
then customise the colour to the same colour as the rest of the pathway.
Arrange the circle at the centre of the pathway. So there you have it! An
adorable pathway with a roundabout for your amusement park.

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6.2.2 ADDING ELEMENTS FROM
EXTERNAL SOURCES

Sometimes, you may want to add elements that are not available in the
Cospaces Edu Library. You can add your own elements by uploading them
into your CoSpaces Edu project. Before doing that, you have to make sure
that the elements you are uploading are 3D models. Next, you will also need
to make sure that these elements are uploaded in the correct file format.
This is because CoSpaces Educan only support 3D models in file formats
‘.obj +’, ‘.mtl’, ‘.fbx’, and ‘.zip’. Here is how we uploaded 3D models from
external sources.
First, go to any search engine and look up "Free 3D Model". Your searches
will show you different free 3D model websites that you can choose from. A
good example is Sketchfab.com. On the website, search for the 3D model
that you want. We want to add some cake food to our Social Fun Park, so
let’s search for "cake food" in the search bar. Then, a wide variety of 3D
models of cakes will show up on your screen. Once you find your favourite
3D model cake, select it and click on ‘Download’. Remember to download it
in the supported file formats (.obj,.mtl,.fbx,.zip).

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Now that you have your 3D Model cake, go back to your CoSpaces Edu
project and click on ‘Upload’ at the bottom left corner of the screen. Then
click on ‘3D Model’. Upload your 3D model cake file. Once uploaded, you can
now drag and place your new 3D model cake into your CoSpaces Edu
project.

Let’s place our 3D model cake on a table in our CoSpaces Edu project. First,
right click on the 3D model cake. Then select ‘Attach’. Blue dots will appear
on your CoSpaces Edu project. These blue dots are places where you can
attach the 3D model cake. To place the 3D model cake on the table, click on
the blue dot on the table. Now, the cake is on the table where it should be.

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You can rotate the 3D model cake by clicking on the cake and selecting
‘Rotation mode’. Red, green, and blue lines will appear around the 3D
model cake that represents the axis of the cake. Hold and drag the axis to
rotate your cake to the desired position.

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6.3 CODING THE ELEMENTS

Now that you have added your elements to your CoSpaces Edu project,
let’s start coding. CoSpaces EDU comes equipped with multiple sets of
coding blocks that enable us to build and create our virtual world through
a simple visual programming language called CoBlocks. CoBlocks enable
us to animate the elements we've added to our project in order for them
to perform specific actions and bring life to the virtual world.

Let’s code a character to skip
around on the pathway as we play
the project. First, select a character
and give it a name. This is to make
sure we know which character we
are coding.

Next, right-click on the character
again and select ‘Code’. Then turn on
the ‘Use in CoBlocks’ switch. This will
allow the element to appear during
coding.

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Before that, let’s build a path for the
character to walk on. Click on
‘Library’ at the bottom left corner and
select ‘Special’. Select the straight
path and place it on the ground. Drag
the end of the straight path to the
end of the pathway.

To make the straight path curve
around the roundabout, right click on
it and select ‘Edit path’. Then select
‘Path’ and set the type to ‘Curved’.
Now you can drag the blue dots on
the path to position it around the
roundabout.

Next, position the end of the path as
close to the beginning position as
possible. Set a name for this path and
remember to turn on ‘Use in
CoBlocks’ just as you have done with
the character.

Now that you have created a path for
the character, you have to attach the
character to the path. Right-click on
the character and select ‘Attach’.
Attach the character to the path at
the beginning position. Your
character is now ready for the coding
process.

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In the top right corner, click on ‘Code’. You will then be given three options
for coding languages: ‘CoBlocks’, ‘TypeScript’, and ‘Python’. Choose
‘CoBlocks’. First, we want to set an animation for the character. Click on
‘Actions’—the purple icon. Select the first CoBlocks and drag it under
‘When Play clicked’. Choose the character’s name and set the animation to
‘skip’. Your CoBlocks should look like this:‘set animation of [character’s
name] to [skip]’.

Now let’s make the character skip around, following the path we have
created. Click on ‘Transform’. The ‘Transform’ CoBlocks are coding blocks
that will make elements move or change in size. Now select the third
‘Transform’ CoBlocks from the top and drag it under the ‘Actions’ CoBlocks
that you have already added’. In the ‘Transform’ CoBlocks you have
selected, choose the character’s name and choose the path that you have
created. We would like the character to skip forward on the path; therefore,
select the ‘forward’ option. Set how many seconds you would like your
character to skip on the path. In this case, let’s make the character skip for
120 seconds on the path. Your CoBlocks should look like this;‘move
[character’s name] on path [path created] forward in [120] seconds’.

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After 120 seconds, the character would stop skipping on the path. But this is
not what we want. Instead, we want the character to continue skipping on
the path as long as the game is being played. To do this, click on ‘Control’ in
CoBlocks—the dark orange icon. Drag and drop the ‘forever’ loop onto your
CoBlocks. Now just drag and drop both your ‘Actions’ and ‘Transform’
CoBlocks inside the ‘forever’ loop. This will make the character perform its
actions continuously on a loop.

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CHAPTER 7

ACHIEVEMENTS

ARTICLE (INDEXED JOURNAL)

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