Comments on: Serious Games http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/ Blogging by and for academic and research librarians Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Gamer Review http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-116107 Gamer Review Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:39:52 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-116107 I do agree that games can be a conduit in helping people learn to read. Some of my earliest games were story based games that read to me. Games can be easily created that allow a player to learn about the library and teach how to search for information. Technology is one of the reasons why the Dewey Decimal system is now obsolete. While I enjoyed looking through reference cards, the electronic listing is much easier. I think the best bet is to appeal to young people with games like Oregon Trail which is very fun to play and taught students about history. I do agree that games can be a conduit in helping people learn to read. Some of my earliest games were story based games that read to me. Games can be easily created that allow a player to learn about the library and teach how to search for information. Technology is one of the reasons why the Dewey Decimal system is now obsolete. While I enjoyed looking through reference cards, the electronic listing is much easier. I think the best bet is to appeal to young people with games like Oregon Trail which is very fun to play and taught students about history.

]]> By: Dennis http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-31381 Dennis Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:38:32 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-31381 It's an interesting topic you've raised, but you don't have to stop at simply creating a learning tool with the technology. http://don.valador.com/ is a great example of how the technology BECOMES the library. A multi-user game-based system with all the collaborative benefits of an mmorpg that is actually already deployed at NASA. The Nintendo Generation is hungry for an easily deployable collaborative environment that incorporates all the best video game front ends have to offer, not just as a learning tool, but as THE tool. It’s an interesting topic you’ve raised, but you don’t have to stop at simply creating a learning tool with the technology. http://don.valador.com/ is a great example of how the technology BECOMES the library. A multi-user game-based system with all the collaborative benefits of an mmorpg that is actually already deployed at NASA.

The Nintendo Generation is hungry for an easily deployable collaborative environment that incorporates all the best video game front ends have to offer, not just as a learning tool, but as THE tool.

]]> By: Post #3: Serious Games and Information Literacy « Pop Culture Librarian http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30862 Post #3: Serious Games and Information Literacy « Pop Culture Librarian Sun, 17 Jun 2007 03:23:32 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30862 [...] Post #3: Serious Games and Information Literacy Michelle Boule, a Social Sciences Librarian at the Universtiy of Houston, was a recent guest blogger for ACRLog.  Her post, which was called Serious Games, combines my interest in the library world (information literacy) and my interest outside the library world (video games).  Boule discusses a new type of game called the “serious game.”  These are games that teach people things, such as the games that we have been seeing for over a decade that teach children simple things like spelling and math skills.  Some of the newer games in this genre are tackling issues much more serious than the subjects being taught in schools, however.  Boule points us to some games that address issues such as global warming and the genocide in Darfur. [...] [...] Post #3: Serious Games and Information Literacy Michelle Boule, a Social Sciences Librarian at the Universtiy of Houston, was a recent guest blogger for ACRLog.  Her post, which was called Serious Games, combines my interest in the library world (information literacy) and my interest outside the library world (video games).  Boule discusses a new type of game called the “serious game.”  These are games that teach people things, such as the games that we have been seeing for over a decade that teach children simple things like spelling and math skills.  Some of the newer games in this genre are tackling issues much more serious than the subjects being taught in schools, however.  Boule points us to some games that address issues such as global warming and the genocide in Darfur. [...]

]]> By: Serious Games: Making a Difference | Learning in Video Games http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30557 Serious Games: Making a Difference | Learning in Video Games Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:23:00 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30557 [...] Michelle Boule, Social Sciences Librarian at University of Houston, writes an interesting article on Serious Games that gives several examples of fascinating games that produce public awareness on various issues. These games include: [...] [...] Michelle Boule, Social Sciences Librarian at University of Houston, writes an interesting article on Serious Games that gives several examples of fascinating games that produce public awareness on various issues. These games include: [...]

]]> By: Libraries (need to) change to match the new learner « Thoughts on Technology and Education http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30520 Libraries (need to) change to match the new learner « Thoughts on Technology and Education Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:30:20 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30520 [...] and Esoterica living together to create an interesting read « Like my new logo? Libraries (need to) change to match the new learner June 11th, 2007 First, this post at ARCLog (A Blog from the Association of College and ReasearchLibraries) makes for an interesting argument for Computer Games in Libraries. Why? Well, for one, this is the gaming age, and if libraries don’t entice new users or encourage older users to return through fun and learning techniques, then Libraries could loose out to other online resources. [...] [...] and Esoterica living together to create an interesting read « Like my new logo? Libraries (need to) change to match the new learner June 11th, 2007 First, this post at ARCLog (A Blog from the Association of College and ReasearchLibraries) makes for an interesting argument for Computer Games in Libraries. Why? Well, for one, this is the gaming age, and if libraries don’t entice new users or encourage older users to return through fun and learning techniques, then Libraries could loose out to other online resources. [...]

]]> By: Scott Walter http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30451 Scott Walter Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:13:25 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30451 The games, themselves, also represent an increasingly important corpus of primary source material for research - here's a recent example from Illinois, in which a faculty member uses gaming magazines as a key data point in a study of youth behavior: http://tinyurl.com/yov9vz And, while the photo isn't included with the story on the News-Gazette Web site (http://www.news-gazette.com), the image that accompanied this story in print was taken in the UIUC Undergraduate Library, where the professor was able to show off material from our Gaming Collection (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/gaming/) As important as the question of how we make use of research into game-based learning for our own teaching (as we made use of research into active learning, problem based learning, case study learning, etc.), is the question of how this increasingly important (and very ephemeral and/or platform-based) corpus of materials will be preserved, described, and made available to the future generations of scholars and students. There's something for everyone in the issue of gaming! The games, themselves, also represent an increasingly important corpus of primary source material for research – here’s a recent example from Illinois, in which a faculty member uses gaming magazines as a key data point in a study of youth behavior:
http://tinyurl.com/yov9vz

And, while the photo isn’t included with the story on the News-Gazette Web site (http://www.news-gazette.com), the image that accompanied this story in print was taken in the UIUC Undergraduate Library, where the professor was able to show off material from our Gaming Collection (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/gaming/)

As important as the question of how we make use of research into game-based learning for our own teaching (as we made use of research into active learning, problem based learning, case study learning, etc.), is the question of how this increasingly important (and very ephemeral and/or platform-based) corpus of materials will be preserved, described, and made available to the future generations of scholars and students. There’s something for everyone in the issue of gaming!

]]> By: Jerremie Clyde http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30305 Jerremie Clyde Fri, 08 Jun 2007 21:49:17 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30305 Good post, nice to see the topic raised. There is a remarkable amount of work/research taking place around digital game based learning. Information Literacy related digital games based learning is an area Chris Thomas and I are currently working on. As I was saying, there is some great stuff happening out there already looking at the ability of games to teach, or to facilitate in a player/learner the creation of new knowledge. Much of it is looking at modifying (moding) commercial off the shelf games (COTs), which allows for commercial quality environments and games to be created in a fairly accessible way (as opposed to scratch building). For some information on libraries and digital game based learning you can also go to: http://bibliogaming.blogspot.com/ Information on our own research, looking at the ability of a COTS mod to deliver different types of information and facilitate learning can be found at: www.ucalgary.ca/hardplay Some other examples digital game based learning research projects include: DoomEd http://www.desq.co.uk/doomed/ Revolution http://www.educationarcade.org/revolution Quarantined (not a mod, but library based) http://www.west.asu.edu/libcontrib/game/website/index.cfm Lots of neat stuff, looking at the necessary scaffolding for learning, community building, opportunity for and/or necessity of reflection etc. etc. Thank you, Jerremie Clyde Good post, nice to see the topic raised. There is a remarkable amount of work/research taking place around digital game based learning. Information Literacy related digital games based learning is an area Chris Thomas and I are currently working on.

As I was saying, there is some great stuff happening out there already looking at the ability of games to teach, or to facilitate in a player/learner the creation of new knowledge. Much of it is looking at modifying (moding) commercial off the shelf games (COTs), which allows for commercial quality environments and games to be created in a fairly accessible way (as opposed to scratch building).

For some information on libraries and digital game based learning you can also go to:
http://bibliogaming.blogspot.com/

Information on our own research, looking at the ability of a COTS mod to deliver different types of information and facilitate learning can be found at:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/hardplay

Some other examples digital game based learning research projects include:
DoomEd
http://www.desq.co.uk/doomed/
Revolution
http://www.educationarcade.org/revolution
Quarantined (not a mod, but library based)
http://www.west.asu.edu/libcontrib/game/website/index.cfm

Lots of neat stuff, looking at the necessary scaffolding for learning, community building, opportunity for and/or necessity of reflection etc. etc.

Thank you,
Jerremie Clyde

]]> By: Gaming Across the Curriculum « Just TV http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30304 Gaming Across the Curriculum « Just TV Fri, 08 Jun 2007 21:12:11 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30304 [...] And shortly after posting this, I found this link to a library blog discussing serious games, a topic I briefly addressed in my talk. Definitely there’s momentum brewing for libraries/IT pushing gaming forward, probably more quickly than faculty demand emerges. Most faculty I know outside of media studies have no interest in gaming as pedagogy or research, and look at me askance when I make such suggestions. But if educational technologists are making resources available to demonstrate what can be done, that’s how I see traction being gained for faculty interest. Filed under: Middlebury, New Media, Videogames, Teaching   |   [...] [...] And shortly after posting this, I found this link to a library blog discussing serious games, a topic I briefly addressed in my talk. Definitely there’s momentum brewing for libraries/IT pushing gaming forward, probably more quickly than faculty demand emerges. Most faculty I know outside of media studies have no interest in gaming as pedagogy or research, and look at me askance when I make such suggestions. But if educational technologists are making resources available to demonstrate what can be done, that’s how I see traction being gained for faculty interest. Filed under: Middlebury, New Media, Videogames, Teaching   |   [...]

]]> By: Kathryn Deiss http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30299 Kathryn Deiss Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:35:34 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30299 great post, Michelle. It is true simulations/games are learning tools and they have been used as such for eons. I would like to encourage those interested in gaming and literacies as well as gaming and community-building to attend the ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium to be held July 22-24, 2007 in Chicago. See http://gaming.techsource.ala.org/ for details. ACRL is collaborating with TechSource on this symposium. Content will be very rich beginning with Henry Jenkins of MIT and ending with Liz Lawley of University of Rochester! great post, Michelle. It is true simulations/games are learning tools and they have been used as such for eons. I would like to encourage those interested in gaming and literacies as well as gaming and community-building to attend the ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium to be held July 22-24, 2007 in Chicago. See http://gaming.techsource.ala.org/ for details. ACRL is collaborating with TechSource on this symposium. Content will be very rich beginning with Henry Jenkins of MIT and ending with Liz Lawley of University of Rochester!

]]> By: lauren’s library blog » Blog Archive » links for 2007-06-07 http://acrlog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30191 lauren’s library blog » Blog Archive » links for 2007-06-07 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:35:30 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2007/06/06/serious-games/#comment-30191 [...] Serious Games So, I’m in a position to begin thinking about how to use games to facilitate information literacy education. I’m sure I can’t do a full scale game, but this has some ideas worth thinking about. (tags: games information.literacy ideas) [...] [...] Serious Games So, I’m in a position to begin thinking about how to use games to facilitate information literacy education. I’m sure I can’t do a full scale game, but this has some ideas worth thinking about. (tags: games information.literacy ideas) [...]

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