5. CIVILIZATION III CAMBRIDGE, MA “ The experience of playing Civilization III is a cerebral blend of planning, building, managing, and competing with other civilizations; in this study, that experience appealed to students who were interested in geography or enjoyed building and managing virtual societies and using mathematics in gameplay.” Squire, K.. 2005. Changing the game: What happens when video games enter the classroom?. Innovate 1 (6). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=82 (accessed September 29, 2009).
NCTE. Position Statement on Multimodal Literacies. http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/multimodalliteracies(accessed February 17, 2009).
25% of students in school situations complained that the game was too hard, complicated, and uninteresting, and they elected to withdraw from the gaming unit and participate in reading groups instead. About another 25% of the students (particularly academic underachievers) loved playing the game, thought it was a "perfect" way to learn history, and considered the experience a highlight of their school year. For these students, many of whom actively resisted school-mandated history curricula that they regarded as "propaganda," the game-based curriculum provided opportunities for replaying history and for considering hypothetical historical scenarios, such as the conditions under which a Native American tribe might have successfully resisted European settlement or even colonized Europe. In post-interviews conducted after the completion of the study, these students developed new vocabularies, better understandings of geography, and more robust concepts of world history (Squire 2004).
Learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Play alone or with friends in on-line multiplayer missions, explore the wilderness, hunt elk, and encounter stranger wolves in your quest to find a mate. Ultimately—in Episode 2, coming in 2009—your success will depend on forming a family pack, raising pups, and ensuring the survival of your pack. The WolfQuest experience goes beyond the game with an active online community where you can discuss the game with other players, chat with wolf biologists, and share artwork and stories about wolves.
Games for elementary and middle school students are based on the concept of social responsibility
Korean MMORPG popular Korean manhwa (comic book) called “Ragnarok by Lee Myung-jin. Inspired by Norse myths. T for Teen Age Range: 13+ Moderated: Yes Advertising: Cost: Free, $7.99/month Owner: Gravity
Playing DDR improves pattern recognition skills, especially in ADHD students--there is a correlation between playing DDR and improved reading test scores McGraw, T., Burdette, K., & Chadwick, K. (June, 2005). The Effects of a Consumer-Oriented Multimedia Game on the Reading Disorders of Children with ADHD . Paper presented at DIGRA 2005, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Available at http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED484959
A2005 Penn State University study on the cardiovascular benefits of DDRin children aged 12 to 16 recorded heart rates between 100 and160 beats per minute.19 Hawaii uses DDRin at least one school district,20and the West Virginia Department of Education installed DDR in 157 middle schools in 2006,21with a plan in place to put DDR in 1,500 schools by the end of 2010 as part of the physical education program. In fact, “perform simple dance sequences using smooth transitions in speed,level,and direction in time to music” is a criteria in the Fifth Grade Physical Education Content Standards and Objectives.22 Finally, in California, the San Joaquin Valley credits incorporation of DDR and a stationary bicycling racing game with raising the number of students passing the statewide fitness test23(see Figure2.10).
Check out from Information Desk Teens suggest games DS/DS Lite $129, PSP $129 http://www.vgcharts.org/ in 2005, 32 % of households surveyed reported owned a handheld device that played games, up from 11% in 2004 Mobile gaming is expected in quadruple by 2010, from $2.6 billion this in 2006 to $11.2 billion by 2010. (source: Informa Telecoms and Media. “Mobile Games 2nd edition strategic report explores the entire mobile games value chain.”) According to In-Stat/MDR, the market is projected to reach $1.8 billion by 2009 in the US alone.
Trauma Center Trauma Center: Under the Knife Play a medical intern, leaning how to operate and perform triage, advancing your skills to become a doctor. Call of Duty: In CALL OF DUTY 3, players control an infantryman marching through France after the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Working with Allied forces (players buddy up with the French Resistance, Polish troops, Scottish soldiers, and others), players participate in some of the fiercest fighting of the European ground war. In rural towns like Saint Lo, Mortain, and Chambois, players storm German positions on strategic hills, go house-to-house to clear enemies from French villages, and secure critical infrastructure (such as bridges and ports). Cut scenes elaborate on the war strategy -- giving some much-needed context -- but the game forgoes traditional narrative; instead it uses occasional bits of gallows humor or an intra-squad flare-up to set the scene.
Science Education Games
Science Education Games
Weffriddles.Puzzle. Weffriddles is an html-coded, text-based series of logic puzzles. The answer is the name of the next Web page.
In Round 1, highlighting the text reveals what is “in the dark” – a clue provided in rule #7
Players untangle the lines that create a shape by dragging from fixed points. Ambient music adds to the experience.
This is a serious game about deportation.
Accounts: 8 logins per location Limit: No public performance 900+ video games Platform: PC Cost: $6.95-9.95/month
Overdrive has a collection of productivity and arcade games accessible via library card Platform: PC Titles: 70 Soon, library patrons will be able to download games and interactive software on the same platform used for audio books, music, and videos. With the free OverDrive Media Console, no other software or hardware is required. OverDrive will offer a growing catalog of the top premium titles in educational and entertainment categories from award-winning publishers. OverDrive Games & Interactive Software offer the additional benefits of virus-free downloading and variable lending periods. Vosity represents a number of publishers that will be included in the OverDrive service. For example, Global Software Publishing, North America, Inc., one of the largest publishers of software for children and adults in the nation with an award-winning software catalog, is slated to offer: * More than 70 program titles in every educational curriculum category for every age group from preschool to adult * Game titles including the megaselling Sudoku Puzzle Addict, plus the trendsetting Kakuro Puzzle Addict, and perennial favorite puzzle, Crossword Addict * Productivity and hobby enthusiast titles such as Musicalis, Family Tree ScrapbookMaker, Show Me series, Travel & Culture series, and Art Tours Interactive Guides * Arcade and Virtual Environment Gaming titles like Casino Poker, Casino BlackJack, and Pool Hall Look for more information about the new games format coming soon!
We’re still going through all of the data from National Gaming Day (November 15), but we’ve already got some pretty amazing numbers and stories. Here’s what we know so far. * 617 libraries registered to participate * 597 libraries reported results back to us * 14,184 people participated in NGD at those 597 libraries * 5,548 people played Pictureka! on Gaming Day * 1,137 people played Dungeons & Dragons or Magic: The Gathering That’s pretty amazing, given how little lead time most libraries had. Most were public libraries (95%), although we did have a few academics, schools, and even a park library and a military library participate. The anecdotes they gave us show an overwhelmingly positive response from the public. Here are just a few of my favorites (honestly - I really did pare down this list!). * “I was beaten - twice - at Pictureka by a 3-year old!” * “Our library has a tough time, as do many, with attracting tweens and teens to programs and getting them to be ‘excited about the library’. Gaming day at our library was great because kids/teens came, they were excited and enthusiastic, and had a great time. It was really great to have many of them who see me everyday asking me my name (they never really cared before) and kept asking if we would be doing more events like this and if we would definitely be doing this next year.” * “It was great to see the YA Room filled with teenage boys. We have one 8th grade patron who has been a very shy and quiet teen, but with video games he is a champ, friendly and out-going; he totally came out of his shell. Never thought a library could do that.” * “We have a library orphan that is here all the time. He uses up his computer time (2 hours) then usually gets in trouble for boredom related disturbances. On Saturday, he actually sat and played Pictureka and Scrabble with another child (and came up with several 5-7 letter words, a miracle for this non reader) Later on the boys were ‘caught’ playing Risk with 4 other children and one of our library substitutes was giving them a lesson on strategy. The best part is that this child was able to stay at the library most of the day, before he was asked to leave for playing with the big screen in the meeting room!” * “One of our teen patrons who has recently moved to our small town came to tell me that one of the video games we purchased for the programs was not compatible with the system we purchased. He asked to ride with me when I took it back and helped me pick out another game to take its place. He asked me if I owned the library. I replied that I was the director but that I didn’t own the library, I only managed it. He asked me who did own it and I replied, ‘Well, you do.’ I explained that public libraries were owned by the citizens that used them and/or lived in the community, that their taxes went to pay for the services. He thought about it for a minute and said ‘That’s really cool! I guess I’ll have to hang out here more since it’s mine.’ It made my day.” * “At least two different parents were shocked to learn that we were not charging admission for our event, and continually thanked us for hosting it. At least one parent got their first library card - we kept the entire library open, unlike at our first event where we were only open for the gaming event. This was a major plus.” * “The Pictureka! game was great for intergenerational groups. I also witnessed a non-English speaker pick up the card pieces of the game after their children had left; perhaps trying to match the word ‘hair’ with finding hair on the board, etc.” * “At one point there were eight people playing [Pictureka!] at once. The race to win was between a ten-year old and an eighty-five year old.” * “I had advertised that you could duel the librarian at Guitar Hero and cut your fine in half, or beat her and and have it erased. I had a 12 year old show up that I had never seen in the library before carrying his own guitar. His mom told me that he had been up since 6:30 waiting to come to the library. He didn’t have any fines, but I told him I would duel him for some copies of Thrasher magazines that we were selling. He stayed most of the day and thanked me over and over again for having a game day.” * “Also, one of our patrons (a crotchity old man if ever there was one) would play chess on the computer if we would let him. When he got bumped off, he came downstairs to our National Gaming Day room and played Pictureka for 3 hours straight - with patrons of all ages!” * “Two sisters who had been playing backgammon via online connection for years showed up to meet at the library for gaming day and loved it. They never thought about meeting at the library to play before. They had such a good time actually meeting face-to-face they asked if they could continue to come to the library and play. We were happy to oblige them.” * “We had a 6 year old come in with a mohawk hairdo ready to rock the library on Rock Band. He was ready to take on the high schoolers.” * “At the end time, I had to ask a group of teenagers to leave. They responded quickly and started moving toward the door and then one of them said, ‘Do you want some help with these chairs?’ At the time I was too tired to turn down help and enthusiastically said, ‘YES!’ They helped me put the room back in order very quickly, moving a dozen tables and about 50 chairs. But my favorite part of the day had to be hearing the teens cheer for each other during the Brawl contests and clap at the end of the battles. They all got along so well even though we had quite a range of ‘teenagers’ — 18 to 8!” * “The Smash Bros. Tournament drew a large, cheering crowd as the battles were very intense. I also had the joy of [seeing] a 12 year old girl defeating a grown man, patting him on the back and telling him maybe next year.” * “There are a group of kids in our small town who tend to be unsupervised and are seen often ‘hanging out’ downtown. They came into the library, saw the brand new magic sets and it was like Christmas to them. They offered to open the sets, sort them into decks and get the game organized. They then stayed for hours playing and invited other friends to come join them. It was so nice to see these kids off the streets enjoying our library and they were so surprised to hear that the cards would be available to them anytime the library is open. I’m sure we will see a lot of them in the near future.” * “A young mom came in with her two elementary aged sons. Upon seeing all the games out and hearing about the program, she said, ‘Wow! I didn’t know there were fun things to do at the library! I thought it was all about being quiet! Guess it’s okay for me to bring my kids in here after all!’ “ * “An 11-year-old girl played games with her 9-year-old brother for 4 hours, and told me, ‘I haven’t been on the computer the whole time I was here!’ “ * “Not so much an anecdote, but the fact that people came and stayed most all day. That was a great thing for us.” * “To win the door prizes, everyone was given tickets to enter into the various drawings. The kids got one ticket for coming in, one ticket for playing their first game, and an additional ticket for each person to whom they taught a game. This caused many of the kids to go out of their way to introduce new games to kids. Many even really enjoyed teaching.” * “It was like bringing them into a new world that they didn’t know would be available to them locally. They connected with the library staff and just kept thanking me and expressing their amazement at our library collection. One ordered sci fi books, one picked up Sci Fi books, one requested Civil War materials, 1 requested a tour of our Virtual services. Basically it opened eyes and created interest for people and gave the library great exposure. We will be adding a monthly gaming day to our program.” If you didn’t get to join in this year, be sure to start planning now for next year’s event on November 14, 2009. We also want to thank everyone who participated this year to help make it such a success. It will be a tough bar to clear next year, but I have every confidence we will!
Library Uses: Contest: create a personal Contest: create a celebrity, author, character… Internet safety session
Library Uses: Practice tagging! Bibliographic Instruction Write a poem Write a book review Describe yourself or someone else Make a poster
Library uses: Youth submit book talks or videos about books Contest: machinima, movies, more
Library uses: Youth submit book talks or videos about books Contest: machinima, movies, more