I will also be regularly checking into this blog. It is a really nice way to stay in contact and to bounce ideas. Even if no-one responds, just putting the ideas in writing seems to help.

The second thing about blogging is that the "incubation" seems to be an important part for me. The only problem with this is that by the time I am ready (and able) to respond, a week or so has passed. I never know whether to bring up a dead subject then or to just blog away.

Today I decided to just blog away. Robert was concerned about declining technology stocks. We talked about stocks a lot in Allison's 644 class a couple of semesters ago. She talked about the beginning of the automobile market. Apparantly, in the beginning there were hundreds of (wanna be) car manufacturers and over the first four or five years, through takeovers, poor workmanship and financial foolishness, the field was narrowed substantially. Her guess was that over these next couple of years a crazy Darwinian market would swallow tech companies leaving only the strongest few. The question really is, what happens to all the money. The automobile money still has lots of money invested. The market is stronger today than back then, so probably this will also be true for tech companies and people like us who want to work in the field.

Just One of the Girls

Just read a piece by Brenda Laurel, founder of Purple Moon, about the rise and fall of the company. Purple Moon, you may recall, had as its principal goal the creation of games that would appeal to girls. Here's a quote:

In our research about girls, we explored the social complexities of girlhood and the recurring themes of affiliation, exclusion, secrets, and self-esteem. Our understanding of these phenomena formed the core of the Purple Moon’s fantasy world and drove the design of its characters. In a remarkable case of recursion, these themes showed up again and again in the social dynamics of the companies involved, as well as in the feminist response to our work.

We tell ourselves a story about how women are more "collaborative" than men. In our business dealings, especially in a female-dominated workplace, we value consensus, and we sneer at hierarchy and order. Yet what often happens in reality might be described as an excess of "democracy." Everyone must agree, everyone has a vote, and everyone must feel good about it all.

The feminist ideal of collaboration is not a great recipe for getting things done. On the contrary — without a clear authority structure, a faux-flat organization forces people to resort to the underworld secret alliances and covert operations in order to exercise personal power. Such an organization can expend far too much energy on the complexities of its emotional and political life.

So Purple Moon declined, was gobbled up by Mattel and has for all practical purposes vanished from the earth. A shame, really. Maybe some of you 670 alums will give the idea a second chance.

How the West was Won

How Sony won the console game is an article discussing how Sony beat its competition in the PlayStation market and also giving insight to the conditions. one of the main reason is "Sony has a broader spectrum of games than either of its competitors and it will have up to 500 by this Christmas, suiting all age ranges with a Spice Girls game and adult footie for the over 18s." In addition, distribution barriers is one of Nintendo's problems in competing with PlayStation. Besides, Sony spent a lot of effort on concepts development. Like the PR consultant who worked on the project from the beginning says" "We held a series of workshops and demos a year before launch asking retailers what they weren't getting but wanted from Sega and Nintendo. We asked games developers where they wanted to take the concept and we were open and honest, we really courted our partners. It was a relief for them to find this sort of philosophy." I think this is an article that helps us stimulate the thoughts of how to develop a product that meet the market needs and beat the competitors.

What Girls Really Want

Girl Games Inc. released a qualitative research study report titled Teen Girls and Entertainment on September 26, 2000. It looks at a variety of specialized segments of the entertainment industry from girls' perspective, including Broadband, MP3, and DVD technologies and provides some recommendations for making current and future programming more girl-friendly. some significant findings are as follows:

• Broadband: Teen girls are very open to broadband entertainment, but configuring players and modems is a big turnoff.
  
• DVD: Including videos from movie soundtracks, pop-up video functions, and making of videos will increase DVD penetration among teen girls.
  
• Reality TV: Teen girls look to Reality TV to learn about life in similar environments to their own, not for adventure and to follow competition.
  
• MP3: Paying for MP3 downloads would take a complete reconditioning of internet usage for girls.
  

Computer Edge

Computer Edge magazine's Dec. 1 issue has 3 articles on games. One is titled "Online Games are Virtually Amazing". It describes 3 online games, EverQuest, Asheron's Call and Ultimate Ultima, that seem to have large followings. These games are multiplayer roleplaying games played over the internet. What surprised me was the amount of people playing these games online. (68,000 players can play EverQuest at one time!) Also, it seems that in order to play you pay a monthly fee (about $10 for EverQuest). The graphics and game design sound very complex and interactive. Very interesting to hear what's possible on the web, considering our most recent assignment.

Gore Wins over Bushed Parents

The blog is in response to Dave's blog on 12/12.
Dave, I think that you're right about playstation 2 and gory games that are brought home. I talked to the manager of our local blockbuster and he said that some parents allow their kids to rent games that are beyond their age limit. His take was that parents don't really pay attention to what's in the games. This goes back to what we were discussing in class about parental responsibility. I do think that someone has to filter content for kids and parents. And I also think that parents do have a responsibility to explain what is out there to kids, but not to censor. There are so many other negative images that kids see on TV and in the movies that it seems overwhelming.

Not Just for Kids

TV Guide (the small version) has a feature on video games. They briefly discuss how games have grown and changed since the early days of Pong to the new PlayStation 2. They also mention that games aren’t just for kids anymore. (They list 60% of Americans play interactive games, 32% are over 34 years old, 13% are over 50 years old.) They also provide a rating of the new game machines: Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Xbox (fall 2001), Nintendo Game Boy (July 2001), Nintendo GameCube (Oct. 2001), and the Sony PlayStation 2. There is also a rating of games by genre (action, adventure, children’s, dancing & music, racing, sports, etc.). I think that it has something to do with upcoming holiday shopping, but its another perspective on games.

Sara's Farewell

Okay, and here's the second thing I wanted to say... in response to Holly's post about blogging. I actually kind of like it too, even though I don't look at it every day. But I'd love to feel that I could keep a connection with what is going on in the Ed Tech program through blogging.

(and by the way Bernie I left your CD with Marcie... thanks for the loan.)

Bye everyone!!!!!!!!!!

Parental Responsibility

Well, I just counted up my blogs and as far as I can tell I need 2 more which is good because I have 2 more things to say.

The first is a comment on the presentations at our last class. I am always impressed at the variety of ideas and approaches that people have. I do want to ask the game violence group something, and didn't want to take the time to do it in class. I have found that both Eric and Sharon, inasmuch as they represent opposite opinions, appear to be reasonable people. And obviously everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But even though I tend to agree with Sharon that it's alarming to have so many violent messages aimed at our kids, I think that the WRONG thing to do is to censor those messages in ways that may shield kids but doesn't promote discussion. It's not ignoring violence that will save kids from it; it is understanding why it's out there, why it's appealing to some, and what the difference is between seeing someone shot in a video game and seeing someone shot on the news. I think Bernie brought this up before... but (though I'm not a parent) I really think it's a parent's role not only to determine age-appropriate material, but also to discuss with their kids WHY some things are not appropriate, or why one sees bad things on the news, and try to give the kid a frame of reference. Simply creating a rating systems does not replace the learning that takes place with that kind of constant discussion. I think that just telling kids "yes" or "no" without helping them understand why may lead to kids feeling an extra temptation towards that which seems mysteriously powerful because it is banned.

"Children Now" provides some recommendations for positive solutions to the negative game environment for girls. The article Girls and Gaming:Gender and Video Game Marketing focuses on gender and video games and the content available to girls in particular. In addition, it also identifies ways in which the industry can play a role in creating and advertising games that appeal to girls and can contribute not only to their desire for entertainment, but also to their healthy development. Based on our Webquset Project, we found that there is a gender gap in computer usage. SimilarIy, this article also states that "gender differences are evident in Children's Internet use."
The examples of Positive Games for Girls it provided are:
1.Cascade Pass Inc., You Can Be A Woman Engineer (encourages girls to learn about NASA and space exploration)
2.South Peak Interactive, Mia Hamm Soccer & Mia Hamm Soccer Shootout (are the first women's soccer games on the market)
3.HerInteractive, Nancy Drew Stay Tuned for Danger (challenges players' problem-solving and analytical skills )

"Children Now" is a national child advocacy organization that works to improve the quality of news and entertainment media for both children and about children's issues. Yesterday, they released the new research relating Video Games and its headline was Top-selling Video Games 'Unhealthy' for Girls. According to the research, "Almost half of top-selling console video games contain negative messages about girls. Those negative messages include violence, promoting unrealistic body images and stereotypical female characteristics, such as provocative sexuality, high-pitched voices and fainting." This research examined the top ten selling games for each of the three most popular games console systems, Sony PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64. Overall, 54% of the games surveyed contained female characters whereas 92% contained male characters. However, the female characters that those games displayed were with significant body exposure, : 23% exposed breasts or cleavage, 31% exposed thighs, 15% exposed behinds and 31% exposed stomachs or midriffs. Those negative images about girls convey wrong messages to both girls and boys. However, it might have more influence on girls. During this holiday season, parents may want have those information in mind and think more closely about purchasing games for their children.

The Case of the Missing Blogs

Hmmmm... I've generated the archive files again twice, and still the weeks from October 21 to November 10 don't show up. I can only hazard a guess that this is somehow related to the server upgrade and general flakiness that Blogger experienced around that time. Your blogs are all still there, as you can see by clicking on the calendar while in Blog-editing mode... they just aren't showing up in the archive.

I'll continue to try to fix that. You should all know that I haven't been deleting your blogs with one exception: if a blog's only content was to point out that a link was bad in a previous blog, I fixed the link and erased the problem report. Every other insightful thought you all posted is still here.

Utopia

Now that the semester is over, what are you going to do with all your free time? How about running your own feudal mini-kingdom? The web-based Utopia game will let you do that. Here's the opening description:

Welcome to Utopia, a world where reality and dreams come together, a world where the lowliest of peasants can become the world's greatest heroes. A world unlike any other that you may have experienced now stands before you.
Any peasant can become Lord of their own province, but only the greatest can survive. Being a leader in the world of Utopia will challenge your every skill and demand your careful attention. Without diplomacy and tact, you will never rise to the respect the people demand of you. You must decide when to be ruthless and when to be compassionate. Will you run an empire of might or magic? Alas, it is almost impossible to do both. Every decision, every challenge will be yours and yours alone. Are you ready to be a Lord or Lady here in Utopia? If so, continue onwards...

Dave on Blogging

I figure since this is my last blog, I should comment on my opinioins about this whole blogging thing. When it first started, I wasn't sure about the whole thing because I figured others weren't really reading my blogs. After a week or so I was getting some interesting feedback from other students, and I saw myself quickly starting to enjoy this whole blogging experience a little more. I think though, these blogs are only effective if they are being closely monitored as Bernie has done so well over the past couple of months. Without communication between students and the transfer of feedback, students will quickly find themselves blogging because they have to. All in all, I must say that this was a nice addition to the class, good job Bernie!

It Takes Napalming a Village to Raise a Child

This blog is for those who cannot get enough of research found on violence in video games. It talks primarily about Clinton singling out the game Quake and studying its effects. In June, President Clinton ordered the surgeon general to study the effects of all violent media on children and young adults. He singled out video games in particular, pointing to research showing that half the electronic games a typical seventh-grader plays are violent. "What kind of values are we promoting," chimed in Hillary Clinton, "when a child can walk into a store and find video games where you win based on how many people you can kill or how many places you can blow up?"

The industry launched a counteroffensive, arguing that the vast majority of video games sold today are not violent, and emphasizing that no causal link has ever been established between aggressive behavior and prior exposure to violent media. The makers of these games claim that it is not the violence that is making the industry grow it is their ability to provide users with, "some of the most compelling, stimulating, and challenging entertainment available anywhere, in any form."

What do a duck, a debtor and a politician have in common?

A colleague came running up to me last week excited because they found a game just like the Glass Bead Game. Tribond is published by Patch Products Inc.

The game asks the question. What do these three things have in common?
A player gets a list of three items: eg a duck, a politician and a debtor

The player must come up with what these three things have in common.

The answer: Bills... all three have bills.

Each trio of words have one given answer. When we played this game at work, we simply took the most creative answer. However, be prepared for non-G rated answers like the ones we got.

Drop-Com

This blog doesn't really have to do with technology and games but technology and corporations, so I thought I would talk about it anyway since I think it applies to our field. Anyway I have been hearing a lot of discussion on the news and radio about the fall of dot.com companies lately. Everyone's stocks are going down and they are laying their employees off by the hundreds. One story that really grabbed my attention was about Priceline.com. It was said that not too long ago their shares were going for about $165 a share and now were worth somewhere around $2.15! That's insane, especially because Priceline is one of the more successful dot.com companies. I was wondering what other's opinions were on this topic and why they felt this was happening. You can also find an interesting article on this subject here: http://content.careers.msn.com/GettingHired/JobHunting/0011_dropcom.asp.

This blog is in response to Amy's arcade experience. Just to let you know Amy that you don't have to go all the way to the arcade to see graphics as realistic and gruesome as the ones you saw. I know that Playstation 2 is supposed to have the best graphics and quality of all game systems yet. So it won't take long for the goriest games you can think of to end up in homes. After completing our webquest project and realizing the problem with the unreliably vague rating system out there, I think government needs to put some kind of rush on forcing the implementation of a newer rating system. As the video game systems become more advanced the games are going to get more violent. And lets face it, it won't be long until someone comes out with a system with better quality than Playstation 2.

Now that I see Blog in a different light, I would also like to start one. I would like to create one for high school students. However, I don't know how effective it would be. I have been searching for teachers that have done this, but I have not been successful. I would like to know what to do and what not to do. If the students buy into this, it can be a great tool for teachers and H.S. students as well.

Handbook of research for educational communications and technology
Subject: 26.4.3 Dynamic Pictures and Knowledge Acquisition

In this section, author reviews earlier and recent studies of examining the effect of dynamic visuals on learning. It concludes that there is no rationale of incorporating animation or other special effects into instruction existing because of the inconsistent results of studies. The inconsistent results derive from (1) the lack of appropriate controls, (2) the flawed methodologies or rationales,(3) the neglect of the work on memory models and theories of picture perception, and (4)the unclassified functional roles of visuals in instructional materials. However, investigators still make valuable contributions. Riber (1990), for example, presented three design recommendations for the use of animated visuals in instructional materials. Park and Hopkins (1993) identified five important instructional roles of animated visuals. Contributions of Riber, and Park and Hopkins, have provided a starting point for further work though the refinement and validation of their suggested functional framework are still needed.

There is a brief summary of several functional frameworks in static visual research on Ch26.4.2.3 and lots relative studies summarized in Table 26-1 and26-3. Conversely, the research on the effects of dynamic visuals is very limited.

The suggestions for further research on dynamic visuals on learning provided by Jonassen (1996) are as following:

In any case, further research investigating the effects of dynamic visuals displays on learning should:(a) be based on a functional framework (i.e., Riber, Park & Hopkins),(b) include content for which external visual information is needed and which requires the illustration of motion or the trajectory of an object, and (c)control for the effect of static graphics. (P.786) Besides, further research should derive from theories of picture perception and incorporate memory models.
That elicits my interests on reading those two scopes.The theories of picture perception represent on Ch26.2 and the memory models are described on Ch26.3.

By mistake/please delete

Looking for games especially for girls? Wondering what's out there in the recent market? Here is the place for you to dig in. The following is a list of brief explanations of girls' games. From here, you may get a sense of what girls' games look like and log on to the specific web page to probe for more details. Super Kids

Most girls enjoy software which involves creativity and mystery. There is a web site listing the games that are especially designed for girls, The Review Zone It also contains the description of game including price, features, etc.

Ok, I'll go ahead and do one more blog. After reading through all the past blogs (again - yes, I was reading them every week as we went along), I realized that I really have enjoyed "blogging." I was a little hostile to the idea at first - especially when the interface wasn't (in my opinion) user-friendly and it "lost" my first few attempts at posting a blog (I never resize my screen while writing a post - thus the increase in typo's after I reach a certain length). However, I have enjoyed the ongoing dialogs (esp. re: guys and computer games) and I do appreciate being able to go back throughout the entire blog to re-read the discussions. I agree that the Game Violence group as a whole probably used this blog to its fullest - and in the future I would do the same with my group(s). It's interesting to me how I feel free to write things that I may not say in person (well, then again, I probably would say them - especially in a hyper mood), but I think that CMC does bring out a different part of your personality. I could see a professional blog being a very useful thing. Perhaps after I graduate, I'll set up one for EdTech grads.... I don't know, what do you think about the idea? (Was it easy to set up,Bernie?)

Bernie,

I have just spent the past 35 minutes going day by day through all of the blogs from 10/21 to 11/11. Why? Well, as you indicated on 12/9, "all" we needed to do was to go to the archives and search through the weeks to count up our past blogs. However, i immediately noticed a rather large (and might I add an important) gap during the afore-mentioned period of time. Knowing of at least two blogs that I was rather proud of :-} I began to search to see if they were still there or if you had edited them out. I found them (and several more) during the time period and am wondering - what are you going to do with all those blogs? Why aren't they also archived? Did you purpose edit them out in an attempt to "hide" someone's blogs that you didn't like ;-} (Probably mine!) If you're interested, I have all the dates of those blogs (in addition to the ones archived on our website). I think that for bringing this to your attention - and for my effort - this blog should count for two - then I'd be done!!!

Has anybody visited Free-Game website?

On this website you can find free hints, cheats, tips and downloads for the pc, Playstation, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64. I like playing Civilization, and I found a lot of cheats for it. Player are sharing how to chet the game with other players. It is pretty interesting. Maybe you can find some cheat for your game.

What do software companies believe girls want from computer games, and are their views accurate??

recently, many software companies have become interested in designing a computer game for girls. Mattel Interactive and Electronic Arts are one of these companies. Mattel Interactive and Electronic Arts had workshop in March to address the question "What do software companies believe girls want from computer games, and are their views accurate?”They found following results:

Girls like software with strong characters, such as Amelia and the Purple Moon characters.
Girls like creating rather than destroying in games, and like to print out their products.
Girls like to win, but in more cooperative ways than their male counterparts.
Girls like puzzle-solving, learning in depth, and working with rich-textured games.

I realize that I my last blog sounded pretty negative. Let me also share something positive about my arcade experience.

There was one game, MTV Drumscape that was a drumming simulation, where were a drummer and you had to keep the beat to music played to you by the game. You sat inside this box and had 5 or 6 round drum pads in front of you. I have no musical talent so I didn’t try it.

Also there was a game called, Dance, Dance Revolution. In this game you stood in the middle of four foot pads (one in front of you, one to your right, one in back of you, and one to your left). You had to step on the correct one on beat with the music. The correct arrows were shown on a monitor in front of you and keep the beat. If you did or didn’t keep the beat you got feedback from the machine. I didn’t even dare try it, but it was really funny watching my friends try it.

And lastly there is still air hockey tables at the arcade. That’s my game.

Arcade experience - violence in games

I know that we've spent time discussing violence in games over on blogger, but I didn't really get it until I went to an arcade last week. Have you guys been to an arcade recently? First let me say that I haven't been to an arcade since I was a kid. There were almost no adults there. I was the only woman there who wasn't there with kids. That I expected, but what I wasn't prepared for was the level and graphic nature of the violence of MOST of the games. Based on what I saw, it's true that the games are directed more towards boys. Nearly all the games were first person shooter type games or first person driving/racing games. The games had rating stickers on them, for example "Animated Violence Strong" or "Mild Violence".

That may not sound like much but, I played this game called "The House of the Dead" rated "Animated Violence Strong". In it you are an agent who had to rescue hostages (and fellow agents). Zombies are trying to kill you with axes as you enter. The street and house scenes are incredible lifelike. Also, as you shoot the zombies, flesh, blood and body parts fly off them. If you don't completely kill them they keep coming at you. In order to encourage you, you are presented with a fellow agents who beg you to save the others. As you get close a zombie picks the agent up and throws him over the ledge. I think this is to encourage you to continue and to reinforce (if you haven't already gotten it) that the zombies are bad. Overall, I was both impressed and shocked at how lifelike and gruesome the graphics were. If you haven't been to an arcade or played a playstation type game recently, you should definitely try it, if for nothing else than to really understand what's out there.

Simulations in real life.

In Las Vegas at Circus Circus, they have this simulation in the Arcade called CyberCoster. It allows you (for $5 per person) to "design" a roller coaster ride from a series of pre-set selections (example, loops, dips, etc). Then you sit inside the simulation car (it looks like a smaller version of Star Tours at Disneyland) and they close you inside and run your simulation. There's only room for about 2 people. Kids under a certian height and age are not allowed. It was really interesting to see a real life example of a simulations.

A Different Kind of Game Bot

Want a PlayStation 2? So does everyone else. They appeared briefly in US stores and were snatched up in hours. New shipments appear sporadically and disappear in instants. How do you find a PS2? Crank up a Shopping Bot, of course. According to a CNET article Bots Snarl Sites as Shoppers Seek PlayStation 2, these things are overwhelming the online stores.

Amazon.com, Gohastings.com and Kmart's BlueLight.com are among the online merchants selling PlayStation 2 consoles that have had outages or slowdowns while featuring the popular, and scarce, toy. While Amazon has said its troubles are unrelated to heavy traffic, BlueLight and Gohastings, the Internet arm of Hastings Entertainment, say shopping bots are at least partially responsible for their technical glitches.

"We sat there and watched the site get 80,000 hits in a period of minutes," said Dave Karraker, spokesman for San Francisco-based BlueLight, which has suffered periodic delays in doing business because of heavy traffic. "It's clear to us that there are people using bots to scan the site for the PlayStation 2."

No Tokyo Roses

Bernie,

Having lived in Japan for three years, the article on Japanese men practicing their romantic skills is pretty interesting. I was listening to the radio one day when a Japanese man called in and argued that foreign men should not date Japanese women due to the fact that they were bestowing too much affection on the women and making it more difficult for Japanese men (Japanese men show very little affection to their wives/girlfriends). Interesting perspective. Seems now they are working on the improvement of their wooing skills. Ah, Japan...

By the way, if anyone is interested in Japanese animation and comic books (manga), check out this site. Enjoy.

-Dan

Count Your Bloggings

Want to take a walk down memory lane and see how many postings you've made here? Visit the blog itself, not via Blogger, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you'll see a link to the Archives which contain each week's Blog since October. You don't need to be an administrator to do that.

The EdGames Blog is accessible from the top level of the course page, or by going to http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/edgames/index.html.

Posting to the Blog is considered part of the WebQuest assignment. I asked for three blogs a week for the four weeks we were working on that. I'll look for a total of 12 blogs per person by next Monday and that will count for 10% of your individual WebQuest grade. Please don't fill up the blog with 11 hurried and not very interesting blogs today to try to catch up!

Love Bots

More signs that there's a market for AI agents that play with us. Japan's Men Date Hot, Sexy Bots, an article in Wired, described a subscription service in Japan which allows you to practice the writing of love letters via e-mail.

Pharaoh

It's hard to get away from The Sims nowadays.
I have seen plenty of articles in non-game publications and The Sims have been getting good reviews. However, if you feel like playing God in Egypt, check out Sierra's PHARAOH. It's kind of the same concept of The Sims, but only in Egypt. I've heard some of my female students talking about it and I asked them what they liked about it. They liked the fact that you call the shots and that your organizational skills come into place when you are playing. They also feel that is a very educational game and that they are learning about ancient Egypt. According to them school should be this much fun.

A hacker stole my email

Hi all,

This is not about games, but I think that it is important to know. I just would like to warn you about hackers. I don't know how a hacker did, but he got my password of hotmail account and changed it. He left a message for me at hotmail's secret question part. The message was " if you want to get your hotmail account back, email me". I emailed him, and yesterday morning I got email from a hacker. He was apologizing for stealing my email. He was telling me that this is his job, and he is not a bad guy. He gave my email account back, but I don't trust him. I couldn't understand what kind of work he is doing, does anybody have any idea about this?

Briefly, be careful and change your password periodically.

Demos to the Rescue

I'm not sure whether people who are frantically trying to finish their project will be visiting the blog, but I've got a helpful tool for you if you do. Need some software that you don't currently have on your computer such as Media Cleaner? Go to
http://www.hotfiles.zdnet.com to find demos and free downloads that can help. Good luck everyone!

Okay, I know we aren't supposed to blog just to blog, but I am wondering how we find out how many we have done (tired of hearing about this Bernie?) Anyway, I can't use the Archive feature because I am not an administrator. Any ideas besides finding the beginning somehow, scrolling and counting?

Semi-Private Bloggery

I was just looking that the patterns webquest and noticed that you had your own blog going. What a great idea for communicating with your team and still getting in your blogs. I wish we had thought of that. The only drawback I saw was that the rest of us could not respond back to your comments. Or was that the point...

Legoland Robotics

The Lego Robotics Network website sounds like an attraction at Legoland. Teams of kids can program a robot to move and turn. The decide how far it goes and how much it turns. For example, they can have it move ahead 3 inches, turn 45 degrees left and them move ahead 6 more inches. The purpose is to race the robots against each other. The robot may have to drop balls into a basket, etc. The kids really enjoy it and learn a lot from it.

While Legoland is says it is geared for 2-12 year olds, it really isn't. But this one thing the older kids like.

Lego RoboticsKids are building and programming a robot to achieve the mission.
Does anybody visit the Lego Robotics Network website?

There are alot of 3D simulations. Aim of the simulations is to build and program robotics invention in order to achive specific goals, such as creating a robot that can complete a lap around three course designs of increasing complexity.

Meet the Sims

Here's a story from CNN that ties together gender, violence and simulations. The Sims game is at the top of the charts because it manages to appeal to a wider than usual demographic. The appeal of playing God in a universe of your own design is apparently very deep.

An interesting quote from the author of the Sims: "It's rewarding to be able to change people's perceptions of reality," Wright said. "They just see their environment in a different way. They have a kind of different-colored glasses that they can see their world in. To me, that's really cool -- when games can change you."

Channel 8 on Violence

Set those VCR's! While we're in class on Monday, Channel Eight News at 5:00 M is supposed to be revealing their "10 Most UNwanted list." Apparently it is made up of violent video games or has something to do with them. I have only seen the commercial for this,but thought it sounded rather interesting. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and where exactly they gathered their information.

Newsweek

Newsweek magazine has come up with a special issue this winter named e-LIFE. It has a lot of cool techie christmas gifts. It also ranks the top 20 new video games, an alphabet of the best web sites, and unfortunately a little too late, an article that surveys children about violence on video games. You can't miss it. IT has some kind of robotic-looking mouse on the cover. Check it out!!

Children's Museum Online

I have a really cool website for you! It's sponsored by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and it's at http://www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/index.html. On this site, you can choose to build your own space station. In the process, you learn a lot and have fun doing it! It's not a game per se, but it has given our group some good ideas. As a teacher, I am amazed at some of the cool sites for kids on the web - unfortunately, it can take a while to sift through the "junk."

Share Websites

I haven't had time to surf this week, so I thought I would go through my bookmarked sites to see if I had anything to share.

When we were building a website last semester, we spent some time looking at good websites to get ideas. This site had some great ones. http://websiteawards.xe.net/winners1.htm

Games on the Birthday List

We have been busy with Thanksgiving and my son's 9th birthday. We got him to write a wish list. At first, he could think of only two things, Pokemon Silver and Marioland. These are both GameBoy games. I don't quite know how the people at Pokemon have kept this game fad going. Our neighbor had a similar list, but got Pokemon gold and a gameboy survival kit. They are now the happiest of kids.

One of the new and interesting things about the pokemon games is that you can transfer Pokemon from one game into the another game. That is, if you catch a certain valuable Pokemon in the Gold game, and need it in the Silver game, you can link gameboy devices together and trade Pokemon. I have never seen this as part of a game before.
As part of the mission in the Pokemon games, players need to "Catch them all." All the Pokemon are not available in any one game, therefore, players need more games to capture more Pokemon. In the meantime, Pokemon the company continue to invent new Pokemon. What a catch!

How can educator use this in a classroom? If students form a group and each find certain information, maybe solve some math problems and all group members share. Maybe we are doing similar things in our WebQuests.

Feed the needy...Not a normal blogger posting, but I thought that this would be a good idea for the Holiday Season !

Quite clever of the UN to do this. Go to the Hunger Site at the UN. All you do is click a button and somewhere in the world a hungry person gets a meal to eat, at no cost to you. The food is paid for by corporate sponsors (who gain advertising in the process because you see their logo). All you do is go to the site and click on the DONATE FOOD BUTTON. It takes one second. However, you're only allowed one donation, so pass the word.

http://www.thehungersite.com

Other Causes of School Violence

Back to the topic of violence.... I was flipping through my Educator magazine and found a whole section devoted to the violence in schools - what teachers need to watch for, how to react in given situations, children who are doing things to stop it, etc. After doing all of the research for our game violence WebQuest, I found it interesting that no where in any of the three lengthy articles did they mention games as a cause. They talked about home life and things the children deal with at school but nothing about games. Are they trying to avoid it? Or are they thinking that something as simple as a game could not cause such violent acts as we have seen in schools? It would be interesting to know why they did not explore that avenue any further.

Who's Who?

Here's something to take a break and enjoy! If you visit the Grinch web site at http://www.meanone.com you can find out your very own "Who name." Just click on the Grinch and once you enter the site, go to city hall. They will ask for your name and then tell you what your "Who name" would be. I thought that this might be a little stress reliever as we are all working on final projects. Take a minute for a laugh!

eLife and Death

My mother receives Newsweek Magazine and it comes with an insert called eLife. In it this week, it has an article about game violence, from children's point of view. The authors gathered 11 children between the ages of 9-12 and let them play a violent video game called Resident Evil 2 (rated M for mature players). Most of the kids felt that it wasn't a very realistic game and the blood was not all that necessary. This article came a little late. We could have used it for our WebQuest on game violence.

Screen Shots

While out doing my day after Thanksgiving shopping, I ran across a few interactive games that I hadn't seen before. One game I took some time to look at was designed for the baseball enthusiast. You plug it into the TV and it came equipped with a bat, a ball, and home plate. If you chose to pitch, you threw the ball towards the screen (without letting go) and it would appear on your TV approaching a computerized batter. If you chose to be the batter, a ball came towards you on the screen and you would swing the bat. The ball would then appear on the screen again wherever you supposedly hit it. At first glance I thought this was quite an interesting game. My interest began to fade as I thought about my WebQuest topic of game violence. All we need (and for all I know there already is one) is for there to be a game that plugs into the TV and you have a gun to shoot at computerized people on the screen. What's the flip side, they shoot back at you? You pretend to play dead? If this hasn't already shown up on the market, I hope it never will. I found myself to be pretty much in the middle of the road when working with my team. But when it comes to a game like this I would have to save no way. Take it off the shelf! (Not the baseball game but a shooting game.)

Amusement Park Physics

I found an interesting instructional web site. I was looking for interesting and educational simulations. This one isn't really a simulation as much as an instructional tool. But I found that they did a good job of instructing the user on the basics of roller coasters and physics. It was all very clearly presented.
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/
Take a look.

Happy Puppy

I was looking for examples of online simulations and I came across this web site: http://www.happypuppy.com. Besides having a very cute name, I found it an interesting example of what's out there for kids (and adult) gamers. It's a web site that offers reviews, demos, gaming news, listing of games for all platforms (nintendo 64, playstation, dreamcast, windows, mac, web games, handhelds). This site is for the gamer and not necessarily a resource for teachers or parents.

Also, I was talking to a neighbor who's a little boy of about 10 years old. I was trying to run our game idea by him and he so obviously knew more than me about games. He was most interested in how much control he could have over the environment, in terms of choosing players, choosing paths, types of planets, etc. I also asked him to give me a tour of what game stuff he had. I still don't understand everything he said, but he did show me his collection of gaming magazines (I can't remember the title, but he had them in spanish and in english). He trades them with his friends because they give hints/strategies on how to win different games. The whole experience really showed me how savvy (and demanding) kids can be about games.

Funniest Videos or Violent Videos?

Marie,
I have to agree with you, I think that for something to be violent it has to have intent to harm. Such as the first person shooting games you mentioned. The only objective in those situations is to kill whatever it is you are shooting at. Unlike America's Funniest Home Videos, those are accidental happenings and I don't see them as violent, just funny... I think who ever wrote that article you read was being a bit sensitive when it comes to categorizing shows as violent. Besides, if you think about it, half the people that you see in those funny videos are young children!

Making Money off of Other's Obsessions

This blog is in response to Bernie's blog about Dangerous Obsessions. I was reading an article in a recent issue of RollingStone, and it was about this kid whose job is to play these video games for people when they don't have time or they have to work. This kid gets paid thousands of dollars a week to play these games for people all day. I guess these games are the type of game that if it's not played a certain number of hours a day, your characters lose their powers and you can't survive. He said that he was thinking of recruiting a couple friends and starting a small business.

Dangerous Obsession

Salon e-zine has a new piece titled Life, Death, and Everquest. It concerns a massively multiplayer game which provides thousands of people with an alternative place and life to live. A typical Everquest player spends 10-20 hours a week in the game, and some fall into an addiction that puts them there for most of their waking hours. The article describes the virtual suicide of a player in the game and the communal, virtual mourning (and non-virtual detective work) that followed.

So... here's a tool so powerful that we have to worry about it affecting people too much...unlike most educational strategies where the instructional signal is barely heard above the noise of real life. If we had an educational simulation of the electoral process, or of life in a globally overwarmed world, or of the antebellum South, wouldn't it be great to have even half this much engagement?

Girl Corrected

I'm not sure where I went wrong in typing the url for the Gender Webquest the first time, but here it is again (and I just checked it so it should work):

http://et.sdsu.edu/Apastor/girlgames/index.html.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Making Connections Training Teachers

I came accross a web site which where you can view an interesting paper presented at the SITE 99 conference.
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/plc/cpb/index.htm

The paper is called "Using Technology As a Tool in the Classroom: Making Connections Training Teachers" and it was presented by Ruben Espinosa, Professor SDSU Department of Policy Studies in Language & Cross Cultural Education.

Off this site, that has many teaching resources, there is also a link to a page called " Educational Games" (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/plc/cpb/edgames.htm).

Visas & Game Appeal WebQuest

Dan, there are so many types of visas and so many ways to get them, or be denied eligibility to apply for one... When you are a foreigner you have to live with it...

For all who are interested, the Game Appeal Web Quest: Does age really matter is posted in the following location:
http://et.sdsu.edu/wschutt/appeal/indexframe.htm

Visas on the Rise

Check this out.

"Clinton signs law increasing the number of H-1B visas. On October 17, President Clinton signed into law legislation increasing the number of H-1B visas. The new law will increase the number of H-1B temporary visas available for high-tech workers from India and other countries and double the fee charged employers using the program. The new law will raise the number of visas available for highly skilled workers to 195,000 per year for the next three years. " (Link)

Thoughts? Are we once again falling behind in our math and science fields? Seems that Sputnik has returned...

-Dan

Character Development in Games

Hey all, I just read through an interesting article written by François-Dominic Laramée, a freelance game designer, on the art of character development in character-based games. In short, the article briefly describes key elements to consider in developing a character-based game design. The author pulls from creative writing concepts and uses such examples as Hamlet, The Hobbit, and others to argue that character and plot are inseperable and the relationship between game character, game player, and plot is push-pull. Suspense, emotion, and the predictabel/unpredictable make or break character-based games.

-Dan

Electoral Lecture

Here's some much needed levity to get us through this endless election: an instructional BoomToon. This makes me want to set aside some Christmas break time to master Flash!

Girls and Computers WebQuest

For all who are interested (i.e. Bernie and Elaine), the url for the Girls and Computers WebQuest is http://et.sdsu.edu/apastor/girlgames/index.html. We hope that you find the site informative and useful! (URL now fixed!)

The First Noelle is the Same as the Last One

Since two of my other group members have commented on our WebQuest project, I feel I should too. I found it quite an eye opener as well. I went in a little naive when it comes to computer games. I don't play them, I knew of very few of them, and it took me two weeks to realize that my brother worked for the company that puts out one of the really violent ones. I guess right there I learned a lot. I do feel I went in with the same position as I ended up with. I went in pretty middle of the road. I could see some of the points of those who spoke against the games as well as the points of those who felt they were not bad. When it came down to it, I wanted to spend my time viewing these games! I saw a few and they really didn't change my view. There need to be restrictions but they don't need to be taken off the shelves. i kept coming back to the statement that parents need to be more responsible for their children. Maybe my view will change when I have children of my own, but as for now, I feel that continued ratings and parental monitoring is the way to go.

Response to Elaine's Question

Elaine asked what I have learned from our violence WebQuest. Surprisingly enough, I think I learned more about myself and my beliefs than anything. For the first time in my life, I have been called 'conservative.' That really made me think. I have always thought of my father as conservative and that I have very different views from him. But now, I have been compared to him. It's a little disconcerting. I need to do a little more soul searching...

As for what I learned about violence... It is true that violence is very subjective. We had discussions about violent scenes on the evening news and their purpose. That caused quite a debate. It came to the table after the 12-year-old boy was filmed as he was killed in the Middle East. Do we really need to actually see this in order to know how bad it is over there? I don't think we do. Obviously, others disagreed (hence my conservative label). I think that the more we make violent images 'okay' even for news purposes, the easier it is to accept them. This continues our downward slide. (Eric, I am not Mrs. Joshua Goodman!) I am wondering what others think about this?

Random Thoughts

Long time, no blog, I know. But here are some random thoughts concerning blogs from the past few weeks.

Regarding men and games (and is it the sex appeal?) - in our research on gender issues, we discovered that many believe (based on their studies) that men view computers as a toy, while women view computers as a tool. Now, you combine this with Malone & Lepper's instrinsic motivational factors (see Challenge, Toys vs. Tools) and immediately one can begin to theorize why men may be attracted to computer games (moreso than women). Because, just like their motorcycles, quads, big trucks, and other "machines" men are really just big boys playing with their toys! (That last sentence was written "tongue-in-cheek" so please don't get all upset by it. However, there may be a grain of truth....)

Bernie, great avatar (I think that's what it's called)!

Finally, for Nicole (and her first grade computer "wizard'!) - What a wonderful role model for other children (especially the other girls) in your class! One of the greatest areas of concern in regards to girls and computers in the lack of female role models in the field. ALL of us can think about how we portray computer professionals to the next generation - are they "nerds" or just intelliegent people who are using technology to accomplish goals?

If it has a Face...

Dave,
I would like to read the article, do you have a link or info on it. I agree violence is very subjective. I read an article once that said "funniest home videos" was the most violent show on TV. People are hurt constantly on that show, therefore it is violent. For the most part, I don't think "funniest home videos" is violent because most of the clips are supposed to be accidental happenings. I think an integral part of violence is the intent to harm.

I have been talking to different parents about where they draw the line in violent games. For my 8 yr old, if the person/people/aliens he is destroying has a face, he can't play. My friend calls this first person shooting. He has younger kids, but a similar rule. We do have a gameboy, but not nintendo or playstation, so we can also control violent games this way. What do other people think? do?

WebQuest Project... Good Idea!

This blog is more or less a reflection on my feelings about the WebQuest projects. My group was required to make a play demonstrating how a town meeting might go if the main issue were violence and video games. I thought this was very useful in making each team member of our group force them to take on a roll or opinion that they disagree with. I know that it has really opened my eyes to both sides of the controversial topic. And the fact that we were able to express our opinions in a creative by writing a play was also a wonderful idea - Good job Bernie!

Rating Video Games

This blog is based on an interesting article that I read about rating video game violence. Ratings of video game violence have developed as an extension of ratings of television violence. Among those organizations that have attempted to rate television violence, the National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) has also developed a system to rate the violent content of video games. The NCTV system contains ratings that range from XUnfit and XV (highly violent) to PG and G ratings. The NCTV surveyed 176 Nintendo video games. Among the games surveyed, 11.4% received the XUnfit rating. Another 44.3% and 15.3% received the other violent ratings of XV and RV, respectively. A total of 20% of games received a PG or G rating (NCTV, 1990).

Sega, which manufactures video games, has developed a system for rating its own games as appropriate for general, mature, or adult audiences, which it would like to see adopted by the video game industry as a whole. The Nintendo company, in rating its games, follows standards modeled on the system used by the Motion Picture Association of America.

A problem shared by those who rate violence in television and video games is that the definition of violence is necessarily subjective. Given this subjectivity, raters have attempted to assess antisocial violence more accurately by ranking violent acts according to severity, noting the context in which violent acts occur, and considering the overall message as pro- or anti- violence. However, the factor of context is typically missing in video games.

This is a test. I'm showing Blogger to some brilliant teachers.

In replying to Elaine about blogger. I have enjoyed blogging. The biggest problem for me is time. I have tried to at least look at the blog site on Friday, Sat, Sun. This way I get my three blogs in when I have at least a few seconds of time. The trouble is that there often is not much to respond to on those days.

funschool.com - Free Interactive kids software
Funschool.com offers free, interactive, educational kids software for children from pre-school through sixth grade. Their games and activities can be played by kids individually or with their parents.

kids software

Violence and Women in Gaming
Smart Computing's PC Gaming & electronic entertainment Guide contains two very insightful articles. The first deals with violence in computer games. This article deals with rating issues. Making sure that proper ratings are given to the different games. It also explores the fact that games rated for adults are getting in the hands of kids. The author is concerned with what can the game companies do about this besides rating the games
The second article deals with women in gaming. It explores what women want out of a game and mentions several women that hold very important positions in the game industry.
The magazine can be found in Barnes & Noble. Unfortunately, it is one of the very few game magazines that contain articles about game related issues. Most of the other magazines rate games and are more of a "how to play" guide.
Check out Smart Computing's web site at

Gulcin,

Glad to see that you are interested in investigating the area of Interaction & Interactivity! You have already probably reviewed this literature, but I have provided a brief review of some of the literature in this area...let me know if this supports your work & I will push you more.

Interaction Defined
Wagner (1994) provides a general definition of instructional interaction as an event that takes place between a learner and the learner’s environment with an underlying purpose to change the learner's behavior toward an educational goal. Wagner (1994) further defines the construct of interaction as possessing the following attributes: (1) feedback, (2) elaboration, (3) learner control / self-regulation, and (4) motivation.

Feedback, serving as information to the learner, can provide useful information for performance results (Knowledge of Results-KOR), Knowledge of Performance-KOP) and for augmenting instruction (elaborative feedback). The elaboration of instructional material links content to the learner's past experiences. These learner-contextualized links facilitate encoding of information into memory and enhance future recall. Learner control and self-regulation corresponds to the fundamental characteristics of both elaboration and feedback. Learner control refers to the ability of the learner to selectively interact with course content (time-on-task, depth, range, and media) en route to individualizing course presentation. Self-regulation is the metacognitive strategy that a learner will use to engage with instructional material (contextualize, organize, and reflect on information) and to conduct subsequent performance self-appraisal. Feedback is critical to both learner control and self-regulation. Continued motivation or the intrinsic willingness to learn is the final critical attribute defining the construct of interaction (Wagner, 1994).

Interaction Research
The overall empirical evidence supporting the use of interaction tools in DE appears equivocal, yet interaction remains central to the expectations of both instructors and learners (Berge, 1999). Vrasida & Stock-McIssac (1999) reported that course structure, prior experience with computer-mediated communication (CMC), and feedback were instrumental elements of the interaction construct and that interaction was fundamental for learners to socially construct meaning. Specifically, DE course structured elements (e.g., required online graded activities) led to more interactions and increased dialogue between study participants. In addition, study participants that possessed previous CMC experience were more likely to interact and participants that lacked CMC experience tended to be intimidated by both the technology, as well as the interactive communicative style inherent to the online environment (e.g., emoticon use). Finally, participants identified a lack of immediate feedback as discouraging. Immediate or timely feedback was found to be critical to maintain learner motivation and persistence. Technology may be able to support DE interaction, however, the instructional designer and course facilitators will ultimately need to ensure that the conditions for DE interaction exist and are supported in the learning environment.

Types of Interaction
The four types of interaction that are critical for DE learner success are:
· Learner-to-Content (Moore, 1989): The process of intellectually interacting with content to bring about changes in the learner’s understanding, perspective, or cognitive structure (Moore, 1989).
· Learner-to-Instructor (Moore, 1989): The interaction that attempts to motivate and stimulate the learner and allows for clarification and feedback of instructional content (Moore, 1989).
· Learner-to-Learner (Moore, 1989): The interaction that occurs between learners either alone, or in a group setting, with or without the real time presence of an instructor (Moore, 1989).
· Learner-to-Interface (Hillman, Willis, & Gunawardena, 1994): The process that the learner uses to develop proficiency with the course content’s mediating technology and delivery system (Hillman, et al., 1994).

References
Barry, M., & Runyan, G. B. (1995). A review of distance-learning studies in the U.S. military. The American Journal of Distance Education, 9(3), 37-56.

Berge, Z. L. (1999). Interaction in post-secondary web-based learning. Educational Technology, 39(1), 5-11.

Moore, M. G. (1989). Three types of interaction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-6.

Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen, A. C., & NetRatings, INC. (2000). Nielsen/NetRatings [Online]. Available: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com [2000, April 29].

Hillman, D. C., Willis, D. J., & Gunawardena, C. N. (1994). Learner-interface in distance education: An extension of contemporary models and strategies for practitioners. The American Journal of Distance Education, 8(2), 31-42.

Hughes, C., & Hewson, L. (1998). Online interactions: Developing a neglected aspect of the virtual classroom. Educational Technology, 38(4), 48-55.

King, J. C., & Doerfert, D. L. (1996). Interaction in the distance education setting [Online]. Available: http://www.ssu.missouri.edu/ssu/AgEd/NAERM/s-e-4.htm [2000, April 29].

Spitzer, D. R. (1998). Rediscovering the social context of distance learning. Educational Technology, 38(2), 53-56.

Shotsberger, P. G. (2000). The human touch: Synchronous communication in web-based learning. Educational Technology, 40(1), 53-56.

Vrasidas, C., & Stock-McIsaac, M. (1999). Factors influencing interaction in an online course. The American Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 23-36.

Wagner, E. D. (1994). In support of a functional definition of interaction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 8(2), 7-29.

Blogger Interactivity?

Wow! I just took Gulcin's Interactivity survey. It really made me think about interactivity - how to define it and how to achieve it. I highly recommend it! Over the last few weeks we've been using Blogger in 670 as a way to interact with each other. I'm curious as to what folks think about Blogger and its effectiveness?

Hi Class,

CHAD FREE ZONE+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There is still time to MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT......we are still collecting data for our Game Appeal Web Quest...
If you have not had a chance to fill out our survey, please take a minute.

Thanks for your time!

CHAD FREE ZONE+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Controversial Issues Spark Interest and Learning?

I want to respond to Sharon's comment from Monday on 670 as Guidance Counselor. Yes, I can seeon how no one will be happy with the final outcome and why you don't want to be a politician. But, from an instructional design perspective, your WebQuest seems to have been an effective way to involve learners. On Blogger I've noted a high degree of interaction among not only your team but also from other members in the class. What do you think? And how would you rate your own learning in the process?

Assessment of First-Person Violent Games
The following link is one that I found while looking for interesting information on violence in video games. The link is: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/99/23/cyber-smith-table.html. I am more or less putting it up here for those of you who don't have a clue about the violent games that have been metioned throughout this whole Blog session. Hopefully this will help clarify what we have all been talking about recently.

Shifting Gamer Demographics

Gulcin, I agree. Statistics suggest that 43% of the gamers out there are female (according to Southwest Securities, a financial services company). See a related article on the future of the game industry as reported in GameWeek.com One thing that is definite is that the gaming population demographics is shifting to be more inclusive. Just look at the graphic (below) of Bernie in a simulated world saving fantasy game...Case in point!

-Dan

ps: Nice suit Bernie. You look good in black.

Send in the Clones

OK, following up on the CNN story on creating avatars in your own image to do battle in Quake, I've had it done and am now ready to boogie. Look out, Eric... the Berniator is here!

670 as Guidance Counselor

Doing our WebQuest has done one major thing for me... helped me decide that I NEVER want to be a politician. We are finishing our play and now need to decide whether we are going to ban violent video games or not. All I know is that there is absolutely no way everyone is going to be happy about the final decision. I guess we'll just have to wait to see how the saga unfolds...

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlgamers

Girls also like ACTION GAMES....
Here is the website grrlgamer This website reviews the action games for girls.

Friends, Romans, Lend me your Data

Hi class,

Could you fill out following survey which is about Interactivity? INTERACTIVITY
I and my friend, from SUNY-Albany, are interested in the meaning attached to the term "interactivity" as used in mathematics and science education. We are trying yo collect data on how "interactivity" is defined and used in different contexts. If you help us, we appreciate.

Who wants to be GAME TESTER?

I found following website about being game tester. http://www.sfgate.com/hypertek/9701/1.shtml It is pretty inter3sting. It is talking about some guys who do nothing all day but play games, and howmuch they earn. One of these guys says a game tester can make from $7 an hour up to $130,000 per year.

What Appeals to You?

Hi Class,

We are working on the aging issues and have developed a revised game appeal survey. If you have time, please give us a hand on data collection & take a minute to fill out our questionnaire. Thanks for your time and consideration!

Game Appeal Survey-Aging

R/S

Bill

Gerontopoly

During our early gaming discussions, several people were developing games relating to aging. Here is a published game. Not much information, just an overview. Looks like it covers some similar ground. Gerontopoly

Zen Gaming

Are we relaxed when we play video games? My excuse for playing every day is just that. I play mostly solitaire and snood. Maybe relaxation is not the word, maybe it is a refocus, like kicking your TV to untangle the neurons.

For deep relaxation, I play Short Circuit. It is a pairing game with 8 levels with 4 challenges in each. My self-imposed limit is once a week and it now takes around 30+ minutes. I have been playing for a couple of years now and still can get onto the high score board. As I play, the effect is quite meditative. As the task moves from cognitive to associative, ideas come to me. It is quite like the meditation that I did as a student in the 70's. I don't know if I am weird, but this is how I know what is really bothering me and sometimes I figure out how to deal with it.

I didn't know if I needed to explain cognitive to associative. The famous explanation in my field (Learning Disabilities) for moving from an associative task to a cognitive task goes like this.

You are driving in the car with a bunch of kids in the back seat. You are chatting with them, joking around and having a good time. (Driving is associative at this point. You can do two things at once.)

Suddenly, it starts to rain heavily, and cars start sliding around the road. One of the kids demand your attention and you yell, "Could you please be quiet in the back seat, driving which in the past was an associative task, has now become cognitive." (Actually, you would probably yell, "Shut Up, I'm driving." Driving now takes up all your attention because it is now a cognitive task requiring all your cognitive energy.

Wired Ideas

If you are interested in high-tech professionals and the business savvy, and incisive analysis about the people, companies, and ideas that are transforming the way we live, you may want to check out Wired magazine.

What Girls Really Want

Computer games for girls is no longer an oxymoron. By G. Beato It talks about the initiative that many companies are interested in girls' preferences on games, the researches have been done for finding out girls' preferences on games, the future of girl games and etc. According to Laurel launched, a major research campaign, what girls and women want is a game that allows them to create "mutually beneficial solutions to socially significant problems. It also concludes that the future media of girl games will be the Internet because it could has characteristics like communication, human interaction, participation, etc.

Choosing Computer Games for Girls and Boys

The Search for Gender Equity in Computer Games, talking about the issues like

• How to get girls interested in computers?
  
• Are "games for girls" the way to go?
  
• What does a good educational game look like?
  

I am particularly interested in what characteristics of games that boys like but girls don't or vice versa. It says that the characteristics of game that boys like are high levels of competition, confrontation, and violence; fast, repetitive action; beating the clock; and racking up points to achieve a high score. While, based on the research on girls and computer games, girls prefer games with in-depth narratives and characters, the ability to design or create, the possibility for social interaction both on the screen and between players, and the ability to explore different activities within the same game.

It also provides "Criteria for Choosing Computer Games for Girls and Boys" as following:
1. Is the game educational? Does it encourage problem solving? creativity? the development of important strategies or skills?
2. Is the game equitable?? How accessible and engaging is the game to both girls and boys? Are there features that particularly appeal to (or deter) girls or boys?
3. Is it a good game? Is it fun?? Is it challenging without being overly frustrating? Does it encourage persistence

Math Games

If you are interested in reviewing games for kids the following web site does a nice job of breaking down games by age. This focus of this website is primarily math learning games.
http://www.terc.edu/mathequity/gw/html/gwhome.html

Equity

I'm researching equity in computers / computer games & I came across two interesting web sites that both offer resources:
1. http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/online/#11
The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse gathers resources, curriculum and professional development materials to help educators improve the quality of math and science education offered. They have interesting links not only about equity but also educational technology and technology as a teaching tool.

2. NWREL's Northwest Educational Technology Consortium
Equity in Educational Technology ~ http://www.netc.org/equity/

Games for Girls Group

Last week we were discussing software for girls and I just came across a website that reviews software for girls. The copyright is from 1998 so its a little old but it's interesting anyway. Check it out!
http://www.best.com/~readit/superkids/search/subject.cgi?terms=Girls

A Male Responds...

This blog is in response to Sara Pehrsson's blog about what is so appealing to video games that seems to distract males. To tell you the truth, I don't know. I don't play video games everyday, maybe twice a month at the most! Even when I do play them, I get bored. But I can see where your boyfriend is coming from when he says that it relaxes him. Although, if he's pounding his keyboard while he's playing, I don't know how relaxed he really is. Anyway, you made a good point when you said that it would be great if all that motivation could be combined with games and learning. After reading that chat and making that posting, I was thinking that if these girls' boyfriends sole purpose for playing these games was because they were turned on by the sex appeal of the women characters, then they have issues... But then again, sad to say, I guess it doesn't take much for some people!

Let's Keep Violence Impersonal

I too have to agree with Noelle on the whole cloning issue. The fact that they have come up with the technology to do something like that is pretty cool, but I know that as a member of the game violence group, many of us are finding countless articles on how some people just cannot handle the responsibility of these games, and then to personalize it on top of the violence? That does seem to be a bit much. Like Noelle said, it could be kinda fun to do it with games that are a little less violent, but for the real gory one's I think it's safer to stick with what we have. Making a violent game personal, might just take away the fun behind it and make kids focus more on how to shoot a realistic looking human being. In addition, it just raises the level of virtual interactivity that the player has with the game, and like I said before, I have found many articles that explain that even young adults are not mature enough to take these games for what they are-just fun.

AI Experiment

And the site for another AI experiment

Talking Heads

Here is a fascinating site talking-heads.csl.sony.fr which is an experiment in teaching artificial agents to communicate with a common language. Unfortunately it's not allowing people to create agents at the moment... but it's still worth reading about what they're doing.

More About Blogs

If anyone has decided that the blogging experience is worthy of further reading, I found an article through ProQuest that talks about it. Called "Staying afloat on WEBLOGS" Copyright Journal Sentinel Inc. Jul 16, 2000 by Jim Higgins. "Sites are water wings for surfers sinking in sea of cybermadness."

What Men Really Want

Well, since my last post, I've discussed this subject with afore-mentioned boyfriend, and EUREKA! I think I begin to understand. The key is that a game has WELL-DEFINED GOALS, and the goals are DEFINED FOR YOU. My question has always been, why is it worth it to spend so much time and effort on something that ultimately does not provide one any thing of particular merit? (Despite Shawn's assertions that one can theoretically make money with this skill, and build social interaction around it, etc. ) My question has always been, why do some consider a game that much fun, not how does one build it into something that could become of more worth than the game itself. Obviously this all is related to the "flow" thing, and ARCS and all that. But what I understand now is that a well-designed game (the computer part being only that which makes it possible to be more complex and graphically stimulating) offers a chance to accomplish what people wouldn't MIND doing in real life, except that real life simply does not offer specific, well-defined goals. So for instance, my boyfriend (let's call him Joe, since that's his name) will begin a game (I'll use pinball as a simple example) and say to himself, "When I put this ball into play I want to get X number of points." Then he plays, and will persist until he achieves his goal. Then that was so satisfying that he sets a new goal. Also, he becomes very competitive when he sees that other people have achieved a certain number of points... and then he wants to top that goal. He will persist with the game until he does so, no matter if it takes hours and if all the rest of his duties fall by the wayside. (well, not ALL but certainly many that seem more important to me than pinball.)

The reason that he will spend many hours achieving a game goal as opposed to a real life goal is that in the game the goal is defined for him, and it is relatively easy to know a) how to get there and b)when it is accomplished. As with any goal, when it is accomplished he feels GOOD. In a real-life situation, things are much murkier. First of all you have to decide amongst many possible choices what your goal may be. Then you have to figure out how the goal could be accomplished, and that may not consist of clear steps. And, importantly, you may decide along the way that it was not the goal you really wanted to achieve... and then you may feel that your efforts in achieving it have been wasted, that you've WASTED TIME AND ENERGY, which is exactly how I respond to the time spent on achieving goals in a computer game!!!

So why is he so goal-oriented in game-life, whereas I am much more goal-oriented than he is in real-life? In general, I do see a gender difference (though it is clearly not a hard and fast rule). The reason for that I theorize is that men are built psychologically to want to achieve and to be competitive... but to also deal better with distinct rules and logic than they do with ill-defined concepts, relationships, etc. (I'm not stating that well, I don't mean to sound like I think men are stupid or can't think creatively.) Whereas women are usually not as competitive, are programmed socially to work harder and play less (I know I'll get argument about that), and are more comfortable, even confident, dealing with amorphous concepts and relationships, such as real life offers.

And finally, I think this blog ought to make up for all the blogs that I've missed doing in the last couple weeks, even though I doubt most people will wade through the whole thing. :-)

Walt Would Be So Happy...

Now back to Disneyland. Since we had extra time while waiting for our fastpass time, we went to Innoventions for the first time. This exhibit is designed to introduce the latest innovations and inventions to the public. In the middle of the floor, we finally found a couple of unused computers and became members of the Internet Search Game. (Thanks Bernie for the 7 steps.) My son has used search engines and the internet, but when some person with a microphone says, "Find a website with a picture of a pirate"... the search becomes fun. Half of the players gave up because they couldn't understand how the use the mouse or the jargon, but overall players were racing to uncover tiles on the board to discover the secret. The guy with the mike was giving search tips as the game progressed. I had a hard time keeping up. My 8 year old won the day and left the computers saying "That was fun." How much did he learn in the five minutes? He learned that he can click on the "images" button and he learned about the Parthenon. He found out what the Utah flag looks like. Not too bad for a five minutes at Disneyland.

Since we all had Friday off, we decided to leave beautiful tornado torn Poway and have fun at Disneyland. I thought we would be so busy having rides and standing in line that education and technology would be left behind. Of course, I was wrong. Walt Disney had a great passion for education and led technology innovations in the entertainment industry. I had planned my blog before coming home, but an interesting twist opened with the Powerpoint Munchkin discussion.

When my 8 year old was born, we already had a computer. He crashed the system when he was two. He has had his own website for over a year now, and like many ed tech students has not kept it up to date http://www.angelfire.com/games2/ddoerner/ Although he has not made powerpoint presentations, he has turned in several websites for homework. Here in Poway, he is the only kid we know with a website, but many of his friends have email addresses. His teachers use the Internet often and encourage the kids.

If We Could Bottle This...

I have a response to the post Dave Comstock wrote (girlfriend vs playstation). Sort of a response... because I still have the same question. What is it that is SO appealing about computer games to guys that they will set aside every other thing in their life? (including girlfriends). And I don't think it is the way the girls are dressed in the games, or the violence, because my boyfriend can be just as engrossed by computer pinball as by Tomb Raider, featuring Lara of the improbable body. He says it is "relaxing" but it looks a lot more frustrating than relaxing to me the way he pounds away at the keyboard. I always think, if this kind of motivation could be harnessed for a learning environment, there would be no stopping the human race. I guess that's why it seems like a good idea to combine games and learning. If only it was really IMPORTANT to know how Lara gets to the next level...

Response to Noelle: Powerpoint Munchkin

That is very cool.

I see two interesting (to me) subjects here.

1. Digital Divide: your story hilites the inequity in computer access between technology haves and have-nots

2.Digital Generation: this story is going to become more and more common.

Speaking of the the Digital Divide. There is a book called Growing Up Digital. The website also has some discussion of the idea that children born in the mid 90's and on. Don't think of technology as technology any more than a toaster is technology. to make a long story short, schools will have to shift their strategies and methodologies in order to meet the needs of the N-generation.

Goodbye Ms. Chips

As a member of the game violence group, this cloning thing sound like a whole new can of worms. It one thing to go around shooting fictional characters - even when they're people instead of monsters or animals - a completely another when you start putting a real life face on your target. I can see some people arguing that this will let you take your agressions out on a game rather than the actual person. But I can also see some people arguing that this will just allow you the practice to actually take your agression out on that person. For the non-violent games it might be kind of fun and allow you to personalize your play a little more. It would all come down to restrictions again in my mind. I don't think it would be a good idea for violent games so I would like to see it restricted from happening some how in the violent games. But as for for the non-violent games - have fun! I just can't imagine having my students sitting at home in front of their computer blowing my brains out and then coming in to class the next day and getting in trouble for something. I feel like it would be Goodbye Miss Granich!

Clone Yourself for Play?

Here's a story from CNN about a company, 3Q which is setting up booths that allow you to capture 3-D images of your face. For $25, they turn your mug into a VRML document that can be injected into Start Trek Voyager Elite Force, Quake III Arena, and Counter Strike. Soon The Sims, Duke Nukem Forever and Unreal Tournament will be added to the list. So you'll have an avatar that looks like you shooting its way through each of these game worlds.

The interesting implication is that in multiplayer games on the net, you can be shooting AT something that looks like the kid next door. This takes the game violence discussion to a new level, I think. Some will worry that shooting your friend Kenny's avatar repeatedly will desensitize you to the point that shooting the real Kenny seems thinkable.

On the other hand, especially for mostly non-violent games like The Sims, this could be a lot of fun. One could also imagine some applications for psychological counseling.

Digital Kids

I teach first grade and had an interesting occurrance in class yesterday. (Maybe I'm naive and those of you with children won't be shocked at all.)
It was time for sharing and it was Turi's sharing day. Now she typically brings in some very interesting things and it is obvious that her parents assist her with gathering some information so that she has plently to say about whatever it is she brought to share. On Thursday, she brought in a printed PowerPoint presentation on Manatees. She not only read the information from her slides but added other details as well. The last page of her presentation included other web sites where we might find out more for ourselves. I thought to myself, here's where she's going to have difficulty reading the addresses. But shock me again, she read them off perfectly! She even brought a printed copy of a diagram of the animals for each child in class. During question time, some of the children asked her how she found out all of this information and she described how she went through the internet search process. I was thrilled to see how much parent involvement there was and how much exposure she is getting to computers. I was floored at how knowledgable she really was about everything having to do withher sharing. I look at the other 19 students in my class and think, this is not the norm. Am I correct? I only wish I had the interent in my classroom for her to actually show the children how she did her research. She could even describe how to do the PowerPoint presentation! I think we have a future computer wizard here!

Girlfriend vs. Playstation

This is funny... I found this posting while looking through a discussion board on http://www.videogamereview.com/ for some interesting articles on game violence, I came across something a little more entertaining.

Here it is:

What do females think??"
My best friend called me crying. Her bf, got a PS2 and now it seems he doesn't have time for her, believe it or not. Actually they haven't been getting along lately anyway. She wants to talk about their relationship, he blows her off for Tekken and Madden, but the issues are deeper than that. So after we talked and she cursed the world of videogames, she asked me, "why do guys like videogames so much?" Before I could answer she said, "I'll tell you why, guys are voyueristic. They're perverts so they're voyueristic and can look at that stuff (she means the graphics I guess) and play games all day, and they like doing things with their hands." But is that representative of what girls/women think about guys???My second question is, what do you play? For my female friends that do play it's almost RPGs exclusively

It seems that after reading all of the responses posted (all by other women) to to this, girls think that the majority of the reason guys play video games is because of the sex appeal that is related to what women characters wear in some of the games. I don't know if that is the underlying reson for this guy not spending anytime with his girlfriend, but is kind of humorous. Not only do they go on to express how "lame and immature" video games are but they find time to call every man who plays them pigs and perverts. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that these girls are a little upset at more than just the video games...

Really?

You really know Tony Hawk?

WebQuest and Trademarks

The WebQuest that Maria refers to is a name given by the authors to an activity that 's got nothing to do with the kind of WebQuest you're doing in the class. Had I known that this thing was going to take off back in 1995, I would have protected the name somehow. Other evidence that the name applies to a lot of things is the fact that I get irate mail every few weeks from people who are receiving bills from WebQuest.Net, the company that handles the billing for hundreds of porn sites. If I had just 1% of the money they're taking in.....

WebQuests and Motivation

Since we dealing with WebQuests, maybe you would be interested in looking at this article:

Title: Promoting Motivation and Eliminating Disorientation for Web Based Courses by a Multi-User Game (ED428657)

"This paper discusses the use of WebQuest, a World Wide Web-based multi-user game, in promoting learning motivation and navigation skills in K-9 students. WebQuest demonstrates ways to integrate games, Internet communication facilities, Web-based courseware, and database techniques together in order to assist learning. The following guidelines for designing the educational game script are discussed: selection of the style of the game; arranging the game script according to the learning hierarchy to prevent disorientation; and building a situated learning environment to promote learning motivation and to prevent disorientation. Results of an experiment in which eight classes used the game are presented; findings indicate improvement in all motivation factors (i.e., fantasy, cognition, curiosity, control, cooperation, competition, and challenge). Two figures illustrate the learning hierarchy and game structure, and querying the script structure and information of other players. Three tables present action statistics of students playing the game, a comparison of motivation factors, and a comparison of motivation factors between high and low achievement students."

The Playful World

Just found out about The Playful World, a book that sounds very interesting. In some ways, it's like the Playing the Future book I'm finishing up now. The basic notion is that the e-toys around us are creating fundamental changes in the way kids think about things. As an incurable optimist, even on this ambiguous morning after the election, I resonate with the description of the book. Here's part of the Amazon review:

Are Furbies avatars of future pets? Mark Pesce, Chair of USC's Interactive Media Program and creator of VRML, thinks that technological development and recreational activity inform each other and are converging into a strange, new immersive environment. The Playful World: Interactive Toys and the Future of Imagination is a thoughtful peek into the guts of such toys as LEGO's Mindstorms and Sony's PlayStation2; by extrapolation, Pesce sees them driving research in nanotechnology and virtual reality, but he nobly refuses to succumb to the temptation to make precise predictions.

Taking a look at the history of play (and taking care to knock down whatever remaining resistance we might have to considering play less worthwhile than other activities), the book shows it to be a form of learning--perhaps the most natural form. Toy technology is catching up with current research rapidly; more households have powerful computers playing "Crazy Taxi" with the kids than working on budgets with parents. The presumption that we are creating new ways of learning, knowing, and being that are rapidly overtaking our means to understand and control them could be frightening if explored by an author less familiar with the technology and its users. Instead of thinking "game over," Pesce believes we should get ready to "play again." --Rob Lightner

Of course, not all kids have access to this kind of play. And if the author's thesis is correct we'll have yet another force at work to widen the Digital Divide, both here and globally. (Guess I'm not 100% optimistic after all.)

Do it Yourself Online Forms

Hi All,

Our group have been working on the game appeal research and looking specifically at aging issues. Bernie put us onto a site that supports the development of online surveys (like Zoomerang)....www.formsite.com

The site has been very helpful...give it a try if you need an online survey.

Need an Article the Campus Library Doesn't Have?

If you aren't aware, SDSU subsidizes an excellent database of journals and magazines through Carl Uncover for graduate students.

The only catch is you need a fax machine to receive articles. If you don't have a fax machine, you can download Efax and receive them as electronic attachments to emails.

I highly recommend this as another place to search for info.

-Dan

Is it Bigger Than a Breadbox?

Here's an interesting site www.20q.net. It's a bot that plays 20 questions. It uses the database generated by over 500,000 games previously played to generate guesses. You'll be surprised by how accurate it can be.

Have Games Evolved Since Space Invaders?

Here's another article. This is one on the history of computer games.