Unlimited Game Rentals

Blockbuster has a game pass where you have unlimited game rentals for the month. Right now it is only 14.95. If you are interested in playing some of the games like Midtown Madness and the Sims that are talked about in the reading, this is a good way to get to see the games up close and personal. as cheap as a movie and popcorn, and bound to last longer.

Forest Fire Simulations

Simulations can be powerful tools for understanding complex events like forest fires. Certainly computer simulations and models are being used by researchers in fire science. Here is a web page documenting a scientific simulation based on the Yellowstone Fire of 1988. I will look for other useful URL's of scientific simulations.

The StarLogo programming language includes an example program that demonstrates a cellular-automaton simulation of forest fire propagation. Also, I found a web page with a simple Java Applet which simulates fire propagation on a 17 x 17 grid of trees. These simulations are clearly not useful research tools. For example neither the StarLogo nor the Java Applet account for wind. But they are a starting point for understanding the complex dynamics of fire propagation. I would be interested in communicating with educators in the San Diego area to see if there is any way a curriculum could be developed to help students better understand these forces that can have a profound and devastating effect on our lives.

Note: this posting is rather rushed; I will try to provide more useful links later today.

Modeling Complexity

A new site at Mesa State College in Colorado is pulling together resources and dialog about agent-based modeling. They focus on the use of NetLogo, a cousin of StarLogoT, both of which are cross-platform and free. There's a list you can join to keep up with the latest developments in this realm, and links to models of the spread of rumors, wealth distribution, oil spills and ecosystems. Interesting stuff!

Educational Simulation

www.simulations.com is a great website for educational simulations you can bring into the classroom. The company offers a template for teacher to fill in the blanks with curriculum. This gives classrooms the opportunity to interact with the content material and other classrooms across the world. Educational Simulations Inc. recently created a United Nation project where the individual classrooms became a nation and connected with other classroom to discuss global issues. This type of interconnectivity capabilities in classroom opens the doors to endless possibilities of discovering cultural perspectives!

Hot Shot Business

In reading through the NASAGA website, I found an interesting simulation linked from an article. Developed by Disney Online, this simulation gives you the chance to start your own business. There are two coaches who attempt to guide you through a rough business development. It seems to be a decent mini simulation (emphasis on mini) on just a few business aspects involved in getting a business off the ground. In this simulation, I opened a pet spa and almost broke even!

Gaming News...When You Gotta Have It!

Just as CNN provides 24 hour news for us “news junkies”, GameSpy Daily provides, “24 hour gaming news coverage from the inside,” for “gamers” who must have the latest information on anything and everything that deals with the games they play.

The website has links to different areas of interest including top stories of the day, news feeds, forums, screenshot archives, news archives, and of course, games. The games link takes one to the GameSpy Network where a search can be performed to find news, reviews and general information on a particular game. A definite must for gamers worldwide!

Addicted to Addicting Games

Ever wonder what kids in computer class are doing when the teacher is not looking? If they are not checking their
e-mail, chances are they are playing games at AddictingGames.com. There must be something true about this website's name because kids just seem to flock to it in droves whenever there is the slightest bit of downtime in class.

AddictingGames.com is a clearinghouse for online games enthusiasts or kids looking for a few minutes (or hours) of fun. The site, which has links to a few hundred games, classifies games into six different categories: action, puzzle, arcade classics, sports, everything else, and card & casino. This site can best be compared to a "candy store" of online games.

Ghettopoly Manufacture Violates Trademark Rights

Ghettopoly, a spinoff of the popular Monopoly game, let's players buy stolen properties, build crack houses, allows car jacking, and takes players to the emergency room.

Hasbro, who has trademark rights and copyrights to the Monopoly game is upset that the maker of Ghettopoly used his intellectual property to sell what Hasbro calls a "reprehensible" game and has filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.

Although the educational value is questionable, it is debatable whether this game is reprehensible. This game could have been developed in the context of a different type of learner (lower income families who live in poorer neighborhoods). If so, the game has a different audience than the well none Monopoly game.

Nonetheless, Chang has violated Hasbro's trademark and copyright rights. It will be interesting to see what the courts decide.


http://www.nggnet.com/games/ttgs/ttgnews.html
www.hasbro.com
www.ghettopoly.com

Hooked On Phonics

Hooked on Phonics offers quite a few free lessons and drill games online. It is a good way to try out the program before you buy it, or used as a supplement to a lesson in class. The page is located in Education 4 Kids.

Flight Gear Simulator Project

Is it better to have an elite group of experts develop a game or would it be more interesting to leave it out in the open for anyone to contribute their talents? FlightGear is a free, open-source, multi-platform development project that breaks the mold of commercial flight simulator games. Like our upcoming wiki assignment, anyone can go in and alter the course and path the game takes. It'll be interesting to see where it started, who contributed and what it will end up looking like.
The coolest thing about this game is how real it actually is. Each location offers current information on the airport, conditions, etc. and tips and tricks on how to maneuver around in this environment. Pretty neat!

Catch Michael Jackson's Baby

Marc Prensky defines those of us in the Baby Boomer generation in terms of the digital age. To him, we are “digital immigrants.” Those born after us, who were raised using technology all their lives, he terms “digital natives.” And it’s the digital natives who are fluent at speaking “game.” According to Prensky, game is “. . . a very rich new language. As soon as there's something to be said, someone says it in game.”

Here are two versions of an interesting digital game that proves Prensky’s point. This may not be an educational game, but it’s surely a relatively new way of communicating about current events. In this case, it’s an expansion of the ludicrous amount of media airtime devoted to Michael Jackson’s self-promotional antics.

I found an interesting article by Clive Thompson in the Slate webzine about this form of social commentary. Slate also points the reader to www.newgrounds.com, which contains anyone and everyone’s idea of Flash movies that have something to say. There is plenty of offensive material here, so be careful. Slate provides a nice disclaimer:

“These links will take you to games hosted by Newgrounds.com, which archives hundreds of thousands of games and animations. Many of those games (but not the ones Slate has linked to) involve material that is openly racist, sexist, and homophobic, and Slate doesn't endorse them in any way. In addition, most of the pages, including the ones Slate has linked to, feature banner advertisements for pornography.
• Downing Street Fighter
• War on Terrorism
• Al Quaidamon
• Kaboom!
• 9/11 special section”

I especially found the history of the site interesting, because it originated with a 13-year old (and some material hasn’t advanced past that). Talk about a digital native!

Frank Oppenheimer on Play

Inspired by reading the Rieber article on play, I dug-up my beloved copy of the Exploritorium magazine commemorating the life of Frank Oppenheimer (1912-1985), founder of the Exploratorium. One of the articles in the magazine is a reprint of a piece that Mr. Oppenheimer wrote in 1980 titled "Adult Play". In just a few pages he captures some of the essential aspects of play that we as educators are interested in. In particular, he touches on an issue that I find compelling: that the ability to play with ideas is something that some students do not learn how to do. He goes on "…it is clear that the kind of playing that is so fruitful in art and science and in getting accustomed to life or change is an extremely vital aspect of all human endeavor. If the ability to play is inadvertently denied to a large part of the population, it would be worth finding out why."

I believe that we can encourage students to play with ideas, by providing simulations and games that serve as idea "tinker-toys." To do this, we must extract some of the salient concepts of a particular domain (be it mathematics, biology, or social science) and build a microworld that allows students to combine these concepts in new and unexpected ways.

Video games gone bad

Today on CNN there was an article how Grand Theft Auto inspired 2 teenagers to go out and live the game and ended up killing one innocent bystander and seriously injuring another. Not too long ago there was a write up on how there actually may be some educational value in such a game (i.e. using non-examples to help people think about values and ideology). But what is left out in that line of thinking is that it takes the right kind of person to gain such a perspective.

And in the process there are others who don't understand the non-reality simulation aspect of the game. All the while the question is on who to blame - the player or the game maker? Though, as the article states, there is no evidence that violent games lead to violent behavior, there is a lawsuit filed against the game developer in this case. However, taking a brief look through online article databases reveals several studies examining the positive link in such behaviors.

Highly addictive and interactive Web application

I came across this site while cleaning up my Favorites folder but I can't remember where I found it. Anyway, after a short debate about how appropriate it was for the EdGames blog I decided that it was way too engaging not to share. Besides, anything that can keep my attention for as long as this site did HAS to be considered relevant to what we are learning.

Given the simple integration of color, shape, sound (music)-and real interactivity-there must be something we can learn from this type of experience in the development of simulation and games.



Hint: Once the program is loaded click anywhere on the screen to start the application. Moving the mouse around the screen enables the interactivity and left-clicking on the screen cycles to a new scenario.

(This site requires Shockwave)

Personas for Design Projects

Using "hypothetical archetypes" (aka personas) to help designers visualize what users want and need in information sites is a cool idea that I think would work great for game developers! A composite persona is created based on audience research, to identify real goals and needs of real potential users. Having these personas in mind throughout the design process helps guide decisions by the design team. Check it out in this article in ONLINE Magazine. I found this courtesy of elearningpost.com

Inner Active Game

I saw an article about this game in the Union-Tribune and then went to the website, The Wild Divine Project , for more information. The game uses bio-feedback monitors to teach you to self-regulate your body. The monitors fit over three fingers on your left hand and measure heartrate and perspiration. In order to progress through the game, you have to learn the meditative skills to calm yourself or boost your energy level as the situation dictates. The scenes you move through are very rich and have been compared to those in games like Myst. The game is supposed to become available in November. I found the whole idea very interesting and the learning situation one I would never have associated with computer games.

Language card games

Here is a personal site by Marmo Soemarmo of Ohio University that appears to no longer be updated, but that still includes a number of interesting card games used for learning phonetics and vocabulary. Look around a bit for the meat and potatoes (my apologies if you're a vegetarian, Marmo.)

http://www.ohiou.edu/~linguist/soemarmo/games/menu.htm

SET game of visual perception

This game seems familiar. I'm sure I've run across it before, and there very well may be other postings about it on this blog. Nonetheless, I thought it was worth posting this information. This is a game that matches visual perception with mathematics. I haven't tried to play it, but the visual aspects are appealing and I think I will investigate further. The site is located at:

http://www.setgame.com/set/index.html

Games for kids

funbrain.com/

This webpage offers a number of games for kids to play with and learn at the same time. The games are mostly for kids in kindergarden to 8th grade in multiple subjects. I played a few and found it to be quite entertaining. School teachers should check it out.

Emotional Design

This is an intriguing concept, since many of the elements that can make digital games powerful learning tools are related to emotions, such as fun, excitement and pleasure. A new book by Dr. Don Norman of the usability consultancy group, Nielson Norman Group, addesses the importance of feelings in technology design. The book "Emotional Design: Why we Love (or Hate) Everyday Things" will be coming out in early 2004. Norman says that beauty, pleasure and simplicity are just as important to technology design as function. To find out more see the BBC News Article: Technology to make you go "wow".
BBC Article

Create Your Own 3D World at Active Worlds

Active Worlds is a site where you can participate in a 3D virtual reality experience and also build your own 3D World for others to participate in. For educators there is the Active Worlds Educational Universe where you can develop classroom simulations and instructional virtual reality experiences. You need to download their broswer to participate in the virtual worlds but it was an easy and quick download and install. When I ventured into one of the worlds I encountered many participants actively engaged in the experience. I can see how you can get lost in these virtual worlds and also how you can use them to try on a new persona or experiment with new behaviors. But I hesitate to venture into them very deeply for fear of a "virtual addiction".

Career Voyages.gov Plays like a Game

My never-ending quest for career sites that integrate some measure of fun for the high school audience is bringing me closer to an ideal find. To my surprise, the United States Secretary of Labor, (the government of all sources) has put together an impressive site that comes close to game-like activity. I'm satisfied that they didn't use the word "play", but as you move around the Career Voyages site, you feel as though you're having fun while simultaneously learning. The vibrant colors grab your attention, and the elements of sound and multimedia keep it. The real test will come in the classroom by those who are soon destined to enter the workforce. I'll keep you posted.

FunSchool.com

A pretty neat site, with lots of interactive (Shockwave-based) games targeted at pre-school through 6th graders. It's a subset of a more commercial, "for fun" game network, but I won't hold that against it if you won't.

http://www.funschool.com/

LearningWithGames: A Wiki Page

Doug Holton, the brainy and eclectic Vanderbilt grad student who created the Ed Tech Wiki, has set up a page called LearningWithGames within the wiki. It might bear watching, given what we're all working on for the next few weeks!

Career Game- More work than play!

A search for games on the web related to career exploration turned up a game that is more work than play. Career Games is a site that masquarades as a game. However, this so-called game requires so much work that any sane person logging on would immediately log off having felt bamboozled by the experience. Therefore, the search continues for a career game that will have true appeal for the high school audience. Since their acuity for a good time is very sharp, I'd rather not take chances with this pseudo-webgame. See what you think when you're in the mood for true labor.

Kids' games

I've been interested in games kids play for some time. Specifically, I'm interested to what extent playground games I played as a kid have similar versions in other cultures. In discussing this with my students in Taiwan, I've found that some of the simpler games I played as a kid in the US, such as crack the whip do have similar versions here in Taiwan, while that similarity fades as the complexity of games increases, unless of course the game has been borrowed by one culture from another. In any case, I found a site with a good listing of kids' games: www.gameskidsplay.net/.

Extensive, expensive, math game

The Math Game includes 16 decks of cards and 18 game boards, and 3 video tapes among the 14 needed game pieces. The math skills that this game teach range from whole numbers to basic equations. Players are guaranteed to reach a state of flow while learning at the same time. I wonder if this game could be part of the answer to the math crisis we now have in our public school system and also whether this game could be adapted to include higher lever math skills? Yet if the authors really want to help students, why does it cost so much? ($229.95) The poor keep getting....poorer.

A New Blog about MMRPGs

The newly hatched Terra Nova weblog provides commentary on the rapidly emerging synthetic worlds of cyberspace.

"We include in that definition massively multiplayer role-playing games such as Ultima Online, Lineage, and Everquest; toy worlds such as the Sims Online and Toon Town; social worlds such as Game Neverending, Second Life, and There; and occasionally other virtual reality spaces such as CounterStrike servers and text-based MUDs. Note that these places all have traversible terrain and some level of built-in resource scarcity; Terra Nova won't report frequently on social software that does not have these features, such as blogspace, smartmobs, and the like. We also won't say much about games in general, especially not single-player games. Rather, we are interested in exploring the growing interactions between the emerging many-user 3D worlds on the internet, and the old world from which they fantastically extend, especially in the areas of law, economics, and public policy."

This isn't just a blog by gamefans. It's run by academics, authors and a lawyer. If that doesn't spell F-U-N to you, then you might not like it.

Grand Theft Auto with the Simpsons

To piggy-back Lori's posting, I read an article today on CNN.com about a spin-off of Grand Theft Auto with The Simpson's characters. First, it is amazing the number of sequels or spin-offs of GTA there are out there. Second, linking the notion from the Carlson article (see blog post from Lori Getz 2 below) that GTA may actually hold some semblance of educational value in terms of helping people think about values and ideology makes one realize that such games likely are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Are there free games on the Internet?

This is a very cool site called Free Games!

It’s, as the title suggests, a directory of free games available on the Internet. Actually, it’s more like a promo site for free game trials and downloads. But if you look hard enough you’ll find a truly free game here and there. There are game forums, reviews, game rankings and links to all types of games. A category listing gets you started—shareware games, action games, board games, casino games, computer games and on and on and on—and then you’re off to the races, so to speak. If you’re looking for a listing of games you can download, this is a good place to start.

Can Grand Theft Auto Inspire Professors?

This is actually a journal article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. It deals with the argument of whether or not video games help learning and literacy of students. According to the article more and more scholars (who once snubbed the idea of using video games to enhance literacy) are now seeing the value of educational video games. What is so interesting to me is it is looking at an older audience and seeing how childhood video play is affecting learning aptitudes of adults. For the Full text version of this article see Can Grand Theft Auto Inspire Professors?

Language game

Here's a site with a free online language game that is more sophisticated than most online language learning material. It's definitely for high-level learners and was developed with the European student in mind. Scroll to the bottom half of the page for the link to the game.

bellenglish.com

Mind controlled video games

In a recent story on CNN and in Scientific American, there were articles about a man who had an artificial arm that was able to be controlled by his own brainwaves. Pretty advanced and amazing technology to re-wire brain waves!

That said, it was rather interesting when I came across webpage of a company that has a product that creates a brain/computer interface. One of their claims is that they have a way by which people can play video games with their minds! It sounds amazing and interesting! It also calls up the question as to what makes a video game fun. Would a video game be equally as fun if you played it with your mind rather than the manual manipulations to a controller? Based on our readings, it should still be fun assuming there are goals, outcomes and challenges, although the challenge may seem to be diminished having taken away the hand-eye-coordination component...

Serious Simulating

Here's what newsgaming.com is all about:

"Simulation meets political cartoons. We are a team of independent game developers who believe video games are not simply an amusement.

Games and simulations can also make us think about what is going on in this world. Periodically, we will use games and simulations to analyze, debate, comment and editorialize major international news."

So far, they only one they've got up is called "September 12", an admittedly biased simulation of the fight against terrorism. I wonder what they would come up with to simulate our upcoming recall election.

Video Games really are good for kids.

I came across a link to a good book titled What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. The author is a sociolinguist named James Paul Gee. He argues that principles of good teaching are found in good game design, and builds a strong case for all of us who are believers in not just the funn factor of games, but their strength as a teaching tool.

It has been a good read so far and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in linguistic elements of learning (there seem to be a lot of us in this class) or is interested in more ways to justify the power of games as a learning tool to non-believers. I'm enjoying it, at least.