Selected productions Serious Games Interactive © Global Conflicts – A Case study on games for societal issues Poverty is not a game, 20th October ‘10 Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, PhD CEO, founder Serious Games Interactive

"Toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas" - Charles Eames

Serious Games Interactive | | My Background Who we are MA Psychology PhD Games & learning Mixing industry & research Current Research projects: SIREN, PlayMancer & GaLa Computer games Global Conflicts: Palestine Global Conflicts: Latin America +20 games for clients

 Serious Games Interactive (SGI) was founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  We develop serious games that contain an inseparable combination of “playing”, “learning” and “story-telling”.  We are a cross-disciplinary team of 18 people with strong roots in research.  We work with a range of different national and international partners including Amnesty, Unicef, WWF, The Danish National Museum, LEGO and European Schoolnet. Serious Games Interactive | | Company background Who we are

Why games? Moving away from passive education… Serious Games Interactive | | Learning Repetition Learning Information Learning 3.0 – Engagement!!!

Read… Listen… View… Active choices Interactive stories High replayability Multi-user Passive reception Linear stories Low repeatability Single-player Experiencing!!! The interactive experience…

Serious Games Interactive | | Computer games represent an interactive learning approach, in which the user’s choices has direct consequences. Games constitute problem-focused learning, i.e. problem-solving provides satisfaction. Serious games exploits the engagement of the user in the virtual world to provide strong learning experiences with value in the real world. Game-based learning What is it?

Serious Games Interactive | | 2007/ >> GC : Sweat Shops (spring 2010) >> GC: Afghanistan (Fall 2010)

International awards Serious Games Interactive | | Children’s Technology Review (US) - Editors Choice Award Danish Culture and Business Award (DK) – Most Creative Product PC ZONE (UK) – Independent Game Award GC series Nordic Game (Scandinavia) – Best Nordic Game 2007 & 2008 nominee. IndieCade (US) - Best Indie Game Nominee 2008 & BETT Award (UK) – Secondary educational products 2010.

International coverage Serious Games Interactive | | GC series

f Welcome to reality Material from Global Conflicts: Palestine online resources.

Welcome to Global Conflicts: Palestine

Our focus area Serious Games Interactive | | Platform: Web-based Playtime: minutes per episode Target: Students in the age years Subjects: Citizenship, history and media subjects Game: Assume the role of a freelance journalist / representative from international organization out to investigate stories about the challenges people face in various parts of the world. Global Conflicts is a 3D educational game series aiming to increase the level of engagement in education!

Layers and learning objectives Content (Central problems in around the world): Experience central problems in the region through real personal accounts. Themes (Human rights. corruption & new democracies): Learn about the broader themes like human rights, corruption and new democracies. Methods (Source criticism & structuring arguments): Learn to be dig out relevant information, the agenda of sources, and article writing. Competences (perspective-taking, critical thinking & bias awareness): Learn about the importance of digging deep while thinking critically of bias as you are presented with a variety of perspectives. Serious Games Interactive | | How to use the series

Teaching form Teacher talks Play Game Plenum Group discussions  Read topic overview  Overview of theme  Explore perspectives  Experience issues  Discuss experiences  Write article  Debriefing  Evaluation How to use the series  Teacher manual  Topic overview  Other curriculum  Mission sheets  Work sheets  Online resources

Didactic game structure How to use the series Freelance journalist Get the best final interview for your article 1.Find informants 2.Select strong line of inquiry 3.Get good statements 4.Build arguments 5.Use arguments to get most revealing interview Most revealing story You Goal Means Winning

Educational approach How to use the series Group work Reflective observation Active experimentation Global Conflicts Lecture Abstract concepts Concrete experiences Similar approach across games Kolb’s cycle with different teaching modes in the course. Teacher crucial to facilitate a full learning experience.

Student quotes from studies Does it work then? “Global Conflicts: Palestine is a fun and different way to receive learning” (Student1) “You had a greater desire to learn about the topic from Global Conflicts: Palestine” (Student2) ”You learn a lot about how Israelis and Palestinians respectively look at the conflict, because you talk to different persons... I think it is good that the stories derive from reality, providing the stories with a realistic tone.” (Student3)

Student quotes from studies Does it work then? "It's a really cool way to learn. Teachers should use this” (student1) "Instead of someone telling you how it is; you get to experience it and work it out” (student2) "It sticks better when you have to work things out for yourself” (student3)

Teacher quotes from studies Does it work then? "It's a great way to learn… Students are active seekers of knowledge" (teacher1) "We really need something like this. We scream for it because there is so little like it.” (teacher2) "It brings the conflict much closer. The problem with these conflicts are that students don't feel anything for them, because they are safe and secure here.“(teacher3)

Serious Games Interactive | | Serious Games Interactive Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen Contact details