Gamification of Education?

Gold farming also happens in games like Runescape – (background image)

Dominican ICT Futures – A Caribbean Development Style

Alfonso SintjagoUniversity of Minnesota

Hispanic and Proud – Use of Tech a la Caribbean Style

– Recent Changes:• Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA) - 2000• Dominican Telecommunication Institute (INDOTEL) – 1998• Cyberpark of Santo Domingo -2001• Network Access Point (NAP) of the Caribbean – 2008• 91 Cellular Phone Subscriptions per 100 Inhabitants

– Need to Improve:• Education System• Universal Access to ICTs

– Move Towards:• Ownership of Technology (Research and Development)• Developing of OER (OpenCourseWare, Open Source Software)• Comprehensive ICT4D Policies• Increase use of M-Learning Initiatives• Leapfrog with a Dominican Style (A sustainable and collective perspective)

Mobile ExpansionThe Dominican Republic has a cell phone use rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person in the Dominican Republic (INDOTEL, 2010) – Yet There are No Major Mobile Learning Programs!

Education Today in the D.R.

Variables Dominican Republic

Comparison - Group

Primary Enrollment (GER) - 2008 104 116

(Region)Secondary Enrollment

(GER) - 2008 75 89 (Region)

Public Expenditure as % of GDP - 2007

2.2 (120th)

4.5 (World)

Literacy Rate (+15) - 2008 88.2 91.0

(Region)Literacy Rate

(Under 15) - 2008 95.8 96.9 (Region)

Best Games of All Timehttp://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm

GameStop (Best PC) Top Games!Diablo (1996) Action Role Playing

StarCraft II (2010) Real-Time Strategy

World of Warcraft (2004) Fantasy Online Role-Playing

Unreal Tournament (1999) Sci-Fi First Person Shooter

Comand and Conquer (1996) Sci-Fi Real Time Strategy

Grand Prix II (1996) Formula One Racing

://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=top_rated&platform=5&mode=top&sort=score&page_type=games&dlx_type=all&date_filter=all&sortdir=asc&official=all

SKILL-AND-ACTION GAMES STRATEGY GAMESCombat Games Adventures

Maze Games D&D Games

Sports Games. Wargames

Paddle Games Games of Chance

Race Games Educational and Children’s Games

Miscellaneous Games Interpersonal Games

Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of Users ofMassively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and VirtualEnvironments, 15, 309-329

3DPong (3DPong.swf)

Pong (Pong.swf)

MMORPGs and Users• Graphical Representation of Multi-User Dungeons – (MUDs) – (Barte, 1996)

- Achievers, Socializers, Explorers, and Killers• World of Warcraft (Nov 23, 2004) - Cataclysm (Dec 7, 2010) – Goblins and Worgen!

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6284838/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=picks&tag=picks;title;5

Other Charts and Additional Information at - http://www.mmogchart.com/charts/

Games - ICT4D - Gold Farming

• “Twelve hours a night, seven nights a week, with only two or three nights off per month, this is what Li does — for a living”… 100,000 workers - a $1.8 billion worldwide trade in virtual items..” Dibbell, J. (2007, June 17). The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer. New York Times , pp. 1-10.

• Sold on Ebay (until 2007), IGE, BroGame – Various Games - Everquest, Ultima Online, WoW, EVE Online, Second Life. http://www.ige.com/

• YouTube - “Chinese Gold Farmers Must Die” - • Pay for gold miners is about 1,000 yuan/US$145

per month. (2004) Source - US$137 (2005); US$139 (2006); US$130 (2007). Heeks, R. (2008). Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on "Gold Farming": Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games. Manchester: Development Informatics Group.

"Internet Addiction Disorder“ – MMORPG

Addiction– "The game almost ruined my life, it was my life. I

ceased being me; I became Madrid, the Great Shaman of the North. Thinking of it now, I almost cringe; it's so sad.“ NG, B. D., & Wiemer-Hasting, P. (2005). Addiction to the Internet and

Online Gaming. Cyberpsychology and Behavior , 110-113.

• Hours, Brand, Addiction, Profit!• Achievement, Relationship, Immersion, Escapism and Manipulation Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309-329

One of 10 youth gamers between 8 and 18 was considered addicted to video games according to an Iowa State University study.Gentile, D. (2009). Pathological Video Game Use among Youth 8 to 18: A National Study. Psychological Science , 594-602.

Tom Chatfieldhttp://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html• Experience bars measuring

progress• Multiple long and short-term aims• Rewards for efforts• Rapid, frequent, clear feedback• An element of Uncertainty• Windows of Enhanced attention• Other people

Today’s youth estimated to spend an average of 10,000 hours playing video games, sending and receiving over 200,000 emails, watching over 20,000 hours of television, and 10,000 hours talking on digital phones before they turn 21.

McGonigal, J. (2010, March). Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from TED Ideas Worth Spreading: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.htmlPrensky, M. (2003). Has “Growing Up Digital” and Extensive Video Game Playing Affected Younger Military Personnel’s Skill Sets? Retrieved November 1, 2010, from Marc Prensky: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Has%20Growing%20Up%20Digital%20Affected%20Military%20Skill%20Sets.pdf

“ICTs has been the video game industry. It alone has grown tremendously in recent years - from 10 billion in 1990, to 20 billion in 2000, to 50 billion in 2010”

Games for Change! - http://www.gamesforchange.org/

• Poverty Games– 3rd World Farmer – Ayiti: The Cost of Life– Food Force– Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City – Karma Tycoon– Real Lives 2010 – Global Conflicts: Latin America

Also visit: http://nobelprize.org/educational/; http://www.funbrain.com/; http://www.primarygames.com/; http://www.educationarcade.org; Among others!

oiligarchy.swf

Ten Faces of Innovation• The Learning Personas

– The Anthropologist– The Experimenter– The Cross-Pollinator

• The Organizing Personas– The Hurdler– The Collaborator– The Director

• The Building Personas– The Experience Architect– The Set Designer– The Storyteller– The Caregiver

Teaching with Games• Playing the Games (Modifiable List)

– Play different numbers of game per week– Include a weekly reflection (Pros, Cons, Future)

• Making the Games– Google Mobile Apps / iPad developer– Scratch , Kudo, http://www.rpgmakervx.com/, etc.– Basic of Visual, C++, Python and other programming languages

• Designing the Game – Choosing a Goal and a Topic, Research and Preparation, Design Phase, Pre-

Programming Phase, Programming Phase, Play-Testing Phase, Post-Mortem • Crawford, C. (1982). The Art of Computer Game Design. Vancouver: Washington State

University.

• Evaluation of Games – Afterschool Course– Find and evaluate games according to educational content– make a collection

• Innovation Lab (Virtual and Physical Space)– Independent, Group, Open, Crowdsourced Projects

• Video Game Learning Certificate

DR - Search for Games - Simulators• Tourism Simulator - www.e-client.org

– “The project’s main aim is to create a tool (virtual language simulator) in 6 languages, which facilitates language learning for low-skilled workers in the tourism sector.”

• Dominican Education Games– ITLA – Trinitaria (Education Game) – Dominican History (Broken Link!!) – http://www.itla.edu.do/softwareeducativo/trinitaria/

• Dominican – SIMs-like Española - Video Game – Character Development – Every one of them can create characters that resemble

individuals that they know or people that they consider realistic.– Background stories – What are some current problems faced by the Dominican

Republic and its people?– Anthropologist Ask different people you know about their daily life, what to them is

most important– Include the future –Projection Activities– Rules and Environment for the Game

ITLA – Trinitaria (Education Game) – Dominican History

First free 3D video game designed in the Dominican RepublicRevisit the Dominican Republic during the 19th CenturyRelive the events that led to the Dominican Republic’s Independence!

A Class Exercise• Go To - http://www.funny-games.biz/popular-games.html or

http://www.addictinggames.com/• Open two or three games that appeals to you and that appears to have

educational content– How is this game appealing?– What can be improved in this game?– How would you use it in a class?– Ranking 1-5 in: (Captivating, Learning Curve, Quality of Learning

Material, Difficulty, Playing Time)

Game THE NEW WORLD LEMONADE WORLD 50 STATES

Captivating (1 low, 5 high) 4 4 2

Learning Curve (by age Group) 2 (6-9 yrs old) 3 (6-9 yrs old) 2 (6-9 yrs old)

Learning Material (by age Group) 3 (6-9 yrs old) 5 (6-9 yrs old) 3 (6-9 yrs old)

Level of Difficulty (by age Group) 3 (6-9 yrs old) 4 (6-9 yrs old) 4 (6-9 yrs old)

Playing Time (1 low, 5 high) 4 5 4

Possible Games for Future Research• Minecraft• Runescape

Best FREE MMORPGshttp://www.bestfreemmorpg.com/

RUNESCAPE! – A Free MMORPG Project / Study?

• Requires less computer resources than WoW• Widely played in Latin America• No required monthly subscription!

Game Limitations?• “[MMORPGS] are places where people fall in love, get married,

elect governors, attend poetry readings, start a pharmaceutical business, and even commit genocide. Whatever MMORPGs are, or will become, one thing is clear. They are not just games”. Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309-329.

• Not suited for complicated subjects?

baseball_addition.swf

catapultCountOn.swf

zombie-typocalypse.swf

http://www.mathtv.com/

Game / Simulation Futures• Improved graphics, realism, and complexity• Further integration of different types of media• Further integration of the virtual and real world• Increased used of improved augmented reality devices• Increased immersion and socialization• Increased integration of motion sensor devises• Further emulation of musical instruments such as DJ

Scratching, Guitar, Drum, Piano.• Integration of movement to the emulation of sports and

professions• Increased cloud sourcing and cloud storage• Travel and meet anywhere virtually, to any time and any place