How the Nintendo DSi Could Be Educationally Useful

We’ve talked a lot recently about the ascendency in educational gaming of the Nintendo DS, the descendant of the once ubiquitous GameBoy Advance handheld gaming system. New research is showing positive results for appropriate DS games to increase test scores, and gaming companies are porting over titles for studying the SAT to the platform. Now Nintendo is releasing an update to the system, called the DSi. It has generated quite a stir. Here are some ways the DSi may prove useful for educational gaming.

Larger Screens
Screens for the DSi are slightly bigger than the older DS. I’ve joked about the GBA and DS being designed for young people, as folks over 20 often complain about the size of the displays. But larger screens set in thinner cases will help players see more of the action. For the sake of education, larger screens means more text on the screen, either in quantity or quality (size of font). Admittedly the increase is small (3.25 inches up from 3.0 inches), but the increase will most certainly be worth it. Especially for old(er) people.

Cameras Outside and In
The DSi will have two cameras built in: one facing out and one facing in toward the player. I see this as benefiting ARGs, where players use devices to electronically enhance surrounding reality for the sake of the game. We’ve seen increased ARG use in lessons at historical sites thanks to the potent new crop of cell phones lately, but with two cameras added to the mix on the DSi, possibilities suddenly blossom. Students armed with Nintendo’s device could easily take pictures of objects on scavenger hunts, for instance, and share them with other teams. Pictures of players from the inward pointing camera provide proof of presence, and one imagines an easier way for teachers to remotely track students roaming about a site.

Built-in Web Browsing
Web support brings the DSi into Sony PSP territory. The nice thing is the price of the DSi is expected to fall somewhere south of $200. Imagine handing a fifth grader the equivalent power of an iPhone for a fraction of the cost and with no long-term contract. Downloading games might provide developers an inexpensive means of distribution for educational titles which may not otherwise be carried in traditional gaming venues.

SD Memory Card Support
Portable memory is a key issue for educators, as it eases dissemination of lessons and collection of data. SD memory cards are the de facto standard for portable data on a lot of devices, and many laptops and desktops have SD ports built in. A backwards compatible GBA slot is eliminated in this newest model, perhaps helping to keep the case slim. But with the SD slot, might the possibilities for home-made programming help up-and-coming educational game makers, ala the R4 Revolution, aka Majicon?

MP3 Support – sort of
The music-playing capabilities of the DSi will help with audio books, and flash cards that read words back to students. It’s not true MP3 support; users will have to use the AAC format. At least, that’s the current specs. But, folks adroit at gaming and such will have few problems converting MP3s to AAC.

Alas, American players will probably have to wait until fourth quarter, 2009 to buy one. But for players, and educators, it looks to be worth the wait.

PSP Mini-nets Show Small Group Potential

Here’s an interesting story from The Wall Street Journal about the growing popularity of the Sony PSP in Japan thanks largely to the Capcom game Monster Hunter. A key feature of the game is its social aspect, primarily engaged using the mini-network features built into the PSP. Groups of friends can gather in one location and play together while keeping others out.

Among Monster Hunter’s fans is Hitoshi Morita, a 37-year-old Tokyo-area architect, who recently went on a weekend retreat devoted to the game. Dividing into groups, Mr. Morita and 14 friends, who included a doctor and a few corporate executives, played the game for several hours at a time.

“It was an opportunity for us to forget our professional titles and social standings and play with each other like when we were kids,” says Mr. Morita, who is already planning another Monster Hunter retreat in September. “I’m not crazy about games, but I love Monster Hunter because of the social aspect.”

Reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane notes the two games in the Monster Hunter series are the best selling PSP titles in Japan, with over 4 million sold. The teamwork aspect of the game has overcome Japanese disinclinations toward social networking thanks to the exclusive capabilities of the PSP mini-nets, according to Kane.

Osaka-based Capcom, better known outside Japan for titles like Street Fighter and Devil May Cry, launched Monster Hunter as an online multiplayer game for Sony’s PlayStation 2 console four years ago. Sales weren’t huge. Many consumers shied away from the game, which was best played with other PS2 users over an online network.

But Ryozo Tsujimoto, the producer of the portable Monster Hunter games, saw a big opportunity for a PSP version because the device could be carried around easily, so gamers could introduce the game to friends. Sales figures soon showed he was on to something.

The possibilities of harnessing the mini-net features of the PSP are striking. Small groups could be set up with the PSP to tackle a project together in an educational game. Excluding other players from the groups would allow a room full of students working on PSPs to organize into teams working on objectives within the game.

References:
Kane, Y. I. (2008, June 24). Game device belatedly clicks. The Wall Street Journal, p.B1. [Online]. Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121426677949598525.html

Tim Holt’s Byte Speed Podcast

Tim Holt, the Director of Instructional Technology for El Paso ISD, interviewed me yesterday after my presentation on instructional gaming at Fall TecSIG. The Technology Coordinators Special Interest Group is the biggest SIG in the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA). Tec-Sig members meet twice a year in Austin, and again in February during the annual TCEA Conference and Exhibition, which is the largest state-based conference of its kind.

Tim and I talked about educational videogames and their various impacts on the classroom. The podcast lasts 15 minutes. Tim’s blog is quite extensive, and he has podcasts from interviews with several folks in the field at both the corporate and academic levels.

So, give Tim’s site a visit, and if you’ve got 15 minutes or so to spare, have a listen on a podcast dealing with instructional gaming and education.  

Handheld Learning Conference, 2007

With all the talk recently surrounding the educational uses of handheld gaming platforms such as the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, it makes sense that practitioners have banded together to form a conference on the topic. Andy Pulman blogs about the Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition, 2007, that is taking place next week in London. A press release that Andy references gives more details.

Here’s a couple of key paragraphs in that press release from the Nintendo folks:

David Yarnton, General Manager, Nintendo UK says:
“The Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition brings together so many thought-leaders it is natural that Nintendo gets involved with this important educational conference. As the biggest supplier of handheld entertainment, Nintendo is already driving learning across all age groups with its products, in particular the Touch Generations series, including Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? and Big Brain Academy. So we’re delighted to play our part, furthering the developing role of handheld devices in learning.”

Graham Brown-Martin, Managing Director, Handheld Learning, says:
“The majority of gaming devices – and particularly those by Nintendo – all feature local and wide area networking capabilities, which are exploited by its software titles to enable positive social interaction and networks. Whilst the world has been focussing on the $100 laptop Nintendo had already developed one in the form of the Nintendo DS.”

Ouch. I think the OLPC people might be asking: Where is the keyboard for the DS? Anyways, that’s an argument for another day. Additional details on the conference are available at the conference’s official website.

On a side note, despite our noting the increased discussion surrounding the educational uses of the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP in Japan, Gaming Today informs us that both products have been banned from use on Japanese airlines. Fortunately, other airlines have not followed suit. My oldest will be glad to hear this, flying back from New England later this week, loaded down with several books and both mini consoles to fight the boredom and wait out potential delays.

Aussie Media Notes Educational Uses of DS & PSP in Japan

I’ve discussed previously the educational uses of the Nintendo DS, most recently concerning the trend in Japan. Now, The Daily Telegraph (Australia) has an interesting article regarding the use of the DS and the PSP in Japanese schools. Here are some benefits being realized:

* At just one-fifteenth of the cost of a personal computer — around Y17,000 ($A171.38) each — the DS is an economical teaching tool … results in an initial trial showed the English vocabulary of junior high school students using the DS had soared by 40 per cent.
* Saito Miyauchi, 12, approaches teacher Raita Hirai with a bashful smile as he holds up his DS screen. “That’s great!” the teacher tells him after Saito has topped the class by doing 45 multiplications in 15 minutes.
* “The badminton club keeps me busy. But with DS, I can study everywhere, and quickly.”
* “The benefit is that students can look at, hear and write an English word at the same time. With conventional flash cards, you would have two of them at the best,” …“With the game console, you can feel the fast speed and tempo. I think it matches today’s children,” [a school official] said, adding the board had received no complaints from parents.

Lest all the praise be reserved for the DS, the PSP garners its own admirers in the article. A pilot project in Osaka is soon to expand from 38 fourth graders to 800 or more students:

Teacher Toyokazu Takeuchi did not need to print out or check tests. Instead, his own console received real-time data showing which students were making mistakes and what mistakes they were making.
“This is e-learning made in Japan — traditional efforts in reading, writing and calculating coupled with the power of information technology and game machines,” he said.

Finally, the article concludes with the possibility that, since portable gaming devices are so inexpensive, they may possibly serve as an introduction to educational computing in developing countries. In the meantime, the Japanese seem to be enjoying the educational benefit of the DS and the PSP just fine.

References:
Videogames pushed in class. (2007, September 21). The Daily Telegraph. [Online]. Available: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/
0,22049,22456665-5006007,00.html

Parents Rejoice: Video Games Don’t Hurt GPAs Much

Todd Stinebrickner over at Western Ontario, and Ralph Stinebrickner over at Berea College (a son & father team), wrote a paper based on the effects studying (or lack thereof) had on grade point averages. The study was based on time-use diaries that volunteer college students kept for the researchers. Data was collected in 2000 and 2001. A total of 210 subjects participated.

The media has trumpeted the most salacious findings in the study: video game use (mainly consoles, it appears from media coverage) that interfered with study time led to slightly lower grades. USA Today/Yahoo News reported the story here; Wired reported the story here. But, parents of college students need not fret. The effect was not too bad. GPAs of freshmen who were gamers showed a decrease by .241 points.

Alas, the full paper is a $5 download, unless you are a working journalist or in a developing country, in which case it’s free. All others can read the abstract here.

References:
Arendt, S. (2007, September 19). Study: Roomies with videogames lower college students’ GPAs. [Online.] Available: http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/09/study-roomies-w.html

Naseef, K. (2007, September 19). Video games can shoot holes in GPA. USA Today. [Online.] Available: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070919/
tc_usatoday/videogamescanshootholesingpa

Stinebrickner, T. R., & Stinebricker, R. (2007, August). The causal effect of studying on academic performance. [NBER working paper no. 13341.] Cambridge, Massachusetts: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Educational Uses for the Sony PSP

After writing about the educational uses for the Nintendo DS, I read Paul Waelchli’s post over at his Research Quest blog about using Sony PSPs for educational purposes. Paul has been has been keeping an eye on E3 2007, the large video game industry conference. Paul noted that the new iteration of the PSP, the PSP Slim, is used in the UK for educational purposes.

My kids have both the DS and the PSP. I first purchased an original Nintendo Game Boy at a garage sale when my oldest was 5 or 6 years old. This became a mainstay on long trips. Since that bargain find (which netted the Game Boy and several cartridges for the low bargain price of $15, if memory serves), the kids have acquired every subsequent model that Nintendo has offered, as well as two or three Sony PSPs.

My oldest prefers the PSP because of its multimedia capabilities, and enjoys not only games but listening to music and watching movies on the device. Besides access to ported games from the old PlayStation 2, it also has wireless capabilities that are used frequently on our home network. I must say, the screen on the PSP is superior to other handheld devices that size, and easier for older folks to see.

So, the multimedia capabilities of the handheld device combined with a price point of around $169 have triggered some educators to think of appropriating the device for classroom use. Sony Europe has launched the PSP in Education initiative, spearheading efforts in Britain, especially, to use the device as a classroom tool. Hopefully some good research will get published out of all this

Educational Uses for the Nintendo DS

An interesting article ran on the front page of The Wall Street Journal today, discussing the educational uses of the Nintendo DS in Japan. The DS is the current iteration of the venerable Game Boy platform, and is a very popular gadget. It is the highest selling handheld gaming platform, with some 18 million units sold to date, three times its nearest competition, the Sony PSP. Wikipedia states previous iterations (i.e., the Game Boy Advance) have sold 75 million units worldwide, and the DS is backwards compatible with older cartridges.

It turns out Nintendo is slowly expanding the market for Game Boy applications, adding such things as reference manuals and tutoring software. Article author Yukari Iwatani Kane indicates that Brain Age is the tip of the iceberg for these educational titles; the company has been slow in exporting them to countries beyond Japan’s shores. But, these titles are gradually proliferating elsewhere. Electronic Arts is readying some reference works such as wine catalogs that can run on the platform.

One very positive element in the platform’s favor is the brighter, larger screens it offers. Plus, the clamshell design opens up to a larger, easier to hold handheld device. Previous iterations of the Game Boy were not as appealing to adults (old people) because they were hard to manipulate and the screens were hard to see, much less read. The DS goes a long way in addressing these issues. Thus, educational and reference titles that appeal to adults and have more serious uses than the traditional games are starting to proliferate in Japan.

DS stands for Dual Screen, and the second screen can be used as an input device with a stylus. The unit also features a microphone and voice recognition that is integrated in some games such as the popular Nintendogs, where users “train” virtual puppies to respond to the sound of their voice. Finally, at a price point under $150, integration into the classroom seemed economically viable in comparison to more expensive devices. These are similar to research findings for PDAs in the classroom, as reported by Norris and Soloway in particular. The features intrigued Japanese educators, who began to think of educational applications. One early idea that caught on: using the DS as an electronic English tutor:

Many teachers found computers to be a nuisance because they required preparing extra lessons, and moving children to a computer room. Some were even intimidated by the computers. But the DS could be used briefly and in the classroom. And it cut down on paperwork.

“It’s not like we’re letting the students play games without supervision,” [a school manager] says. “I don’t even consider them to be a game device. It’s a tool.”

After a cautious trial with the English tutorial software, in which students write out the words they hear, and are prompted as to whether their handwriting is correct or not …

The school found that nearly 80% of students who used the DS each day mastered junior-high-level competence in English vocabulary, compared with just 18% before. About half of those students had developed 11th-grade-level abilities. The school district is now testing other [DS] software for subjects like arithmetic and Japanese.

Students reportedly like the device in its new role as an educational assistant:

“Work sheets were such a pain […] These exercises feel like a game.”

This is consistent with research on appropriating the Game Boy Advance for educational purposes, which I’ve talked about here. Lee and colleagues were able to show a higher rate of practice math problem completion with students using a GBA math game than those in the control group using traditional paper worksheets.

References

Kane, Y. I. (2007, July 11). Beyond Pokémon: Nintendo DS goes to school in Japan. The Wall Street Journal (p.A1).

Lee J., Luchini, K., Michael, B., Norris, C., & Soloway, E. (2004). More than just fun and games: Assessing the value of educational video games in the classroom. In Proceedings from Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1375 – 1378). Retrieved from ACM Portal.

Update:

Nintendo DS Classroom is on the way in 2009.