Xbox Goes to College to Help Football Players Learn Their Moves

I knew Microsoft endeavored to tap into the modding potential of the Xbox. Now comes an AP story about a company called XOS Technologies selling modified Xbox football games to Division I universities. The returning national champions Louisiana Statue University Tiger’s football team uses the game, as do the University of Tennessee Volunteers (for our friends over in Louisiana, I have to say for the championship game tonight, “Geaux Tigers.”) The game is called PlayAction Simulator, and has apparently played a role in leading the Tigers to another successful season this year.

XOS Technologies programs in all the team’s offensive plays, then all the defensive plays of their opposition. Quarterbacks and other offensive players can play the game to help learn their plays, and see how mistakes can lead to turnovers and other mishaps.

The game looks and plays just like the popular Madden NFL and NCAA football games, though all the goofy stuff such as player celebrations, cheering crowds, mascots and bands have been removed.

If LSU wins tonight, the Xbox and XOS Technologies can certainly claim part of the credit.

Update:
A victory for the Xbox: LSU beat Ohio State 38-24.

Civ IV Mod Contest Offers Education Category

Thanks to Alan Au for giving a heads up on Ben Sawyer’s Serious Games List about the Firaxis Civilization IV mod contest. Winners get new Dell XPS computers. One of the categories is the best educational mod, and this will bear watching. The contest ends Feb. 18, 2008. More details are here: http://firaxis.com/community/modcontest.php

Dangerous Russian Flirting Software Passes Turing Test; May Have Gaming Applications

Ina Fried over at CNET’s News.com noted that “flirting” software devised by Russian programmers can fool online chatters, and potentially be used to pilfer passwords and other personal data. Could it be the Turing Test has been met for nefarious purposes? This was famously postulated by British mathematician Alan Turing who wrote in 1950 that a machine would have attained apparent sentience if a person did not know he or she were corresponding with a machine (via teletype at the time).

Other efforts have been made in this arena, mainly thanks to the Loebner prize, which is awarded in a contest each year to companies or individuals. The 2007 winner is Robert Medeksza of Zabaware. Zabaware’s Ultra Hal Assistant 6.1 looks particularly interesting for carrying on fake conversations. Here’s a portion of the product description:

Ultra Hal Assistant is an artificial intelligence conversation simulator. It is capable of being your digital secretary and companion. Talk to Hal in natural English language and Hal will speak back to you. Hal has a huge conversational database and will discuss anything. Hal speaks out loud to you in one of many high quality voices and has several 3D animated characters to choose from. Hal will learn from every sentence that you tell it and over time it will learn [to] like the same things you do, and to talk about topics you like to talk about. In addition to being able to chat with you for entertainment purposes, Ultra Hal can also act as a personal information manager (PIM). Hal can remember and remind you of appointments, it can keep an address book, it can keep a phone book, and it can dial phone numbers for you. Hal will also run programs and recent documents on command, and can help you browse the Internet. You can also run your Hal bot on the AOL Instant Messenger network.

Back to the Russian software, which is available only in Russian so far: Those intrepid Russian hackers have perfected the software to such a degree that folks in chat rooms think they’re flirting with a real person, and thus tend to reveal personal info they otherwise wouldn’t. I wonder if human libidos help machines to pass the Turing Test?

Regardless, as “chatterbox software” keeps improving, perhaps we’ll see the day when the technology is adopted in educational games. Imagine a virtual personal assistant (to wit: an NPC in the game) coaching children, guiding them through tight spots with which they have difficulty, and providing a level of companionship and bonhomie.

The Top 10 Free Educational Video Games

The main reason for inclusion in the top 10 was the impact a game had on the educational gaming field. Some of these are getting rather long in the tooth as far as games go, yet their impact is still being felt in educational research that was foundational or continues to be published. On the other hand, new titles are coming out all the time and this list may well change in the future.

The criteria for inclusion were simple. The game must be free and preferably available online. Some of the games are modifications of existing games (mostly Neverwinter Nights). So, mods are free but to run them you will need to purchase the original engine. But that’s a minor quibble since they are free if you already own the engine.

I am interested in other titles, so if you have a favorite that is not on the list, drop me an e-mail and let me know about it. Finally, I also included the learning objectives, host URLs, and my comments on the games. So, give these educational games a look-see, and consider using them in a classroom or other formal learning situation. And let me know about it if you do.

1. Revolution
Type: Modification of Neverwinter Nights Gold
Learning Objective: Experience historical incentives for the American Revolution from the grassroots level.
Host URL: http://www.educationarcade.org/revolution
Comment: This is the game that started folks talking about seriously using the modifiable Neverwinter Nights engine for educational purposes. Several papers were published on this game, focusing on its interactive means of teaching students about the American Revolution. It was perhaps best introduced to academics in a widely read article by Joel Foreman over at George Mason in the first issue of Innovate.

2. Re-Mission
Type: Executable
Host URL: http://www.re-mission.net/
Learning Objective: Understand cancer better and develop a positive attitude toward defeating it.
Comment: It’s a big download, but well worth the wait. The game from HopeLab is aimed at teaching young cancer patients about the disease and providing opportunities to enhance understanding in a positive environment. It offers the latest in educational videogame design, with backing from a well-funded sponsor. Also available in Spanish and French, and can be ordered for free on CD by mail.

3. River City
Type: Multi-user Virtual Environment
Host URL: http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/muvees2003/index.html
Learning Objective: Develop an understanding of the scientific method through inquiry and teamwork, as well as an appreciation for history and environmental issues.
Comment: One of the two big NSF projects for educational gaming on this list, with several years of research following its progress. This Harvard product is freely available to schools, but only on disc through the mail. The team prefers sending it to teachers wishing to use the program in science classes. Chris Dede spearheaded the project.

4. Quest Atlantis
Type: Multi-user Virtual Environment
Host URL: http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu
Learning Objective: Help students understand social studies, environmental concerns, current events, and scientific standards.
Comment: Although this Indiana University project offers a guest area where interested parties can explore the Quest Atlantis universe, the NSF-funded project requires teachers contact the team before allowing full access. Several thousand participants have joined QA, and research is ongoing. Sasha Barab spearheaded the project

5. Arden
Type: Modification of Neverwinter Nights Diamond
Host URL: http://swi.indiana.edu/arden/index.shtml
Learning Objective: Attain an appreciation of Shakespearean authorship and Elizabethan England.
Comment: As part of the Serious Worlds Initiative over at Indiana University, Arden was initially funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Executive producer is Edward Castronova, whose book Synthetic Worlds covers many of the economic and social issues in MMOs. Castronova has professed that Arden is not very exciting to typical gamers (no monsters to slay). However, the notion of exploring Shakespeare’s world should prove interesting to English majors and other aficionados of the Bard’s work.

6. The History Canada Game
Type: Modification of Civilization III
Host URL: http://www.historycanadagame.com/
Learning Objective: Understand social forces surrounding Canadian history since 1534.
Comment: O Canada! Down here south of the border, we hardly know ye! But, an initiative funded by Canada’s National History Society and The Historica Foundation aims to change that, for Canadians as well as those outside her borders.

7. America’s Army
Type: Executable
Host URL: http://www.americasarmy.com
Learning Objectives: Teamwork, and a greater understanding of US military expectations for recruits.
Comment: Critics decry this free videogame as a recruiting tool for the military. The Army shrugs its collective shoulders and says, “So?” Actually, America’s Army has many fans with no military expectations. One Ph.D. candidate I work with is a self-described “America’s Army widow.” Almost 3 gigs for the full version; its free nature ensures many adherents for years to come.

8. Food Force
Type: Executable
Host URL: http://www.food-force.com/
Learning Objectives: Understand world hunger and efforts to alleviate it.
Comment: Classroom materials and instructions are available on-site. Besides English, the UN-backed Food Force is available in (alphabetical order): Chinese, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, and Portuguese.

9. Whyville
Type: Instructional Online Virtual World
Host URL: http://www.whyville.net/smmk/nice
Learning Objectives: Provide a student-centered, hands-on environment for exploring various school subjects.
Comment: This Numedeon-backed product is aimed at elementary and middle school students, in hopes of encouraging “scientific discovery” and “social responsibility.”

10. SimCity
Type: Web-based
Host URL: http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php
Learning Objectives: Understand variable manipulations for urban management while having fun building a simulated city.
Comment: Critics have attacked its oversimplification of urban management, but countless children the world over have learned such truisms as the correlation between higher taxes and a disgruntled populace. Also, if you deplete the fire departments’ budget, disasters will devastate your city! The original SimCity is available online gratis from Electronic Arts, with adverts for the newest version, SimCity 4.

Update:
This list is getting long in the tooth, and many new games have been developed or improved since its introduction in 2007. For one, check out Selene from Wheeling Jesuit University’s Center for Educational Technologies. It is free, available online, and promotes science learning along with lunar exploration.

More great educational games are discussed on this blog on a regular basis. Subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up with the latest posts. Thanks.

Battling for Opportunities to Simulate History

I have visited the national historic site for the Battle of New Orleans twice (last time when NECC was in NO). Taking a leisurely steamboat ride from the riverfront mall up the Mississippi, you disembark at the site and listen patiently to a park ranger explaining how Andrew Jackson marshaled his forces, combined with the racially diverse city populace, and held off the evil British soldiers. If you’re lucky, the park ranger will fire off a replicated musket shot to give you a feel for what the battle was like. On the ride back to New Orleans, you can purchase a toy gun or perhaps a coffee mug in the ship’s gift shop to commemorate your visit, and Jackson’s victory.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of our national park system. Somebody once said the Europeans have their cathedrals while the Americans have their national parks. But what if we could play the role of Andrew Jackson, face the same decisions on deploying limited resources against a superior opponent? Could we experience history better if history were simulated for us within the context of a videogame?

Some say, “Yes!” One advocate for this approach is Dr. Kevin Kee over at Brock University, who serves as primary investigator of The Simulating History Project: Best Practices for Simulating History. Here’s the raison d’être for the site:

Canadians are concerned about their understanding of their history, and especially about the way that it is taught. The “Simulating History” project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is exploring the “best potential” for educational computer simulations (sometimes called computer “serious games”) to teach Canadian history.

The site serves as a blog, with entries detailing various school projects, news from other university efforts, and various serious games related to history. There are also discussions concerning the use of educational videogames in teaching history. One in particular was pointed out to me by Dr. Shawn Graham. “Towards a Theory of Good-History-through-Good-Gaming for Historians and Educators” is by Kevin Kee and Shawn Graham, with contributions by Marion Barfurth, Michel Blondeau, Mike Clare, Patrick Dunae, Andrew Large, John Lutz, and Chris Tan. It offers a cogent argument for the use of sophisticated videogames (namely those in the Civilization series) for use in history instruction; offers the counter-arguments against their use in classrooms; then offers a dialogue for the contributors listed above to hash out their thoughts on the topic.

It’s an excellent online article, and it offers insight to the process of appropriating a technology for pedagogical purposes. Now perhaps somebody might try and incorporate the Battle of New Orleans in a historically appropriate videogame. I suspect it will offer greater insights to the processes surrounding the battle than a site visit offers. Perhaps someday, visitors will be able to purchase the game in the steamboat’s gift shop.

Teaching Ancient Roman History with Civilization IV

On the heels of my post about using Civilization for teaching history (which garnered a lot more hits than I expected … thanks GameCulture!), Dr. Shawn Graham contacted me about his personal experiences using Civilization IV in teaching his distant students in classical history online.

Graham crafted a scenario in Civ IV focusing on AD 69, the year after Nero’s assassination. This became known as The Year of the Four Emperors, as rivals across the empire made a lunge for power. Graham used the Ancient Mediterranean Mod map, then used the UN mod in place of the Roman Senate. Players can re-write history in the game by choosing a faction then leading their emperor to “victory” through defeating the other sides or forging an alliance.

Most interestingly, he documented the use of his scenario in his WebCT course with students spread across Canada. First, the game threw historically unrealistic curveballs, such as Vespasian consistently converting to Judaism. Another was the anachronism of the UN governing in Ancient Rome (this was modified with a hack shared with Graham by the members of the Civ modding community … the UN became the Roman Senate, in name at least, following the hack).

So, Graham threw out the idea to his students, suggesting they could optionally play through his scenario in lieu of writing an end of course essay:

Play a game, or write an essay? I figured it would be a no-brainer. Now of course, not everyone had a copy of the game, and I couldn’t force them to buy it. There were a number though who did have a copy, and they gave it a try. The response was…. well, you know that odd uncle you have, who turns up at family gatherings, and every one tries to humour him without causing too much disruption? It was something like that. “I enjoyed it Sir, it really made me think differently about what was going on in AD69… but if it’s alright with you, I’d rather write an essay” was a typical response.

The problem, Graham realized, was a lack of understanding what the expectations were for playing through a videogame for a grade versus writing the traditional essay. Expectations for essays were known factors … expectations for playing through a scenario in Civilization were not. For future endeavors, Graham plans to spell out expectations for the videogame option much more explicitly.

All told, Graham’s experiences are very interesting. You can download his scenario from PlanetCivilization here. You can follow his ongoing research on simulating Roman archaeology over at University of Manitoba here. Finally, his most excellent blog, covering online education, educational gaming, using Civ IV for educational purposes, and other interesting items, is here.

IBM Helps Universities to Innov8

Here’s a nice article by Julie Moran Alterio from Gannett, appearing in the Asbury Park Press (“From the Jersey Shore to You”) on IBM’s new business leadership skills game, Innov8. Taking a page from the military’s America’s Army game, IBM hopes to instill desired skill sets in those “fuzzy” areas that games are so good at teaching, such as leadership, teamwork, social skills, and real world problem solving.

Innov8 came about through IBM’s corporate case challenge, which involves B-school teams from two universities competing with one another to provide a solution to a business problem. IBM VP Sandy Carter noted that 40 of the 44 teams from Duke and U. North Carolina suggested using a videogame to help people develop needed skill sets for business acumen. Since January, Carter has shepherded development of Innov8, using some of the students from the case challenge to help design the game. Pilot studies were completed earlier this year and the game is now ready for prime time, to be offered free to 2000 universities worldwide.

Gameplay should be familiar to World of Warcraft players. It’s a 3-D virtual interactive environment (VIE) with human avatars. Players assume a female avatar tasked with solving various business-scenario dilemmas. NPCs provide helpful dialogue.

Jim Lawler, an information systems associate professor over at Pace University, is given prominent mention. He worried game dynamics would be difficult to master, thus detracting from lessons. However, he was won over after quickly mastering the game. His key quote: “Enrollment is lower in computer science and information systems nationally. This is what schools have to do, integrate these kind of games and tools.”

David Rejeski is also mentioned prominently in the article:

More corporations and the U.S. government are starting to see the potential of games to teach serious subjects, said David Rejeski, director of the Serious Games Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

“The thing about games that’s really nice is you can fail softly,” Rejeski said.

The Apply Group, a high-tech consulting firm, predicts that one in five of the Global Fortune 500 will adopt gaming for learning by 2012.

My take: IBM has long been at the forefront of top companies that “get it” with gaming and Web 2.0 technologies. For instance, the company has obtained considerable virtual real estate in Second Life and holds online meetings there with avatars showing up from personnel spread across the globe. It is heartening to see this effort to help train business students in appropriate skill sets. Offering the game to universities free of charge is a good way of helping B-schools graduate students with the knowledge and skills needed by IBM and other big corporations.

References:
Alterio, J. M. (2007, November 26). New video game teaches students business and computer skills. Asbury Park Press. [Online.] Retrieved November 28, 2007 from: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20071126/BUSINESS/711260306/1003

Programming a New AquaMOOSE? Virtual Real Worlds Using MellaniuM & Unreal 2

The famous AquaMOOSE study came out of Georgia Tech a few years back, led by Amy Bruckman. High school students were exposed to a game developed by the team focusing on three-dimensional mathematics (think of Logo, only in 3-D). However, the students had high expectations going into the study, and were disappointed with the graphical sophistication of the home-brewed software. Since then, and maybe because of Team Bruckman’s findings, educational gaming research seems to have shifted more to examining pedagogical potentials within existing products.

On many levels, this makes sense. When one considers the multi-person staffs, high dollar budgets, and extended timelines for creating top notch videogames, replicating that level of sophistication becomes problematic on the typical budgetary levels professors are used to winning in grants. Big grants offer a nice exception to this rule. Even then, the funds may run out, as we saw earlier this year when Castronova over at Indiana was forced to pull the plug on Arden, his ambitious Shakespearean-themed VW.

So existing game engines are hot, especially for serious game development. Appropriate the engines already developed and focus on the pedagogy … this seems to be a guiding principle. Fortunately, folks are out there working to help us utilize some of the state of the art platforms for business and educational purposes.

I spoke via e-mail recently with Joe Rigby, over at MellaniuM, who offers a look into his company’s product that allows highly detailed representations of real world objects created in AutoCAD to be exported into the Unreal 2 engine. Elaine Alhadeff has written an excellent entry in which she explores the product and interviews Rigby. The video Rigby has shows things like a World War II Spitfire, half in shadow, half in light; a motorcycle with multi-spoke wheels (each spoke standing out in detail); and a horse-drawn carriage that looks incredibly detailed.

The product highlights the notion of “virtual real worlds,” where users can explore realistic representations of locations that exist now, in the past, or in imagination. Training or exploration within such environments may be advantageous to police teams learning to deal with emergency situations; military groups learning urban warfare; and college students interested in exploring architecture, archaeology, or historical contexts.

Details within virtual real worlds can be extremely important, and products such as MillaniuM’s offer tantalizing possibilities to programmers.

References:
Elliott, J., Adams, L., & Bruckman, A. (2002). No magic bullet: 3D video games in education. Proceedings of ICLS 2002. Seattle, Washington, October 2002. [Online]. Available: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/aquamoose-icls02.pdf

CFP: Games for Health, 2008

The Games for Health Conference 2008 will be held May 8-9 in Baltimore. Registration is now open. Ben Sawyer put out a call for content on the Serious Games listserv, a copy of which is online over at Education Spree, which posts chatter from the Second Life Educators (SLED) listserv.

Several interesting topics are noted in Ben’s call, including using virtual worlds for health, the nascent field of cyberpsychology, exergaming, and virtual patients. Games for Health is a subsidiary project of the Serious Games Initiative, which is backed by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This marks the fourth year for the Games for Health Conference.

CFP: Inaugural Issue of IJRP

Credit Virtual Economy Research Network:

The International Journal of Role Playing (IJRP) is now accepting submissions for the 1st issue, due out in early 2008. Deadline for submissions is January 1st, 2008.

The International Journal of Role Playing invites researchers, designers, developers, academics, artists and others involved in the growing field of research related to role playing to submit articles. The IJRP is a peer-reviewed journal, and welcomes submissions from any sphere of interest, knowledge network, research field or development sector that directly or indirectly relates to role playing interests.

Potential topics include but are certainly not limited to the following:
• Role playing games, e.g. frameworks, storytelling and graphics; art, design and creative industry
• Role playing culture, psychology, media, economics, and sociology
• Role playing technology, surveys, vocabulary, training and education
• Other aspects of role playing and related research and development

The International Journal of Role Playing is a biannual international journal that covers all aspects of role playing, irrespective of the medium, platform or intent. The IJRP specifically aims to act as the focal point, for pushing the limits of role-playing knowledge, and to improve sharing of knowledge across the knowledge networks involved with role playing- and related work, notably the industry, the academia and the arts. The journal will encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences, and will be a free, online forum where knowledge can be harvested. In realizing that the knowledge networks involved with role playing- and related work are based in a variety of interest spheres, which write and publish their work in different ways, the IJRP will accommodate the knowledge sharing principles of the various networks.

The International Journal of Role Playing is an innovative, novel platform for knowledge sharing that reaches across traditional fields, and will treat submissions from academia, industry and creative forces on an equal basis through a joint publication framework, which is specifically designed to accommodate contributions from all of these diverse sources.

All submissions will be peer reviewed by three members of the multi-disciplinary editorial boards, who represent the diverse interests of the knowledge networks involved in role playing and related work, e.g. academia, industry and the arts. All submissions will be reviewed by experts from the knowledge network of the submission, together with at least one reviewer from a different network. Through this and other initiatives, the IJRP aims to assist authors in promoting cross-network aspects of their work.

The International Journal of Role Playing is an online publication backed up by on-demand printing. The IJRP aims to have all papers go through their initial review within three months of receipt. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically, following the instructions on the IJRP website: www.play.blogs.com/rp , which also contains important dates and deadlines.

The IJRP specifically aims at providing authors with a higher than usual degree of freedom in composing their manuscripts and expressing ideas. Consult the journal website for more information.

The IJRP invites contributions from the industry, arts, research, academic and other knowledge networks involved in or working with role playing