Quest - Write text adventure games and interactive stories Quest lets you make interactive story games. Text adventure games like Zork and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Gamebooks like the Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy books. You don't need to know how to program. All you need is a story to tell. Your game can be played anywhere. Watch a quick screencast ...and you're free No restrictions. This means you can download and modify the Quest source code, and do whatever you want with it. You can sell the games you make with Quest. You don't need to ask for permission - you already have it. Get started quickly You don't need to know how to program to use Quest. Everything about your game is displayed in plain English, but the source code to your game is also viewable and editable for the more technically minded. A full tutorial is included, and help is always available on the forums. Ever wanted to... Ever wanted to create your own game, but were put off by complicated programming languages? Surprisingly powerful Any language
How to Plan Instruction Using the Video Game Model Imagine you are placed in the following scenarios: You are dropped off at the top of a ski resort's steepest run when you've only had experience on the beginner slopes. You have to spend your day on the bunny hill when you're an expert skier. You play a game of darts with the target two feet away. In each of these extremes, you would feel either frustrated or bored, depending on your level of achievable challenge. Challenge is a powerful motivator when students take on tasks they find meaningful and, through their efforts and perseverance, succeed. Achievable Challenge Requires Individualization As I wrote in my previous blog, A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool blog and the accompanying video, the most popular computer games take players through increasingly challenging levels as they became more and more skillful. The video game model is ideal for kids lacking in foundational knowledge, but it is not necessary for all kids at all times.
Create your own Interactive Fiction What is Interactive Fiction? Interactive Fiction (formerly referred to as Text Adventures) are a cross between reading a book and playing a game, where you control the main character. Rather than reading the story from start to finish, you interact with everything by typing commands at a prompt, discovering things as you go along. Well written games give you, the player, the impression that anything you type is understood by giving a sensible and meaningful response. Indeed, part of the fun of playing interactive fiction games is discovering responses to things you didn't expect to have been catered for. Most interactive fiction follows the same basic rules - these include walking from location to location using compass directions (north, east, south-west etc). How do you create Interactive Fiction games? There are several different systems for creating interactive fiction. ADRIFT is different by being a completely GUI driven application, designed to be intuitive and easy to use.
Survival Tips for Building a PLN For the past 4 years, I have researched the what, who, how, and why of Personal/Professional/ Passionate Learning Networks (PLNs). We have seen the benefits of the people we choose to connect, collaborate, and problem solve with through social media. The educators, subject matter experts (SMEs), authors, and mentors we choose to derive knowledge from help us self-reflect on our methodologies and beliefs. They support us, remember our birthdays, celebrate our accomplishments, and stir within us a passion to improve the status quo. Within one year of connecting with a PLN, I jump started many projects at my school and in the past 5 years I’ve organized many free incredible professional development events with the help of my PLN. My PLN helps me be a better educator and prepare my students and trainees. Below are several resources I have collected about the history of PLNs, how to build a PLN, and the tools needed to build a PLN. Connected Learning- My interview with Harold Rheingold
Digital Play In the University of Bristol’s Education Endowment Foundation‘s recent study on Neuroscience and Education, (Howard-Jones, 2014), there is an interesting section on Learning Games. Classroom practice and neuroscientific research The review ”considers the extent to which insights from the sciences of mind and brain influence, or are close to influencing classroom practice”, summarising “existing evidence about approaches and interventions that are based, or claim to be based, on neuroscience evidence.” The report categorises the approaches into 1) those which are likely to have a positive impact on attainment, 2) those which need further testing to determine the likely impact on attainment, and 3) those which do not seem to have a promising impact on attainment. Further research required What is known about Learning Games Popular games stimulate the brain’s reward systemThe brain’s reward response can positively influence the rate we learn
Game | Submrge Garry’s Mod A physics-based “sandbox” in which users can do almost anything, with a wide selection of assets (3D models, sounds, actions). Read More Spaceteam Allows multiple players using the same wifi to control a spaceship by executing various technical commands. Karma Tycoon A free, online RPG intended to highlight the benefits of social entrepreneurship. Company of Heroes 2 The most recent version of a very popular World War II based game, it has been criticized for its portrayal of the Soviet war experience. Starcraft II A real time space simulation often used in game competitions and as a part of college curricula.
Alice.org Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games. In Alice, 3-D objects (e.g., people, animals, and vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a program to animate the objects. In Alice's interactive interface, students drag and drop graphic tiles to create a program, where the instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. Alice allows students to immediately see how their animation programs run, enabling them to easily understand the relationship between the programming statements and the behavior of objects in their animation.
Room Escape Maker - Create Escape The Room Games For Free Basic information ROOM ESCAPE MAKER is a free online application to create Escape The Room games. Build challenging casual point and click games with puzzles, hidden objects, safes with combination locks, and much more. YOU are game designer. The community You are more than welcome to be a part of the project. Fan of Room Escape Games in general? Help creating games If you need to know more about how to create your games, we recommend you to watch this amazing tutorial created by PhantomDarkness135. Do you still have questions? Publishing conditions When you send a game to review, be sure you don't have anything else to change about it. While on review, these are the reasons that may prevent us from validating your game: Irrelevant title, keywords or description. Also, avoid having items to be added to the inventory during your game if these items are not going to be really useful. Application compatibility ROOM ESCAPE MAKER was tested on Bug report
Game-Based Learning Units for the Everyday Teacher Game-based learning (GBL) is getting a lot press. It is an innovative practice that is working to engage kids in learning important 21st century skills and content. Dr. Judy Willis in a previous post wrote about the neurological benefits and rationale around using games for learning. Myths About Game-Based Learning First, let's clarify a couple things. Gee refers to teachers as "learning designers," and I couldn't agree more. Inspired by the work I've seen, here is an overview of components and structure for the everyday teacher to implement game-based learning Overall Structure: Individual Quests and Boss Levels A game-based learning unit should consist of both smaller quests and more robust boss levels. Boss levels are more rigorous missions that require students to synthesize the content and skills learned in the quests. Overall Theme You may have already noticed that all the quests are related under a thematic idea of question. Need to Know Incentives Avatar
GameSites NOTE: Click on any of the anchor links you find interesting, read more about them, then click the headings to visit the website! Kindersite- List of 100s of Games The Kindersite spearheaded by Joel Josephson (@acerview54) has 1000s of educational and fun content specifically designed for preschool, kindergartens, elementary, primary schools and special needs students. ELT Digital Play- Blog highlighting 100s of Games - This blog lists reviews various games, describes their value and how to play them. Pumkin English- Virtual World for Kids to Learn English - Love this virtual world for children to learn English through cute characters accomplishing tasks and winning points! Brainnook- Virtual World for Kids - a free online virtual world for kids to develop math and english skills with children worldwide. English Story Time Wiki- Resource of Games by Theme - In my class wiki, you’ll find several activities, videos, fingerplays, and chants listed by theme. Nick Jr- Interactive Games Let's Play!
Learning Beyond Walls- Games and Wikis! Posted by Shelly Terrell on Tuesday, August 17th 2010 Part of the Cool Sites series Many of you have started school already and are integrating new technology in your curriculum. Wikis are one of my favorite tools for encouraging learning beyond the classroom walls. Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom Walls Did you know that the average time spent playing video games per week is 18 hours? So what do you put in a wiki? A wiki is like a class website, but easier to design. Adding the “social” to game-based learning… Have you watched anyone recently play a game on their Wii or PS3? Embed a Wallwisher so students can easily add in gaming tips Embed a Google Doc where students add tips and tricks to pass certain games stages. Useful links: “If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns” - Rita Dunn Challenge: Try integrating wikis or games into course content to motivate students to learn beyond the school walls.
Let’s Play! 20+ Sites for Young Learners Part of the Cool Sites series Sometimes, the teachers of young learners get a bad reputation for playing all day in their classes. Let me tell you a secret. problem solvingcompleting a small task before a larger taskpacingfollowing instructionscollaboratingdeveloping skills to accomplish tasks Play and Video Games Many more lessons are learned by today’s digital games which have the social component to them. 9 Digital Sites that Make English Fun for YLs Kindersite- The Kindersite spearheaded by Joel Josephson (@acerview54) has 1000s of educational and fun content specifically designed for preschool, kindergartens, elementary, primary schools and special needs students. ELT Digital Play- This blog lists reviews various games, describes their value and how to play them. Pumkin English- Love this virtual world for children to learn English through cute characters accomplishing tasks and winning points! Webkins- Children buy these characters and get a code to enter the virtual world.
Game Plan Level: Upper intermediate+/mature students Location: Computer room Skills Focus: Reading/writing (reading comprehension check) Language focus: Reading Game: McVideo Game This is simulation game is a parody of the fast food chain McDonalds taking quite a negative view of the production process which you, the plater, become implicit in. Preparation Print out a copy of the McVideo Game Worksheet. Pre Activity Hand out a copy of the worksheet to each pair and ask them to read and make a guess at any of the answers. Deal with any language problems as you monitor. Brief feedback on possible answers and any difficult language. Reading activity In the computer room direct students to the game and the tutorial. Explain that they can’t play the game unless they complete all the questions with the correct answers. Ask them to read the tutorial and answer as many questions as they can. Encourage students to ask you, peers or look up online any difficult language contained in the tutorial. Post Reading activity
About Possible Worlds | Possible Worlds PLAYING TO LEARN: Using Games to Help Teach Difficult Concepts The Possible Worlds digital games are designed to help improve student understanding of phenomena that are often the subject of scientific misconceptions. Developed by EDC|Center for Children and Technology (EDC|CCT) over the course of two research and development projects, the games are the centerpieces of modules that address four topics: photosynthesis, heredity, electricity, and heat transfer. Each module includes accompanying classroom activities that leverage students’ experiences within the games. Our game modules are designed to help students build novel conceptual models, and provide tools to help teachers and students draw analogies between the games and science concepts. Build novel conceptual models Scientific phenomena can becounterintuitive and hard forus to imagine. Why are certain scientific phenomena the subject of persistent misconceptions? Draw analogies between the games and science concepts Have fun!