I played Spent and 3rd World Country and I have to say that that while both of these games were teaching about the choices we make in life, I enjoyed playing 3rd World Country a little bit more. With Spent I just felt very hopeless by the experience. I know that was the point of […]
Continue reading Spent and 3rd World Country Posted in: Uncategorized
One of the first games I remember seriously playing was King’s Quest VII on the home computer. It was an adventure-like game where you navigated a series of islands to collect things and generally was a lot of fun. I remember also from 510 thinking about this game as it has a great impact on […]
Continue reading One of the first games I remember seriou… Posted in: Uncategorized
This weekend, I was helping my best friend move and as we were packing as many boxes onto a flatbed dolly as possible, I thought of Tetris. The three of us – all Tetris players in our youth (though not together… we’re from BC, Alberta and North Carolina) were incredibly adept at find little gaps […]
Continue reading Developing Spatial Intelligence with Tetris Posted in: Uncategorized
Hi Allie, I agree with you. Even though I do not practice a lot with digital games, now I remember that I loved playing Tetris. As you, I think it is huge for developing spatial intelligence, specially today’s versions that are in 3D.
Allie and Angela,
Nice that both of you have brought up spatial intelligence. Here’s a thought for you: my 5 year old daughter is quite into the games and my iPhone in particular and, funnily enough, she has some very “boy” like traits when it comes to her play. I know we are not supposed to gender stereotype but it’s interesting to see. And I am not surprised that the North American boys outperformed girls in spatial aptitude tests.
So, anyone up for a good old fashioned head to head Tetris game? lol
thanks all for your comments; I’m intrigued by what might be the more practical applications of this spatial aptitude – beyond packing boxes and moving of course! I can imagine that this aptitude/intelligence would be significant for engineering (a field in which women continue to be vastly underrepresented).
Hi Allie,
I remember playing tetris too! I also remembering hearing that statistic of boys doing better with spatial games such as this. Interesting that you bring up that games like this could help to bridge the gender differences with spatial skills. Also, whenever I think of tetris and moving, it also reminds me of “The Simpsons” episode that alludes to this too. Here it is if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po5eiqXG5uw&feature=related
I’m always up for a Simpsons reference. 🙂
me too! that was awesome! I’m reminded of lecturing in my Aboriginal art class about the “crying Indian” PSA in the early 70s, and trying to convince my students of its cultural importance at the time. One student then said, “yeah, The Simpsons made a reference to it!” – which cemented my point for them!
I know that one from the Simpsons too. The ultimate post-modern experience…
me too 🙂 I did remember that episode before watching it again
Hey Allie,
Great post! I remember playing tetris when I was younger, but never thought I could relate it to relate to it like you have: I was wrong!!! This goes to show that games do have meaning and that in the big picture it is learning!
Thanks for your comment! I really enjoyed exploring games in 510, and one of my take-home lessons from that course was that there is a *lot* of learning that goes on in gaming that isn’t necessarily content-focused… or even intended. Since then, I’ve really paid attention to what I am learning when I play games. I think that’s because games are experiential and involve our affective domains.
I loved Tetris too —- glad to hear that it finally came in handy in ‘packing and moving’ of all places. Good to see those many hours were not a waste of time!
I have a lot of personal experience with gaming on the computer. At a young age my parents enrolled me in a computer program, outside of school, where I learned how to use the computer as well as playing games- math, reading, ect… Then throughout myK-12 schooling years we were constantly in and out of […]
Continue reading I have a lot of personal experience with… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 05: Game-Based Learning
@jenaca – great learning experiences. Do you find that you’ve been drawn to any learning games as an adult? Given how engrained you have been with digital games since childhood I wonder how that’s impacted your perspective on the value of games for adult learning?
Wow! Jeneca, you are a true digital native! You had an early start. Your students I guess in a way using games to learn removes a stereotypical formality from the learning process. It is like placing the kids in the domain (play room) only you unlock learning at the same time. I remember non-computer games I played that taught me counting in twos and fives etc.
From looking at a crime scene to creating a stem cell line to doing a hip replacement this site has it all for learning about science.
Continue reading Game Reviews – Edheads Create a Stem Cell Line Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 05: Game-Based Learning
Since I teach biology, I thought I would review “Create a Stem Cell Line”. I used a framework for evaluating critical design of immersive game environments described by de Castell & Jenson (2003), along with The Cube, in order to analyse the market for this game. Unfortunately, this game is the antithesis of an immersive environment, so perhaps it was bad judgement on my part to choose such a rigorous framework. In fact, there is nothing game-like about it; it is closer to a simulation, but even that is a stretch by my standards. While it is recommended for grades 10+, I would say you’d have to be more mature to tolerate such tedium. For what they’re worth, here are my observations:
http://www.edheads.org/activities/stem1/index.shtml
The critical design features of immersive game environments :
Interactivity (rather than display and exposition):
• Basically a simulation with very few choices for varying the “player’s” pathway through the simulation
• Not really a game; there is no skill or possibility of winning or losing
Navigation of a complex world (rather than stand-alone tasks):
• This simulation is basically a series of videos linked together with relatively meaningless tasks (wiping down the counter with alcohol)
• 3 D graphics
• only 3 different types of cells to select limits the pathway
Narrative structure (rather than propositional):
• There is a “story” with major characters, however they don’t interact with the player
• Basically talked at (with text in closed captions)
Activities structure (rather than disciplinary):
• Requires the player to print out a key to identify the type of stem cell made
• Record the colours of media in order to tell if the preparation is pure
Role enactment as a means to identities (rather than self-representation):
• Player does not get to chose a role other than assistant (not really specified)
Locus of control for the player (rather than the teacher):
• There are no player controlled actions; just click and the animation does what it is “supposed” to
• Will not let the player move on until the predetermined tasks are done i.e. clicked
Enhanced quality of agency (rather than constrained); freedom & autonomy:
• Totally constrained
• Same pathway through simulation is possible on repeat (warning: have needles ready to poke eyes out in lieu of sitting through the diatribe twice)
Networking with others (rather than stand-alone individual student model)”:
• Stand-alone, no networking capabilities
EVA considerations:
The market:
• For grades 10 – 12 +
• Educational
• Biology courseware/scientific method
The service
• Straight delivery of content: ” helping” researchers with the development of a stem cell line to market commercially
The buyers
• Educational institutions; no person in their right mind would “play” this unless it was part of an assignment
In summary, I guess it’s pretty obvious that I would neither recommend investing in this company on the basis of this one product, nor puchasing access to their Web 1.0 style program.
KJ
Reference:
de Castell, Suzanne, & Jenson, Jennifer. (2003). Serious play. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(6), 649-665.
Hi Karen,
This is a valuable review – its helpful to see what we are NOT aiming for in this type of product. I agree with you on this one. Its like watching a low-budget educational movie in class. I’m pretty sure there’s a Simpsons reference here too, but I’ll skip it this time…
Great (and thorough) analysis!
Emily
A simulation that focuses on decision-making and consequences that occur immediately following a disaster (in this case, the Haiti earthquake), through one of three perspectives: a survivor, a journalist, or an aid worker.
Continue reading Game Reviews – Inside the Haiti Earthquake Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 05: Game-Based Learning
I went back to revisit Gee’s 16 learning principles for good games (Gee, 2005) after playing this game to analyze why I found it the most compelling selection. What I came up with is pretty high marks across all the basics.
The game provided identity by including 3 appealing characters, the survivor, aid worker, and journalist. The interactions were direct, simple selections would choose the next course of action. The production aspect was demonstrated when I would take a course of action and the consequences would be demonstrated in a video taken from real events. It allowed for risk taking and even though it was a game I found myself hesitating over choices and not wanting to be even virtually responsible for causing more suffering. I liked the customization of seeing different experiences based on character selection. The agency through each of these was clear, the dialogue was personal and explained immediate consequences to my actions. The design was well ordered, but maybe a little too simple. The options didn’t give a true sense of the complexity or the opportunity for a player to come up with new creative ideas. There were little challenges along the way in the form of text messages from bosses or sponsors. Explanations would come ‘just in time’ which made it easy to understand consequences of actions. I appreciated the design in terms of situated meanings. If someone had tried to explain the complexity of these roles to me in more traditional forms e.g. a news story or an essay, I don’t think I would have had the same understanding of the perspective. Because I was presented with situations in the role and asked to make decisions in that role I was able to get more out of the experience.
The game was pleasantly frustrating. I made the wrong decisions at times and was pleasantly given the reason why it was wrong and redirected to the better answer. I never felt like giving up because I was at a dead end. This was a good example of systems thinking because ever action and consequence was explained in terms of the overall complexity of the situation. It could have been more compelling if there were other players or actions happening unexpectedly in the game. The game offered opportunities to ‘explore, think laterally, and to rethink goals’. When I acted in the role of aid worker I was surprised that my choices to look to the large organizations for the answers in a chaotic situation was the wrong thing to do. It demonstrated why independent and creative thought and actions would be beneficial.
One of the big reasons I liked the game was how quickly I could be immersed because the game included Gee’s principle of ‘smart tools and distributed knowledge’ as evidenced in the aid worker who had the aid already transported to Haiti and his accommodations and the basics established. The distributed learning aspect could have been enhanced through a multi-player option where the 3 character roles interacted. This game did not include a cross functional team aspect but it could easily be enhanced to incorporate this given the richness of the potential characters and interdependencies that would exist in this scenario. I could definitely play before having performance competency because of the ‘smart tools’ built into the game and I understand why Gee argues for these principles to be more engrained in schools – not just in video games.
References:
Gee, James (no date). Good video games and good learning. [PDF document]. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved online from http://www.academiccolab.org/resources/documents/Good_Learning.pdf
Great work! This game is emotional for me and as a result I never immersed myself into it. Haiti is a neighboring country and have close ties to my country. Their continued suffering even before that disaster has always impacted me. Despite that, this game would be good for the geography classroom; especially in regions that are prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters
I can definitely see how if you had a personal connection to the incident, as you do, you would not really want to immerse yourself into the game. The footage used in the simulation is real footage from after the earthquake. It could be traumatic if you had personal experience related to it. This is an important point, as we would need to use such a tool with sensitivity.
Emily
The use of real footage impacted greatly. The interactive nature rather than passively listening and watching the news made the experience richer. It really saddened me as well Everton. The level of engagement needed to make decisions along with the interactivity of the game is what separates a constructivist experience from a passive one without much impact. Conditions that model reality and realistic propositions and/or situations seem integral to the gaming experience.
Kerry-Ann
Start from the beginning, this game has a great impact emotionally. I was able to “see” what really happened that day when there was an earthquake in Haiti by looking and listening to the footage. It was more realistic and direct than watching the news or listening to the radio at home.
Deb
Pixton Pixton is a tool that capitalizes on the capabilities of the web and its users to create, remix, and reuse one another’s creations. The primary function is for a simple-to-use web-based comic creator that ‘gives anyone the power to create amazing comics on the web’. The value of this product is reflected in the […]
Continue reading Pixton Pixton is a tool that capitalizes… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hey Christopher,
Great find!!! I just made a toon foff Pixton for my ETEC 511 class! I searched several tooning sites and found theirs to be more user-friendly. This site is awesome and offers a variety of ways to make different visual creation!!
Thumbs up!
Jen
BrainPOPis a group of educational websites with hundreds of short animated movies for students in grades K-12 (ages 6 to 17) covering the subjects of science social studies, english, math arts, music, health and technology. Dr. Avraham Kadar Founder & Chief Executive Officer BrainPOP was founded in 1999 when Dr. Kadar decided to find a […]
Continue reading BrainPOPis a group of educational websit… Posted in: Uncategorized
Keisha,
Thank you for this amazing site. BrainPOP also has an iPhone app available. It’s called BrainPOP Featured Movie. I haven’t downloaded it yet but I’m very excited to take a look at these movies. As a math teacher who hasn’t seen a lot of educational movies related to math, this is such an interesting app to check out.
Once again, thank you!
Deb
Thanks for this information. The shows how enterprising the inventor of this technology is.
Keisha
You are welcome Deb. I just learnt about this because of this assiginment. It is a dynamic tool …..quite useful for today’s digital learners.
Keisha
Hi Keisha!
This seems to be an example where the founder decided it was something that he wanted to use and that subsequently caught on and the grew its own niche. There is something to say about that type of educator that decides it is important (even if only for his use with his students) and still commits the time and energy to make the venture work.
Thanks for sharing. On another note, I think we may have taken one of the first courses I did in this program together. Glad to be in another course with you!
Kristopher
Certainly Christopher… it seems it was a niche marketing effort which actually worked since it meet the needs and wants of the consumer.
Keisha
It amazes me how entrepreneurs like Dr. Kadar can take a very niche need – education about asthma and allergies and envision something much broader in scope – a K-12 education site for all students – and then make it happen.
Keisha & Deb
Thank you for the information on BrainPOP, I going to check it out. I wish to use the movies with my students.
Edmodo is a social network and a private micro-blogging platform that is similar to the services provided by Facebook and Twitter. It is mainly built for teachers and students for them to use in their classroom. Edmodo is more secure than Facebook and Twitter. It provides teachers and students with the opportunity to conduct private […]
Continue reading Edmodo is a social network and a private… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Haha! I think I’ve been shown up! Nice info. You went way more in depth than i did I think. As a user of edmodo, I’m glad to see someone else profile this and plan to use it!
Thanks for sharing this innovative tool. Reading your post makes me want to explore more about the tool and see the possibility of using it with my courses. About your reflections, I agree with you that today there is a high demand for skilled and educated people in diverse areas of our society. However, I am not sure that all innovative ventures about the integration of technologies in instruction will be successful because of this. For example, I have experienced how some really innovative technologies that can promote learning in many ways become underutilized and then without selling because of lack of training programs to teachers on how to manage the tool. With this, I am trying to say that there are other variables that can affect the success or failure of a venture.
Angela
I have been to presentations at various conferences that highlighted Edmodo as a successful tool used in many schools and districts. They have filled a void that exists in schools where the filters are so restrictive that in-house solutions for social networking must be used, but who has time to create them? Edmodo fills that void..I see Principals using it as a networking space for teachers and I see teachers using it for the interaction in the classroom when exploring outside the district server space is restricted.
How do they make money?
Thanks for the bio, it was interesting!
I tried to sign up for Edmodo but it seemed like I had to associate myself with my school – as an individual, I’m not sure I have the right to enter my school into the Edmodo system.
For non-US educators, do you have concerns with student data being kept on servers in the USA? This is surely an issue with the Patriot Act.
cheers
Yes, you need to be associated with a school. It is a useful software for students and teachers.
Sesh Kumar founded Emantras, (now) a digital education company, in 2000. Emantras began as a web development company, primarily using Macromedia Flash, and in 2004, began delivering e-learning solutions. Now with 9 offices worldwide, Emantras develops digital educational content for K-12, higher education, and enterprise. Emantras’ impressive enterprise client list includes Lufthansa, McGraw Hill Education, […]
Continue reading Sesh Kumar, Founder/CEO of Emantras Posted in: Uncategorized
Well based on where technology is taking us it seems like everything is possible. I am also inspired by this venture as my future entrepreneurial ambition is right up this street. I just would like to find out the nature of the content and the regions it spans. With the world becoming closer with every advance in technology, business ventures are no longer developed and marketed for any single region or location. This is a venture I will be following closely.
Not sure that I’m a fan of replacing authentic messy learning with politically correct and tidy “simulations”. Mobile learning makes a lot of sense to me in respect of just-in-time performance supports but I’m interested in seeing examples of more than just a textbook or website shrunk down for the small screen.
Hi David,
I think that simulations are a valuable tool in a number of situations. To start, they are useful to “cut out the noise” of the real experience, i.e. electricity and dissection simulations are a much more effective way to introduce concepts that otherwise are obscured by faulty equipment and excitable students (picture 30 grade 9’s dicing up 10 pig hearts.. 8-0) Secondly, they are suitable replacements in online settings and for students who missed the guided “face to face” experience. I totally agree with you in terms of coodinating the learning experience with the affordances of the medium or tool. I think too many online courses are just chunks of text that are suitable only for those with higher level reading skills.
KJ
Hi Karen,
I agree with David that there is a need for authentic, messy learning, and Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods that my wife is currently reading has lots to say about the Nature Deficit Disorder happening with too many plugged-in children. On the other hand, dissecting a rendered pig’s heart or a frog is not exactly a natural occurance, merely a simulation in place of studying human organs. It is about time for teachers to move on the digital frog and start teaching students about what is inside their own bodies… with the help of learning technologies, of course 🙂
Kyle
Kyle, that’s an interesting-looking book. I had never heard of that disorder before, although it makes sense to me as someone who spent a lot of their youth in the woods by myself or with friends. I may have to keep an eye out for it!
This is an interesting case, thanks for sharing. I wonder how it is that Kumar, a college dropout, got involved in making educational products. I would guess that his dissatisfaction with his own education may have led him to recognizing a missing piece and a market that could address it.
I would like to see some kind of statistics on the percentage of successful entrepreneurs who are dropouts vs the rest of the population. It seems that for many, as long as you have a good idea and the traits of an entrepreneur, that school isn’t necessary for professional or financial success.
Just check out some of the examples here:
http://www.retireat21.com/blog/the-most-successful-college-dropouts-in-history
(although I wonder how many of them got successful while in college THEN dropped out)
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Allie 4:54 pm on October 5, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
I haven’t played the games yet, but ugh. that sounds awful. When I read the description, I was more hopeful – it reminded me of a project assigned in a class I TA’d a few years ago on poverty policy (in the US) in which the students had to roleplay a single mother on social assistance for a few weeks. That set of assignments was really eye-opening for a lot of our students. It seems that successfully developing educational programs and games concerning issues of poverty and systemic inequality requires a lot of sensitivity – not only to the treatment of who is being represented, but also to the learners.
Juliana 8:26 am on October 8, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think it is a very important type of lesson for students to learn and I think it is important for students to leave feeling like they can do something, rather than feeling like things are hopeless. In the case of Spent, the designers really wanted to give people a feeling of hopelessness so that they will be more likely donate money to the charity. However, I really wonder if this approach would work. I think in cases like these perhaps using stories of people who were helped by the charity would work. This way people who are donating the money can see the impact of their donations.
Juliana.