Greetings!
This week we looked at ways that collaborative virtual
gaming worlds can improve learning. Information travels rapidly in this hyper-engaged,
information driven environment in which we live and so it is no surprise that game
based-learning is yet another pathway to get the training and education one
needs at possibly faster rate than one might in an instructor led class.
Research shows that playing video games can actually help adults learn faster
and improve cognitive processes such as problem solving and the ability to problem
solve (Freeman, 2010). It was further discovered that “video game players perform 10
to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal
people that are non-game players” (Freeman, 2010). This is
exciting news for those of us who thought playing video games was a waste of
time!
I explored SIMS –
a virtual environment where players have the opportunity to experience life
through simulated characters. In sum, SIMS helps players to develop
interpersonal skills and manage personal wellness. Sims explores how situations impact emotions.
Developers have included meter bars to enable users to manage their characters
need for fun, energy, social interaction and personal wellness. For social
engagement, characters can attend night clubs, go to the movies and even fish.
In addition, players can undergo a myriad of
real life scenarios such as robberies, working, having a child, raising a
family, budgeting, and even death. These life-based scenarios require users to
apply critical and analytical thinking skills to help them devise a plan to
overcome the situation.
Sims users also have the opportunity to cultivate an idea of
what it will take to be successful in the work place. In the simulation, raises
are given based on work performance and social interaction.
This would be a great tool to use with individuals who may
have struggle socially and want to develop more social competence. Because the
SIMS focuses so much on social interaction, this can attune to the needs of
affiliation for players who can take the skills they are learning and transfer
them to their real life interactions. If played in a class room setting, the
instructor may encourage players to partake in SIMS for 30 minutes in class and
then role play the skills with one another in class to aid in transference of
the learning experience. Finally, the instructor will ask participants to
discuss the activity and its impact on them out loud in the group or suggest
that they journal about their experience. This activity can be replicated until
a time that desirable results are achieved.
In my research I also stumbled upon Immune attack and Visible Body two amazing 3D
simulator games that allow users to take their passion for learning biology to
a virtual level.
Immune attack is a visual and interactive game that requires
players to use a nanobot as they travel through the human body in an
attempt to build up the immune defenses by fighting off potential dangers.
Players are exposed to biological processes including white blood cells and microorganisms.
Visible Body provides users the ability to explore the brain
and nervous system, anatomy and function, the heart and circulatory system in
3D video and simulations.
Both of these games can be used in a setting where biology,
physiology, or kinesiology is being taught.
Thanks
for tuning in!
Tech Girl
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