I know most of us are so busy that the idea of playing games is right up there with soaking up sun in the Bahamas ...it happens to other people and I will never have time for it. For a few of us, we do find/make time for gaming and may have some great experiences we can pool together to create incredible learning opportunities for our adult learners.
I have had the pleasure of working with some teachers nationally in their efforts to integrate learning into existing popular online game environments. Two of the older projects include Second Life and World of Warcraft. In both of these games, teachers collaborate to set up tasks, activities and events all within the game that become learning experiences that be very powerful! In full disclosure, I play TONS of games and passionately feel that much of the content, social interaction, soft skills, communication skills and math skills we wish our learners to have can all be effectively gained within a variety of game environments, game studies and game creation activities.
Here is a link to offer a bit of info for those that were unaware such explorations have been going on for years.
Anyone out there game to play a bit? It would be helpful if teachers were able to play as a team in some of these environments to experience first of all what exist there and secondly to collaborate on how students might learn within a given game environment. I realize that this might be a really out of the box idea for many, but I offer the invitation for any of us that are crazy and find time to enjoy today's online virtual worlds. If people wish a list of games that they may try, please comment on this thread and I can whip out many suggestions with ideas for each game. For those of you who have not experienced today's online games, please be forewarned that these games are not what we might have thought of as games in the past. They are much more involved and interaction with others as a key focus very often. There are free games and there are subscription games. I would propose a focus on games that were free as many of our adult learners already struggle with finances.
So, who's game?
Comments
Edward, I am a huge World of Warcraft fan/player. I make time to play every day. I agree that integrating game play is a wonderful way to enhance learning for adults. I would be willing to participate in group activities with adult learners, in fact, would probably enjoy it immensely! Keep me posted!
Lisa White, Literacy Coordinator
Read to Succeed, Amarillo Public Library
Lisa, thank you for replying and sharing your love of gaming! Do you play any games that cost nothing for players to participate? It would be nice if we could find games people know about, have played and cost nothing to play but still allow for the opportunities for learning within their system.
I think it would be nice to focus on two types of game categories to explore: ( I include links to videos that introduce each game if you wish to explore and have some fun!)
1. Games that are free to play: preferably without harsh conditions for those that don't kick in money. The best model out there that is like this would be Marvel Heroes Online. This free to play model is the best I have seen out there and everything in the game is accessible just through free play. What others might fall into this category.
Other games in this category that come to mind:
2. Pay once then free to play: A great example in this category would be games like Guild Wars 2 in which there is a one time purchase of the game and then the players can play as much as they wish without any limitations. Games in this category, may be attractive if we wanted to find grants to help cover the one time pay in fee learners would need to pay. Heck, one 5k grant could fund 100 learners playing Guild Wars 2 as part of a national learning network.
I am finding I am running out of time tonight to throw in all the other goodies... feast on the above and if anything tickles some fancies, let me know and we can start a focus group on that game, get in there and get playing then start working on what learning we can offer our learners within that game.
Please share with any gamer friends.
The League of Legends (LoL) game designer, Riot Games, is giving away a Starter Pack Instant Access to new and existing LoL players. This link will bring you to Amazon, where you just need to click on the yellow "Link and Run Free" button on the top right of the screen. If you have a LoL account already the next screen allows you to just link this package to your account. Otherwise you will need to make a LoL account (it's free).
This starter pack gives you permanent access to 8 of the basic characters that all LoL players end up using as they learn the game. Even after they understand the game well, these 8 characters still pop up in tournament play. In addition to these 8 players, you always have access to the free players that are available in every rotation. Every month Riot Games changes up which characters are free for all to play so people can try new things and see if they might want to work towards buying one of the free rotations as a permanent character. To help you in gaining in-game currency faster, this free starter pack comes with boosts (one time temporary increases to the rewards you get at the end of every match) that will help you get resources to buy other characters you play and like.
Whether you play the game and just want to add on free characters you have not gathered yet (and get the free boosts) or you are a new player that has heard wonderful things about this game, this free offer is a great deal and worth checking out. You can't fault FREE.
Link to free offer from Amazon that is valid until Feb 4th:
Please share in your networks for any learners or teachers or friends that might be interested in gaming.
You can learn more about LoL here in this video
or
You can get to the LoL website to read more up on the game.
Of course you can always message me and I will do my best to offer clarification and answers as well.
Happy gaming everyone!
Hello,
I am a long time gamer and was a beta tester for World of Warcraft. I introduced my daughter to games when she was 5 years old. She is now in college working on her Biological Sciences degree. Math was very difficult for my daughter, but I was able to teach her it through gaming. I was also able to teach her how to type; design, manage and grow a business; manage a household including raising children; problem solve; be a team leader and strategic thinker. My daughter speaks Spanish and Japanese. I believe she chose to learn those languages in high school and in college because she needed to communicate with people in her games in order to lead them. My daughter now Twitch and has earned herself an income through gaming.
Monique
Monique, thank you for sharing the success stories you had with your daughter and gaming. There certainly is power there as you know. When you think about what you did, the things you tried and what challenges came up, do you have suggestions or ideas of how we might best support teachers who have an interest in gaming, but really are unsure where to start? I know that in my case, it seems just a natural thing to think up a curriculum need and then find ways to have learners either demonstrate, learn, or experience what I was hoping she might. The fun thing as always in games is that if something does not work, you laugh about how epic you failed and try again with a different approach.
What do you think we could create that would help teachers out?
Perhaps a publication that offers guiding questions or challenges might be helpful? We could even have one of these for each academic goal a teacher might wish?
Would we offer just more of a general guide to general learning that may occur in gaming (EX: highlighting leadership opportunities within a game) or would teachers want more directed and specific information (EX: To help build fractions, have students ....)
What do you think Monique and the other gamers out there?
This past December, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at the Department of Education sponsored ED Games Day. U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Megan Smith, talked about Grace Hopper, who broke the mold in the 1940s as a pioneer for inventing programming languages and her career as a computer scientist. Smith noted the national need to repair the representation gap among girls, women, and minorities following in the path of Hopper.
SBIR has been identified as one initiative promising to catalyze the growing movement of women developers. In the next few months, SBIR Pulse will release a series of Q&A interviews with many of the women developers who attended ED Games Day. These interviews will share the stories of why and how these trailblazers got started, and what they see as keys to girls in STEM and women in the gaming development business.
Mike Cruse
Disabilities in Adult Education and Career Pathways Moderator
michaelcruse74@gmail.com