Comments for The Game Learner http://gamelearner.edublogs.org Problem solving, decision making, roleplay, lateral thinking, collaboration - it\'s all in the game Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:49:04 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 Comment on Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, Simulations and the Construction of Knowledge – Lisa Galarneau by Recent Links Tagged With "schank" - JabberTags http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/29/thoughts-on-authentic-learning-experiences-through-play-games-simulations-and-the-construction-of-knowledge-lisa-galarneau/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Recent Links Tagged With "schank" - JabberTags Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:49:04 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=38#comment-54 [...] public links >> schank Saved by draeb on Sat 25-4-2009 Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, Saved by globetot on Sat 11-4-2009 Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars Saved by Rigmor23 [...] [...] public links >> schank Saved by draeb on Sat 25-4-2009 Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, Saved by globetot on Sat 11-4-2009 Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars Saved by Rigmor23 [...]

]]> Comment on Croquelandia – Uni of Minnesota Spanish language virtual world project by Elizabeth Andrews » Blog Archive » #18: Gaming in Libraries. http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2007/12/07/croquelandia-uni-of-minnesota-spanish-language-virtual-world-project/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Elizabeth Andrews » Blog Archive » #18: Gaming in Libraries. Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:19:09 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2007/12/07/croquelandia-uni-of-minnesota-spanish-language-virtual-world-project/#comment-53 [...] University of Minnesota did something with SL for Spanish education … here’s a link to a blog entry and YouTube [...] [...] University of Minnesota did something with SL for Spanish education … here’s a link to a blog entry and YouTube [...]

]]> Comment on Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, Simulations and the Construction of Knowledge – Lisa Galarneau by Bookmarks about Soundeffects http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/29/thoughts-on-authentic-learning-experiences-through-play-games-simulations-and-the-construction-of-knowledge-lisa-galarneau/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Bookmarks about Soundeffects Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:15:12 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=38#comment-47 [...] - bookmarked by 1 members originally found by DonnaVee on 2008-10-17 Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, [...] [...] – bookmarked by 1 members originally found by DonnaVee on 2008-10-17 Thoughts on: Authentic Learning Experiences Through Play: Games, [...]

]]> Comment on Thoughts on: From “First Person Shooter” to Multi-User knowledge spaces – Mathias Fuchs and Syl Eckermann by Eduversal Studios | The Game Learner http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/25/thoughts-on-from-first-person-shooter-to-multi-user-knowledge-spaces-mathias-fuchs-and-syl-eckermann/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Eduversal Studios | The Game Learner Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:45:11 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=35#comment-42 [...] in drawing on the work of Fuchs and Eckermann, creators of Expositur (which I’ve mentioned here before) to make the most of the space that we will be [...] [...] in drawing on the work of Fuchs and Eckermann, creators of Expositur (which I’ve mentioned here before) to make the most of the space that we will be [...]

]]> Comment on Creating the First Person Learner: Educational Applications of the First Person Shooter game genre (Me, 2008) by Leonard Low http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/06/27/creating-the-first-person-learner-educational-applications-of-the-first-person-shooter-game-genre-me-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Leonard Low Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:21:37 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=51#comment-41 An interesting perspective on what, as you say, has been a largely unexplored area of edugaming. I'd be interested in a more extended comparison on what you see as the differences (educationally and experientially) between FPS games and third-person perspective "Large Avatar-inhabited Worlds" (or LAWs) such as World of Warcraft. You might consider that for a future research topic... :) An interesting perspective on what, as you say, has been a largely unexplored area of edugaming. I’d be interested in a more extended comparison on what you see as the differences (educationally and experientially) between FPS games and third-person perspective “Large Avatar-inhabited Worlds” (or LAWs) such as World of Warcraft. You might consider that for a future research topic… :)

]]> Comment on Why is it always a first person shooter? by Leonard Low http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/06/16/why-is-it-always-a-first-person-shooter/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Leonard Low Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:02:20 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=50#comment-40 To me, the fundamental difference between a first-person and third-person game is in the sense of environmental awareness. A first-person game tends to have many of the same features as a third-person one: things like status bars and other "heads up" data on the screen. But a third-person perspective often allows for a wider "field" of vision: pulled back from the character, we can see what's in the immediate vicinity without having to turn the avatar around. This is, to me, a *better* representation of reality than a first-person perspective, because in real life we tend to be quite aware of what's going on in our periphery though our sense of hearing as well as natural movement of the head. A first-person perspective limits the user's peripheral awareness to a 30-degree wedge of vision, which is okay for shooting at things but not quite as good for exploring and interacting with rich environments. The encumbered field of vision becomes even more problematic when attempting to interact with objects that are very close: the corner of a brick wall in front of a first-person shooter, for example, can obscure the majority of the user's screen, whereas in a third-person perspective the same corner just becomes part of the overall environment to be considered. FPS games are a bit like living with binoculars/sniper scopes taped to your eyeballs. :) To me, the fundamental difference between a first-person and third-person game is in the sense of environmental awareness. A first-person game tends to have many of the same features as a third-person one: things like status bars and other “heads up” data on the screen. But a third-person perspective often allows for a wider “field” of vision: pulled back from the character, we can see what’s in the immediate vicinity without having to turn the avatar around. This is, to me, a *better* representation of reality than a first-person perspective, because in real life we tend to be quite aware of what’s going on in our periphery though our sense of hearing as well as natural movement of the head.

A first-person perspective limits the user’s peripheral awareness to a 30-degree wedge of vision, which is okay for shooting at things but not quite as good for exploring and interacting with rich environments. The encumbered field of vision becomes even more problematic when attempting to interact with objects that are very close: the corner of a brick wall in front of a first-person shooter, for example, can obscure the majority of the user’s screen, whereas in a third-person perspective the same corner just becomes part of the overall environment to be considered. FPS games are a bit like living with binoculars/sniper scopes taped to your eyeballs. :)

]]> Comment on Thoughts and ideas from gaming papers and articles 2 by Lynn Marentette http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/06/07/thoughts-and-ideas-from-gaming-papers-and-articles-2/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Lynn Marentette Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:29:35 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/?p=46#comment-39 I came across your blog today. Thanks for posting the information from gaming papers and articles! I came across your blog today. Thanks for posting the information from gaming papers and articles!

]]> Comment on Investigating: Possible applications of First Person Perspective/Shooter games in education by colinsimpson http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/23/investigating-possible-applications-of-first-person-perspectiveshooter-games-in-education/comment-page-1/#comment-33 colinsimpson Mon, 26 May 2008 12:24:00 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/23/investigating-possible-applications-of-first-person-perspectiveshooter-games-in-education/#comment-33 Well that's easy Len, I don't accept the premise that people don't learn anything from games like GTA IV. The supporter of the game was probably taking a defensive position intended to disarm criticism of the game that it encourages anti-social behaviour (which is a spurious claim in itself anyway). They may well also genuinely believe that they don't learn anything from the game itself (possibly seeing learning as uncool or something imposed on them at the expense of fun) but they're wrong. At the most basic level you learn the controls of the game, you learn about the characteristics of the objects that you interact with in the game, you learn about the characters that you interact with, the conventions of the story/genre/environment, you develop strategies for dealing with obstacles and most of all you learn by trying something and failing. Add to this the world of Russian crime types in modern day New York, what happens if you drive drunk (apparently) and other stuff I'm still managing to avoid knowing about and you have a whole virtual world of learning. I'm surprised if there's any time not spent learning. :) Well that’s easy Len, I don’t accept the premise that people don’t learn anything from games like GTA IV.

The supporter of the game was probably taking a defensive position intended to disarm criticism of the game that it encourages anti-social behaviour (which is a spurious claim in itself anyway). They may well also genuinely believe that they don’t learn anything from the game itself (possibly seeing learning as uncool or something imposed on them at the expense of fun) but they’re wrong.

At the most basic level you learn the controls of the game, you learn about the characteristics of the objects that you interact with in the game, you learn about the characters that you interact with, the conventions of the story/genre/environment, you develop strategies for dealing with obstacles and most of all you learn by trying something and failing. Add to this the world of Russian crime types in modern day New York, what happens if you drive drunk (apparently) and other stuff I’m still managing to avoid knowing about and you have a whole virtual world of learning.

I’m surprised if there’s any time not spent learning. :)

]]> Comment on Investigating: Possible applications of First Person Perspective/Shooter games in education by Leonard Low http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/23/investigating-possible-applications-of-first-person-perspectiveshooter-games-in-education/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Leonard Low Fri, 23 May 2008 04:55:56 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/05/23/investigating-possible-applications-of-first-person-perspectiveshooter-games-in-education/#comment-30 I had an interesting thought occur to me the other day as I was reading a review on the controversial (damned and acclaimed) FPS game, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV. One of the game's supporters was defending the game by saying that players DO NOT LEARN ANYTHING from FPS games like GTA. He was, of course, specifically referring to the violent and antisocial behaviours that are possible in GTA... but naturally, I thought about your thesis here, as (out of context) it appears to be diametrically opposed to the idea that FPS games might be useful for learning! How do you distinguish between the "learning" that does NOT occur in GTA IV, and the learning that might be accomplished in FPS "edugames"? Just a tough question to get your mind churning now you're back from your adventures overseas. :) L. I had an interesting thought occur to me the other day as I was reading a review on the controversial (damned and acclaimed) FPS game, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV. One of the game’s supporters was defending the game by saying that players DO NOT LEARN ANYTHING from FPS games like GTA. He was, of course, specifically referring to the violent and antisocial behaviours that are possible in GTA… but naturally, I thought about your thesis here, as (out of context) it appears to be diametrically opposed to the idea that FPS games might be useful for learning!

How do you distinguish between the “learning” that does NOT occur in GTA IV, and the learning that might be accomplished in FPS “edugames”?

Just a tough question to get your mind churning now you’re back from your adventures overseas. :)

L.

]]> Comment on Alternate Reality Games and an idea for mobile gaming by colinsimpson http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/03/05/alternate-reality-games-and-an-idea-for-mobile-gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-29 colinsimpson Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:32:21 +0000 http://gamelearner.edublogs.org/2008/03/05/alternate-reality-games-and-an-idea-for-mobile-gaming/#comment-29 Hmm, good question. For a fun game, you might take the scavenger hunt idea - say a list of locations - and have people moblog the image with a funny/clever/informative caption or use uploading mobile video to YouTube. Rules might include that the image needs to come from a specific phone - if Flickr doesn't support this (by showing you the number of the phone that sent it), they could be sent to gmail. I guess ulimately the goals of the game would determine the rules. Fashion students might go out and shoot what people are wearing, marketing students might look at in-store displays, OHS might have to find 5 potential hazards (or examples of good hazard management) - the snapping each other part is a bit of an add-on I guess. (Although you could have a game which runs similar to the life-sized "Scotland Yard" type games that have been run in cities for a while now - the "criminal" has to moblog their location every 5 mins and the "cops" use this to track them? - http://www.culturehole.com/article.asp?blog_id=14 (I think basically I just like the idea of running around the city playing spies :) Hmm, good question.

For a fun game, you might take the scavenger hunt idea – say a list of locations – and have people moblog the image with a funny/clever/informative caption or use uploading mobile video to YouTube.

Rules might include that the image needs to come from a specific phone – if Flickr doesn’t support this (by showing you the number of the phone that sent it), they could be sent to gmail. I guess ulimately the goals of the game would determine the rules.

Fashion students might go out and shoot what people are wearing, marketing students might look at in-store displays, OHS might have to find 5 potential hazards (or examples of good hazard management) – the snapping each other part is a bit of an add-on I guess. (Although you could have a game which runs similar to the life-sized “Scotland Yard” type games that have been run in cities for a while now – the “criminal” has to moblog their location every 5 mins and the “cops” use this to track them? – http://www.culturehole.com/article.asp?blog_id=14

(I think basically I just like the idea of running around the city playing spies :)

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