1. Educational Games and Simulations Lauren Beck Taylor Fields Lynee Fleming Rachel Owens Christine Wilson

2. Educational Games Educational games are games that have been specifically designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event of culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. This includes board, card and video games. http://www.funbrain.com/

3. Simulations Simulation is the imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviors of a selected physical or abstract system. http://www.download-free-games.com/download/cat/simulation/ http://www.learn4good.com/games/simulation.htm

4. Pros of Educational Games and Simulations Improves analytic skills and decision making skills. Improves communication, problem solving skills, and alertness. Improves mathematics, spelling and reading grades. Children love games and won't even realize that they are learning. Real life problems can be taught using games. Fun and excitement will encourage children to learn to their best ability. Provides real-world contexts. Increases attention span.

5. Pros of Educational Games and Simulations (Cont’d) Helps students “think outside the box”. Allows students to create and manipulate systems and problems within certain parameters and without the normal constraints of time and space. Provides a wide range of opportunities. Don’t require actual materials. Saves money. Clean and easy. Includes all content areas. Teaches students about technology.

7. Kids who spend too much time playing games can develop bad posture and RSI (repetitive strain injury), eye strains, headaches, wrist, neck and back pains, etc.

8. Less active than other activities.

9. Requires technology which might not be available or accessible.

10. Lack of computers might prohibit whole group instruction.

11. Safety issues concerning the internet.

12. Can be difficult to monitor and assess progress.

14. Enhances cognitive learning of factual information with the acquisition of concrete meaning for abstract terms

15. Better understanding of processes

16. Helps develop favorable attitudes to social issues

17. Positive attitude toward learning and instructional process

18. Helps develop communication & social skills

19. Improves classroom climate

20. Enhances teacher flexibility”

23. The effectiveness of gaming relies on the degree to which the games simulate real life

24. Games are dynamic, intrinsically motivating, and involve high levels of involvement. They provide immediate feedback to participants, and mistakes do not result in actually losing assets

25. Games have been found to serve a range of functions in education including tutoring, exploring and practicing skills, and attitude change

26. The effective use of games differs depending on the educational areas where the games are employed. The best results were found to be in the areas of mathematics, physics, and language arts (as opposed to social studies, biology and logic). The beneficial effects of gaming are most likely to be found when specific content is targeted and objectives precisely defined

28. which then means that children are working on their social skills such as: negotiations, planning, strategic thinking and decision making

29. Games used in this study

30. Age of Empires II

31. Bob the Builder

32. Championship Manager

33. City Traders

34. F1 Championship Racing

35. Freddi Fish

36. Lego Alpha Team

37. Legoland

38. Micro Racers

39. Pajama Sam

40. Putt-Putt Enters the Race

41. RollerCoaster Tycoon

42. Sim City 3000

43. The Sims

44. The Tweenies

45. The Settlers

46. Uno

47. Worms United

49. Motivation and conceptual learning increased

50. Simulation of frog

52. students need to be challenged

53. students need time to reflect

55. Universities

56. Military

57. Businesshttp://seayj.people.cofc.edu/cb/simgames.html?referrer=webcluster& http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.ebayimg.com/22/!BbVtTng!mk~%24(KGrHqQH-DYEqu0j%2BH!CBKvlte8Z!!~~_35.JPG&imgrefurl=http://cgi.ebay.at/BRAINIAC-K-30-Computer-50-Jahre-alt-1959-/ http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.leapfrogshop.co.uk/leapfrogshop/info/leapster/leapster_new/leapster_400.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.leapfrogshop.co.uk/leapfrogshop/leapster.htm&usg http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.danielbowen.com/images/2004/0528-scrabble.jpg&imgrefurl

58. Flight Simulators They were among the first education simulators created. There were created back in the 1940’s to help teach men how to fly planes during the war. http://www.simpit.net/

61. Multiple goal structures and scoring to give students feedback on their progress

62. Multiple difficulty levels to adjust the game to different learners

63. Random elements of surprise

65. Reader Rabbit

66. Knowledge MunchersKurt Squire http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/thisweekineducation/upload/2007/07/reader_rabbit/reader%2520rabbit.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/thisweekineducation/2007/07/&usg http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.edweek.org

68. Advanced Today educational games are more advanced and focused on simulation: SimEarth Hidden Agenda SimCity Digital Weather Station

69. Application to Education (e.g. use in the classroom)

70. Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds Games, simulations, and virtual worlds provide educators with an opportunity to engage learners in an immersive and interactive environment that requires knowledge, decision making, and information management skills. However, the use of immersive learning environments can be controversial; their association with play and fun is often considered non-educational. Even so, games, simulations, and virtual worlds are gaining increased cultural acceptance. Research suggests that these environments can play a significant role in facilitating learning through engagement, group participation, immediate feedback, and providing real-world contexts.

71. Learning with Computer Games and Simulations Computer games and simulations can be defined as interactive multimedia with dynamic elements that are under user control. They range from games that require simple, repetitive actions, such as Tetris®, to complex digital worlds. Unlike much of the currently available educational multimedia, games and simulations are highly interactive, with many user-controlled features. Although similar in many ways, games differ from simulations by including a goal or challenge.

72. Learning with Computer Games and Simulations (Continued) Most people agree that video games can promote learning, although critics suggest that what is learned may be inappropriate. Video games are highly engaging, and there is great interest in how to harness their power to support learning. Educational games and simulations have been found to be effective in motivating students to learn, and games that encourage exploration may be particularly engaging to students, especially girls.

73. Overview of Games and Simulations Some games and simulations allow students to explore and create materials that they could not work directly with in real life. Simulations can enable students to develop familiarity with an activity before they engage in it. As an example, with Froguts students can use an interactive computer program to proceed fully through a frog dissection before attempting dissection of an actual frog. Students who use simulations report that they feel more confident in their skills when later working with real materials.

74. Froguts http://dissect.froguts.com/welcome.html Froguts is subscription-based software that students can use to simulate dissecting several different animals, including frogs, fetal pigs, squids, and starfish.

75. Students Need to be Challenged As in any learning situation, students are usually more engaged when they face a challenge that they feel they can meet. The level of challenge should match the student’s skill level. If the task is too hard, the student will give up easily, and if it is too easy, the student may become bored. Students also benefit from games that become progressively more complex and difficult. Thus, an effective game allows students to begin at different levels of challenge and gradually take on more challenge. As an example, Chucky’s Chicken Stacker is a game in which players find words with a specific vowel sound. There are two levels of difficulty, and the speed of the game can be adjusted.

76. Chucky’s Chicken Stacker http://pbskids.org/lions/games/stacker.html In Chucky’s Chicken Stacker, available at the PBS Kids website, students identify words that have a specific vowel sound (e.g., short a). It takes 5 correct words to win the game. Students can select the speed at which the words are shown and choose between two levels of difficulty.

78. http://www.parents-and-kids.com/blog/en/2008/07/pros-and-cons-for-kids-playing-games/

79. http://searcheric.org/edu/learning-games.html

80. http://wanttoknowit.com/pros-and-cons-of-video-games/

81. http://seayj.people.cofc.edu/cb/simgames.html?referrer=webcluster&http://seayj.people.cofc.edu/cb/simgames.html?referrer=webcluster&

82. http://www.simpit.net/