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?

Glogster EDU: Poster your Classroom

Something I have been wondering about for a while is the pedagogical value of interactive bulletin boards that teachers can put up on a SmartBoard or project on a screen and have the students touch/click the screen to learn more about the topic. GlogsterEDU is a digital learning tool for the classroom that was created based on the feedback of Glogster customers. A 'glog' is an interactive online poster that people can customize and add photos, graphics, videos, and audio to express themselves.

GlogsterEDU is a web 2.0 platform tool that "fosters advancement of skills as students progress through grade levels" (Glogster.com/edu). Using the program, teachers are able to create a classroom master account and acquire log-ins and passwords for up to 200 private student accounts. In school, teachers often assign poster projects. The problem with this is that classroom space is limited and eventually these posters will need to be thrown out. This is why ‘glogs’ are so popular. They give students and teachers the opportunity to hold onto their work in an electronic version, which they will later be able to include in a school-work portfolio. Teachers may also choose to upload the ‘glogs’ to their computer screensaver and have them cycle so that every student has the chance to share their work with the class.

Glogster is a 21st century alternative to the traditional poster. Glogster can be used for all school subjects, and teachers like it because students are more engaged when using technology. The only negative that I have heard towards the program is that the .edu site links back to the .com site in which there are some inappropriate photographs that some people include in their personal blogs. However, the creators of Glogster are working to fix that issue.

EduTweet: Twitter in the Classroom

There is a Sprint commercial running now that says “233,000 people just Twittered on Twitter. 26% of you viewing this have no idea what that means.” Many people have not heard of Twitter and many who have are still trying to figure out whether it deserves all the hype. Twitter is a social-networking and micro-blogging service. Many would-be tweeters have signed up for Twitter only to give up on it a month later, according to AC Nielsen. Is it a tool for celebrity watchers to follow the every word and goings on of their favorite celebrity like Oprah or Ashton Kutcher or can it be a serious tool for educators? Recently, it has been brought to my attention that Twitter is now being used as a classroom tool for both students and educators. Teachers are using Twitter tools to keep their students connected while at home, developing an e-classroom community. What appeals to students is that they can "chat" with their friends, receive instant feedback from their teacher, and subscribe to "tweet posts" of others.

Applications are tweeting up all over the place. Here are some interesting examples:

Real-Time Biographical Research: In schools, a common lesson that is taught is how to research and write a biography about a famous person. Twitter gives students the opportunity to "subscribe and follow" that person and includes a present day point of view in addition to background information and history. Some big names who Tweet that might be acceptable for a biography---Barbara Walters and Al Gore.

Literacy and Grammar Skills: How about brushing up on your vocabulary for the SAT test? Follow Ultimate Vocabulary. Try this tweet: "Tenuous” means flimsy, fragile, or not substantial. If vocabulary is not for you, how about grammar? Students like to take shortcuts in their writing. BRB (be right back), K (ok), and LOL (laugh out loud). Most of these shortcuts are used for communication, and not regularly used in professional writing. Unfortunately, grammar seems to suffer when students use sound bites of information. Twitter can actually provide opportunities for micro grammar lessons and promote ways to communicate effectively. For instance, Al Gore's tweets are well written and grammatically correct: Corporations join together to call for an “economy-wide cap and trade program." Notice the closed quotation properly outside the period. Students can see where people abuse the rules they were taught in elementary school. Examples: (from a famous rapper) This Video!! I almost broke down after I seen it and I'm done. No offence.

Real-Time Analytical Thinking and Discussion: Twitter is a good resource for sharing and discussion-based learning. Teachers can post a prompt for their students to respond to, or can share a link that they found that was interesting and pertained to what was being taught in the classroom. Students will be able to go back and forth and share sites that they have found with their classmates and develop a deeper understanding of the course material.

School Bulletin Board: District administrators and school principals are beginning to use Twitter as a way of letting parents know of any upcoming important dates, especially parent-teacher conferences, half-days, and school closings due to inclement weather. Yesterday, Pottsgrove Middle School launched its Twitter account with the following messages: Welcome to the new Pottsgrove Middle School Twitter account and Follow along to stay connected and for updates on Pottsgrove Middle School.

Are You Getting It Yet? Colleges have already started to use Twitter as a way for students to make connections with their classmates and professors. In "Twitter Goes to College," US News discusses the use of tweeting in colleges around the country. A history professor at the University of Texas-Dallas was concerned that her lecture-based class was too large to engage her students. She decided to use Twitter to encourage her students to post messages and questions related to the presentation material to ensure students were grasping the material.

This approach of using Twitter for educational purposes is still in the developmental stages, but like other educational technologies, it will end up benefiting students, especially since students now have higher educational expectations and wish to be entertained. Arne Duncan, the newly appointed Secretary of Education, is squarely behind this push for technology in the classroom. E-School News recently quoted Duncan as suggesting that technology officials should embrace the cell phone since students are on them constantly and find ways to "to send homework, video lectures, and other classroom material so students can study wherever they are. " By the way Arne Duncan has a Twitter account, but hasn't had one Tweet to say.

*photo from Distance-Education.org*