One of the effects of Covid-19, which has affected Indonesia for two years, is an increase in the duration and intensity of digital access, enabling technological industries to thrive and produce innovations. One of the industries that has flourished during the span of time is the video game industry. Not only used for purposes of entertainment, video games are currently also used as a media of education. The current ecosystem of the video game industry allows willing members of younger generation to become game developers.
In support of the potential held by the video game industry, Vocational Educational Programmes Universitas Indonesia (henceforth UI Vocations) launched a new study programme, dubbed Media Productions, in 2021. One of the main features of Media Productions is the application of newest developments of technology such as interactive design, creative coding, UI/UX, and other video game design and creation tools in the programme’s courses. Committed to increasing the video game development capability of its graduates, the programme has also registered itself as a member of Indonesia Game Association (Asosialsi Game Indonesia / AGI).
Media Production, a study programme founded in 2021, participates in the Game Developer Consortium, an initiative hatched by the Government of Indonesia in a bid to bolster and develop creative economy. Through the platform, Media Production, UI Vocations, alongside programmes from nine other universities and institutes, takes part in the development of a programme hatched by the Indonesia Cyber Education Institute (ICE Institute) Universitas Terbuka (UT) named the Microcredential Game Developer Programme (Program Microcredential Game Developer / PMGD), part of the Merdeka Belajar / Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) governmental programme inaugurated in 2022.
The programme is held in a ‘blended‘ fashion, with a study load of 20 credits comprised of 27 courses for 5 specialisations and a Capstone Project. At present, there are 672 students and more than 80 lecturers from ten universities and institutes from the entire country participating in PMGD. PMGD offers five specialised sections, namely Game Artist, Game Designer, Game Developer, Educational Game Developer, and Game Project Management. Having completed their courses in their respective sections, students will, in the Capstone Project, be assigned into groups which will create games to be showcased and competed with other gamesin Indonesia’s video game industry. This will, in turn, enable their adoption for commercialisation. Instructors of the Media Production study programme will have a chance to teach Game Layout, a course from the stream Game Designer, and will also serve as the mentor for the Capstone Project.
The Head of the Media Production study programme, N. Rangga Wiwesa, M.I.Kom., CICS, MIPR, who shall also serve as a mentor in said programme, said that the acceleratingly massive development of technology calls for its utilisation in various fields, one of them being the development of the video game industry.
“Media Production, through the Game Designer stream and Game Layout specialisation, contributes to the comprehensive analysis of the programme’s blended learning process, to be held to as well as the identification of factors which may hinder or support the programme’s learning process. such as course design, multimedia usage, student’s readiness towards online learning, differences between students, student’s learning behaviour, group dynamics, usage of digital storytelling in the Capstone Project, and learning outcomes.” stated Rangga.
Rangga also stated that Media Production, UI Vocations, is committed to contributing in PMGD continuously in the next semester, in order to implement the development of the curriculum to be adopted in one of the courses taught in Media Production, UI Vocations.
“We shall keep on contributing towards PMGD in the second semester of this year, in the teaching of [the sections] Game Layout and Game Branding. In the near future, game [development and design] will be among the chiefest courses offered by Media Production, UI Vocations,” he stated.
