1. Playing to Learn: Using Commercial Video Games in Education Conference on Information Technology October 19-22, 2008 Landon K. Pirius, Ph.D. Inver Hills Community College

2. Introduction Developed from multiple perspectives –Generation X –25 years of game experience –U of M graduate –Dissertation work –10 years in online education

3. Does it Have to be Boring? “There is no rule that says education has to be boring. In fact, people learn best when they are engaged and entertained.” (University of NC, Greensville, Econ 201).

4. Resources Wikis: –http://games4learning.pbwiki.com/http://games4learning.pbwiki.com/ Blogs: –http://game-culture.blogspot.com/http://game-culture.blogspot.com/ –http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickablecultur e/C90/http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickablecultur e/C90/ Pew Internet and American Life Project: –“Teens, Video Games, and Civics” (2008)“Teens, Video Games, and Civics” (2008) CBS News –“In Depth: Gender Gap” (2003)“In Depth: Gender Gap” (2003) Scholastic –“The New Gender Gap” (2004)“The New Gender Gap” (2004)

5. Resources My dissertation: –AbstractAbstract –Reference listReference list Journals: –http://www.gamesandculture.com/news/http://www.gamesandculture.com/news/ –http://gamestudies.org/0601/archivehttp://gamestudies.org/0601/archive –http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/ Organizations: –www.glsconference.comwww.glsconference.com –http://www.digra.org/http://www.digra.org/

6. Educational Problem Disengagement and disinterest Education competes with other activities Gender gap – boys! –44% of university students –40% of university graduates –Dramatic reversal in the last 30 years –White, boys is the only demographic to raise its high school dropout rate since 2000. Source: CBS, 2003

7. Educational Hypothesis Utilize games and simulations –To engage –To stimulate learning –To have fun

8. Statistics 97% of teens aged 12-17 play video games –99% of boys; 94% of girls 50% played “yesterday” Platform –86% play on consoles –73% play PCs –60% on handhelds –48% on mobile devices (cell phones) Source: Pew, 2008

9. Statistics Popular genres –Racing (74%) –Puzzle (72%) –Sports (68%) –Strategy (59%) –Simulation (49%) –MMORPG (21%) –Virtual worlds (10%) Source Pew, 2008

10. Statistics 24% of teens play alone entirely; 76% play with others (social) 47% play online with those they know offline 27% play online with those they met online Source: Pew, 2008

11. Literature Potential: –Critical thinking –Problem solving –Experience-based learning –Flow –Collaboration, competition –Role-playing –Hands-on –Communication, reflection

12. Literature Results: –Increased motivation to learn if playing –Learning how to solve complex, multi-issue problems –Develop deeper, more insightful social narratives –Transferability of interaction and leadership skills offline –Empowerment and social responsibility –Immediate feedback with rewards or reprisals –Higher scores on exams (exp. vs. control)

13. Simulations Civilization Flight Simulator Sim City Other

14. Civilization “Advanced players develop a model of how geography, politics, and economics interact to produce historical outcomes.” http://civworld.gameslearningsociety.org/i ndex.phphttp://civworld.gameslearningsociety.org/i ndex.php Teach players to play game, then: –Play historical scenarios –Build custom scenarios –Produce knowledge

15. Flight Simulator Military training Civilian training Microsoft’s Flight Simulator –http://www.fsinsider.com/product/Pages /InfoEducators.aspxhttp://www.fsinsider.com/product/Pages /InfoEducators.aspx

16. Sim City Ervin Elementary –http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow3/apr99/simcity 2000/index.htmhttp://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow3/apr99/simcity 2000/index.htm Other uses –Climate –Alternative energy –Environmental education –City planning –Urban design

17. Other Simulators The Sims Railroad Tycoon Rollercoaster Tycoon Colonization Ace Combat Spore – guide your creature through 5 stages of civilizationSpore

18. Games Neverwinter Nights World of Warcraft Second Life Other

19. Neverwinter Nights Used with permission from Kathleen Hansen and Nora Paul, professors of journalism at the University of Minnesota. NWN.wmv

20. World of Warcraft Play, Pedagogy, and Engagement –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ3Zn_VEV2 0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ3Zn_VEV2 0 Economics –Auction house –Value of goods/services –Supply/demand Qualitative methods class –Interview techniques

21. World of Warcraft My Course (Spring 2009) –Subjective culture Social formations/relationships, behaviors, norms/expectations, language, rules, rituals, gestures/emotes, roles/role- modeling –Identity –Gender –Citizenship

22. Second Life Second Life Education Wiki

23. Second Life Marketing Concepts – Todd Johnson –Evaluate existing marketing efforts –Develop new marketing campaign inside Second Life Law in the Court of Public Opinion – Rebecca Nelson –http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone/

24. Second Life Science Labs – Will Ober –http://www.k12.com/http://www.k12.com/ –Virtual lab scenario that supports experimentation for high school students –Collaborative problem solving –Pattern recognition –Classification of material behaviors –Specialization

25. Second Life Chinese language learning – Second Life Chinese Island (SLCI) –http://vudat.msu.edu/1500/http://vudat.msu.edu/1500/ –Learn Chinese through immersion and completing a scavenger hunt. Human Communication and Technology – Tanya Joosten –http://uwmsecondlife.blogspot.com/http://uwmsecondlife.blogspot.com/

26. Other Games Guitar Hero Rock Band Nintendo Wii

27. Strategies for Success Facilitate (be there!) Experimentation Exploration and manipulation Opportunities for failure Build in reflection Role-playing Immediate feedback Cooperation and competition

28. An Educational Opportunity Through facilitated instruction using games and simulations, students may: –Engage –Learn –Communicate –Persist –Have fun –Share information –Create knowledge –Innovate

29. Keeping Connected Games4Learning Wiki –http://games4learning.pbwiki.com/http://games4learning.pbwiki.com/ Create an account Submit request for access I will grant access Create a profile page and contribute

30. Questions? Landon K. Pirius –piri0006@umn.edupiri0006@umn.edu