Industry Masters offers single-user and real-time, multiplayer simulations developed by Industry Masters for use by business schools, business competitions and corporate events. The multiplayer simulations allow you to run your own business and measure its success against the businesses of your competitors from all over the world. The single-user games such as Bank Rush, Mastering the Credit Crisis and Rescue Detroit (aimed at the automotive industry) are also grounded in real global economic conditions.
Although my knowledge of business principles is limited and my interest minimal, I decided to test myself by playing Bank Rush. Watching the computer-generated narration of the introductory video, I learned that the mission was to manage a bank through the financial crisis that began in 2007. I was given a brief overview of the trends and regulatory decisions which affect a bank’s direction. Each month I was made aware of the current state of financial affairs and then expected to base my decisions about things such as raising or lowering interest rates. My success was measured against other players’ performance.
As a part of a blended solution, I think that Bank Rush would certainly help business students learn to apply principles they’ve reviewed in lecture. The games themselves seem quite relevant and the videos do bring the descriptions of scenarios to life in a way that a written description wouldn’t. As a standalone game, I think that players without the support of an online or real classroom community might get overwhelmed by the abundance of information and the limited guidance offered.
What struck me while playing Bank Rush was whether it’s be possible for a game to engage a player in a topic that isn’t inherently engaging for them to begin with. Can superior game elements outweigh the inherent dullness of subject matter? If Bank Rush, for example, added more of a narrative to the game, would I have found it more compelling?
The goal I'm setting for myself in the development of games designed to educate on the payroll industry is to use narrative to draw someone into the game who isn't interested in payroll to begin with. We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
WolfQuest
Wolfquest is an immersive downloadable game developed by the Minnesota Zoo to "change players' attitudes towards wolves and habitat conservation in the real world by creating a strong emotional connection between players and wolves. " In addition to the game and a community forum, there is a section of the website devoted to wolf education, including classroom activities, videos Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the first release of the game, Amethyst Mountain was in 2007 and the next release, Slough Creek, is slated for the end of 2009.
The game has both single and multiplayer modes. In each, the player assumes the form of a wolf avatar, selects its most important traits, and travels through the mountains of Colorado in search of a mate. Along the way, he or she (depending on what the player chooses) howls, runs, jumps and bites while encountering elk, coyotes, hares and even grizzly bars. The wolf can howl, run, jump, and eat. Short, written guidelines are offered when needed (e.g., Notifying you that you're in another wolf's territory) and a help function is always available charting the different keyboard functions. Additionally, in the multiplayer online mode, the player can chat with other players using a specific wolf lexicon of 5,000 words and also work together in a pack to take down an elk.
Clark Aldrich discusses game elements as "techniques that motivate people to want to engage an experience, outside of any intrinsic motivation." And WolfQuest has those elements in abundance. The mountain landscape is beautiful and the soundtrack by Tim Buzza is haunting and beautiful. I honestly enjoyed the experience of running through fields as a wolf with the forest surrounding me. I was a half hour into the game before I realized how much time had passed and began wondering why I couldn't find a mate. I started to feel a bit insecure about what I thought was quite a lovely pelt.
I think the game succeeds in its mission of encouraging the identification of players with wolves. Rather than anthropomorphize the wolves as a novel inevitably would (If anyone has read the Warriors series or Watership Down, you'll know what I mean), the player does, I think, get a sense of what it might be like to run wild and free through the forest driven by very basic needs. It also I'm not sure how many players it's attracted as a standalone game. As lovely as it is, it doesn't have the high production values and more complex narratives of games like World of Warcraft. Luc definitely thinks its cool, but he'd rather play Assassin's Creed (which by the way he claims has taught him about the Knights Templar and all kind of other religions). Nevertheless, I think it would make an excellent component of a Science class and really help engage students in the study of conservation issues.
The next release, Slough Creek, looks even more engaging in that you not only assume the form of a wolf but you also have a litter of pups that you must fend for. I can't wait to see how Luc handles a family of his own.
The game has both single and multiplayer modes. In each, the player assumes the form of a wolf avatar, selects its most important traits, and travels through the mountains of Colorado in search of a mate. Along the way, he or she (depending on what the player chooses) howls, runs, jumps and bites while encountering elk, coyotes, hares and even grizzly bars. The wolf can howl, run, jump, and eat. Short, written guidelines are offered when needed (e.g., Notifying you that you're in another wolf's territory) and a help function is always available charting the different keyboard functions. Additionally, in the multiplayer online mode, the player can chat with other players using a specific wolf lexicon of 5,000 words and also work together in a pack to take down an elk.
Clark Aldrich discusses game elements as "techniques that motivate people to want to engage an experience, outside of any intrinsic motivation." And WolfQuest has those elements in abundance. The mountain landscape is beautiful and the soundtrack by Tim Buzza is haunting and beautiful. I honestly enjoyed the experience of running through fields as a wolf with the forest surrounding me. I was a half hour into the game before I realized how much time had passed and began wondering why I couldn't find a mate. I started to feel a bit insecure about what I thought was quite a lovely pelt.
I think the game succeeds in its mission of encouraging the identification of players with wolves. Rather than anthropomorphize the wolves as a novel inevitably would (If anyone has read the Warriors series or Watership Down, you'll know what I mean), the player does, I think, get a sense of what it might be like to run wild and free through the forest driven by very basic needs. It also I'm not sure how many players it's attracted as a standalone game. As lovely as it is, it doesn't have the high production values and more complex narratives of games like World of Warcraft. Luc definitely thinks its cool, but he'd rather play Assassin's Creed (which by the way he claims has taught him about the Knights Templar and all kind of other religions). Nevertheless, I think it would make an excellent component of a Science class and really help engage students in the study of conservation issues.
The next release, Slough Creek, looks even more engaging in that you not only assume the form of a wolf but you also have a litter of pups that you must fend for. I can't wait to see how Luc handles a family of his own.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Little Big Planet
I'm one of those parents of young gamers who is always on the lookout for something remotely edifying video games. If an article suggests that the hours your child spends in the "flow" will help him become brighter and more successful, I'll read it. (I know, I know. It's such an unplayful attitude). And as I've mentioned before I'm jealous of video game designers who can capture the minds of young learners. For those reasons it should be no surprise that I'm drawn to Katrin Becker's examination of commercial video games in the "Pedagogy in Commercial Video Games" chapter of Games and Simulations in Online Learning. Rather than simply dismiss video games as violent, mindless trash, she looks at video games through the learns of popular learning theories and styles.
Intrigued by Becker's approach, I applied Gagne's Nine Events to one of my son's favorite games, "Little Big Planet" and recorded some of my notes. I chose LBP from his ever-growing collection rather than something more violent like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for a couple of reasons: 1) It has a sense of humor 2) The plot doesn't turn on the extermination of an evil, alien race, 3) Luc laughs a lot when he plays it and 4) The music is cool.
Gaining Attention: The game opens with a video involving a wonderful mix of animation and live action shots of people dreaming. We're told that LBP by a narrator with a wonderful British accent that the game has been built from the imaginations of people. The video seemed to promise creative play in a whimsical world which was very appealing. And, as I mentioned, a whimsical tune seems to just float through the air.
Informing Learners of the Objective: The playful tone was carried into the introduction in which the objectives of the game were laid out and tutorials on basic navigation skills were offered. Basically, we are expected to make our way through different cartoon-like worlds governed by a host of unique laws while acquiring nifty stickers and costumes along the way. What I liked about the introduction was that rather than offer a boring list of objectives, we actually learned the objectives through beginning the play immediately. For example, we'd travel down a path and then pause to watch a short video of how to use the controller to move around.
Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning (Retrieval): After discouraging my son from barking out orders to me on what to do, I had amploe opportunity practice the skills I had learned (such as jumping and running at the same time). On different levels I was asked to do slightly different things and even add a few skills along the way (like taking a picture of my son and myself). By activating a "pop-it" box I was able to do things like add stickers to objects (which is actually super fun). Hint bubbles were available just in time to remind me how to do things like apply the sticker.
Presenting the Stimulus (Selective Perception): What drove me forward through the different levels was a desire to make it through to the end of each journey acquiring as points as possible while having as much fun as possible, jumping, falling, and dressing up my rag doll body with all kinds of costumes. My son, the experienced player, also enjoys begin able to create his own levels for other players to enjoy by publishing them online.
Providing Learning Guidance (Semantic Encoding): Just as the opening "tutorial" was embedded within the game itself, all guides and hints seemed very organic to the game. When I needed to know how to activate something in my pop-it box, a hint would appear just in time. What I find particularly interesting, however, is how social the game can be when played collaboratively. When my son plays with his friends, their "tutorials" consist of shout outs to each other, "What the crap? Why aren't you doing this? DO THIS NOW!!! Want me to show you how to do this?" And if his buddies were online, I'm sure the same kind of peer to peer learning would be going on virtually.
Eliciting Performance (Responding): As Becker indicates, interactivity is one of the hallmarks of a video game. Without it, there is no game. Even when not playing collaboratively, players feel as if the world around them is alive. Every cause has an effect. If I can't jump far enough, I fall into nasty water and have to find my way out. What I find great about LBP was that there was always a safety net. If I got stuck, I was shown right away how to escape and get a second chance.
Providing feedback (Reinforcement): In LBP the player can clearly see when they reach the end of a level, how many points they've accumulated and how many objects they've acquired. In the online version players are encouraged to offer their feedback on levels created by other players.
Assessing Performance: Along with a running score visible at the end of each level, LBP keeps a tab of all the levels that have been completed. Making it through every level certainly drove my son and I did have to hear more than one complaint when I shut the game down without him having saved and the game recording his accomplishments for the day.
Enhancing Retention and Transfer (Generalization): In the world of the game itself, it's clear that the more tricks the player learns in LBP, the more fun he has on each level and the more creativity he shows when creating his own levels. But on a more general level, I can see that what I've learned about navigation and game play will probably help me when I try out other games.
Honestly, I think I could die happy if I could build a game for my company that met each of Gagne's requirements as effectively as LBP. i'd also be much happier if all the games Luc enjoyed were as imaginative and joyful as LBP. Maybe I could get him to try out Flower?
Intrigued by Becker's approach, I applied Gagne's Nine Events to one of my son's favorite games, "Little Big Planet" and recorded some of my notes. I chose LBP from his ever-growing collection rather than something more violent like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for a couple of reasons: 1) It has a sense of humor 2) The plot doesn't turn on the extermination of an evil, alien race, 3) Luc laughs a lot when he plays it and 4) The music is cool.
Gaining Attention: The game opens with a video involving a wonderful mix of animation and live action shots of people dreaming. We're told that LBP by a narrator with a wonderful British accent that the game has been built from the imaginations of people. The video seemed to promise creative play in a whimsical world which was very appealing. And, as I mentioned, a whimsical tune seems to just float through the air.
Informing Learners of the Objective: The playful tone was carried into the introduction in which the objectives of the game were laid out and tutorials on basic navigation skills were offered. Basically, we are expected to make our way through different cartoon-like worlds governed by a host of unique laws while acquiring nifty stickers and costumes along the way. What I liked about the introduction was that rather than offer a boring list of objectives, we actually learned the objectives through beginning the play immediately. For example, we'd travel down a path and then pause to watch a short video of how to use the controller to move around.
Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning (Retrieval): After discouraging my son from barking out orders to me on what to do, I had amploe opportunity practice the skills I had learned (such as jumping and running at the same time). On different levels I was asked to do slightly different things and even add a few skills along the way (like taking a picture of my son and myself). By activating a "pop-it" box I was able to do things like add stickers to objects (which is actually super fun). Hint bubbles were available just in time to remind me how to do things like apply the sticker.
Presenting the Stimulus (Selective Perception): What drove me forward through the different levels was a desire to make it through to the end of each journey acquiring as points as possible while having as much fun as possible, jumping, falling, and dressing up my rag doll body with all kinds of costumes. My son, the experienced player, also enjoys begin able to create his own levels for other players to enjoy by publishing them online.
Providing Learning Guidance (Semantic Encoding): Just as the opening "tutorial" was embedded within the game itself, all guides and hints seemed very organic to the game. When I needed to know how to activate something in my pop-it box, a hint would appear just in time. What I find particularly interesting, however, is how social the game can be when played collaboratively. When my son plays with his friends, their "tutorials" consist of shout outs to each other, "What the crap? Why aren't you doing this? DO THIS NOW!!! Want me to show you how to do this?" And if his buddies were online, I'm sure the same kind of peer to peer learning would be going on virtually.
Eliciting Performance (Responding): As Becker indicates, interactivity is one of the hallmarks of a video game. Without it, there is no game. Even when not playing collaboratively, players feel as if the world around them is alive. Every cause has an effect. If I can't jump far enough, I fall into nasty water and have to find my way out. What I find great about LBP was that there was always a safety net. If I got stuck, I was shown right away how to escape and get a second chance.
Providing feedback (Reinforcement): In LBP the player can clearly see when they reach the end of a level, how many points they've accumulated and how many objects they've acquired. In the online version players are encouraged to offer their feedback on levels created by other players.
Assessing Performance: Along with a running score visible at the end of each level, LBP keeps a tab of all the levels that have been completed. Making it through every level certainly drove my son and I did have to hear more than one complaint when I shut the game down without him having saved and the game recording his accomplishments for the day.
Enhancing Retention and Transfer (Generalization): In the world of the game itself, it's clear that the more tricks the player learns in LBP, the more fun he has on each level and the more creativity he shows when creating his own levels. But on a more general level, I can see that what I've learned about navigation and game play will probably help me when I try out other games.
Honestly, I think I could die happy if I could build a game for my company that met each of Gagne's requirements as effectively as LBP. i'd also be much happier if all the games Luc enjoyed were as imaginative and joyful as LBP. Maybe I could get him to try out Flower?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Colon-ization: The Legacy of Time Spent in the Academy
After writing my last blogs, I realized that my years as a graduate student has left me dependent on colons. I can't resist them. Why did this happen? Is it that I can participate in a discussion I initiate? Pose and answer a question? Is it because I can tease out irony in a topic? I guess you can take the woman out of the Humanities, but you can't take the Humanities out of the woman.
Gadgets, games and gizmos for learning (part 2)
Another nifty slogan from the book is to "Become a strategy guide" rather than aspire to be a "boss" or a "know-it-all dictator." He offers some general techniques to help facilitate the management of those gamers accustomed to boverthrowing "bosses" in their games: 1. Make rules, parameters, and goals explicit. 2) Allow for trial and error 3) Build a support and knowledge community 4) Encourage research 5) Assign multiple tasks to a gamer 6) Make tasks meaningful. As is the case with his advice on learning strategies, I think the techniques can be applied to the management of of many boomers and Gen X'ers.
After discussing ways to recruit gamers into the workplace (which is just a bit depressing given the current un and underemployment of college grads), Kapp offers advice on how best to sell gadgets, gizmos and gaming strategies for knowledge transfer to management. He offers three approaches: 1) Business case 2) Make gadgets and games look more corporate and 3) Slowly introduce games and gizmos into an organization so that no on realizes that you've been playful. No matter which approach is taken, it's important to focus on what is attractive to your organization's culture and know at what point in the "Games and Gadgets adoption continuum" , from pragmatist to connector to visionary,employees are located. I found this chapter particularly useful and liked the inclusion of data points designed to enhance business cases although they all could probably be updated by now.
Kapp ends his book with a discussion of Knowledge Requirements Planning, a process designed to ensure the translation of strategic knowledge goals into measurable learning objectives. He takes care to take into account the differences between boomers and gamers throughout the process.
Practicing what he preaches, Kapp turns his final chapter into a cheat sheet by summarizing the methods for making the knowledge transfer process between boomers and gamers more effective discussed in the book. I'll definitely use it as a quick reference guide.
After discussing ways to recruit gamers into the workplace (which is just a bit depressing given the current un and underemployment of college grads), Kapp offers advice on how best to sell gadgets, gizmos and gaming strategies for knowledge transfer to management. He offers three approaches: 1) Business case 2) Make gadgets and games look more corporate and 3) Slowly introduce games and gizmos into an organization so that no on realizes that you've been playful. No matter which approach is taken, it's important to focus on what is attractive to your organization's culture and know at what point in the "Games and Gadgets adoption continuum" , from pragmatist to connector to visionary,employees are located. I found this chapter particularly useful and liked the inclusion of data points designed to enhance business cases although they all could probably be updated by now.
Kapp ends his book with a discussion of Knowledge Requirements Planning, a process designed to ensure the translation of strategic knowledge goals into measurable learning objectives. He takes care to take into account the differences between boomers and gamers throughout the process.
Practicing what he preaches, Kapp turns his final chapter into a cheat sheet by summarizing the methods for making the knowledge transfer process between boomers and gamers more effective discussed in the book. I'll definitely use it as a quick reference guide.
Gadgets, games and gizmos for learning (part 1)
Karl Kapp, like Mark Prensky, has faith in the power of video games to transform education. He sees the rapture of his children when they immerse themselves in a game and he wants to tap into the power when building learning tools. He's also willing to argue that gameplay contributes to the rewiring of the next generations learning circuitry.
Although I firmly believe that organizations can learn from the success of video games, I don't agree with Kapp that we need to recast eLearning because gamers have radically different learning style. Like Ruth Clark, I think we should be paying attention to the principles of multimedia design when creating designing eLearning rather than adapt to the learner's apparent inclinations. I also think we should keep in mind the importance theories of "play" and "flow" when creating learning.
Even though as a non-gamer, I may not see video games as significant as Kapp, I appreciate his passion and his willingness to really think about how discussions of gaming can improve education.
Kapp begins his discussion by exploring frame games and simulations. He uses Gagne's knowledge hierarchy to categorize learning objectives and he offers suggestions for appropriate games. For example, he suggests using a word search to teach declarative knowledge and a more complex game like Jeopardy for concepts and rules. Higher-order knowledge requires the greater complexity provided by simulations. As was the case with frame games, he offers a neat, useful categorization of simulation types.
In the fourth chapter, Kapp shifts his focus to the gadgets that gamers (and I would even venture to say a large percentage of men of all ages) adore such as ipods and cell phones. He smartly recognizes how useful such tools can be for sharing those chunks of knowledge that people want to be able to access at their fingertips.
Continuing to use gamers' preferred learning techniques as his guide, Kapp discusses the value of cheat codes, search engines and Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs. Although I think gamers' learning preferences belong to a much wider audience, Kapp drives home an important point for those of us in Corporate Learning and Development: Provide people with the right tools so that they can access the just the right information(nothing more) at just the right time (when they need to use it).
Chapter 8 contains one of my favorite slogans of the book: Don't educate, automate. Make a system as foolproof as possible using technology and you won't have to invest millions in technology to fix problems and/or train people. Written before Wii took off, he devotes part of the chapter to the improvement of the human-computer interface for learning. I was especially interested in the guidelines he sets forth for creating the illusion of conversation between human and machine: 1) Maintain pacing, 2) Create illusion of awareness and 3) Maintain illusion of awareness.
Although I firmly believe that organizations can learn from the success of video games, I don't agree with Kapp that we need to recast eLearning because gamers have radically different learning style. Like Ruth Clark, I think we should be paying attention to the principles of multimedia design when creating designing eLearning rather than adapt to the learner's apparent inclinations. I also think we should keep in mind the importance theories of "play" and "flow" when creating learning.
Even though as a non-gamer, I may not see video games as significant as Kapp, I appreciate his passion and his willingness to really think about how discussions of gaming can improve education.
Kapp begins his discussion by exploring frame games and simulations. He uses Gagne's knowledge hierarchy to categorize learning objectives and he offers suggestions for appropriate games. For example, he suggests using a word search to teach declarative knowledge and a more complex game like Jeopardy for concepts and rules. Higher-order knowledge requires the greater complexity provided by simulations. As was the case with frame games, he offers a neat, useful categorization of simulation types.
In the fourth chapter, Kapp shifts his focus to the gadgets that gamers (and I would even venture to say a large percentage of men of all ages) adore such as ipods and cell phones. He smartly recognizes how useful such tools can be for sharing those chunks of knowledge that people want to be able to access at their fingertips.
Continuing to use gamers' preferred learning techniques as his guide, Kapp discusses the value of cheat codes, search engines and Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs. Although I think gamers' learning preferences belong to a much wider audience, Kapp drives home an important point for those of us in Corporate Learning and Development: Provide people with the right tools so that they can access the just the right information(nothing more) at just the right time (when they need to use it).
Chapter 8 contains one of my favorite slogans of the book: Don't educate, automate. Make a system as foolproof as possible using technology and you won't have to invest millions in technology to fix problems and/or train people. Written before Wii took off, he devotes part of the chapter to the improvement of the human-computer interface for learning. I was especially interested in the guidelines he sets forth for creating the illusion of conversation between human and machine: 1) Maintain pacing, 2) Create illusion of awareness and 3) Maintain illusion of awareness.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Learning Online with Games, Simulations and Virtual Worlds
When I read the Amazon email advertising Clark Aldrich’s new book, I thought it sounded like the perfect way to kick off my independent study on immersive Learning, especially since I had just picked up the textbook he co-edited, Games And Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks, and noted that it was chock full of tables and statistics.
I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed in the book. In addition to providing an overview of different types of what he calls HIVES (Highly Interactive Virtual Environments), he offers very practical guidelines for choosing, implementing and “selling” the right HIVE strategy to senior management and participants. Even though his approach is straightforward, he doesn’t just present a list of shoulds and oughts. Rather he encourages readers to make their own decisions about issues such as determining how much support to provide participants during a session. I was impressed that Aldrich seems more concerned with making sure that people make thoughtful choices rather than pushing a specific agenda.
The book is divided into three sections. In “What are HIVES and why should I care?”, Aldrich discusses each aspect of the four elements that constitute a HIVE: 1) Simulation, 2) Game, 3) Pedagogical, and 4) Tasks and Levels. He then differentiates between virtual labs, frame games, branching stories, interactive stories , practiceware and mini-games. He also brings to light a number of participant behaviors that should be addressed like “back channel chatting” and the threshold to quit (i.e., How do you strike a balance between challenge and anxiety so that the participant moves smoothly between moments of frustration that characterize the early moments of learning and resolution?)
Part 2, “ Choosing and Using a Highly Interactive Environment”, centers on identifying the right HIVE for a particular issue and understanding what ‘s involved in selecting a HIVE. He then talks about piloting and deploying the HIVE, paying attention to the preparation and materials needed to make the deployment a success. He ends with offering a number of evaluation strategies that should be taken into consideration once the HIVE has been deployed.
Part 3 is a short but offers very useful advice on how to sell a HIVE to Management. I found myself sketching my own strategy while reading it.
My appetite has now been sufficiently whetted and I’m not only ready to dive into more materials but am already itching to design and implement my own HIVE.
I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed in the book. In addition to providing an overview of different types of what he calls HIVES (Highly Interactive Virtual Environments), he offers very practical guidelines for choosing, implementing and “selling” the right HIVE strategy to senior management and participants. Even though his approach is straightforward, he doesn’t just present a list of shoulds and oughts. Rather he encourages readers to make their own decisions about issues such as determining how much support to provide participants during a session. I was impressed that Aldrich seems more concerned with making sure that people make thoughtful choices rather than pushing a specific agenda.
The book is divided into three sections. In “What are HIVES and why should I care?”, Aldrich discusses each aspect of the four elements that constitute a HIVE: 1) Simulation, 2) Game, 3) Pedagogical, and 4) Tasks and Levels. He then differentiates between virtual labs, frame games, branching stories, interactive stories , practiceware and mini-games. He also brings to light a number of participant behaviors that should be addressed like “back channel chatting” and the threshold to quit (i.e., How do you strike a balance between challenge and anxiety so that the participant moves smoothly between moments of frustration that characterize the early moments of learning and resolution?)
Part 2, “ Choosing and Using a Highly Interactive Environment”, centers on identifying the right HIVE for a particular issue and understanding what ‘s involved in selecting a HIVE. He then talks about piloting and deploying the HIVE, paying attention to the preparation and materials needed to make the deployment a success. He ends with offering a number of evaluation strategies that should be taken into consideration once the HIVE has been deployed.
Part 3 is a short but offers very useful advice on how to sell a HIVE to Management. I found myself sketching my own strategy while reading it.
My appetite has now been sufficiently whetted and I’m not only ready to dive into more materials but am already itching to design and implement my own HIVE.
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