Zoo Tycoon Approved To Use In Schools

It appears that Zoo Tycoon is gaining popularity and acceptance into various school curriculums.

Ohio- http://www.ohio.k12.ky.us/Technology/kets_requests.htm (See reference #OHIO-03-026)

Tucson Arizona- http://instech.tusd.k12.az.us/SoftwareWS/ApprovedSoftware.doc (Last entry)

Alabama- http://uasa.ua.edu/Files/Curriculum_modules/module76.pdf (Referenced throughout the document)

Murdoch University- Game Development Competition

The Second GameDC is a challenging competition for all school students in Year 12 and below. The software to be used to develop the game for entering the competition is Game Maker, which is available from: http://www.gamemaker.nl/games.html

This competition is supported and sponsored by the Department of Industry and Resources in Western Australia

F.A.S.- Summit On Educational Games

The Federation of (American) Scientists has just put their weight into the games and learning debate (they normally act/speak on nuclear issues)

With a report you can find here: http://fas.org/gamesummit/


Some educational games produced by FAS include-

Multi Casualty Incident Response Training for Firefighters
http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=297&contentId=77

Immune Attack
http://fas.org/immuneattack/

Discover Babylon
http://www.discoverbabylon.org/

Screen It! 2006

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is running competitions in making games, films (including mobile phone films) and animations. The name of the competition is Screen It! There are cash prizes.

More info at- http://www.acmi.net.au/screenit_2006.htm

World of Warcraft- A View From The Top

The following link is to a blog about a person who was addicted to World of Warcraft and a caution to others that may be fiunding themselves addicted to it. The comments from other readers at the bottom make for some interesting reading also.

A quick extract, "I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don't have to be ourselves when we don't want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I've seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ."

The full blog is at- http://tinyurl.com/ujp4z

Games Are Good For Learning...But Not Just Because They Are Games

"What Video Games have to teach us about Learning and Literacy. Good computer and video games are learning machines. Despite being long and complex, they get themselves learned and learned well, not just in tutorials, but as part and parcel of playing the game to the end. Thus, designers face and largely solve an intriguing educational dilemma, one also faced by schools and workplaces, as well: how to get people to learn and master something that is long and challenging - and enjoy it.

Schools, workplaces, families, and academic researchers have a lot to learn about learning from good computer and video games. In this talk I will explicate the learning principles that are built into good video games and discuss their implications for learning in and out of schools for a global, high-tech, and risky world."


For the full video, go to-
http://tinyurl.com/y7stvx
(Running time is a little over 1 hour and 20 minutes)

Research: Teaching With Games

This report outlines the context, objectives, methods, findings and key messages arising from the Teaching with Games project.

The report:
- offers an overview of teachers’ and students’ use of computer games and attitudes towards computer games in schools
- identifies factors which impact upon the incorporation of computer games into existing school practices
- describes the processes by which teachers plan and implement games-based learning in existing curricular contexts.

Go to-
http://tinyurl.com/obhrg



The full report is at-
http://tinyurl.com/17a

Survey on students' attitudes to games and learning-
http://tinyurl.com/yczgd4

Survey on teachers' attitudes to games and learning-
http://tinyurl.com/w2hfu

A bit more on Second Life...

As I said in my previous post, the presentation about the use of Second Life in education really posed a lot of questions for me. On the way home with collegues who attended Converge, it was certainly the hot topic in terms of the potential uses and unfortunately, the potential dangers.....

Anyway, a couple of links that may be of interest (Also use the search function above and check out the archive to other articles on this blog about Second Life)-

In The Grid- A Magazine about Second Life http://www.jasonpettus.com/inthegrid/mag01.html

Popular Science Photostory http://tinyurl.com/yzf9ps

Popular Science- Your Second Life Is Ready http://tinyurl.com/l3zkd

A Quick Reflection on Converge

Just got back from 2 days of overall some pretty inspirational stuff for me.

I'll endavour to do a full report back this week, depending on time however a few quick points...

• Every workplace needs a Nigel Paine! So inspiring and interesting to listen to.
• Really enjoyed Clint Smith's demo of Live Classroom. I haven't used it before and am very keen to see this concept pursued at work
• Some real food-for-though on many levels of the use of Second Life in the classroom after listening to the presentation by Malcolm Jolly (Gippsland TAFE)
• From a simulations perspective, enjoyed the Nursery Live 2 demonstration.

Read more soon!!!

Flight Simulator X

Flight Simulator X is coming!!!!

The 10th addition to the highly successful "Flight Simulator" franchise, "Flight Simulator X" will immerse players in a beautifully rich and realistic world, offering a completely new and innovative gaming experience with dozens of new aircraft to choose from, including the AirCreation 582SL Ultralight and Maule M7-260C Orion with wheels and skis.

Immersive world

"Flight Simulator X" offers players a rich and innovative gaming experience with new technological advancements, incredible graphics and added realism including weather, time of day and seasons.* Mission-based gameplayWith more than 50 new missions to choose from, aviators can build their skill levels and engage in even more stimulating gameplay than before.

New aircraft
Flight Simulator X will enable pilots to fly the aircraft of their dreams, from the DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane and Grumman G-21A Goose to the AirCreation 582SL Ultralight and Maule M7-260C Orion with wheels and skis.

Connected world

Through increased online gameplay capabilities, "Flight Simulator X" offers players a connected world where they can choose whom they want to be, from air-traffic controller to pilot or co-pilot.

Interactive airports

More than 24,000 airports feature AI-controlled jetways, fuel trucks and moving baggage carts, allowing players to explore their hometown or venture to a favorite far-off city.

For all the flight sime fans, check out some of thescreenshots above and details at avarious websites-

Microsoft- http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/flightsimulatorx.aspx

Game Spy- http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/flight-simulator-x/679528p1.html

Wikpedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator

The Metaverse Roadmap

What happens when video games meet Web 2.0? When virtual worlds meet geospatial maps of the planet? When simulations get real and life and business go virtual? When you use a virtual Earth to navigate the physical Earth, and your avatar becomes your online agent? What happens is the metaverse.

Taking its name from the immersive virtual world imagined by Neal Stephenson in his visionary novel, Snow Crash, the Metaverse Roadmap (MVR) is the first public ten-year forecast and visioning survey of 3D Web technologies, applications, markets, and potential social impacts. Areas of exploration include the convergence of Web applications with networked computer games and virtual worlds, the use of 3D creation and animation tools in virtual environments, digital mapping, artificial life, and the underlying trends in hardware, software, connectivity, business innovation and social adoption that will drive the transformation of the World Wide Web in the coming decade.

The MVR explores multiple pathways to the 3D enhanced web, not a single path to a "3D-only" web. An array of 3D web enhancements are emerging, visual extensions to the participatory web technologies now sweeping the online world.

Social search, the archiving and sharing of our favorite online and real world activities, ideas and experiences, is coming of age and going visual. Wikipedia, with over 4.6 million articles in 200 languages, is now the 20th most-visited website. Social photosharing communities like Flickr bring us into each other's visual lives as never before. Democratic social bookmarking, blogging, and syndicating sites like Digg have grown from 17,000 to 400,000 users in 12 months. Video-enhanced social networking sites like MySpace and Bebo now have over 200 million unique collective users. YouTube, currently the most popular of internet video sites, has 100 million downloads and 65,000 uploads per day. New browsers like Flock make blogging, RSS syndication, ranking, sharing, and commenting easier than ever before.

Among social virtual worlds, the 2.5D world Habbo Hotel now has 7 million youth users in 18 countries. The 3D virtual world Second Life has doubled from 160,000 to 330,000 accounts in four months (March to July 2006). The global market for asset trading, object creation, and services rendered in virtual worlds is estimated at anywhere from $200 million to $1.5 billion per year (mostly undocumented and untaxed at present). In Japan, social networking sites like GaiaX entice their users into online games and virtual worlds as just one of many social options. Early location-based games are emerging in Asia.

In the simulation space, virtual humans are being explored for their online educational ability. Virtual prototyping software is making great strides in industry, bringing us closer to an era of Fab Lab prototyping and product hacking/customization. 3D navigation systems are emerging in the automotive market in Japan and Europe. Local-positioning systems, like 3M's RFID Tracking Solution, and modeling advances like ArcGIS, Google Earth, and SketchUp are allowing us to create "mirror world" versions of physical space like never before...


For more info, go to-
http://metaverseroadmap.org/

Hand To Eye Conference 2006

An interesting conference....

http://www.handtoeye.net/

Hand to Eye – What Do We Learn From Games, is an annual conference event held during the GameCity festival. This year it will be hosted by Nottingham Trent University in partnership with New College Nottingham, Djanogly City Academy and Broadway Cinema, and is supported by the Department for Education and Skills.

Interactive entertainment and videogames are ubiquitous but poorly understood. While our schools create “digital natives”, the world of work is unequipped to fully utilise their new talents. With a media profile that barely registers beyond “trivial” and is usually just “bad”, and an industry defence strategy of repeating the sentiment that videogames “have some good aspects”, the truth, as ever, is more complicated.

This two-day conference takes the first exploratory steps towards explaining the subtleties, opportunities and truths involved with playing videogames.

Hand to Eye will feature leading edge teaching practice, games industry experts and discussion of how the skills required to play commercial videogames have taken on educational and cognitive aspects worthy of note and understanding.

Speakers and subjects

• Specific examples of the implicit learning strategies in commercial videogames.
  
• Examples of commercial videogames being used and adapted in the classroom.
  
• Blue sky projections – learning in and with videogames
  
• Audience and related professions
  
• Educators interested in learning how the classroom techniques utilising videogame technology.
  
• Games industry professionals can engage directly with the core of these new markets.
  
• IT leads in RDAs, local councils and government who need to understand how the new generation of school leavers will change the face of the workforce forever.
  

In this launch year, Hand to Eye makes no claim to be providing answers, but aspires to be asking and exploring the best possible questions.

Converge: E-Learning Conference

Featuring:

• Two superb key note speakers who are international leaders in e-learning and emerging collaborative tools for learning: Nancy White from the USA and Nigel Paine from the UK
  
• Highlights of the 2006 LearnScope and Victorian E-learning Grant projects
  
• Presentations from the 2006 Australian Flexible Learning Framework's New Practices, Inclusive E-learning, E-learning Networks, Creative Community Partnerships and Industry Engagement Projects
  
• Practical workshops by e-Works on the new TAFEVC3, e-portfolios, learning objects and PDAs, voice tools, designing e-learning, and using Flexible Learning Toolboxes
  
• Other exciting workshops and presentations on e-learning
  

This Victorian event is the most exciting e-learning opportunity in 2006, and you will not want to miss it!

More info at-
http://www.aspinonlineconsulting.com.au/converge/

I'll be going to both days, so I'll let you know my thoughts....

Website Focus: Fantasy Health Minister

Had an interesting link sent to me, Fantasy Health Minister.

Now anything that has fantasy in the title immediately got my interest! However, when I checked it out, it wasn't quite what I was expecting but I thought made for an interesting concept.

Check it out at http://www.policyforum.co.uk/game/

From the website-
Welcome to Fantasy Health Minister, the game where you take charge of the nation's health.

The object of the game is to improve the health of the nation and increase your political popularity whilst staying under budget - and keeping the people depending on you happy.

The game is played over four sessions in office, during each of which you can make up to eight policy decisions. At the end of each session, you will receive a status report that shows how well you did, and where you could improve.