Before truly digging into the world of serious games, I needed to research what a serious game was. I had never heard of a serious game, or what it stood for. Growing up and even to this day I have not been big into gaming, so this is all a new concept for me. The thought behind serious games is a wonderful idea! We live in a game centered world and kids completely engaged when they are playing video, so why not teach them a valuable lesson using video games. Serious games are more then just video games they can include other types of game. There are endless amounts of serious games out there, and it is interesting to see all the different types of games out there. Here are a few games I found that I found interesting:
Peacmaker- In this serious game players can either be the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President and make decision relating to the Middle East Conflicts. This is a single player game, where the player works through the challenges of being a world leader. This game is very interesting to me and if I was teaching a current world class for older students, this is a game I would have my students use in class. The game is free to download for both Mac and PC.
http://www.impactgames.com/peacemaker.php
PowerUp: This is a multiplayer game, where up to 8 players can play a mission and up to 50 players can play per planet. Players are asked to save a planet from the effects of burning fossil fuels. The game focuses on engineering and alternative methods of energy. As students play the game they meet and work with a Expert Engineer who helps guide student to understand was to create renewable enegry. There is also a teachers guide that goes along with the game, that provides teachers lesson to build a deeper understanding. The game is free to download.
http://www.powerupthegame.org/teachers.html
POX Save the People: This is both an application that can be downloaded on an iPad and a boardgame. Players work together in a group as large as four to stop the spread of a deadly disease. The game works to teach students the importance of vaccines and what can occur if there are not vaccines present for diseases. It also show players the importance of collaboration. The board game costs 24.95, while the iPad download is free.
http://www.tiltfactor.org/pox
Serious games put students into real world situations without actually being part of it. Teaching in a village I see serious games as being very beneficial for the students. Students are not exposed to many current world issues or places outside of the region. I see serious games as a way to provide students who live in rural areas to be exposed to issues and areas that they may never know about. Serious games allows players to learn new things by trying them out. I know working in a remote location I thing I am really intrigue with these games is how they can provide students opportunities to do things are learn things they may never know. Players get a chance to "walk" in someone else's shoes and understand what life may be like for others. Serious game are a virtual world were explore real world concepts but not receive real life consequences for a mistake.
In general serious games teach us the importance of different things we are exposed to in the world. Games show us what can occur if issues are not taken care of or changes. These games can lead to players wanting to take a stand and step out of the game world to make a difference in the real world. Serious games can also teach students how to work collaboratively to solve a problem. Knowing what I know now about serious games, I look forward to working and exploring them more. They are something all students need to be exposed to in on way or another.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_game
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/arts/23thom.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.seriousgamesdirectory.com/
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI, like you, was unfamiliar with serious games. But, I really see that they can be an awesome resource for educators to use. I guess I have too high of expectations for them in that I want all games to be like a “Lord of the Rings” style game. When I looked at some of the games out there, they have these awesome medieval graphics when advertising the game and I think: “Great, my kids will love this”. Then I look at the screenshots of the game and it’s these bar graphs showing points, etc. rather than the cool graphics I was expecting. So, that has been kind of disappointing. But as I search, I too am finding cool stuff. I found the Peacemaker game as well and thought it would be great for a current event type of study on the Middle East.
As I researched these games, many have said that the games don’t really help students because they give them a false sense of power…that they really can change their worlds. But I disagree. No, 99.9% of us are never going to be in places or positions to change the big, whole wide world, but we can change the world we live in, be it the village, our schools, or our families. Both students and adults can learn they can make a difference and be courageous enough to make changes as well as be empowered and given the tools necessary to do so by playing serious games. It’s kind of like using a textbook to learn the theory, then applying that theory to “real life”. Gamers are learning the “theory” by playing the games, then applying that “game theory” to real life…sounds kind of weird.
Sara, I enjoyed your post because I can relate quite a few of your points. At the age of about 8 our family got an Atari to "share". Each time I tried to play my brother would quickly kill me off (giving HIM more play time). I developed a distaste for playing games because I simply never felt successful at them. The epic win never happened!
ReplyDeleteThis week's research was quite eye opening for me; discovering what these Serious Games truly involve and offer. Like you, I see the real value of being able to walk in someone else's shoes, to work collaboratively with others to solve big problems, as well as explore real world concepts without the fear of real consequences.
"If you want to change the future, play with it first." Stephanie Olsen CNET
Gray I really like what you said about how most of us will never be in a place to change the world, but students may be inspired to attempt to make a difference in their communities. I am really fascinated by serious games now that I have an understanding of them, I think they can teach students and adults alike more about the theory and applying then a text book. For the students I work with they have a hard time connecting with the text since they may not have the background knowledge, but with a game they will may have a better connections since they will be able to experience it.
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