Videogames and Virtual Worlds for Learning?

1. Videogames and Virtual Worlds for Learning? Presented by Ann Crewdson for The CSLA Conference November 22, 2008

2. Objectives: By the end of the presentation, you will have: • Identified a useful method for evaluating video games for educational content. • Learned about why engaging children with digital content is important. • An understanding on why using electronic resources is a powerful way to teach children effectively, in classrooms.

3. ALSC’s Great Interactive Software for Kids Committee • Formerly Notables, Established: January 1987. Transformed: February 2007.Chair + 5Term: Fall, 2 year • Committee Charge, Terms and Criteria for Evaluation:

4. Function Statement (Scope): Birth to 14 years old. “To select, annotate, and present for publication, within the criteria and procedures established for selection, a biannual list of exemplary computer software and multi-platform media currently available. To define and develop guidelines and criteria for the evaluation of interactive software and electronic media.”

5. Evaluation Criteria • Content must be enhanced by the use of the graphics • Games should be user-friendly • Ease of use • Educational and entertaining • Age-appropriate • Collaborative play

6. Meeting Standards for Excellence • KONAMI Playground • Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree • Animal Genius • Nancy Drew PC Series

7. Game Flow “Flow” Frustration Difficulty Challenge Challenge Challenge Boredom Challenge Time

8. KONAMI Kids Playground Alphabet Circus and Dinosaur Shapes & Colors • Children refine motor skills • Letter knowledge • Primary colors • Reinforce letter, color, and shape recognition

9. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree • Activities to improve brain stimulation • Puzzles are both visual and audio • Thinking, memorization, computation, analysis, and identification • Challenge friends • Socialization

10. Animal Genius • Ages: K-2--Motivates learners toward goals and learning experiences. • Vocabulary Building, Life-Science Concepts, Sorting/Matching/Categorization • Skills acquired can be carried forth in new games or applied to real world contexts

11. Nancy Drew PC Series: Danger by Design • Requires active problem solving • Encourages nonlinear and higher order thinking • Develops sequential, logical, reading and organizational skills

12. Federation of American Scientists Learning Technologies Program Credibility-Research

13. LS&T Roadmaps • 6 Roadmaps + Executive Summary • Instructional Design • Question Generation & Answering Systems • Simulations and Exploration Environments • Learning Modeling & Assessment • Building & Maintaining Learning Systems • Games for Learning • Multi-disciplinary, multi-year effort • Input from over 100 learning science and computer/information science researchers from academia, industry, DoD, other gov’t • 3 multi-day workshops • Numerous interviews • Detailed description of research priorities, R&D chronology, metrics

14. Technology Can Make Learning: • More productive (quicker mastery, better retention) • More compelling • More personal • More adaptable to local needs • More accessible Source: Bloom et al., current technology data from Fletcher (IDA)

15. FAS Learning Games • Immune Attack: basic immunology education for high school (NSF) • Discover Babylon: humanities for 8-14 year-olds in classrooms and museums (IMLS)

16. Immune Attack • Goals: • Teach basic immunology concepts • Create a more positive attitude towards biology • Help teach young adults to choose better life-style behaviors to protect themselves from infection • Expose young adults to the exciting fields of healthcare and biosciences • Features: • Navigate realistic, biologically accurate settings • Explore human body environments, including blood vessels and connective tissue • Explore cell structures and teach behaviors using game-based controls • Defeat invading bacteria to prevent infection

17. New Learning Tools Make Possible: • Highly motivating challenges • Embedded assessments • Scaffolding • Question Generation and Answering • Simulated environments that allow players to build, experiment, operate equipment, explore • Collaboration

18. Goals: • Engage learners, ages 8 – 14, in challenges and mysteries that can only be solved by understanding • the origins of writing and the path from pictures to phonetics • Mesopotamian society, business practices, and trade • Demonstrate new ways to reassemble artifacts and knowledge about them now spread across many different museum and library collections • Features: • Accurate historical and scientific information • 3D photorealistic simulations of cities & temple complexes that allow open-ended exploration and discovery • Contextualization of museum artifacts used by characters in virtual environments • Compelling, age-appropriate challenges and assignments

19. Characteristics of Games & the Potential for Learning • Games support: • Active learning • Experiential learning • Problem-based learning • Immediate feedback • Learner-centered learning

20. Where do we go from here? • Form Partnerships • Youth Advisory • Look in your own backyard • Continue to do Research

21. A Path Forward Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has! -Margaret Mead

22. For more information • Ann Crewdson Children’s Section Supervisor Issaquah/Sammamish Libraries King County Library System crewdson@kcls.org • Angelique Kopa Materials Selection, Librarian Harford County Public Library kopa@hcplonline.info • Michelle Roper Director, Learning Technologies Federation of American Scientists mroper@fas.org