Mountain Lakes InstituteClassroom 2.0 February 2009

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Virtual Worlds & Serious Games

Tech Tip: Cool Iris

Why Web 2.0 Is Important

Using 2.0 to Transform our Classesinto 21st-Century Learning Labs

http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson#

New Horizon Report 09

TODAY’S GOALS

1. Define virtual worlds & discuss rationale for curricular implementation

2. Explore how we can incorporate serious gaming into our classes ASAP!

image from Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt

1. Virtual WorldsSocial Networks*Avatars*2nd Life*

MUVEs (multi-user virtual environments*

Social Networking?!?From our From our friends at friends at

Common Craft!Common Craft!A bit of a stretch to call a Social network a “virtual world,” but we just have to cover it in a 2.0 Institute!

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Example: The NJSSSA Ning

Why create a Ning?Click on NJ EXCEL IMAGE

Tour 3-d Virtual Worlds

• Virtual worlds are 3D environments where people enter via an avatar.

• The most popular virtual worlds are multi-user spaces, meaning that many people can be in the same virtual space and interact with one another in real time.

• See 2009 & 2007 Horizon Reports

http://www.justvirtual.com/SVWS_2008.mp4

2nd Life As Simulation

http://irhbt.typepad.com/play2train/

Entering Second Life

• Second Life is a free online virtual world imagined and created by its users.

• This virtual world is inhabited with people (via avatars), entertainment, learning experiences and even monetary opportunity!

• http://secondlife.com/ and http://teen.secondlife.com/

2nd Life Model: Bridging USA & Japan

• In Modesto, California students are interacting with Japanese peers to learn about language, customs, history & architecture

• Check out the great project at http://pacificrimx.wordpress.com/

2nd Life Example

• Virtual Macbeth is an island in Second Life which is dedicated to the exploration, adaptation and performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

• Teacher resources can be found at http://virtualmacbeth.wikispaces.com/ and images are housed at http://www.flickr.com/groups/virtualmacbeth/

See See handohando

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2nd Life Libraries

• Alliance Library System and OPAL are teaming up to extend the programs currently offered online to librarians and library users to the Second Life virtual environment.

• Many libraries of all kinds offer events, lectures, exhibit, collections and training in Second Life.

Seton Hall @ 2nd life

• The Teaching, Learning and Technology Center at Seton Hall University is exploring the potential of virtual spaces in the high school and college classroom. Instructional designers, faculty and administrators are working to define best practice, identify strategies for the integration of virtual worlds into the learning experience, and find solutions to training and support challenges.

• http://tltc.shu.edu/virtualworlds/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page

“Virtual” Field Tripshttp://www.edweek.org/go/biztech

• The Virtual Smithsonian: Includes online tours of exhibits in the museums of natural history, American history, and art in Washington.

• Jet Propulsion Lab at NASA: Allows participants to choose a virtual character and take a trip through an animated museum, mission control, and a robotics lab.

• National Geographic Expeditions Online: Features a database of lesson plans, online activities, and maps tied to the national geography standards.

• Ball State University Electronic Field Trips: Offers live and archived video tours of a variety of topics and destinations, including the Florida Everglades, gray whale migrations from Southern California to Mexico, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Includes low-cost Web resources for each lesson.

• Colonial Williamsburg: Programs for grades 4-8 with live broadcasts on public-television stations and archived video presentations on the Web highlighting people, places, and events throughout history

Augmented Reality:From M.U.V.E.s to M.M.O.G.s

• Is going virtual just too much a change for you?

• Then use Augmented Reality simulations as a transition!

• Learn more in the next session...

http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/02/japanese_design.html

The Adding Machine

http://addingmachine.bradley.edu/

Articles from Edutopia

• View the film & read the article “The School of Second Life: Education Online” (2/07) to learn how Global Kids uses Second Life

• Watch & read “The JASON Project: Kids Become Virtual Adventurers” (12/01)

Articles from T.H.E. Journal

• For more on Social Networks, see “Leave Me Alone...I’m Socializing” by Neal Starkman (3/2007)

• What are Virtual Schools? To find out, read “Going the Distance” by Starkman (2/2007)

• Want a 2nd look at Second Life? Check out “A ‘Second Life’ for Educators” (1/2009) by John K. Waters

• Does it work? Check out the data at “Report: Virtual Learning Expands Educational Opportunities” (11/08)

Be Careful...

2. Serious GamesMUVES*Augmented Reality*

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)

No Gamer Left Behindhttp://www.edutopia.org/no-gamer-left-behind

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What Are Serious Games?

• Massively multiplayer online games bring many players together in activities that are sometimes collaborative and sometimes competitive

• MMOGs that are educational in nature are called SERIOUS GAMES

http://www.inquizitor.com/img/stock/held-controller.jpg

Who Already Uses Them?

http://www.breakawaygames.com/

Should We Use Them?Image source: http://seriousgames.msu.edu/

ISDR’s Stop Disasters.Org http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html

• The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction’s strategy reduce the number of dead and injured by disasters triggered by natural hazards.

• The on-line game aims at teaching children how to build safer villages and cities against disasters. Children will learn playing how the location and the construction materials of houses can make a difference when disasters strike and how early warning systems, evacuation plans and education can save lives.

Gaming Global Warminghttp://www.globalwarminginteractive.com/game.htm

• Global Warming Interactive revolves around Brazil’s development of alternative fuels over the past decades.

• Players control three advisors in the government of Brazil beginning in 1960. Each has his own agenda and specialization: economics, policy, and science. The budget must be structured as a compromise between all three to allow Brazil to develop and find alternative energy sources before its supply of fossil fuels is exhausted. By taking on the role of an advisor, students learn first-hand how negotiation, politics, and diplomacy inform strategy.

Foldit: Play & Help Find Cures

• Foldit enables students to play while also contributing to important scientific research.

• The game involves twisting, pulling and wiggling a 3D structure that looks a bit like a tree's root system. By manipulating different lengths of these snaking green tubes until they fit into the smallest volume possible- a distant 3D relative of Tetris, perhaps - students are helping with one of the toughest conundrums facing biologists today: how do proteins fold?

http://fold.it/portal/info/science

Middle School Math

• “DimensionM™is an immersive video game world that engages students in the instruction and learning of mathematics. Pre-algebra and algebra objectives are covered through a series of missions that bring math into a world that today's students understand. Students become so captivated in solving problems that they forget they're learning but they don't forget what they've learned.”

• http://www.tabuladigita.com/

PBL MUVE: River City

• “As visitors to River City, students travel back in time, bringing their 21st century skills and technology to address 19th century problems. Based on authentic historical, sociological, and geographical conditions, River City is a town besieged with health problems. Students work together in small research teams to help the town understand why residents are becoming ill.

• “Students use technology to keep track of clues that hint at causes of illnesses, form and test hypotheses, develop controlled experiments to test their hypotheses, and make recommendations based on the data they collect, all in an online environment.”

• Text from http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/

Civics Gaminghttp://www.ourcourts.org/

Persuasive Games

http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/

Kafkamestohttp://www.abc.net.au/gameon/kafkamesto/default.htm

• Kafkamesto is a Web-based adventure game, taking place in the world of Franz Kafka. Explore claustrophobic spaces, surly neighbors, tyrannical bosses, cryptic conversations, and a threateningly German expressionist environment.

• By incorporating aspects of Kafka's novels, the game could function as an introduction to the themes in his writing, or as a means for students to synthesize their understanding of Kafka by offering a critique of the game.

Games For Public Good!

• A Force More Powerful is designed as resource for groups seeking political change through non-violent means. Players can specify goals including the involvement of minorities in the political process, free elections, and removal of the current regime from power. The game is an effective tool in exploring the sources of power and instability in a given regime. http://www.afmpgame.com/

• Peacemaker explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and allows players to lead either side toward peace. Players react to actual events that have occurred in the Middle East with diplomatic, economic, and military actions in an attempt to balance the demands of disparate factions within their community while moving towards a permanent peace. Video clips of actual events lend realism to the game. http://www.peacemakergame.com/ ($)

• Text from http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/gamesinclassroom

Contraversial Games

http://www.icedgame.com/

Caduceus

• MIT’s Education Arcade & Fablevision are collaborating on this online puzzle-adventure game for tweens.

• Caduceus exposes young players (ages 8 to 12) to the concepts of altruism and compassion, while also testing their skills of logic, reason and creativity.

Labyrinth

• The Education Arcade’s Newest game, Labyrinth, is an on-line puzzle adventure game, designed to promote math and literacy learning,

• You are deep in a mysterious labyrinth, searching for a lost dog, trying to rescue it before who knows what will happen to it.

Also, Try Pay-Service Games

• Although many Serious Games are specific educational products, there are many games out there with historical content & literary themes that also “teach” as they entertain

• Examples: Rise of Nations, Rome:Total War, Civilization & Europa Barbarorum,

• Plus, they can be models for 21st-century PBL assessments

Or Try Playing “AR” Environmental Detectives

• In this outdoor game (augmented reality) players use GPS guided, handheld computers to try to uncover the source of a toxic spill by interviewing virtual characters, conducting large scale simulated environmental measurements, and analyzing data.

• For more examples check out the Educational Arcade’s site http://education.mit.edu/drupal/ar

Articles from T.H.E. Journal

• Information on Serious Games can be found by reading “Immersive Gameplay: The Future of Education?” (1/09), “Serious Gaming: Learn Math or Die Trying” (9/07),

• For more information on Augmented Reality, read “When Worlds Collide” (2/2008) and “All the Right MUVEs” (9/2006)

Articles from Edutopia

• “Simulation Nation: The Promise of Virtual Learning Activities” (3/07)

• “Adapt & Adopt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom” (12/05)

• “Let the Games Begin: Entertainment Meets Education” (4/05)

Toys, Games or LearningFrom 2007 TedTalk

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/will_wright_makes_toys_that_make_worlds.html

February 09 Bibliography:In addition to Edutopia & Journal Slides

• Serious Games

• Check out my Delicious page: http://delicious.com/mrsanchez/serious_games

• For papers & research on gaming see MIT’s http://educationarcade.org/

• Virtual Worlds

• Check out Delicious pages: http://delicious.com/mrsanchez/virtualworlds & http://delicious.com/mrsanchez/secondlife