Serious Games Interactive | |

28. November 2006, Århus Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen Assistant Professor ITU Copenhagen Global Conflicts: Palestine CEO Serious Games Interactive

Serious Games Interactive | | Games used for education since 18th century Learning games used profesionally since 1960s Electronic learning games used since 1970s Increased motivation and interest in a given subject Create positive and active learning environments Dynamic presentation of information A succesful learning game in 2006 had +4 mio. downloads US army use around $4 mia. yearly on simulations/games 60% of all people play computer games sometimes 9 appetizers for learning games

Serious Games Interactive | | What is a serious game? What is Global Conflicts: Palestine? What do other people think? Agenda

Serious Games Interactive | | Definition serious games In principal, any game Games with an agenda Educating, enlightening.. Not only entertaining  Edutainment  Advertainment  Business games  Military games  Political games  Satirical games What is a serious game?

Serious Games Interactive | | Problems with edutainment Little intrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation through rewards, rather than intrinsic motivation. No integrated learning experience: Lacks integration of the learning experience with playing experience - learning subordinated play experience. Drill-and-practice learning principles: Rely on drill-and-practice rather than understanding – training above learning. No teacher presence: No demands on teachers or parents. Simple gameplay: Built on a simple gameplay from classic titles. Small budgets: Produced on limited budgets with limited technology. What is a serious game?

Serious Games Interactive | | Edutainment lacks balance Most of what goes under the name "edutainment" reminds me of George Bernard Shaw's response to a famous beauty who speculated on the marvelous child they could have together: "With your brains and my looks..." He retorted, "But what if the child had my looks and your brains?" (Papert, 1998: 88) What is a serious game?

Serious Games Interactive | | Vision Create the world’s best computer games with an agenda beyond entertainment What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Serious Games Interactive | | Global Conflict : Feel and understand the tense atmosphere and problems in Palestine You as freelance journalist will draft a way out of the conflict The game What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Serious Games Interactive | |  Private market: People that are intellectual curious & not afraid to try new things.  Educational market: years social studies in Western world Target groups What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Serious Games Interactive | | “I learned more history in one day than the last 6 months” Student, 16 years Play trailer What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Serious Games Interactive | | Freelance journalist Get the best article Find informants Gain their trust Get their story Dig out best quotes Put together article Highest journalist level Gameplay What is Global Conflicts: Palestine You Goal Means Winning

Serious Games Interactive | | What problems did we try to solve  Perspective: Provide different perspectives on a topic  Involvement: Provide involvement in a topic  Engagement: Make the player feel they make a difference  Realism & atmosphere: Develop realistic atmosphere  Curriculum ties: Fit it in with some curriculum What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Serious Games Interactive | | Setup Sample: 51 Danish High school low-middle class students ( years) after a one-week course Traditional lecturing 4 weeks on theme Play missions 2 students (note taking) Group discussion 4 students (Poster w. timeline) Plenum discussion all students Survey Video observation Interviews Test & evaluation Empirical study

Serious Games Interactive | | Qualitative feedback “Global Conflicts: Palestine is a fun and different way to receive learning” (Female student, 18 years) “You had a greater desire to learn about the topic from Global Conflicts: Palestine” (Male student, 16 years) ”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.” (Female student, 18 years) Empirical study

Serious Games Interactive | |  90% students find it the be an interesting course  88% Students find it to be an interesting educational material  59 % of students find they learned more  90% of students wants to try a similar course again Students want more... Empirical study

Serious Games Interactive | | Different rooms for learning styles Group work Reflective observation Active experimentation GC: Palestine Lecture Abstract concepts Concrete experiences Kolb’s cycle covered with different teaching forms in the course. The teacher is crucial to facilitate a full learning experience. Empirical study

Serious Games Interactive | | Closing  Engaging & intellectual stimulating game are possible  A lot of people are looking for new games  Like any other media computer games have a critical potential  A strong market for serious games is still years away  Distribution and financing remains a challenge

Serious Games Interactive | |