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Early in 1997, George Lucas challenged the staff of his newest company to create products that were equally educational and entertaining in order to engage children and young people actively in their own learning. To accomplish these goals, we initiated a development process that included listening carefully to science teachers, scientists, informal learning experts, students, and parents. From the product's early conceptualization through completion, they joined us in brainstorming; participated in testing and refining the product's usability; and helped us monitor the academic, technical, and conceptual integrity of the product. With their help, the concept of Star Wars DroidWorks took form.

Three important design principles influenced this early work:

•The most powerful learning occurs in context, so it is important to look for "natural" teaching/learning opportunities in the Star Wars universe rather than adding a Star Wars veneer on top of academic content.
• It is important to link learning design to kids' interests and prior knowledge.
• The computer is a learning tool and the best products take advantage of the unique attributes a computer offers for exploration and discovery.

An early decision was made to align our products as much as possible with curriculum standards and frameworks. Both the content and the activities of DroidWorks reflect this.

Kids "should experience science in a form that engages them in the active construction of ideas and explanations that enhance their opportunities to develop the abilities of doing science." National Science Education Standards

The DroidWorks team invented a three-dimensional laboratory in which kids could build and design droids. All the droid parts were authentically engineered by a mechanical engineer from the University of California, Berkeley. In the game, each droid takes on unique capabilities directly resulting from their young designers' decisions.

George Lucas urged us to make the process of building the droids meaningful: "Make the droids matter." So our engineers developed code that allows the droids and other objects to behave and interact in ways that are similar to real world physics. The team of designers and artists designed the product to encourage problem-centered learning. Students design and build droids for specific purposes and use them on exciting missions. As they attempt to solve problems, their understanding of simple machines, forces, motion, energy, and light is applied and tested as they experience the results of their decisions and actions. An animated glossary (InDex) provides them an opportunity to learn even more about the science they encounter in gameplay.

DroidWorks encourages students to explore science rather than memorizing definitions out of context. We believe that kids will come away from the game with both a great game play experience and a deeper understanding of some of the big ideas in physical science. Concepts are learned through experience and they are revised, broadened, and deepened with more experience. The content in DroidWorks is designed for kids to experience scientific concepts in action.