Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

23 – Computer-Based Games for Learning
• education games covering school subjects such as
algebra, history, chemistry, computer software, and
criminology;
• public policy games designed to educate the public on
citizenship, democratic participation, and policy issues,
such as Cyberbudget France on the French national
budget, and several US election-related games;
• political and social games designed to stimulate discussion
or promote views on world issues (e.g., world
agriculture, drug dealing, human rights);
• health and wellness games teaching about health issues
and management (e.g., for asthma, cancer, heart
health, child predators, and self-esteem); and
• learning applications of commercial games: job simulations
(e.g., emergency room), resource management
(SimCity, Railroad Tycoon), history (e.g., Oregon Trail,
Rise of Nations).
Similarly, simulation applications are many and varied,
including:
• business: Computational models that generate business
results and provide feedback for practising planning
and decision-making for simulated periods (e.g.,
months, years). Goals are often profit-related. Areas
include strategic management, marketing, finance,
operations, investments; specific industry simulations,
e.g., the Cornell Management Game (http://www.cms
-training.com/);
• public policy: Simulations of government, educational,
or international organizations or scenarios,
e.g., Virtual U university management simulation
(http://www.virtual-u.org/);
• military training: War strategy, equipment, battle,
support scenarios, e.g., America’s Army, a virtual online
army simulation (aimed at recruiting) produced
by the US government (http://www.americasarmy
.com/);
• flight: Simulations of specific aircraft controls, airports,
flight paths, e.g., CAE commercial training simulators
(http://www.cae.com); PC-based flight simulators
(http://www.pcaviator.com or http://www.microsoft
.com/games/flightsimulator/);
• medicine: Physical or computer-based models of
medical processes and problems for developing and
testing clinical skills, e.g., patient simulators, surgical
simulators (http://www.msr.org.il/About_MSR/Medical
_Simulation_Equipment/);
• emergency response: Immersive emergency scenarios
and environments for testing systems and decisions,
e.g., Unreal Triage (http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu
/projects/seers/utriage.php); and
• leadership development: Simulated scenarios for
practising interpersonal and leadership skills, such as
Virtual Leader (http://www.simulearn.net/leadership
training.html), Change Game (http://www.vanderbilt
.edu/lead/simulations.html).
For the rest of this chapter, we will be concerned with
games, simulation games and game-like simulated environments
that involve play, exploration, and problemsolving
but may or may not required explicit scoring
and competition. In common with the popular use of
the term, we will use “games” to refer to them collectively.
Training simulations that are specifically oriented
towards technical skills development, e.g., flight simulators
and medical patient simulators are beyond the
scope of this discussion.
Computer-based games are played by individuals and
groups in many configurations. They can be single- or
multi-player, played on a single computer, or multiple
networked machines, in classrooms, or online. Handheld
games can also support individual learning or collaborative
learning with teams and groups, and
particularly lend themselves to games involving player
movement around physical settings. Internet-based
massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) attract
thousands of players in complex, evolving interactions
and scenarios, including ones created by players themselves.
Computers and especially handhelds can also be
used to support blended learning situations in which
game play happens through face-to-face interactions
and activities rather than on screens.
Example
Second Life is a virtual online world built by its “residents”
and populated by their avatars (online characters).
It includes a dedicated campus area where
educators can build and offer virtual classes including
simulations. Here learners can “use simulation in a safe
environment to enhance experiential learning, allowing
individuals to practise skills, try new ideas, and learn
from their mistakes. Students and educators can work
together in Second Life from anywhere in the world as
part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment.”
(http://secondlife.com/community/education.php)
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