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 This game is used by the US military to help in finding a place in it’s ranks. Your scores are not private – they are viewed by the US military.
Continue reading Game Reviews – America’s Army 3 Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning A game that focuses on the reality of trying to survive in a 3rd world country. What crops do I plant? What disaster is going to hit next?
Continue reading Game Reviews – Third World Farmer Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning
I chose this game as I am living in a third word country and as a result can resonate with all the happenings. It was as if I was preparing for a real world experience and as a result it more than just a game. This game could be applied within a social studies and geography context within my classroom. The fact that we experience floods and hurricanes on a regular basis, students would learn to strategize and prepare for impending disasters and learn how to live within their means. Since we are in the tropics students will also develop a sense of what crop survives in this region and how to spend wisely. This is more than a game. It’s a lesson on real life.
I chose this game as it reminds me of our favorite family game – Settlers. Buying property, getting crops and supplies. etc. Harsh reality though to watch your health meter go down. Gives you an annual report, which is very different from the board game though.
I played the game Third World Farmer without success. Everton’s post above points to some ways that a game such as this could be used in a social and geographical studies learning context and giving students some idea to issues that people living in these environments face everyday.
At surface level the game provides the user/learner an opportunity to build problem-solving, critical thinking, simple money management and business concepts and the unpredictibility of farming and markets.
At a deeper lever, what troubles me about games such as this is by removing real global soco-political issues and placing them in a ‘virtual’, game (=fun) environment, undermines the very reality and seriousness of these issues faced by millions of people across the globe everyday. While we “lose the game” and can start again, people facing these issues lose and die. Some may argue that these games raise awareness around these social issues and is a way of social issues learning, but this type of education that in my opinion does little to support or foster change or social justice. It also does little to address the greater forces socio-political forces at work that are often reason these types of situations and this game places blame on uncontrollable forces (drought, floods) and does little to address systemic flaws (market, politics).
A game that focuses on traditional hunting skills in Nunavut.
Continue reading Game Reviews – The Great Arctic Hunter Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning
I don’t know if students would consider this game to be fun. I think it’s very educational because it has information on animals, places where these animals live, and hunting tools necessary for hunting the animals. But compared to the SPENT game that I played ealier, it wasn’t as interesting as the title and I got bored after selecting and playing for all animals. Moreover, it looked less professional as a game than the SPENT game.
Deb
Deb,
How would you use this game to help students? Do you think boys would find this game fascinating?
Everton
This game was, I think, the first that I tried out at the beginning of the week. It appealed to me most as it seemed as if it could be useful to me in my teaching, and I liked the graphic design in the thumbnail.
To make my decision, I will separate all of my thoughts into pros and cons – to see how they balance out.
Pros:
-This game deals with Canadian content – the northern hunting culture / practices, sounds (especially traditional music), northern animals, clothing, traditions, locations – something that is not often found in educational games, due to the small market.
-The game is free, requires no download, and requires little computing power.
-The game does not take long to play.
-The game is easy to figure out how to play on your own.
-The game has videos which hint at what choices you should make for each hunt (which I missed altogether the first time I played).
-Gore in the videos is left out.
-The graphics, though not very detailed, do have a bit of style to them, and the backgrounds have motion when your mouse moves.
-Wrong choices in the game are quick and easy to bounce back from – there is almost no frustration.
Cons:
-Although the game covers many different cultural / natural topics, none of them are covered very deeply or meaningfully.
-All in-game choices can be made without ANY thought or punishment for wrong answers. A player can simply click random choices and advance without reading or learning ANYTHING. Much of the “extra” information (clickable areas on an animal post-hunt) can be completely ignored, requiring no interaction at all.
-Graphics are dated, and not very engaging.
-The helpful, real-life videos are very easy to miss.
-The end-of-game reward is appropriate culturally, but not very rewarding.
-It can go by much too fast.
-There is little feedback from the game, particularly in the lines of making mistakes – nothing is learned from them.
Overall, as an investor or analyst, I can’t get behind this game. It has its merits, particularly the subject choice and possible connections to outcomes in Canadian schools (what an empty and semi-profitable niche!), and the ease of use. I cannot get over how easy it is to skim through, though, and how little you actually have to learn. As an educational game, it is not very educational or fun. The only way I could see me using this was as something to share with my students. I could use it on something like a SMART Board in my classroom and fill in the game’s gaps with discussion – asking children why they make the choices they do, and, if they fail, why the choices may not have been good. With my live augmentation, it may prove a little useful someday. It would be more useful to more people, however, if an instructor wasn’t needed.
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
A game that focuses on putting you in the shoes of someone who is unemployed, a single parent, and is trying to get through the month. It involves a series of decisions, and includes facts along the way, pointing out the implications of your choices.
Continue reading Game Reviews – Spent Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning
The decisions you have to make in this game and the facts that come along afterwards really makes you realize how easy it is to take for granted the small things in life. I like that once you’re done ‘playing’ Spent they provide you with information on how to help out and where to donate.
I chose to apply for the server job and when the month was over I ended up have just over $600 as I sacrificed almost everything. I also lost my car because I didn’t pay its bills and then lost my job because I didn’t have a car. I ‘played’ Spent again and decided to stick with the same job to see if I would have the same outcome. At the end of the month I only had $150 but still had a job. I found it interesting that Spent doesn’t give you the same scenarios each time and tests you to make sure you can actually complete a task. For instance it tests your skills in math if you say you can tutor your child in math.
I first chose to work as a warehouse worker, but couldn’t save money before the first month ended. So I played again and this time I chose to work as a temporary worker. I was able to save $424 at the end of the month and realized that it was really difficult to save that much money. The game also tested my ethics. For example, I had to ran away instead of paying $500 for my car. However, I thought about what my priorities were when living with $306/week. I put my “kids” as the first on my priority list and then my family/relatives. Each question made me think before making a decision. It was hard to make such decisions because I had to consider not just myself but also my children who are dependent on me.
This game makes me be a little emotional and think twice before making decisions. What a realistic game! I loved playing it. It’d be very helpful for my students in Apprentice and Workplace Math 10 to do some practice on how to calculate and save their income. I’d like to try it as an exercise for my AWM10 students.
Deb
Deb
I ended up with $547 left at the end of the month. To do that I worked as a server, broke the dishes and hid the evidence so a co-worker was blamed and was fired.. at the end I lost my car and lost my job. This was a fun game! 🙂 It would be great for Math and maybe for Planning too.
I can’t believe you hid the evidence! For shame!
Just kidding. But on a serious note, it is a good, realistic exercise in seeing the implications of our decisions.
Emily
I finished the month with $337 dollars, but I wasn’t very happy about it. I was just so focused on the goal of making to month’s end that I sacrificed many things, most notably my own honesty / character. I had no fun, didn’t allow for much fun for my kids, and turned into a more dishonest version of myself… having also hidden the dishes and letting my coworker get fired for it. I did do some good things, like return money to whoever dropped it, and a couple of other minor things… but, overall, I was unhappy in what I felt I had to do to survive. I was spent!
Other than the clean look and (forced) realism of the game (which would be great for all teachers to play to have a bit more empathy for their students & their parents), my favourite part of the game was the option to donate money or get involved at the end.
As a side note, I found it very frustrating that, although I tried at least three times, I couldn’t get the temp job. I thought I had pretty good typing skills! I got pwned for being the apparent typing noob I am. 🙁
After a conversation at work today about personal finances, it was interesting to play this game. It really drove home how tenuous things are for many people – after unexpected health issues or car trouble, it was easy for a series of small things to result in big problems when there isn’t a ‘cushion’ of saving. I played as the factory worker, but will play again in some other role!
I liked this game and thought it brought some value as a teaching tool for Social Justice. I can also see how it could be extended to other lessons. It was engaging and required a minimal amount of committment in order to play. While this is good for the casual observer, such as myself, perhaps it’s okay to have more involved games for students. I can even imagine trying to get a school or department to purchase this type of game.
I reviewed SPENT. It had a very nice interface that kids and adults would enjoy using. I did look at some of the other games and it seems to be above the threshold of decent quality. The Arctic Hunter game was lower quality and reminded me of overly rigid, older educational games of the late 90s. The America’s Army military game was based on the unreal engine and looked amazing in the demos. But I did not take the time to install and play that one.
SPENT was similar to many online games I played. I knew before I even started that it was pretty much set up for me to fail. I wasn’t surprised. The first time I played it, I didn’t make it through the month. The second time I did but with less than $100. I get it. I know the message. I do donate significant amounts every month to local and international organizations. I think it is effective at getting the message across and it does so with some style and an easy to use interface. It is a role playing game but all choices are pre-programmed so it can be a little predictable.
I think that this site could be used within a larger framework of social justice initiatives that currently are being infused into classrooms. Nevertheless, ETEC 522 is all about educational ventures, innovation, and marketable products. With that lens, it is difficult to see how a school or board would spend any money on educational games when there are so many freely available games online. The games would have to be bundled with extra features that add value, such as a student progress tracker, or a social media plugin that adds capabilities to share, discuss, and network with other playing the game. Boards general buy educational tools over educational games these days. I think that educational games are seen as either an out-dated use of ICT or the kinds of things that are freely available online.
I think computer systems and software sophistication is not quite at the point where a “killer educational game” app can be created. We will know it when we see it because it will change all the rules for computer gaming. One possible manifestation of this paradigm shifting app is suggested in Orson Scott Card’s novel, “Ender’s Game.”
In Ender’s Game, there is a game that Ender (the main character) plays while in battle school called “Free Play” or, as it was known by those who ran the school, “The Mind Game.” Free Play contained a wide selection of interrelated games, tailored to the players of the game, and Ender, the main character, pushed the program farther than anyone else. He was the first student to get past the Giant’s Drink game and forced the program to create new and more challenging levels for him to play. In fact, an artificial intelligence, called “Jane”, was later born from code and resources of The Mind Game only after it was pushed along by Ender’s interaction with it.
I am unaware of a program that exists today that not only responds so specifically and personally to a player’s actions but also has the ability to self-design customized new complex levels that challenge that player over time. To be sure, game designers use procedural generation to help make game levels and objects in games look random and unique at run time. But, I think that one possible form that the “killer app” in gaming world will take will be a kind of game with built in AI that truly responds to the user’s actions and make a the game experience completely different for every user that plays it.
As a short reply to this thoughtful and meaty post, I think you’re right on the money in that the best / “killer” games/apps will be ones that adapt to each user and are capable of creating customized things for that user.
Did you see the gameplay innovations that Demon’s Souls brought about when it came out? The way that players (even strangers to you) could help out or leave hints to other playing the game around the world is quite neat, among other things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon's_Souls#Gameplay
It was also lauded (believe it or not) for how punishingly hard it was. It’s a good example of James Paul Gee’s “regime of competence” principle, where gamers excel when met right at the edge of their abilities.
I had not seen Demon Souls and I see why after I checked out the link you provided… I have never owned a PlayStation. I was an avid PC gamer when I was younger (no time now that I work/have kids/doing MET 🙂 so I didn’t see it. I was 100% there on the Doom–>Quake–>Quake2–>Quake3Arena track but after that I completely lost touch. I must say, though, that Quake stand out as the most immerse game experience I ever had. At the time, there was nothing that could touch it! Then, when it went multiplayer online, that was amazing! The people at id software I sure have secured a place in gaming history for what they have done.
Did you play Demon Souls? What was that experience like? It would have been cool if previous players in Quake could have left clues as you mention…
I played this game twice doing different jobs and I never made it to the end of the month. Clearly i need to never be out of a job! Some issues really affected me in a different way than just hearing about them. For example, I believe that there are just some choices that a parent just must make. However, I found myself thinking that I needed to sacrifice the school plays, the shoes, the ice cream etc. The kids really got the brunt of it. This experience really hit home more so than having a conversation/discussion. Powerful!
Kerry-Ann
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Karen Jones 6:49 pm on October 4, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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.
jarvise 2:38 pm on October 5, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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