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6/16/11

VideoGameDesignSchools.net -- from Sara McDowell

videogamedesignschools.net


Per Sarah:

I created videogamedesignschools.net as a resource for students to find in-depth and unbiased information about a Video Game Design degree. Currently, I think its the only site that lists every accredited video game school on the web.

 

1/16/10

Financial Football


1/15/10

50 Free Online Educational Games That Are More Fun Than You’d Think -- from How to E-D-U; original resource from Tony Bates


Can video games save the world?


12/31/09

Gaming innovations of the decade -- from play think learn


12/18/09

Video Games and Impacts on Performance -- from The Futurist Update
The types of video games you play may affect your performance at school, work, or other activities, according to Wheaton College psychology professor Rolf Nelson. Playing an adrenaline-pumping action game for an hour before doing your homework or tackling a task at work could help you finish the assignment quickly--but with lots of mistakes. Playing a strategy game, on the other hand, will yield more-accurate work, but at the cost of speed, observes Nelson.

In his study, published with co-author Ian Strachan in the journal PERCEPTION, Nelson tested subjects playing either a fast-action video game (Unreal Tournament) or a puzzle-solving video game (Portal). “While there has been a great deal of [research] focused on performance differences between non-video-game players and avid video-game players, we were interested in looking at the effects of playing different types of video games," Nelson says. “Results convincingly demonstrate a priming effect for two different types of video games."


12/14/09

Can gaming change education? - Meris Stansbury, eSchool News -- item and quote below from Ray Schroeder
As video games continue to permeate our culture, schools and students are increasingly interested in using video games for learning. This interest has prompted universities and neurologists to explore what makes a successful educational game, what the current barriers to adoption are, and how gaming as a whole affects the brain. According to a recent paper by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), games, when developed correctly and used appropriately, can engage players in learning that is specifically applicable to school curriculum—and teachers can leverage the learning in these games without disrupting the worlds of either "play" or school.

Professors push foreign language to the next level - Alexa Sykes, the Pendulum -- item and quote below from Ray Schroeder
Imagine having the luxury of traveling to another country and experiencing the language and culture without the hassle of purchasing a plane ticket or checking luggage. This ideal situation is now possible with Digital Game-Based Learning and is helping foreign language students at Elon University experience the countries of the languages they are studying without ever leaving their computer chairs. According to David Neville, assistant professor of German and director of language learning technologies, Elon is the only university in the entire country that has begun to integrate DGBL into its foreign language curriculum.


12/9/09

NobelPrize.org: educational games and simulations

-- from TeachPaperless


12/8/09

Five Ways to Build Your Own Educational Games [K-12] -- from Free Technology for Teachers


12/7/09

Papastergiou, M. (2009). Exploring the potential of computer and video games for health and physical education: A literature review. Computers & Education 53(3) 603-622.


12/5/09

Putting some pieces together: Learning Activities and Learning Motivation -- from Williams Instructional Design, LLC


12/4/09

Online Games for Teaching Business Concepts and Ideas -- from Karl Kapp, back in Oct.

Computer Games and Traditional CS Courses -- from Communications of the ACM by Kelvin Sung
Integrating computer games into existing CS courses may help attract students to the field, but there are guidelines to be considered.


11/16/09

Related post:
6 Things Video Games Can Teach Us About Web Usability -- by Mark Riggan


11/10/09

Reardon Companies

 

Why games? Because they draw upon passion, story, emotion, feedback, and learning.

URL to download Conspiracy Theory

10/29/09

Kent Career Tech Center launches college 3-D Animation, Game Design course for high schoolers -- from Rapid Growth
Kent County high school students now have the option to receive college credit for 3-D animation and game design at Kent Career Technical Center (KCTC).


Central Piedmon CC -- Simulation & Game Development


10/23/09

Colleges Offering Video Game Courses - MARA ROSE WILLIAMS, The Kansas City Star -- from Ray Schroeder
According to the Entertainment Software Association, which monitors the game industry, video-game design is the fastest-growing industry in this country. "A generation that has grown up playing video games is entering college," said Rich Taylor at the association. "Schools are responding to that." Besides a favorite pastime, video games are developed for use in military training, education, Hollywood, and for virtual training in a variety of fields, including medicine and mechanics.


10/22/09

Gaming in Technology Education
Clark, A., & Ernst, J.. (February 2009). Gaming in Technology Education. The Technology Teacher, 68(5), 21-26.  Retrieved October 21, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1643132981).

With the average salary for entry-level programmers and gaming artists at $52,000, the overall average programmer and gaming artist salary at $82,000, and the gaming industry having a significant economic impact in its immediate surrounding area, it was felt by the researchers that it was time to bring gaming into Career and Technical Education (CTE) as a provider for future employees for this growing industry. Students spend the entire time in this curriculum working in a 3-D computer environment enhancing knowledge and skill areas related to visual design and advanced game design, with a final outcome of a complete 3-D game developed using student teams.


10/21/09

Serious Games For Senior Executives -- from elianealhadeff.blogspot.com
Following my prior post Live From GDC: Serious Games Emerging Trends, where I highlight the presentation of Visual Purple’s President, Ed Heinbockel, Visual Purple has now launched the virtual world demo that they partnered with BTS to produce. You may view the trailer comparison of the CBT (Computer-Based Training) transformation to the virtual world training simulation as well as download the demo at the landing page to Visual Purple’s website (www.visualpurple.com).

Virtual World by Virtual Purple

 

10/21/09

35+ Educational Games and Games Resources (K-12) -- from Free Technology for Teachers


10/20/09

Learning with Digital Games

Learning with Digital Games is Nicola Whitton's first book and is based on practical lessons learned from the research carried out during her PhD. It is designed as an introduction to the use of games-based learning in universities for lecturers, learning technologies, researchers and anyone else who is interested really. There is also a website to support the book, and any feedback or comments would be most appreciated. According to the website:

"Written for Higher Education teaching and learning professionals, Learning with Digital Games provides an accessible and straightforward introduction to the field of computer game-based learning.""Up-to-date with current trends and the changing learning needs of today’s students, this text offers friendly guidance, and is unique in its focus on post-school education and its pragmatic view of the use of computer games with adults."


10/16/09

Serious Games Transforming Learning Ecosystem -- from elianealhadeff.blogspot.com


9/25/09

Game-Based Learning Site for Innovative Math Educators -- from The Innovative Educator
Innovative math educators looking for engaging ideas to enhance teaching and learning should check out this newly launched, curriculum-based, online math game site for 11 – 16 year olds. UK-based www.mangahigh.com features math games that go beyond mental arithmetic and help kids to enjoy practicing quadratic equations and trigonometry. The site has developed engaging math games that students enjoy playing while they learn complex math concepts by solving authentic, real-world problems.

MangaHigh.com


9/14/09

Quest to Learn Launches! -- from institute of play
The Institute of Play is delighted to announce the opening of Quest to Learn, the new NYC public school that uses game-inspired methods to teach both traditional and critical 21st century skills and literacies.

Quest to Learn


9/2/09

Going to Scale with a Digital Curriculum -- from Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning by Sasha Barab & Melissa Gresalfi

  • We discovered that teachers worldwide are eager to find educational experiences that position their students as active agents who are capable of thinking independently to solve problems in unanticipated ways.
  • Click here to read “Why Should Educators Care About Games.”
  • Please visit our project website to learn more about this exciting work: http://QuestAtlantis.org. Quest Atlantis is an immersive online world designed to help teach science to junior high school students. Development and expansion have been supported by the MacArthur Foundation.
Quest Atlantis

8/17/09

Computer games to teach youths about judiciary - Alex Dalenberg, Arizona Republic -- link/quote from Ray Schroeder
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her judicial ilk seem unlikely candidates for video-game heroes. But beginning this month, kids can put themselves in the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court in two online games endorsed by O'Connor and designed in part by Arizona educators. The games will debut on the Our Courts Web site, ourcourts.org, a civics-education project chaired by O'Connor.


8/9/09

Video Games and Education

-- link from
Bringing liberal education and computer gaming to college prep
by Bryan Alexander


8/6/09

Computer games and realising their learning potential -- from gamebasedlearning.org.uk by Karl Royle

Ed Gaming – A Trend to Watch -- from Online Blogucation
Here are some sites that have been highlighted by thought leaders in educational gaming:


8/4/09

Game and Learn: An Introduction to Educational Gaming -- from Ruben Puentedura
Videogames are becoming a progressively more important component of teaching today: they can provide learners with rich worlds and complex narratives that both enhance and transform their educational experience in previously unexplored ways. Because of this, I'm pleased to announce that, as part of a joint research project between the MLTI and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, I have created a 14-part podcast series on videogames in education. This mini-course, available now in its entirety from iTunes U, provides educators with the knowledge needed to successfully use educational gaming in their classroom. I'll be supplementing this podcast series with ongoing posts and discussions, and more materials will be announced in the coming months — stay tuned.


7/27/09

Best Practices for Integrating Game-Based Learning into Online Teaching -- from MERLOT

Table 1 : Games for Teaching

COTS Games

“Commercial off-the-shelf games”. Modifiable games such as Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion can be used for a variety of teaching exercises, such as learning American History. The Queensland-based Games in Learning Project lists many potential types of COTS games.

CyberCIEGE

Used in the discipline of Information Technology and computer science to teach students about network security issues.

Dafur is Dying

Used in history, cultural studies, or special topics humanities courses to teach students about war and its consequences.

Food Force

Used in various humanities courses to teach students about world famine issues.

Global Conflict: Palestine

Used in writing and history courses to teach students about journalistic techniques and about the history of Palestine.

Planet Green Game

Used in the discipline of ecology or general earth science to teach students about global ecological issues.

Fantastic Contraption

Used in math and physics courses to teach students basic physics concepts.

Simport

Used in the discipline of engineering to help teach students about large infrastructure projects.

Burn Center

Used in the discipline of medicine to help train doctors.

Tycoon (game series)

Used to teach business students resource management and other key business concepts.

Legsim

A virtual simulation of the U.S. Congress, State legislature and the European union for students in history and government courses.

Hazmat: Hot Zone

Used to train first responders to deal with hazardous materials.

Geosense

 

Game used to teach students geography.


SocialImpactGames.com

GamePolitics.com


7/9/09

Microsoft's Project Natal: What does it mean for game industry? -- from CNET.com by Daniel Terdiman

Microsoft stunned the video game world on Monday with the announcement of its forthcoming 'Project Natal' technology, full-body motion-sensitive technology that should allow gamers to do what they want without holding on to any hardware.


7/7/09

Playing History
"There are tons of free historical games, interactives and simulations on the web. Playing history aggregates info on these resources in a simple, searchable database making it easy to find, rate, and review historical games. There are currently 128 shared games."


7/6/09

Conspiracy Code


Transformational Play


6/30/09

Game changer: Investing in digital play to advance children's learning and health -- from The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop by Ann My Thai, David Lowenstein, Dixie Ching, and David Rejeski


6/24/09

Top 100 Learning Game Resources -- from The Upside Learning Solutions Blog

Turning Point for Video Games with Learning Goals? -- from MacArthur Foundation
A lot has changed since 2004, when the Games for Change conference in New York City first started. Spotlight reporter Heather Chaplin reports on G4C in 2009.

Game Design Concepts: a free class in game design, conducted over the web by blog

Online school implements game-based course -- from eSchoolNews.com
Florida Virtual School is offering students an American history course, based on an educational computer-game scenario


6/5/09

FLVS and 360Ed Launch Conspiracy Code – First-Ever Complete Online Game-Based High School Course -- from B2E
[Florida Virtual School —Monday, June 01, 2009] The first Conspiracy Code course to be released is for American History. These revolutionary new courses, presented in 3D, combine proven instructional practices and academic content with the latest in online gaming tools to produce an engaging and active learning environment for high school students...


6/3/09

Promising Evidence for Using Immersive Games in Classrooms -- from the MacArthur Foundation
Science students make greater gains in MacArthur grantee David Birchfield and colleagues’ SMALLab than in regular classrooms.


6/1/09

[Innovate] June/July Issue


Simulations and Serious Games


5/18/09

What is the difference between a game and a simulation? -- from Clark Aldrich's Style Guide for Serious Games and Simulations


5/11/09

Zakelro! -- from Serious Games Portal
Participatory Storytelling is the intersection of story, play, and community. Participatory storytelling is a way of looking at storytelling that acknowledges the importance of play and community. It is a critical framework for analyzing storytelling media, from traditional storytelling to video games, with an eye on its ability to include the audience in the storytelling process. It is also a goal of story as conversation, where a storyteller and her community play together in the creation of story. Participatory storytelling is also the guiding principle of Zakelro Story Studio. The roots of Zakelro's participatory storytelling theory can be found in the whitepaper, Games and Storytelling, by Corvus Elrod. Continued thoughts on the topic can be found on Corvus’ blog, Man Bytes Blog.

Zakelro!


Learning and Entertainment Evolution Forum - 2009 -- link from Serious Games Portal
LEEF 2009 will be held on June 18-19 at Harrisburg University, PA. Featured Case Studies announced:

ACS Learning Services - Consultative Sales in a Virtual World

Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT Laboratory),University of Maryland and Forterra Systems, IncI-95 Corridor Coalition - Virtual Incident Management Training

Deep End Interactive- Winds of Orbis: An Active-Adventure

Enspire Learning - Celebrity Calamity: Teaching Personal Finance through Games
ExperiencePoint -Lakeview Change Management Simulation

Humentum - US Sales and Marketing Policy Simulation

NexLearn, LLC - Essential Leadership Simulation Series

University of Maryland University College - Criminal Justice Simulations

US Army War College- Military Global Distribution Game

ViaVivo, Inc.- Developing Entrepreneurship with Serious Games

Visual Purple, LLC - Winning in Wireless, CEO Simulation in a Virtual World

Fees and Registration Form can be found at http://www.leef2009.net/


5/2/09

Resources on Serious Games from seriousgamesportal.blogspot.com
Serious Games Companies Serious Games Communities Serious Games Blogs

Related item:
G4H 2009: Serious Gaming With HumanSim -- by Eliane Alhadeff
HumanSim is here.

HumanSim

HumanSim : A platform for virtual patients for games and simulations -- a sponsored Session by Virtual Heroes; speaker: Randy Brown, Virtual Heroes
HumanSim is a platform for medical training and education that is under development at Cary, NC based Virtual Heroes. During this sponsored session Virtual Heroes will provide a complete breakdown of their system and how it can be used to power games that are about human physiology and virtual patients.


4/14/09

SharkWorld -- a project management game

Sharkworld -- original link from SERIOUS GAMES PORTAL
...allows aspiring project managers to experiment and gain experience with key aspects of project management in a highly entertaining and motivating setting. This online game creates a convincing virtual environment in which a project is developed in real time, urging the management trainee to interfere when things go wrong, or preferably, before they do. Several suspense scenarios increase the entertainment value of the game. The game covers not only economic aspects, but also social aspects, conflict management and diplomatic skills. Interaction takes place in real life, by real life means. The game interacts with the player in many different ways: through websites - both fictional and real, cutscenes, email, newspaper articles, chat, sms and written letters.

4/13/09

BTS

BTS -- We offer the globe's premier, best-in-class experiential learning and performance solutions. Our learning technology platforms include: Scenario Simulations, Board Simulations, Engage Maps, Tournaments and Online & Virtual Solutions.


3/25/09

The Name of the Game Is Learning -- from Edutopia.org, by David Markus, Editorial Director
Hi, Everyone,
A confession: In another time, I thought most digital technologies marketed to kids (and their parents) as being both educational and entertaining were, in fact, neither. Rather, they were the moral equivalent of bad children's television. My favorite objects of scorn were video games -- "mass-media toxins oozing into our children's psyches," I once wrote. Not only was my prose purple, I was just plain wrong. The great majority of digital games for children not only do no harm, many of them are also terrific learning vehicles that go a long way in helping students retain knowledge. The three links below introduce you to inspiring cases in point. See what you think.


Girls at computer Games for Learning and Assessment
Computer simulations are natural learning tools for a generation of video game players.
Girl at computer Computer Games
Explore Social Issues
The fluid, interactive nature of simulations makes them ideal for tackling complex subjects.
Dissecting frog online How Online Simulations Work
in the Classroom
Computer programs that replicate real life can be excellent teaching and learning tools.

 

 

3/20/09

Tipping Point -- link from Dan Pink's blog
Tipping Point is a cooperative puzzle game for up to four players. Players assume the roles of Project Managers, and must work together to complete projects before they go too far past their deadline. The game is won by completing a set number of projects without letting any project fail.


3/17/09

Dartmouth Professor Creates Recession-Inspired Video Game -- from The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog by Steve Kolowich
Some academics may deride video games as mindless escapism, but Mary Flanagan and her collaborators are trying to push the medium into service as a tool to educate gamers on pressing social issues.

Online Math Game Lets Kids Learn at Their Own Pace -- from Take an e-Learning Break
This program uses a "recommendation engine" to watch how a child plays math games and provide new content according to what's observed.The recommendation engine, patented as GuideRight technology, watches every motion the child makes while playing the game, and then adjusts on the fly to present kids with a math curriculum that is most appropriate for them. With more than 350 math activities to choose from, the game can present more than a million different paths.Check it out: http://www.dreambox.com.

DreamBoxLearning.com

 

Physicsgames.net


3/10/09

John Conway's Game of Life -- my thanks to Niko Solihin in the T&L Digital Studio for this link


3/6/09

Two new white papers on games in education -- from MIT; original link and quotes below from Generation Yes blog

  • Moving Learning Games Forward looks at games, learning and education with a long lens. It provides a detailed historical analysis of how computer games first were used in schools and proceeds through the heyday of educational software in the 1980s to the present move to web-based games. One quote from page 4 reads:

    • The Role of Play
      The starkly obvious difference between games and traditional schooling is that good games always involve play,
      and schooling rarely does. Before we discuss what constitutes play in games, it’s worth stepping back to look at
      play in the broader sense to understand how learning environments can effectively incorporate play, and how
      play often incorporates learning.

      Think for a moment about a child at play with dolls or action figures or Lego blocks. To the outsider, the play is
      likely to look somewhat scattered: the child will be working fiercely one moment constructing a building or acting
      out a story, and then just as abruptly the child will shift gears, knocking down what she’s built, or hurling dolls
      across the room in gleeful enactment of imagined disasters. Whether the child has been exploring the physical
      nature of things, her nascent understanding of familial and social roles, or obliterating everything she’s just accomplished, the child at play is exercising freedom along five distinct axes:

      1. freedom to fail;
      2. freedom to experiment;
      3. freedom to fashion identities;
      4. freedom of effort; and
      5. freedom of interpretation

  • The second paper, Using the Technology of Today in the Classroom Today, is slightly narrower in focus. It is written for classroom teachers interested in bringing games and simulations into the classroom, with practical suggestions and case studies to help with planning and implementation,

Using the instructional power of...

2/27/09

The Society for the Advancement of Games and Simulations in Education & Training
SAGSET 2009 – 39th Annual Conference
“Coaching and Learning Through Games”
July 22nd to 24th, 2009
Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK

Business Games & Simulations
Game & Simulation Design
Digital storytelling
Serious Games
Artificial intelligence games
Learning Evaluation

Visual content creation
Game production
Gamer communities
Executive learning and teaching
Simulation
Operations management games

Online games and networking
Mobile games
Case studies
User studies and evaluation
Game critical analysis
Intellectual property rights


2/20/09

Michigan State University's Serious Games Program
"Serious games are games with purpose beyond just providing entertainment." Examples include, but are not limited to, games for learning, games for health, and games for policy and social change. Designing effective, engaging serious games requires theoretical understanding of learning, cognition, emotion, and play. Along with great game design, serious games need content and pedagogy expertise, design research, and impact research. Our graduate program can help you gain the knowledge and experience you will need to create these sorts of games. Situated within the Telecommunication, Information Studies, & Media department at Michigan State University, the Serious Game Design track aims at the heart of serious game design, that magical region where theory and content intersect with game design. Game design for entertainment already requires diverse, multidisciplinary expertise. Serious game design calls upon vastly wider range of expertise and roles.

Serious Games Program at MSU

 

2/17/09

See the Institute of Play

The New School


Conclusions from
Gaming the Next Step
Gaming in the Classroom: Game development as an educational tool, by Patricia Medina and Anne Woolweaver, Clear Creek High School, Clear Creek ISD

  • Computers are our future
  • We cannot foresee future jobs - ability to adapt will be an asset in any job.
  • Gaming programs will continue to evolve as an educational tool
  • Students learn more when they are actively engaged in the learning process
  • What better way to get the students interested in the computer industry than by having them create games?
  • Computer games seem to motivate young people in a way that formal education does not.

2/15/09

Building Business Acumen through Serious Games -- from FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES; BTS: Computer-Based Business Simulations

Turning Heavy-Duty Simulators Into Serious Games -- elianealhadeff

Wii and Enhancing Learning -- link from Miguel Guhlin


2/10/09

Into the Game - Children & Adults Process Immersive Video Games Differently -- from Eide Neurolearning Blog by Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
Using a virtual reality paradigm, Swiss researchers showed striking differences between how adults and children processed a realistic virtual reality environment. Whereas adults were able to activate prefrontal areas associated with self-reflection, regulation of emotions, and stimulus-independent thoughts, children appeared more reactive and subcortical in their responses, and unlike adults, they could not inhibit or downregulate their visual responses to the game...


1/28/09

Free Online Gaming Grows As Economy Struggles -- from WebProNews.com, by Mike Sachoff
Time spent up 42%
The usage of online gaming sites has grown 27 percent during the past year to 86 million visitors in December 2008, while the total time spent playing online games increased 42 percent, according to comScore.

Games result in real learning -- by Donald Clark

Simulations and Games -- from Focus on Effectiveness: Researched-Based Strategies

Much education research encourages teachers to foster the kinds of environments and tools provided by simulations and games. For example, the more students use multiple systems of representing knowledge, the better they are able to think about and recall what they have learned (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Providing students the opportunity to visualize and model improves their chances for understanding. Simulations enhance this potential by making modeling dynamic. Games and modeling activities can elicit curiosity, create a demand for knowledge, and enable students to discover knowledge through exploration (Edelson, 1998). Experimentation, manipulation of media, and personal experience are critical allies in deepening learning. We know that student engagement and motivation are critical to sustained understanding. Simulations and games provide powerful new opportunities for learning.

Simulations allow learners the opportunity to model, explore, and try out a variety of strategies. Role-playing is a learning experience where students collaboratively invent, experiment, and practice interpersonal skills in a relatively low-risk environment. Games and simulations differ in important ways, although contexts may overlap. In simulations, no one "wins," and participants role-play experiences that result in their character suffering or benefiting from decisions and actions. Simulations are multi-modal and non-linear, branching into scenarios based on user choice. Finally, simulations are structured by authentic rules that mirror actual results. This definition can be broken down further to describe how students can learn from simulations.

 


1/27/09

Purdue Center For Serious Games Opening -- from FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES

Purdue Center for Serious Games

Today’s students, identified as the Gamer Generation (Beck & Wade, 2004) or as Digital Natives (Prensky, 2006), crave and expect engagement and interactivity. More and more, video games are becoming the popular medium with which these students engage. The increasing popularity of video games and the need for today’s students to be engaged with interactive instruction prompted the Federation of American Scientists (2006) to recently declare that video games can redefine education and call for additional research. In addition to video games for learning or “serious games”, the potential of immersive, digital, 3D environments for promoting engagement and collaboration is also being recognized. Multi-user virtual environment s(MUVEs) are becoming more and more mainstream as companies such as CNN, IBM, the NBA, as well as many colleges and universities, set up virtual representations of their organizations online. The MUVE Second Life is being used to hold conferences, meetings, job interviews and has over 9.6 million registered users, with Gartner Inc. estimating that by 2011, over 80 percent of active Internet users and major companies will have a virtual world presence online (Kitchen, 2007).

The Role of Play in Learning with Technology -- from ELI, by Gail Matthews-DeNatale (Simmons College) and Barbara Draude (Middle Tennessee State University)

From Plato and Piaget to the current day, scholars have noted the critical role of play in learning, yet the concept of playful learning still encounters significant resistance in higher education. Designing playful learning is a deceptively challenging task, one that requires a sophisticated understanding of play itself. In this workshop, you will hear from faculty about their experiences incorporating play into their courses, consider how technology can support playful learning, and try your hand at designing some "serious play." You'll also receive a booklet with examples, questions to consider in designing playful learning, and an annotated list of resources.

LearningWare.com - for K-12

For the corporate world...

 

1/26/09

Example of an excellent simulation

Enspire -- Simulations and Serious Games

Effectively designed and implemented simulations have the potential to be truly transformational learning experiences. Enspire is a trusted leader in simulation development, offering our clients off-the-shelf and templated simulation solutions as well as custom simulation development expertise.

Custom Simulations
Enspire custom-builds simulations that help our clients solve major challenges, develop their talent, implement organizational change, and increase overall effectiveness.

Game-Based Learning
Training departments increasingly see the potential of games to engage a new generation of learners.

Leadership Simulation: Executive Challenge™
Enspire's flagship leadership simulation, Executive Challenge™, provides a uniquely effective way to develop talent.

Sales Simulations
Becoming a better salesperson is an active process. Enspire's sales training simulation, Account Challenge™, provides an action-learning based sales training platform.

Finance Simulations
Enspire's finance simulation, Finance Challenge™, teaches financial savvy by challenging participants to apply their knowledge in an active, competitive environment where their decisions form the realities of the game.

Project Management Simulations
Enspire helps project managers become project leaders through simulations such as Virtual TeamManagement.

Global Supply Chain Management
Enspire helps clients improve efficiency, quality, and throughput with the Global Supply Chain Management Simulation.


1/25/09

MSU


1/24/09

Gaming Is The Future Of Classroom Instruction -- from Eliane Alhadeff

From DSC:
I'm not sure I agree 100% with this title/perspective; however, she brings up some valid points.


1/22/09

ARGNet -- my thanks to Caleb Kuntz in the T&L Digital Studio for this link
The Alternate Reality Gaming Network is the largest and most complete news resource available for players of online collaborative Alternate Reality Games. Though more of a fan/player site, it also discusses different ideas and philosophies behind ARGs, including educational concepts.

ARGNet


Public Pedagogy through Video Games -- from games-based learning (UK), by James Paul Gee and Elizabeth Hayes

Saving The World Through Game Design by Dr. Jane McGonigal -- my thanks to Caleb Kuntz in the T&L Digital Studio for this link
Jane McGonigal talks with Daniel Zalewski about alternate-reality gaming. From “Stories from the Near Future,” the 2008 New Yorker Conference. This is a speech/presentation "about games of all types and their place in our future".

Saving the World Through Gaming


1/21/09

Educational Video Game Design -- from Rene St. Pierre

Educational Video Game Design


Game-Based Learning 2009 Conference

Speakers include:

Tom Watson, MP, UK Cabinet Minister for Transformational Government
Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari, father of the video game industry
Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, Education, Channel 4
Dr Richard Graham, Clinical Director of Adolescent Directorate, Tavistock Centre
Marco Minoli, Director, Slitherine
Sean Dromgoole, CEO, Some Research & GameVision
Derek Robertson, Learning & Teaching Scotland
Terry Deary, Author, Horrible Histories


eInstruction Unveils Mobile Teaching Device -- from FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES blog
DENTON, Texas — Jan. 21, 2009 — eInstruction™, a premier global provider of interactive learning solutions, today unveils the release of the Interwrite Mobi System™, the industry’s first multi-user, multi-tablet system. The Mobi System supports student-centered, collaborative learning for teachers to contribute along with students to the same digital content ranging from team activities to learning simulations to interactive lessons.

Serious Games changing how the World learns
asdf

What can simulations borrow from video games? -- from Game Changing Idea


1/20/09

gamesresearch-coverNew Report: Online Learning Games for Employee Training-- from Brandon Hall Research, by Richard Nantel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


1/19/09

Air Force Uses Interactive Gaming Technology for Training -- from eLearning 3.0 blog

7 things you should know about Alternate Reality Games -- from Educational Origami
The guys from Educause have released their latest addition in the Seven things you should know series. You can download the pdf version at  http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7045.pdf
Great work and well worth downloading - read the brief.


1/13/09

DimensionM', a 3D Interactive Multi-Player Algebra Game is Spreading in 21st Century Schools -- from Lynn Marentette
Tabula Digita's 3D multi-player algebra game, DimensionM, is spreading to more middle and high schools around the country. Steven Hoy, of Tabula Digita, is working with UNC-Wilmington and educators in Pender and New Hanover counties.


1/12/09

Intute

intute

 

1/7/09

Schools Got Game -- from Learning Design and Performance Improvement
This Sunday's edition of the Washington Post had a very good article on the role of serious games in schools. It mostly had a very positive spin on the role games can play in education. I don't think the article will be particularly "enlightening" to anyone that has been tracking the emergence of serious games, but it is good to see the article made the front page (granted it was the front page of the "Metro" section which is the third section...but still, it's progress; two years ago the article probably would've been buried in "Lifestyles" section).

More and More, Schools Got Game -- from the WashingtonPost.com, by Michael Alison Chandler


1/5/09

Gaming Trends presentation

Gaming Trends


Lessons from Gamers -- from Benjamin Hamilton
I was struck by how the learning community can learn a lot about how to build achievement into our simulations and games.


1/2/09

Can Game Development Impact Academic Achievement? -- from The Journal, by Rich Ferdig and Jeff Boyer


1/1/09

Games without Pain: easy to use game engines as teaching, learning, and creative tools -- from the Podcast Program of Create World 2008

Also see their Gaming & Education tag-related items.


12/19/08

T=Machine -- blog from Adam Martin, recent keynote speaker at ARGs in Charity & Education Conference
Internet Gaming, Computer Games, Technology, MMO, and Web 2.0


12/3/08

Teaching with computer gaming: Harvard interview -- from Liberal Education Today, by Bryan Alexander
These discussion notes cover a presentation, then Q+A, with Harvard faculty member Chris Dede. Dede addresses the RiverCity game he helped design, and expounds on principles of teaching, immersion, and gaming.

Virtual Peace: academic computer game for conflict resolution -- from Liberal Education Today, by Bryan Alexander
http://news.duke.edu/2008/11/virtualpeace.html
Virtual Peace is a computer game about solving conflicts without violence. Produced at Duke University, it was supported by a 2007 HASTAC grant.

11/24/08

Climate challenge

Educational Gaming Commons (EGC) -- from PSU

Items from Larry Ferlazzo

11/3/08

Learning about the economy through computer games -- from Bryan Alexander
Some learners are studying the current economic crisis by playing computer games, according to the Wall Street Journal. These students are teenagers, and use several different games to understand market chaos. In contrast, an item about colleges creating digital learning objects concerning the crisis in the NITLE prediction markets suggests that...

The Anatomy of a Course Designed Like a Video Game -- from Educause


10/31/08

Simulations vs. Computer Gaming -- from percepsys.com

Simulations vs. Computer Gaming


Microsoft Kicks Off the Era of User-Generated Console Games -- from All Things Digital, by Dean Takahashi

Eats Shoots and Leaves Game -- link from Jane Hart


10/27/08

What's Wrong with Studying Video Games? -- from the WashingtonPost.com
Video game designers make up to $73,000 a year on average, but some folks see that figure as the only good reason to pursue a career in gaming.


10/24/08

EduGames (100+) -- from Zaidlearn.com


10/23/08

Video Gaming in the Classroom - Business Wire -- from Educational Technology Blog
In an effort to address the need for math curriculum that simultaneously develops conceptual understanding, computational fluency and problem-solving skills, Spring Independent School District (ISD) in Houston today announced its plans to add Tabula Digita's DimensionM(TM) immersive educational video games to all nine of its middle and high schools, as well as the district's new Math and Science Center.


10/21/08

Design and Implementation of Educational Games: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives -- Edited by Pavel Zemliansky and Diane Wilcox, James Madison University

Call for Chapters | Proposal Due Date: December 15, 2008 | To be Published by IGI Global

Introduction to the Subject Area
Video and computer games offer players a high degree of interactivity, and their popularity among people of different ages is unquestionable. In recent years educators took notice of this phenomenon and began integrating games into their teaching. This increased attention has resulted in the adaptation of some commercially available video and computer games for educational purposes, as well as the development of new, "education-specific" games. The use of games allows teachers and learners to simulate rich multimedia learning experiences which might otherwise not be possible. It allows learners to become immersed in "real life-like" environments while affording their teachers an opportunity to custom-create learning situations, tasks, and problems. The resulting learning and teaching processes are problem and project centered, as well as participatory. Both of these qualities are desirable for creating an active learning environment.

Purpose of the Book
The overall mission of the book is to provide a comprehensive overview of educational uses of computer and video games, covering both theoretical and practical aspects of the topic. We would like to look at educational gaming through the following lenses: rhetoric; narratology;
games as persuasive texts; educational and learning theories; games as social environments; use of gaming in professional communication and other professional training; pedagogical practices for games implementation, and so on. The publication will feature essays of 8000-10000 words, discussing various topics and issues pertaining to the theory and practice of educational gaming. We would like to receive essays which are both theoretical and practical. However, any
discussions of practice of educational game implementation, such as curricular integration or design issues, should be grounded in gaming, rhetorical, educational, or other theory.

Audience for the Book

  • Teachers in any field where educational gaming is used now or can be used in the future (science and technology, business, education and on-the-job training, humanities, and so on)
  • Students (both graduate and undergraduate) and trainees in those fields
  • Scholars and researchers in gaming theory, communication theory, rhetoric, business, computer science, graphic design, and related fields
  • Managers and in-house company trainers who wish to explore the potential of games and participatory learning in their programs or enterprises

Recommended Content Areas
We suggest the following content areas for submissions, although if contributors have other ideas, we will gladly listen:

  • gaming theory
  • video and computer games as persuasive "texts"
  • design theory
  • social aspects of games and gaming
  • motivation and games
  • the psychological aspects of computer games
  • use of 3-D games to develop spatial ability
  • game design for different audiences
  • educational games for adult learners
  • using simulations in professional education and training (government, industry, military, etc.)
  • conception, design, and implementation of educational games
  • integration of games with the goals and objectives of specific educational curricula and courses
  • practical classroom strategies for teaching and learning with games

Submission Procedure
Prospective authors are invited to submit chapter proposals of 500-600 words on or before December 15, 2008. In their proposal, prospective authors should clearly explain:

  • The purpose and the contents of their proposed chapter
  • How their proposed chapter relates to the overall objectives of the book

Authors will be notified of the status of their proposal and sent chapter organization guidelines by January 15, 2009. Drafts of chapters will be due by March 31, 2009. Please send inquiries or submit material electronically (Rich Text ...@jmu.edu<mailto:zemli...@jmu.edu> and wilco...@jmu.edu<mailto:wilco...@jmu.edu>

 

New Alliance To Research Gaming in Math and Science Education -- from Dave Nagel, The Journal
Video games have always had and probably will always have their detractors. But there's a growing movement in academia and industry recognizing the value of this medium as an educational tool both inside and outside the classroom.


10/18/08

From Bryan Alexander's Early educational computer games posting

This list of 1980s-era major computer games for learning offers a fascinating glimpse into the teaching-with-games movement's ancestry. Notice the cross-disciplinary range of these games, the role of Apple back then, and the various genres (simulation, branching narrative).

10/15/08

Superstruct -- by Jane McGonigal

What is Superstruct? A: Superstruct is the world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game. By playing the game, you'll help us chronicle the world of 2019--and imagine how we might solve the problems we'll face. Because this is about more than just envisioning the future. It's about making the future, inventing new ways to organize the human race and augment our collective human potential.

Fantastic Contraption -- from iLearn Technology blog

Fantastic Contraption

Pogo.com

10/10/08

Liberal arts and gaming: one campus practitioner interviewed -- from Liberal Education Today, by Bryan Alexander
A liberal arts language teacher is interviewed about using a computer game in the classroom. Dickinson College's Todd Bryant describes deploying World of Warcraft, touching on student reactions, faculty responses, pedagogical practices, and other issues. (Sound file here)

Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend: Algebra -- from the NY Times

10/8/08

Online Video Game About Third World Poverty -- from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
Heifer International, the widely-respected nonprofit that assists low-income people throughout the world, has just unveiled an online video game that helps players understand a bit more about Third World poverty. The game is called Heifer Village — Nepal, and you can learn about it from reading a post in the excellent blog Future Making Serious Games.

Microsoft and Universities Will Study Using Games to Teach Middle-School Students -- from The Chronicle of Higher Education

The 150 Best Online Flash Games -- from TechCult.com


10/7/08

New Alliance To Research Gaming in Math and Science Education -- from CampusTechnology.com, by David Nagel
Video games have always had and probably will always have their detractors. But there's a growing movement in academia and industry recognizing the value of this medium as an educational tool both inside and outside the classroom. This week, eight colleges and universities added their inertia to this movement, joining with Microsoft to launch a new alliance to study the benefits of gaming for math and science instruction and STEM equity.

The consortium, dubbed the "Games for Learning Institute," is being led by New York University and includes Columbia University, City University of New York (CUNY), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Teachers College. These members are matching an investment from Microsoft Research of $1.5 million to provide a total of $3 million in funding for the effort.

Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers -- from the New York Times

10/4/08

Gaming to Learn • Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD -- from David Warlick

Off Road Algebra

Off-Road Algebra

9/29/08

Major New Study Shatters Stereotypes About Teens and Video Games -- from the Pew Internet & American Life Project
"The stereotype that gaming is a solitary, violent, anti-social activity just doesn’t hold up. The average teen plays all different kinds of games and generally plays them with friends and family both online and offline," said Amanda Lenhart, author of a report on the survey and a Senior Research Specialist with the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which conducted the survey. "Gaming is a ubiquitous part of life for both boys and girls. For most teens, gaming runs the spectrum from blow-‘em-up mayhem to building communities; from cute-and-simple to complex; from brief private sessions to hours’ long interactions with masses of others."

Game playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day.

  • 97% of American teens ages 12-17 play some kind of video game.
  • 99% of boys say they are gamers and 94% of girls report that they play games
  • Game playing experiences are diverse, with the most popular games falling into the racing, puzzle, sports, action and adventure categories.

 

9/25/08

Video Games in the Classroom - Teaching the Scientific Method to Digital Natives -- from Open Education

Teen gaming diverse and widespread: new study -- from Liberal Education Today

9/24/08

Games are serious business for Apple -- from MSNBC.com
Should Sony and Nintendo be shaking in their boots?

"The Effectiveness of a Web-based Board Game for Teaching Undergraduate Students Information Literacy Concepts and Skills" (D-Lib article) -- from e-clippings blog
Abstract: "To teach incoming undergraduate students information literacy skills, a research team at the University of Michigan School of Information developed the Defense of Hidgeon, a web-based board game. We opted for a game in lieu of other approaches because what people are doing when they are playing good games is good learning. This article describes the game's backstory, how to navigate its 34-space game board, and special game-play features. The research team invited a class of undergraduate students to play the game, gave monetary awards to winning teams, and interviewed students about their game-play experiences to determine what they learned and obtain their suggestions for improvements to the game. The authors offer three premises for the redesign of the Defense of Hidgeon and discuss these premises with regard to the design of future information literacy games."

9/18/08

Video games start to shape classroom curriculum -- from the Christian Science Monitor
While more educators adopt games as a learning tool, one public school designs a brand new teaching philosophy.

School get in the game.


9/15/08
From Elliott Masie and the Masie Center

"An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions. The form is defined by intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real-time and evolves according to participants' responses, and characters that are actively controlled by the game's designers, as opposed to being controlled by artificial intelligence as in a computer or console video game. Players interact directly with characters in the game, solve plot-based challenges and puzzles, and often work together with a community to analyze the story and coordinate real-life and online activities. ARGs generally use multimedia, such as telephones, email and mail but rely on the Internet as the central binding medium."

9/12/08

Full Sail University Announces New Game Design Master Degree -- from TLT CoffeeRead @ PSU
The Sims goes to the boardroom -- By Laura Vanderkam, Portfolio.com

9/9/08
The future of gaming is all in the mind -- from CNN.com > Technology Section

The Presidents on iTunesU

History Canada Game

History Canada Game

Clark Aldrich's Style Guide for Serious Games and Simulations
How the most valuable knowledge will be constructed and engaged in the era beyond Gutenberg and Google, from a designer and analyst on corporate, academic, and military projects

Immersive Games May Show the Future of Leadership -- 8/20/08, from Brandon Hall Research, by Tom Werner
In a Harvard Business School article entitled ‘Leadership’s Online Labs,’ Byron Reeves, Thomas W. Malone, and Tony O’Driscoll observe that multi-player online games like World of Warcraft may foreshadow what leadership will look like in tomorrow’s digital, virtual environment.

Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education
Richard E. Ferdig, University of Florida, USA
ISBN: 978-1-59904-808-6
http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?ID=7960

Serious Games
http://flux.futurelab.org.uk/2008/07/14/serious-games/

Video Games as Learning Engines: Session Bibliography
http://davidwarlick.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VideoGamesSessionBibliography

Where Stories End and Games Begin

'Spore' creator ready for game's debut -- from CNN.com

Sim Sweatshop
http://www.simsweatshop.com/game/

 

7/24/08

Got Game? A Brief Look at Video and Computer-based Games in Education -- from Christopher D. Sessums :: Blog