Bibliographic Gaming

Design Play Learn

2010-02-02T20:43:00.004-05:00

The theme for the 39th Workshop on Instruction in Library Use (WILU) is very enticing this year: Design Play Learn. Registration opens In March and it's being hosted by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The Opening Plenary includes Dr. James Paul Gee and Mary Lou Fulton. I am guessing that most of the conference presentations will be of interest to readers of this blog. Hope to see you there! http://wilu2010.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca/

DIG London 2009

2009-10-30T10:56:00.003-04:00

DIG London 2009 marks the second annual "digital interactive gaming" conference held in the Forest City (London, Ontario). The conference runs for 2 days beginning Tuesday November 3rd. From the conference about page:

DIG London is the information hub for the digital interactive gaming industry in Ontario. We attract Canada’s leading video game developers, publishers, technology companies, service providers, and emerging talent.

Our GameZone, sponsored by Head-2-Head Games showcases Canadian-made games along with international best-sellers.

Network, learn about emerging trends, explore industry issues, and connect with new opportunities and emerging talent at DIG 2009.

State of Academic Library Gaming

2009-04-08T15:56:00.006-04:00

Here are my thoughts in response to Paul Waelchli's recent discussion questions.

1) What is the current state of games and learning in academic libraries?

and

2) What are some of the factors to that current state?
Having worked at 2 Canadian academic libraries within the the last year, my perspective reflects the environments there. I agree strongly with Nicholas's comments about gaming being still very much on the peripheral of academic libraries. My guess is that gaming enters the radar of academic libraries via librarians who are interested in devoting research time to the concept. McMaster University Libraries is, of course an exception to this rule, where they have a somewhat dedicated position for gaming (aka Immersive Learning Librarian, Shawn McCann). Does anyone know of any other similar positions?

3) Based on your experience and research, what are the next steps?
In my new position, I've had the opportunity to explore new ideas of learning and information literacy. In the meantime, gaming had not been part of my job, and of course, there is always a learning curve when starting a new position (new content and new institution). Paul's discussion has prompted me to look at gaming and game-based learning again in this new environment. My next steps will be to follow this discussion and think about strategies for exploring gaming at a new academic library. I know there are probably other Faculty members interested in this area, and I think seeking out those individuals is also a good step.

4) What are the factors supporting or preventing those "next steps?"
As I mentioned above, game-based learning falls under my research time - which is supposed to be 10% of my work time. Finding balance will be key, in order to actually move ahead.

5) What do the financial and economic situations at many institutions mean for instructional gaming in libraries?
I prefer to ignore economic conditions. Funding is usually the first question asked - so if it can be funded, great! If not, it's time for a new approach.

6) What other issues/questions should we be considering?
Incorporating gaming projects within faculties and partnering with campus departments seems like it might be an important strategy. It's important to imbed information literacy into the curriculum - so a game-based information literacy approach should also be embedded.

Discussion On: State of Gaming & Learning in Academic Libraries

2009-03-11T12:54:00.002-04:00

Paul Waelchli (of Research Quest blog and a contributor to this blog) has recently posed some questions to those of us in academic libraries researching and/or interested in gaming. He has noticed a decline (for lack of a better word) in new gaming projects over the last year and he is interested in exploring the reasons for this.

His questions are:
1) What is the current state of games and learning in academic libraries?
2) What are some of the factors to that current state?
3) Based on your experience and research, what are the next steps?
4) What are the factors supporting or preventing those "next steps?"
5) What do the finical and economic situations at many institutions mean for instructional gaming in libraries?
6) What other issues/questions should we be considering?

These are good questions for all of us to think about and resond to. Before I offer up my thoughts, I thought I would post here and allow any reader's of this blog to add their own comments.

Gaming in Libraries Course (free)

2009-03-05T10:54:00.003-05:00

Scott Nicholson, associate professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, will be teaching a course on Gaming in Libraries in June 2009. He is using YouTube as his teaching platform and has invited all interested individuals to participate in the course. You can learn more about the course and follow along at his blog here: http://www.gamesinlibraries.org/course/

Defense of Hidgeon

2008-06-04T14:04:00.002-04:00

The School of Information at the University of Michigan has released their report on the Storygame project, Engaging Undergraduates in Research Through a Storytelling and Gaming Strategy: Final Report to the Delmas Foundation. I've only skimmed the report but found their premises for further information literacy games useful...

Game play must contribute in a useful way to the coursework students are already doing.
Game play that gives players mastery over one key concept, task, or procedure is preferable to comprehensive game play.
Game play must count toward students’ grades in the course.
Game play must give students opportunities to see other researchers at work so they can connect what they do to what others do.
Students want positive and negative feedback from games to improve their performance.
Although students want to be in control during game play, they will collaborate with their peers when the collaboration furthers what they want to accomplish.
Students must have concrete evidence that leaving their computer to do research will have a payoff in terms of improving their research or affecting their grades.
Game play must foster opportunities for students to reflect on their own research habits and what they are learning.

More on Quarantined

2008-06-02T14:18:00.006-04:00

One thing that is very obvious when you play Fletcher Library's "Quarantined" is that the developers put a lot of thought into the content and design. I think that this game is a success. It's a success because it's fun. It's not perfect, but there are a lot of great components to the game. One of the key ingredients for this game is the story. The story is intriguing and I think that it's compelling enough to motivate players to continue if at first they don't succeed. I'm including some screenshots to the game and also some contact information if you'd like to give the game a try. ASU is considering making the source code available for a "nominal fee". You can read more about the game and how to login here.

Citricon Library Defender

2008-05-13T09:26:00.003-04:00

There seems to be loads of innovative services coming from the Orange County Library System, and Jenny over at Shifted Librarian posted about their forthcoming game to be released May 15th. It looks very intriguing.

Gaming, Learning and Libraries Symposium

2008-05-08T12:49:00.003-04:00

A call for presenters at the 2008 Gaming, Learning and Libraries Symposium has been posted over at ALA Tech Source. The deadline for submission is June 15th, so be sure to get your great ideas and projects submitted in time. The conference runs from November 2-4, 2008. See the announcement here.
[photo credit: clare_and_ben]

2008-05-02T09:54:00.008-04:00

I am not a computer programmer, but when I was a child I remember writing code with our Commodore 64. I copied the code from a manual and played around with variables to see what kind of changes I could make to the output. I was 10 and I actually found this fun. I'm sure there were many other kids out there doing the same thing. Microsoft's Matt MacLaurin explains that the blank computer screens with their blinking prompts in the 80's sent a clear signal to people that computers were a creative medium. With today's interfaces, he thinks that the invitation to create and the invitation into the programming world has been diluted, so at Microsoft, Matt is part of a team developing Boku - a Teletubbie-styled visual programming tool that will serve as the blinking ready screen for today's kids. This tool will allow people to program games. Listen to John Udell's very interesting interview with Matt on IT Conversations.

2008-02-15T08:53:00.005-05:00

The 2008 CIL conference (Computers in Libraries) held April 7th-9th in Arlington, VA has 5 presentations devoted to gaming and virtual worlds. Here are the speakers and the information on their talks as listed in the conference program:

Chad Boeninger - Learning from Video Games
Many librarians and educators recognize the importance of video games and learning, but do not have the time or the resources to build game-based library training tools. Boeninger uses actual scenarios from popular games to demonstrate how video games attract players, retain their attention, and make them learn. The presentation offers suggestions about how librarians Many
librarians and educators recognize the importance of video games and learning, but do not have the time or the resources to build game-based library training tools. Boeninger uses actual scenarios from popular games to demonstrate how video games attract players, retain their attention, and make them learn. The presentation offers suggestions about how librarians can incorporate many gaming learning principles into existing library services, resources, and instruction and also discusses the future of incorporating gaming in libraries.

Marsha Spiegelman and Richard Glass - Gaming & Learning
Social networking and gaming define the millennial student. This session highlights an innovative collaboration between a reference/instruction librarian and mathematics/computer science instructor that utilized course blogs and gaming scenarios to incorporate information literacy as an integral and assessable component of math/computer science courses. Games provided the
interest and incentive students needed to improve their information literacy skills, and blogs extended interaction and enhanced student/librarian relationships. Speakers discuss their partnership on information literacy game design and adaptation, research assignments, and share their lessons learned so others can try this approach.

Martin House and Mark Engelbrecht - Gaming for Adults
Speakers report on research into how gaming attracts adults to the public library and how it may increase their future usage of libraries. They look at trends such as the information gap and social/technological access gap and discuss how their data shows that gamers are avid users of reference services. Come and get a new perspective on adults and libraries.

Barbara Galick and Kitty Pope - Convincing Administrators of the Validity of
Virtual Worlds
Virtual worlds are rapidly increasing in use by all ages and many of them are not game-oriented. How do you convince your administrator that your library needs to participate and why it is important to allow you staff time to work in a virtual world library? Speakers and library administrators share tips and strategies to help you win over your administrator.

Craig Anderson, Krista Godfrey, Troy Swanson, and Larry Sloma - Integrating Second Life: Courses and Collections

Many business and educational institutions have been opening up shop in cyberspace with the SL online virtual reality platform. Anderson and Godfrey explain how academic libraries are using SL to reach elusive patrons and offer services such as virtual reference. Swanson and Sloma talk about a collaborative project that brought together student content, cultural events, and virtual worlds. A class of honors students worked with the library to create the core content and supporting research for a virtual exhibit about Malcolm X. Geographic material and supporting timelines was presented in a website that utilized Google Maps and a three dimensional exhibit in SL. Speakers discuss how the virtual environment impacted the presentation of content and services and changed interactions between content and user, and provide tips, tricks, and strategies for instituting a virtual branch of your own academic library and enhancing digital collections.

2008-01-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

Library Arcade: Carnegie Mellon's ongoing gaming project

Since there has been some recent blog discussion and coverage of Carnegie Mellon’s Library Arcade by the LibrarianinBlack and other blogs here and here. And even some negative coverage on Joystiq. I wanted to share some of my discussions with Daniel Hood, one of the librarians who worked on Carnegie Mellon University’s library game. I talked with Dan at LOEX last spring and again in September right before the release of their games. The full conversation is posted here, but I wanted to share a little here as well.

One of the more interesting pieces is how the design and development of the project shifted over time. The game was envisioned with five minigames, with specific learning objectives for each game. The four members of the design committee had envisioned Max’s narrative tying each of the minigames together, but budget and time constraints led to the decision to release “Library Arcade” as stand-alone games.

The lessons this project provides: challenges of student programmers, limitations of a $50,000 budget, flexibility in design - all are worthwhile for those planning their own library game projects.

2007-12-06T09:17:00.000-05:00

Jenny Levine recently wrote about a researcher from the University of Michigan looking for external library partners to test and build upon an information literacy game that has been built. According to Jenny, the prototype is fully functional. Using evidence from initial testing, they are already thinking about how to improve the approach taken with the game. Read more about this collaborative approach from the Shifted Librarian post.

2007-11-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

For a glimpse into the world of a game developer, Kyle Wilson's blog "Game Architect.Net" discusses pertinent topics in the field. His personal history page is worth a read for anyone contemplating going into game development as it paints an honest, unglamorous picture. Also, as we tend to think of commercial games as being huge money-makers, Kyle points out another side to the story:

"...of the few lucky games that make it to master and end up on shelves, far fewer still are given the time or money or attention to design that they need to succeed. I've heard that only 30% of games in development ever ship, and that 60-80% of those lose money."

2007-10-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

Kathleen Hansen and Nora Paul presented their modding work of Neverwinter Nights at the 2006 EDMEDIA conference. Along with programmer, Matt Taylor, they created a game called "Disaster at Harperville" for their course, "Information for Mass Communication" at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. The game is designed to reinforce information gathering strategies and encouraged such things as message analysis, evaluation and selection of gathered information, synthesis of the information and crafting messages. If you are interested in modding Neverwinter nights for educational purposes, this conference paper is a must read as it discusses the details of modding including the problems they encountered. Kathleen and Nora do a wonderful job of assessing the game as a learning object and also discuss their next steps. They plan to move beyond the Neverwinter Nights environment into an Open source platform which will remove some limitations. In the NWN environment they were concerned about the inability to share their modification to a wider audience who might be interested in using it as a learning aid. One interesting and unexpected outcome they discuss was the students' reaction to the game world library:

...their favorite part of the game was the library! They mentioned how helpful
the librarian character was and how rich the information resources were. If this
kind of appreciation of a virtual space could translate to off-line behavior and
use of the library, this would be a wonderful unintended outcome of the game.

Paul, N. & Hansen, K. (2006). Disaster at Harperville: The modding of Neverwinter Nights to teach journalism students the strategic steps in information gathering. In E. Pearson & P. Bohman (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2006 (pp. 1954-1959).

[Image courtesy of: http://sjmc.umn.edu/mreporter/winter2005/neverwinter.html]

2007-08-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

Games, Learning and Society 3.0

I finally got around to providing brief overviews and some thoughts on the sessions at GLS held in Madison Wisconsin, July 12-13. You can find them stashed at Liblaureate.

If you're looking for notes from some of the sessions you can find them at The Shifted Librarian, July 12 and July 13. Also check out more comments at Tidbits of Interest.

2007-05-30T08:06:00.000-04:00

I recently had a chance to meet with and listen to University of Calgary librarians, Chris Thomas and Jerremie Clyde, who presented their ongoing work and research into game-based learning at the University of Waterloo. For their game "Hard Play" they have selected the game engine from HalfLife 2 to keep it engaging and immersive. Chris and Thomas emphasized the importance of first looking at game-play when building a game. The next important aspect should be the narrative. Once these elements have been established, learning goals can be looked at. It has to be fun first if it is to work at all. The modding community surrounding HalfLife is quite substantial and this has been a big help for Chris & Jerremie. They have developed various rooms thus far that look eerily similar to their library in a not-so-distant dystopic future. When staff were shown the game screenshots they immediatley recognized various spaces in the library. Chris & Jerremie are tapping into the web 2.0 principle by sharing all that they learn as they continue to build "Hard Play". I'm looking forward to watching it progress. Follow along with them here: http://www.ucalgary.ca/hardplay/

2007-05-14T16:25:00.000-04:00

Website for Hardplay

FYI for those interested - Jerremie and I have created a website for HardPlay, which is our research into modifying a first person point of view, action adventure commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) game to evaluate the effectiveness of digital game based learning for transforming undergraduate students into information literate researchers. You can find it at http://www.ucalgary.ca/hardplay/

2007-05-07T15:44:00.000-04:00

Quarantined: Axl Wise and the Information Outbreak

Tammy Allgood , Digital Delivery and Design Librarian at ASU at the West campus
Bee Gallegos, Librarian, Lower Division Coordinator at ASU at the West campus
Karen Grondin, Library Specialist at ASU at the West campus

Last week at the LOEX conference in San Diego, the librarians from Arizona State University presented on their game Quarantined. This spring was their first semester using the game in a classroom and they have feedback from student use during classes.

Unfortunately, they described the feedback as "kind of depressing" and found that the students are "not learning what they thought they would." Although the feedback from the students was not as positive as they hoped, I believe they close to having a game that meets some of their objectives.

Try the game out for yourself - Quarantined (username: loex; password: 2007). The trial will be up for about 3 weeks.

2007-04-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

Matthew Weise - Educational Game Creation Interview

Matthew Weise spoke at GDC this past March about using commercial off the shelf (COTS) games for education. Weise created the game Revolution, while he was at MIT. I spoke in detail with Matt after GDC last month about his experience and insights for others looking to create educational games.

Revolution - Reflections from Matthew Weise
The first part of the interview focused on his design and creation of the game.

The main goal of the project was to create a believable simulation of colonial Williamsburg. Learning in the game did not come as a result of packaged content delivered in the game, it came through playing. Video games help teach history, not as a narrative, but as a process.

The second part of the interview covers the hurdles and challenges they encountered using a COTS game engine. The final part of the interview includes Matt's philosophy on educational games:

Weise cautioned not to make video games the “medicine in the apple sauce.”

Matt also gave some tips for others looking to get started, including let the game engine help dictate the learning objectives and give the project time.

Matt's comments tie in nicely to the previous discussions from January on this site. You can view Matthew Weise's powerpoint slides from GDC... here.

2007-04-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

Chris Thomas and Jerremie Clyde from the University of Calgary will be presenting their research and ongoing work incorporating game-based learning with information literacy at the upcoming Canadian National Higher Education Information Technology Conference held this year in Waterloo, Ontario.

Here is the abstract of their presentation:
Hard Play: Digital Game Based Learning and Information Literacy
The ability of Digital Game Based Learning to motivate, to engage and to shape the learner's thinking makes games an attractive choice for eLearning. Using a compelling narrative and entertaining game play, libraries can immerse learners in situations that allow them to use research tools and resources in complex problem solving. The presenters will introduce the theory and potential of digital game based learning and its relevance to libraries. They will discuss their ongoing research into modifying a first person point of view, action adventure commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) game to evaluate the effectiveness of digital game based learning for transforming undergraduate students into information literate researchers.

2007-02-26T14:29:00.000-05:00

Scott Rice and Amy Harris from the University of North Carolina Greensboro have graciously made their Information Literacy game available to other libraries for download and adaptation under the Creative Commons licence.

http://library.uncg.edu/game/mygame.asp

Thanks Scott & Amy!

2007-02-22T16:16:00.000-05:00

Serious Game Engine Shootout

In keeping with our ongoing discussion on using game engines (orignial or commerical), there is a nice piece over at Serious Games Source. They posted a comparison on a variety of game engine that can be used to make educational games. The first few are pretty are pricey as professional engines, but around page 3 the price starts to come down. Even Neverwinter Nights gets a mention.

If you've been interested in our discussions here about other creating games or have an idea but not sure how to put it into code. This article is worthwhile. The comparision gave me a few other game engine ideas and provide techinical specifics on each.

2007-02-22T00:20:00.000-05:00

The Altered Learning project is one project (in the UK of course) using the Neverwinter Nights game engine. I found this through the Learning in Immersive Worlds report, which was so recently posted on this very site!

I think the key is the spin-off learning activities that the students are required to do - they are still required to record their responses. Can a library mod transfer accomplish the same thing without curriculum support? Would students be AS interested if the long-term value was not easily recognizable?

"Altered Learning does just what is says on the tin. It provides effective alternative learning and teaching tools with the characteristics of a game, yet with the content of the traditional curriculum.

It’s a difficult balance to achieve but by modifying a commercial adventure game it has been done with great success.

It all began as an attempt to engage some rather reluctant learners. When teaching key skills in communication and application of number, learners much prefer to be sitting in front of a computer than a workbook, so a game was ingeniously devised that required the learners to learn by having to get through traps and pitfalls. The engine in the award winning Neverwinter Nights computer game had intricate coding incorporated in its programming so that the game produced a lot of the evidence for recognised KEY SKILL qualifications."

2007-02-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

While a few other blogs picked up on this on late last week, not many have dug into all 73 pages of de Freitas Game-based Learning Report. The report itself is a nice combination of literature reviews and case studies of programs using video games to teach. In fact the report ties in nicely to Christy and Chris's posts about the use of Neverwinter Nights and other mods for instructional gaming. The report uses Neverwinter Nights and other games as case studies... all of which could give us, as librarians, ideas for modding games to fit our instructional needs.

Here are some of the other highlights of the report, from both the literature review and the case studies:
- While games for education and learning are often advocated, the assessment is limited.
- Games do help students reach learning objectives, but they are not always the same objectives as initially desired.
- Games, by themselves can only do so much, but with discussion & supplemental materials games are very successful in reaching the learning objectives
- Like any educational technology, video games should have clearly defined learning objectives.
- There needs to be a development of a "best practices" application for those educators looking to integrate games into their classrooms

Overall this is a good report for both those already involved in educational gaming (the case studies and bibliography are both worthy of follow up study) and those just starting to get interested in video games in education (the introduction, summary, and definitions are a good place to start).

There is also some discussion about the need to standardized the terminology and vocabulary for educational games and games for learning. The report states there is a variety of definitions between commercial and educational games, and thus creates confusion for both educators and students. I would argue that creating a separate vocabulary for educational games may end up isolating our games from the immersion and motivation of traditional mass market games. Give it a read and let me know what you think...

Check out the full report here.

2007-02-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

Following Christy's post about mods - I agree that it is definitely one approach. It can be straightforward if using the generic world but altering the functions requires some programming.

In England, they've used the Half-Life mod to create DoomEd, a single-player first person shooter learning game that combines science and history with FPS action, taking players through the horror of bio-terrorism and WWII chemical experimentation gone wrong. It's aimed at high school students.

2007-02-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

I know that things have been fairly hush-hush over at Arizona State but I did finally stumble across their project website. I'd love to hear a report if anyone is heading to LOEX in San Diego.

Fletcher Library Game Project

2007-01-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

Mods might be the best answer. Using commercial game engines to design an educaitonal game seems sensible. The likelihood that librarians or educators could create something comparable to the games students love to play is very slim. So, why not use a Mod (modification)? A colleague of mine has directed me to the game Neverwinter Nights. There are some current academic projects on the go using this game engine. See MIT & University of Wisconsin's "Revolution": http://gaming.mit.edu/revolution/ or read about the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication's project.

2007-01-18T08:34:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a comprehensive overview of gaming and libraries, you must get a copy of the Sept/Oct issue of Library Technology Reports. In 9 chapters, Jenny Levine introduces the gaming generation, explores the cognitive processes involved in gaming, details how to set up games and tournaments in your library, and presents interesting case studies of how games are being used in public, school and academic libraries. This is a must read for anyone interested in gaming in libraries.
Levine, J. (2006). Gaming & libraries: Intersection of services. Library Technology Reports, 42(5)

If you've been working on developing a great game or are interested in discussing the gaming topic, a call has gone out for presenters for the next Gaming in Librabries Symposium:
http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2007/01/gaming-learning-and-libraries-symposium-call-for-presenters.html

2007-01-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

Here is yet another library game using quiz-style questions. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, as they suggest it may take 45-60 minutes to play. From a peak at the review section, it looks as though they cover quite a lot of material for developing research skills.

Info Game: http://library.austincc.edu/help/infogame/start.htm

2006-12-19T14:29:00.000-05:00

More great podcasts - this time interview-style found at http://www.thinkport.org/technology/gotgame/doandview/podcast.tp. You'll learn about MIT's Education arcade and also learn some insight from Henry Jenkins.

2006-12-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

For those of you finding it hard to keep up with the pace of the research being published in journals on game-based learning, you might want to download a few podcasts on the topic from this game-based learning podcast archive: http://talkingfavourites.com. There is some great content here if you can get passed the computer-generated voice.

2006-12-06T14:32:00.000-05:00

playbe's playce

Over at Aaron Schmidt's walking paper blog, he links to this site. Aaron challenges librarians to use it in a Young Adult site, but I think there is use here for academic libraries as well. The games provide a fun way of selecting different content pieces and allow for a variety of learning/personality types. It seems like it could fit with subject specific webpages or departmental library pages. If we are creating resource pages, let's do it in a way that students would want to explore.

Here's my idea:
If the content items can be clicked on, why not populate that with subjects or resource links. The content item boxes in the Breakout like "Achiever" game could explode when hit to create additional subcategories. The same is true for the planes in the "Killer" game or the stars in the "Explorer" game. Why couldn't this be a visual way to navigate subject headings or LC classifications? Clicking/breaking/shooting one broader content item could open up more smaller, focused items. Couldn't this help students narrow their searches or topics in a creative manner?

The concept isn't any different than what many of us do now, it's just a more enjoyable way through the research process. As an information literacy librarian, the idea of game based navigation makes sense. To me, researching is a game and a quest and something like this takes advantage of that basic idea. Creating an easy and intuitive interface is not a new idea, so why not make it fun along the way.

What do you think? What other applications are there?

2006-11-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Leveling Up for Educational Games
Educational Gaming Has to Engage the Students… but How? at EduTechie.com

Here is an interesting blog post that I was directed to from Educause. He brings up some good ideas about using games. His question about if using the game in an educational setting kills the fun of the game. There is that potential, but if done right, the game doesn't have to be boring. If a game isn't fun, or at least interesting why are we trying to integrate them? He doesn't really offer any help on this issue, but simply raises the question.

I am incredibly intrigued by his section of "Linking the Digital World..." The application and ability to link real life activities with skills and traits within a virtual/digital world would be amazing. No longer would a virtual world be your "Second Life" it would part of life. Learning communities could develop around this on campuses, study groups, and classes could be worked in. If a game gives increased experience points for studying in the real world, there is suddenly a lot more motivation for activities. Granted the logistics seem like a nightmare.

The idea of creating activities either real or virtual that add to a user's in-game power or prestige is not new for video games. This "leveling up" is a traditional feature of all role-playing games. But it's an interesting door to open from an educational standpoint. Thanks Jeff for providing a nice addition to the growing dialog that we are a part of.

2006-11-23T07:25:00.000-05:00

In her blog, Jenny Levine points to an excellent information literacy game built by Scott Rice and Amy Harris at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Libraries. The game is interactive, allowing 1-4 players. The game makes use of timed trivia-style questions, avatars and lots of colour. It looks fun and effective and I'll be interested in hearing about its impact.

2006-11-02T16:06:00.000-05:00

LearningTimes Network - "LearningTimes.org"

The TLT network is hosting a free Webinar intitled "A Game Based Approach to Website Evaluation."

I used gaming strategies this semester to teach website evaluation. I didn't use a game, but the strategies and apsects that games bring. So I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

It's free so sign up and I hope to see you there on the 14th.

2006-10-25T11:35:00.000-04:00

MacArthur Foundation Series - "Open Forum"
There is an interesting discussion going on over at TLT through the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. It free to register, so join in and discuss.

Dialogue 2: Gaming Literacies (October 23-27)
“Learning to “read” a game system in order play with it points toward a specific kind of literacy connected, in part, to the ability of a player to understand how systems operate, and how they can, in turn, be transformed.” (from MacArthur forum description)

Ever see a student get frustrated with a database? I see it in every class. Learning to “read” and navigate an online database takes some of the same exploration, testing, and understanding that “reading” a game system does. The challenge is to make that connection in the students’ minds. This discussion is going on right now, so jump in and join James Paul Gee and others.

Dialogue 3: Pathways To Gaming “This dialogue explores the different paths taken by young people, educators, and parents into (and out of) gaming, for there is certainly no single trajectory common to all players. Sometimes they operate as doorways into specific content, offer an introduction to a specific skillset.” (from MacArthur forum description)

This discussion starts next week, so join up now and let’s work together to get students down our path. Information Literacy (or whatever you what to call it), as a skillset, is not that different from gaming strategies. Both require the user to find information (game challenges and exploration), evaluate it (solving in-game puzzles), and know when and how to apply it (mastering a game, advancing a level).

If you are interested in more discussions like this check out my blog “Research Quest” on the links. I'm new here and looking forward to continuning this discussion in future posts.

2006-10-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

In his Silversprite blog, John Kirriemuir points to two new reports dealing with video games and teaching/learning.

Unlimited learning: Computer and video games in the learning landscape
and
Teaching with games

One might suspect bias with these reports, given the involvement of the commercial gaming companies, but I think it's great to see them forming research partnerships with the governmental & educational agencies.

2006-09-28T11:46:00.001-04:00

Being an Economics Librarian, I suppose it's natural that I'm getting more and more interested in the economics of gaming. I'm reading a new book by economist, Edward Catronova who explores "massively multiplayer online role-playing games". Castronova explores the idea that "synthetic worlds" encourage/produce ordinary human affairs. The author states: "There is much more than gaming going on there: conflict, governance, trade, love." Although I'm only part way through, I'm looking forward to the chapter called "Economics of fun".

Castronova, E. (2005). Synthetic worlds: The business and culture of online games. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

2006-09-15T15:56:00.000-04:00

As I work away at developing an IF game starring the library....

Here is a really great overview PowerPoint on video games and learning by John Kirriemuir :
http://www.ticer.nl/06carte/publicat/15Kirriemuir.ppt

2006-07-12T16:07:00.000-04:00

I just downloaded a copy of an Interactive Fiction software program. I'm interested in the narrative function in games, and so this seems like an good way to get my feet wet using a text-based gaming approach. The program looks really user friendly. If you recall the text-based adventure games from the '80s, then this program will be very nostaligic for you.

The ADRIFT web site is located here. The download includes a very useful manual.

2006-06-16T15:49:00.000-04:00

There are some really interesting developments going on within the 3D virtual reality world, "Second Life". A group of librarians, (Greg Schwartz, Lori Bell, Kelly Czarnecki, and Jami Lynn Schwarzwalder) have embarked on the virtual development of a library inside this world. The library is called the Second Life Library 2.0. It is free to create an avatar and download the Second Life software. The Librarians who volunteer their time inside this world offer virtual library instruction tutorials. It is well-worth taking a look at.

Listen to an mp3 explaining Second Life Library 2.0.

This mp3 is linked from another site that will be of interest to us - Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL).

2006-06-07T21:53:00.000-04:00

I recently listened to a great online seminar from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. Richard Van Eck's talk was entitled "An Instructional Designer Looks at Digital Game-Based
Learning." If you have access to ELI, you can listen to the seminar in their archive:
http://www.educause.edu/Archive/8996

Van Eck's 4 principles of learning in games: 1) Games employ play theory, cycles of learning,
and engagement 2) Games employ problem-based learning 3) Games embody situated cognition and learning 4) Games encourage question-asking through
cognitive disequilibrium and scaffolding

From the Chat, a free game development tool was mentioned that might be worth checking out:
Game Maker: http://www.gamemaker.nl/download.html

A commercial game engine (that does not require hard core programming skills) is Torque - $100 for a single user. http://www.garagegames.com/solutions/games/indie/

If you can recommend any other game development tools worth investigating (preferrably free) - please comment here.

2006-05-30T14:08:00.000-04:00

DIGRA (Digital Games Research Association) has a newly developed site, using the Plone Content Management System that allows members (it's free to register) to contribute and help organize the site. They explain: "this newly designed website / publishing environment / research archive is continuously under development, and the final form it will take depends on the direction you, as a member of the games research community want to take it into".

This should be an excellent place to get ideas and share ideas on gaming applications in education:

http://www.digra.org/

2006-04-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

In this PowerPoint presentation, Dr. Atsusi “2c” Hirumi, Peterson Lorins, and James Hogg nicely identify some important considerations and procedures in educational game development.

Analysis of Game Engines

There are a lot of Open Source game engines available, and this might be a good post for us to discuss and evaluate some of these. One good example of this is Blender. For a good overview of Blender - read up on it at Wikipedia

2006-04-11T23:43:00.000-04:00

My interest in using games to teach extends beyond gaming in the video game context. Any tactic, tool or technique that motivates a person to master new content is an effective teaching tool. Using video games in particular might be an effective way to reach our learners remotely - in the online world. The potential for games or gaming to be an effective teaching tool comes down to the level of engagement that is ultimately achieved. As an overview for those who may not know much about computer/video games, I think the wikipedia article on video games might be a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_and_video_games

It's my hope that if there are any successful applications of using video games to teach information literacy skills, readers of this blog will post their comments/findings here.

Learning retention - particularly retention of information literacy skills is another interesting area to explore. Will video games be effective? Will the gains be worth the pay-outs? I think the verdict is still out on that, but feel free to use this blog as an outlet for discussion.

There are some learning objects, games and simulations available in places such as MERLOT and CLOE. I haven't done a review to see who has been evaluating the effectiveness of these games in other disciplines, but it is definitely something that needs further exploration and may prompt future posts by me here.

2006-04-03T15:49:00.000-04:00

There is a really great overview article in the March/April issue of Educause. See Richard Van Eck's "Digital Game-Based Learning: It's Not Just the Digital Natives Who are Restless".

Other journals that you might want to monitor include:

Game Studies
and
Games & Culture

2006-03-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to gather a community of librarians together who are interested in using games (digitial games, in particular) to teach information literacy skills. If you're interested in contributing ideas here, please let me know.