Quest Atlantis = Educational Gaming

Quest Atlantis is an interactive 3D multi-user educational environment for children between the ages of 9 and 12. The environment provides a combination of pedagogy and educational content with a "commercial gaming" approach to learning. The goal of Quest Atlantis is to improve and demonstrate the relationship of interaction of education and entertainment in the classroom. Can "commercial gaming" really be applied effectively in the classroom? Is it a good motivation tool?

Quest Atlantis’s 3D environment includes: novels, storyline, comics, quests, and real-world scenarios. Children are able to put themselves in the story and travel through the virtual world and participate in quests. Each quest is divided up into related villages, and each with a theme. The content of the quests is based on academic state standards, which is where the appeal is for the education community.

It is difficult for "commercial gaming" to be embedded in curriculum. Typically students aren't interested in learning when they could be playing games. However, the creators of Quest Atlantis researched areas of student interest and based the program around student learning and recent "fads."

With this recent move into the academic world, it is necessary for more research to be done on ways in which gaming can be connected to learning within a "content and inquiry based pedagogy." For now, Quest Atlantis has successfully shown teachers, administrations, and parents that it is possible to support learning through interactivity, but it would be interesting to learn if it is possible to integrate similarly using more traditional methods of learning.

Webkinz in the Classroom

Webkinz pets are plush toys that come with a secret code that can be used to enter Webkinz World. In Webkinz World, kids can play and take care of their virtual pets, earn KinzCash (pretend money), and play games.

Recently in some schools, Webkinz World is being used in the classroom as an educational resource. Kathy Conran, author of Hands-On Learning with Webkinz, Using Webkinz in the Classroom, and My Webkinz Companion Guide, provides templates and lesson plans in her book to complement Webkinz World and its activities.

Unlike the recent Beanie Babies 2.0, Webkinz is oriented towards kids 4-14. BeanieLand is for a younger audience and is less educational than Webkinz World. Webkinz offers many different varieties of animals (cat, buffalo, dolphin, camel, to name a few), and there is also a smaller version known as "Lil' Kinz." The price of Webkinz vary. At some stores they can be as much as $15, but at others I have seem them as low as $5.

Webkinz are popular in the educational community because they provide a way of connecting instructional lessons with activities children enjoy. A child enters the Webkinz world by entering a secret code from his or her Webkinz pet. Upon entering the virtual Webkinz world the pet is given a home and $2000 in Kinz cash to decorate the room. There are on line quizzes, arcades, daily activities and weekly contests. The world is always changing. The site is offered in several languages.

Parents like Webkinz World because it is safe and kid-friendly. Kids are able to chat with one another, but their are restrictions in the chat room. Kids choose pre-worded chat phrases to communicate. Unlike AIM or Yahoo Chat where you can write whatever you want, Webkinz Chat is monitored and structured based on your Webkinz pet.


CBSNews Video: Kids Going Crazy for Webkinz

Review: Disney ToonTown

While on Apple.com today, I stumbled across the Kids and Learning games page. There, while perusing through the links for educational and entertainment software I found Disney ToonTown. Disney ToonTown is an online multiplayer game specifically created for kids. In this 3-D world, kids ("Toons") collaborate with one another to save the world from robot Cogs (robots who want to take over ToonTown). The only weakness of a cog is to play cartoon gags on them while navigating through ToonTown.

In ToonTown, kids can create their own Toon character, travel around different neighborhoods and meet other players, furnish their homes, customize their racing karts, train a pet Doodle, and join teams to defeat the Cogs and save ToonTown. Like many other games, ToonTown is child-safe and offers password protective services for individual log-in information.

Besides ToonTown's appeal to many. I have noticed that because the program is not "free" there are less kids registered than there are for other programs available online. The software is $4.95 for the first month and $9.95 after that. Over time that amount accumulates and it seems that for this program to be worth it, a child would need to access and play the game multiple times a day. (similarly to college students who probably access Facebook more than five times a day) ToonTown also offers deals if you sign up for the program for six months or a one year period, but why would you pay for something when you could most likely find the same thing or something better somewhere else?