Game Based Learning - An Introduction

During this webinar, Patrick will be introducing the concept of Game-based Learning, explain how it can be employed in instructional settings, and provide practical information on how to harness this engaging medium.
This is the first in a planned series of webinars from partners, MissionV Education Limited, a not for profit organisation specialising in the use of virtual worlds technology for the support of primary and post primary students and iGBL (Game -Based Learning Research Group) based in Waterford Institute of Technology.
iGBL organised a highly successful Symposium on Game-Based Learning (GBL) in Waterford Institute of Technology in May 2011.  This symposium brought together teachers, lecturers, students and researchers, and provided insights from different perspectives such as educational psychology, sociology, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Artificial Intelligence, Game Design, or Instructional Design.

InterroBang: Example of Game-Based Learning

I was on Facebook this morning poking my sister back and noticed an ad on the side for the game InterroBang. So, I decided to check it out. InterroBang is a game in which students complete real-world missions to win prizes, learn problem solving and connect with others to change the world. Gameplay is open to students in grades 6-12. In order to be eligible for prizes, students must register through their teachers or parents.

Missions are the central way that InterroBang is played. The missions are divided into four categories, or areas of inquiry:

   1. Culture
   2. Creativity
   3. Exploration
   4. Science

Each mission has a point value ranging from 10 points for an easy mission to 40 points for a difficult one. Students can complete missions by themselves or in groups. Every individual in a group receives the points from completing a mission. Students can add collaborators on the Play page from their class and even from their friends.

Student compete to win prizes including Xboxes and Flip cameras. To make InterroBang as fair as possible, the players are divided into 3 leagues: middle school, high school, and high school honors students. Students only compete against players in their League. Before prizes are awarded, the InterroBang team will contact teachers and schools to verify student status.

InterroBang was created and designed by Nuvana, with Founding Partner Microsoft Partners in Learning, with support from Exploratorium, Learn and Serve America, and ePals.

Interrobang Intro from Nuvana on Vimeo.

Learning better on 3D "patients"

Medical teaching software (such as iMedic,a program program creates a 3D X-ray that allows doctors to examine the body from every angle) exemplifies how the video gaming industry has penetrated academia. The Washington Post reported that several video game companies have switched from the entertainment industry to focus solely on what they call "serious games." Breakaway Games, just outside of Baltimore, has been developing training games for the last three years. Their clients include the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and the Medical College of Georgia. 

"The sentiment to use games in learning has always existed," said Ben Sawyer, president of Digitalmill and co-founder of the Serious Games Initiative and one of its offshoots, the Games for Health Project. Flight simulators, computerized war games and practice space stations have been used for decades to train pilots, soldiers and astronauts. "What's changing drastically now is the capability to inject much more robust and usable applications in the form of video games and computer simulations into these environments like never before." 

At the University of Maryland Medical Center, Gyusung Lee, assistant professor of surgery, oversees a research project with similar goals but different means. In the lab where iMedic is run, Lee employs motion-capture technology -- used to create "Madden Football" and "The Lord of the Rings"-- to study the movements of experienced surgeons. A platform that functions like a large Wii Fit board captures a surgeon's every move. A vest and motion sensors are attached to the surgeon's body and arms. Video game developers use this method to record the movements of football and basketball players in creating a library of motions from which gamers can choose.