Games and Simulations Reading Notes: Emotions and Affect in Games December 11, 2008
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Electronic Arts advertisement from the early 1980’s asks, “Can a Computer Make You Cry?” brings up an interesting idea about artificial intelligence and emotion in video games. When I watch a movie that is touching, delivered through live action and a narrative that I can connect with, there is a chance that a lump may develop in a my throat if the main characters are facing death. This also happens when something in the movie makes me reflect back on something in my own life that I can connect with.
In video games, I have never had this experience. I have been frieghtened or startled by actions in the game, but have never felt like I would cry. I think this is because the graphic capabilities in even the best games don’t fully represent the characteristics of human life as well as live action footage does. Many games I play also take place in a fantasy or science fiction world. Since I don’t live in that world, I can’t connect with it or the characters on an emotional level. Perhaps as graphics move toward real life accuracy and if I play more games that I have real world relationships with, this will change.
Games and Simulations Reading Notes: Research on learning from gaming December 11, 2008
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One important note that struck me from James Gee’s article Learning and Games is the importance of avatars and situated learning. When a student in a learning gaming environment has the ability to create and microcontrol their avatar, the level of emotional attachment and investment is improved. This goes hand in hand with situated learning as the gaming environment allows the learner to become situated in the environment that they need to learn about. This could increase the likelyhood of efficient knowledge transfer to an occupation as the learner already has the mental model of the new world that they would be working in.
Distributed intellegence is also an important learning research concept when discussing educationally sound video games. Students in the classroom could learn from others in the game world as well as from and using the tools that they pick up along the way. This person-plus model lends itself nicely to the gaming world.
Games and Simulations Reading Notes: Simulations in the Classroom December 11, 2008
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When a twelve year old student wakes up in the morning and goes to middle school, they really don’t expect much. They know they will face to pressures of fitting in, their clothes, the homework and projects they are putting off and the inevitable substitute teacher assignments they will most likely endure.
Not many of these kids come to school expecting to perform hip and knee surgery in a realistic, professional environment. Edheads.com offers two medical surgeries mentioned above, crash scene investigations, simple machines and mechanics and more. Students have so many choices staring back at them through the Internet Explorer icon. I know a product is successful when they choose – over watching another Beyonce video or their favorite anime cartoon – to perform hip surgery on a flash-based patient.
The students go step by step through the entire surgery. There is no cheese factor like many other simulations. They get down and dirty – are grossed out by the real-life photos from real surgery – and then move on, finish and want more.
The middle school grade level is all about exposure to what is out there. You can’t google something you don’t know about. Using simulations like Edheads to reach out to students and say, “This is a job someone has to perform. Maybe it could be you,” is a powerful tool and is masterfully accomplished with this simulation. My students can’t wait for open heart surgery and maybe even a little gastric bypass. The grosser the better.
R&I notes: The power of simulations December 2, 2008
Posted by mvalia in Representation and Interaction Design.Tags: simulations
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When a twelve year old student wakes up in the morning and goes to middle school, they really don’t expect much. They know they will face to pressures of fitting in, their clothes, the homework and projects they are putting off and the inevitable substitute teacher assignments they will most likely endure.
Not many of these kids come to school expecting to perform hip and knee surgery in a realistic, professional environment. Edheads.com offers two medical surgeries mentioned above, crash scene investigations, simple machines and mechanics and more. Students have so many choices staring back at them through the Internet Explorer icon. I know a product is successful when they choose – over watching another Beyonce video or their favorite anime cartoon – to perform hip surgery on a flash-based patient.
The students go step by step through the entire surgery. There is no cheese factor like many other simulations. They get down and dirty – are grossed out by the real-life photos from real surgery – and then move on, finish and want more.
The middle school grade level is all about exposure to what is out there. You can’t google something you don’t know about. Using simulations like Edheads to reach out to students and say, “This is a job someone has to perform. Maybe it could be you,” is a powerful tool and is masterfully accomplished with this simulation. My students can’t wait for open heart surgery and maybe even a little gastric bypass. The grosser the better.
R&I notes: A look at BrainPop December 2, 2008
Posted by mvalia in Representation and Interaction Design.Tags: animation, brainpop
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As a New York City technology teacher who’s job it is to review and purchase software, my first complaint about BrainPop is the developers haven’t gone through the trouble of filling the paperwork to get on the NYCDOE software catalog and receive approval for purchasing with NY State software money. This site is not perfect, but it does offer students an interesting look at scientific concepts they may not be familiar with.
Many classmates often ridicule sites like this because they are not 100 percent Mayer compliant, but right now, they are better than nothing. No other sites are taking these random scientific topics like nanotechnology and computer viruses and animating them into fun little informational tidbits. They make great educational motivators and ice breakers for teachers to use as an intro to a topic.
The animation is playful and fun. Maybe the robots don’t talk enough or the flea circus isn’t relevant. But now they know about nanotechnology and flea circuses. Increasing a students raw cultural awaremess of little topics like this help them relate to different topics they may encounter in life and even on standardized tests.
The site is jarring to look at with its millions of tiled topics, but students get to search around and explore for new ideas in a constructivist journey. From first hand experience, students will spend 20-30 minutes on the site before growing tired. And then they will pick it up again a week or two later. It serves as another piece of the puzzle enhancing students knowledge with technology. Of course it could be improved, but it is more than a version 1.0 .
R&I Notes: Experience and Interactivity December 2, 2008
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This week’s journal serves as a look at two websites: Smart Museum and 2Beme.rog.
Looking at SmartMuseum from a critical eye, I like the home page. There are four clear options students can choose from and each offers a different educational path. A trip to a museum with students usually only happens on a school trip where art or museums are the last things on students minds. They are usually thinking about the girls on the bus, what’s in the gift shop or what is for lunch. It’s a play date away from school. This happens because trips are too few and far between. This website could help a teacher plan ahead of a trip – like an advanced organizer to helps students focus on the task at hand. I particularly like the artist’s tour of the site. It is so important to introduce students to careers and hook them up with real world practitioners. This section of the site attempts that.
However, I don’t like the constant popping of things on the site. It is sensory overload, distracting and childish. The sketchbook, parent section and theme-options are a nice touch and should provide students with some level of engagement. I would like to see more video of real museums.
2beme.com is a touching website that helps a niche audience with real emotional needs. Suffering from cancer, one would hope these teens would have had the time to discuss these four issues with their doctors or parents. If not, this site offers an outlet. I like how it is again broken up into four catagories and is artistically relevant. The colors and images are soft and cartoonish and should hopefully convey a feeling of optimism and positivity.
The animations are borderline. They should be tuned down a little bit as they are distracting and provide a little too much extraneous load as someone looks to get information about a serious topic. I also like the catchy titles like “chill zone.” I think it brings some levity to students who may be feeling down about their condition. It may seem callous on the surface to suggest this, but this soft, emotional touches seem to go a long way with the healthy students in my classroom.
