Ten Year Old Gives TeamTreks Thumbs Up

Mike Palmquist over at Portage Interactive invited me to take a look at a new educational gaming site his company has out called TeamTreks.com. Focusing on the development of teamwork and leadership skills, the online game provides players with a set of decision making opportunities and feedback through a virtual camping trip. It is aimed at students in grades 4 – 7.

One of the many nice things about the game is the fact that anybody can try it out for free. I set up an account for my 10 year old and sat back to watch. The interface is simple; Mike said his company deliberately kept it from becoming overly complex. Coming from a background where the school I work in still has several student computers with only 256 megs RAM, I can appreciate elegant simplicity. There are also no ads, which is a huge plus.

After making preparations and gathering supplies, we were off on a kayaking trip. The interface reminded me of Oregon Trail, where forethought and planning is needed for success. Other decisions made on the way included campsite locations, mulling over a petraglyph, (a first for my 10 year old, resulting in a bit of new knowledge) and dealing with the changing opinions and moods of other (virtual) party members. Mike noted that dealing with the team members’ moods and attitudes helps develop leadership skills. Also, Mike noted that, “Map-reading & navigation; Information gathering & data analysis; Reading comprehension & math skills” are woven into the game as well, many of which were evident very quickly into the game.

After half an hour or so, I asked the 10 year old for thoughts and perspectives. I got the following reply: “There’s a lot of planning and strategizing. It really makes you think.” And that, of course, is exactly the point.

Give TeamTreks a try. If you find it useful, a teacher package is available from the company that allows customization for classroom use, and tracking of individual students. I think games like this that focus on social development will find a strong foothold in educational settings.

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categories Game Discussion, Game Writing, Making Video Games, Serious Games, Simulations | John Rice | datetime October 20, 2007 4:45 pm

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  1. My Ghillie » Ten Year Old Gives TeamTreks Thumbs Up — October 20, 2007 @ 5:26 pm

  2. www.gamesandgames.info » Ten Year Old Gives TeamTreks Thumbs Up — October 21, 2007 @ 7:28 am

  3. Mathematics Education Blog » Blog Archive » Ten Year Old Gives TeamTreks Thumbs Up — October 23, 2007 @ 1:12 pm

  4. sxarts » Ten Year Old Gives TeamTreks Thumbs Up — October 31, 2007 @ 10:44 am

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