Watch this video from the Washington Post and see some of the ways that second life and other virtual worlds a being used by government in the Washington DC metro area.
This includes a virtual Capitol Hill where there will be an inaugural ball on January 20, 2009. Party on!
From the U. of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning This is a nice collection of twelve strategies that you can use to create an active learning session with any content. They are mix and match use as many or few as you like. There is a downloadable set of powerpoint slides to get you started.
"The key is to generate emotion," explained Sundar. "Ideally, a good teacher can energize the class and make them much more emotionally invested through presentations, guest lectures, and group discussions. Video games can help achieve that in an already simulated way."
60 Second Lectures from the University of Pennsylvania reminded me of an creation of Sivasailam Thiagarajan (aka Thiagi) called 99 seconds. A group of presenters gave 99 second presentations. There was something for everyone attending the session. Handouts were available to ease the remembering.
You can learn what it takes to give a powerful presentation by attempting a 99 second event. Read more in Thiagi’s newletter and tips from ISPI Michigan. Jeff Thomas Cobb of Mission to Learn provides 6 presentation tips from the 60 second lectures.
I heard a story on NPR the other day entitled. Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control I thought, " great this will be about kids in control of the classroom and the value of just playing around...." When the story came on I was stunned to find out that it was really about this...
In one corner of a busy classroom, 4-year-olds Zee Logan and Emmy Hernandez want to play bookstore. (but)...before Emmy and Zee even think about picking up a toy, they sit down with their teacher at a small classroom table and fill out some paperwork.That's right. Paperwork.On a small blank form, they spell out their intentions. "I want to play bookstore," each girl writes with assistance from her teacher. (more)
Now, the story demonstrated some value in what was going on, but to me it was like they had turned play into project management work to improve the kids executive function. Executive function? these are 4 year olds! Maybe its good but why do we feel the need to make play useful? Can't play be useful unto itself? As it happens, Bernie DeKoven, a true master of fun saw a related story on the same day and wrote Of play, talking to yourself, and self-regulation
All of this got me thinking about Alan Watts and Lila or Leela, a Hindu concept of play. For some it is this "play" that creates "reality" and this thought led me (back?) to God's Nonsense.
The Effectiveness of Instructional Games: A Literature Review and Discussion From the Defense Technical Information Center--"This report documents a review of 48 empirical research articles on the effectiveness of instructional games. It also includes summaries of 26 other review articles and 31 theoretical articles on instructional gaming." The recommendations are not too surprising.
The decision to use a game for instruction should be based on a detailed analysis of learning requirements and tradeoffs among alternate instructional approaches.
...Instructional game developers demonstrate how their game will support instructional objectives.
Games should be used as adjuncts and aids, not as stand-alone instruction.
I have written about the Beer Game developed at MIT a number of times. Just reading the description about it may not be enough to give you a good sense of the experience. Here is a short video that shows the simulation in action.
Plunge 2 Poverty Waco couple hopes to convey reality of poverty--from the Dallas Morning News comes this article on the Dorrell's, who have created a guidebook for delivering an poverty simulation aimed at building empathy and understanding for children. The book is available through Amazon.com for 10-15 dollars.
When work becomes a game When work becomes a game From the BBC an article about games and the workplace. The interesting idea comes in the second half of the article with notion that elements of games are being incorporated into the "real" workplace world. The elements are in a way the most obvious parts of the massively multiplayer games such as guilds and a virtual currency. A re-read of Chris Crawford's out of print text The Art of Computer Game Design should be required for HR professionals interested in making work more engaging.
Video Games, Virtual Environments & Education
Here is an interesting presentation on games and learning. Perhaps the more interesting item is where I found this. Slideshare.net is like You Tube for informative powerpoint presentations. Just like You Tube they provide the html for embeding the show in another blog.
The Future of Work (or play) The future of Work could become child's play Here is an article from Fast Company that provides insight into the value of playfulness. To quote "..playfulness is an essential prerequisite for invention."
Social Edge - Second Life and the Social Sector Social Edge - Second Life and the Social Sector Virtual worlds provide a platform for fund-raising and awareness around social issues. The American Cancer Society raises 40k in a virtual walkathon.
Active Learning Research
These Research Summaries on active learning may be helpful to you when justifying an active learning approach. One of the summaries says basically that if you lecture 6 minutes less in a session and substitute an activity you can increase learning by a dramatic amount. Impressive, but then if your reading this you probably know this already. By Dr. Charles Bonwell at http://www.active-learning-site.com/
Sustainable Play: Towards a New Games Movement for the Digital Age
From USC Interactive Media Division - Games As digital game designers and theorists embark upon developing new methods to address the creative crisis in mainstream game production, this paper suggests a revisitation of the New Games Movement, formed by Stewart Brand and others in the early 1970s in the United States against a backdrop of dramatic war, social and economic change. Insteresting reading for all types of game designers.
Bernie Dekoven is a wonderful game designer and playful guy. Back in September I wrote about Giant Pick Up Sticks, a game inspired by Bernie's work in the last century (1976) in Philadephia as a part of the centenial celebration in the City of Brotherly Love. This time, I want to introduce you to one of Bernies more recent innovation. The Junkyard Golf Course and Community Building Event with Potluck To quote Bernie "Everybody can play. There are calls to creativity and collaboration, invitations to inclusion, incentives for sharing, and it all somehow connects people to each other and to the world they are creating together." Bernie freely gives you a complete set of intructions for how to play in a do-it-yourself way. An alternative is to get his book JunkYard Sports and get directions for this and many other fun activities. We have done junkyard golf indoors as a part of the NASAGA conference. We did it with the help of this book, (and a call to Bernie).
If you are a trainer or conference organizer and like this idea, but need a truely structured simulation game activity for a conference or teambuilding. Bernie does sell a complete facilitator guide and participants materials for an indoor version called Finger Golf. This version provides you with a structure that helps you not only have fun and create community, but also begin to reflect on community formation and about how you can take more responsibility for your participation and the benefits you receive.
Game Design Principles
In her article Computer Game Design: New Directions For Intercultural Simulation Game DesignersElaine M. Raybourn provides some very useful and simple notions about games in both the online and offine world. Her ideas are very adaptable to developing games using readily available tools such as chat, discussion forums, and e-mail. As my friend Thiagi once said. "Interaction is in your mind, not in your mouse."
How to Teach Using Games How to Teach Using Games A friend, Professor Bruce Blaylock at Radford University, sent me an interesting set of links on games based learning. The subject matter happens to be Geology but the methods can be applied to any topic.
Petals Around the Rose Petals Around the Rose I was introduced to this activity some years ago at a North American Simulation and Gaming Association. This is an online verson.
The game can be used as an example of how different people look at the world differently, and how these different ways of looking can yield different answers. In "Petals Around the Rose" there is always one correct answer. The problem is how we define the problem.
Soft Reset is the podcast for those using handhelds in education
Soft Reset Show #4 is about participatory simulations for Palm Powered handhelds. First, Tony and Mike share some valuable beaming tips. Next, Mike describes the Cooties and Virus simulations and Tony tells about the Fish simulation. Also, discover why you might want to make a teepee for your handheld. All this and more in Show #4! 27 Minutes - 9.8 MB Click to listen in your browser.
Games as Preparation for Business NPR : Monopoly No Preparation for Business World "Like all good dads, commentator Russell Roberts likes to play board games with his children. But as an economist, he feels compelled to point out that one of their favorites, Monopoly, doesn't provide a very good model of the business world." I caught part of this on the radio and wanted to hang on to it. The commentary provides some insight into what makes a "game" into a "simulation".
NewsHour Extra: Can "Serious Games" Improve Your Mind? -- November 28, 2005 A lesson plan for teaching about serious games. Too bad it didn't include a quiz game :-) It has a boring essay assignement :-(
NPR : Paying Real Money to Win Online Games
Listen in as Robert Siegel talks to Castronova, author of Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games, and Robert Holt, an NPR video game reviewer, about the increasingly popular practice of using real-world money to aquire virtual gold pieces and more powerful characters.
BBC - History - Games BBC Interactive Content--A very nteresting collection of games to test your knowledge of history and warfighting strategy skills. Includes an opportunity to change history by defeating the British at Waterloo.
Pong: The Text-Based Game Pong: The Text-Based Game This interesting. A text based pong game. About as fun as some e-learning courses I have seen... There are two additonal links to "Pong: The Movie" and a 3-d pong game. Here is one more pong link for your playing pleasure.
After you play, think about what makes one or another of these more "fun". Take a peek at "Of FUN and Flow" by Bernie DeKovin. Think about how can you create more fun.
