On my way out of Trader Joe’s the other day, I grabbed the most recent version of the San Diego Reader. I was intrigued by the cover, which depicted a split image comparing a RL person and her SL avatar. Very cool. The article featured various San Diegans who have joined SL and the observations [...]

I like the concept behind Kongregate It is a site with many small flash-based games. The site shares ad revenues with the developers. As I use more and more rapid development e-learning tools in my own work, and the need for full time Flash developers becomes much less than it used to be, it is [...]

More than 300 universities and some instructors use Second Life as an educational tool or invite students to join them in virtual classrooms. For example, DeSalles University created a simulation of Dante’s Inferno being with teacher and student notes. Then as an English teacher, I cannot help but think SL, the game is also an [...]

More than 300 universities and some instructors use Second Life as an educational tool or invite students to join them in virtual classrooms. For example, DeSalles University created a simulation of Dante’s Inferno being with teacher and student notes. Then as an English teacher, I cannot help but think SL, the game is also an [...]

Second Life – An Opportunity for Secondary Language Teaching? More than 300 universities and some instructors use Second Life as an educational tool or invite students to join them in virtual classrooms. For example, DeSalles University created a simulation of Dante’s Inferno being with teacher and student notes. Then as an English teacher, I cannot [...]

My ten year old daughter loves to “Skype” her cousin Charlie who is going to college in Utah. She amazes me how she knew how to set up the “Skype” on our home computers so that “Skype” would work. Grandma and grandpa have come over for a “Skype” session to see their grandson Charlie at [...]

My ten year old daughter loves to “Skype” her cousin Charlie who is going to college in Utah. She amazes me how she knew how to set up the “Skype” on our home computers so that “Skype” would work. Grandma and grandpa have come over for a “Skype” session to see their grandson Charlie at [...]

My ten year old daughter loves to “Skype” her cousin who is going to college in Utah. 

“Club Penguin” is an on-line virtual reality world of penguins. My ten year old daughter loves to get on “Club Penguin” and play games with other penguins. There are many similarities between “Club Penguin” and “Second Life.”  Both have virtual characters and places to interact with others. Both have an option to pay real money [...]

Details magazine published an article on video games and obsession in its October 2007 edition. “Are Video Games the New Cocaine?” explores the idea that video games have replaced drugs as the addiction of choice for some people. Though psychologists argue whether gaming is technically an addiction, playing can meet some of the criteria of [...]

Details magazine published an article on video games and obsession in its October 2007 edition. “Are Video Games the New Cocaine?” explores the idea that video games have replaced drugs as the addiction of choice for some people. Though psychologists argue whether gaming is technically an addiction, playing can meet some of the criteria of [...]

This is just a short follow-up to Daniel’s post (please read). In it, he mentioned an incredible game called Spore. I had actually bookmarked the video on it (featured on TED), and had planned to blog about it. Daniel beat me to it! Here’s the video:

Serious games may not actually have the power to change the world, but they are potentially powerful in getting the users to. As a former teacher, I was constantly trying to find ways to get my students interested in current events around the globe. After trying to incorporate as many creative and meaningful lessons as [...]

I thought we (by “we” I mean the collection of educators and schools nationwide) were doing fairly well. We seemed to have gotten over the hurdle of computers in the classrooms. It even seemed like more and more students had computers, and Internet access, in their homes as well. My middle school, which has a [...]

For years, Barbie has been given credit for contributing to our society’s unhealthy body image, both Barbie and Ken. You know the image, women are rails with out-of-proportion breasts and men have 30″ waists with six-pack abs, broad shoulders, and buff arms. As soon as I logged into SL for the first time, I began [...]

Here is a cool little time waster. Crayon Physics is a neat 2D physics puzzle game played on your PC, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics. http://www.kloonigames.com/blog/games/crayon/ 6MB [...]

Here is a cool little time waster. The objects you draw with a crayon ac

The use of games and simulations in education is well documented in history and in the recent literature. They have been used in preschool, K-12, the university, the military, business, and by older adults (Dempsey et al., 1997). But, what exactly do we mean when we say simulation and gaming? First, though computers have certainly [...]

The use of games and simulations in education is well documented in history and in the recent literature. They have been used in preschool, K-12, the university, the military, business, and by older adults (Dempsey et al., 1997). But, what exactly do we mean when we say simulation and gaming? First, though computers have certainly [...]

Emergent gameplay, as wikipedia notes, is the creative use of video games for purposes beyond the creator’s original intentions. It is an important concept tied to the new study of metagaming, or the manipulation of game rules, AI states, and affordances to create new and unforeseen modes of gameplay. With all that said, I’d like [...]

This past week, my wife who is pursuing her MA in History at SDSU and her presentation partner used a game to teach a lesson about William Cronon – an Environmental historian. The impetus for using a game was one, they wanted to do something different than everyone else had done and two, Elle said [...]

Free Rice is a game by the U.N that donates 10 grains of rice to the poor- for each vocabulary question you answer correctly. As of today they have raised 2,098,280,280 grains of rice. No need to download. You can play straight from your web browser. There is no time limit- so you can play, [...]

My 10 year old daughter is really into the virtual game club penguin. It is kind of like Second Life. This is what she tells me about it. “Mom, you can chat, you can make your own penguin, you can play games with other penguins, you can dance at the night club.” She invited me [...]

Now just for a second I want you to wrap your mind around the termmind candy? Is there such a thing? And if there was? What would it look like? Introducing Moshi Monster. Brought to you by none other- than a company by the name of Mind Candy. Moshi Monster is a multi-player online game [...]

I am a new member of Second Life (SL). Not only I, but few my Chinese friends know the game. I read the news of Ailin Graef , a Chinese Germany who becomes the first millionaire in SL from a Chinese online forum only several days ago. However, a google search tells me that Anshe [...]

I am a new member of Second Life (SL). Not only I, but few my Chinese friends know the game. I read the news of Ailin Graef , a Chinese Germany who becomes the first millionaire in SL from a Chinese online forum only several days ago. However, a google search tells me that Anshe [...]

Just as CNN asks its real-life audience to submit I-Reports — user-generated content submitted from cell phones, computers, cameras and other equipment for broadcast and online reports — the network is encouraging residents of Second Life to share their own “SL I-Reports” about events occurring within the virtual world. “The thing we most hope to [...]

Whyville (not to be confused with Whoville) is a new preteen/teen simulation world for ages 10-16. You can create an avatar, chat, build, and buy things in their currency of clams. It is not quite at the level of Second Life, but after much exploration, I think it would be much easier to monitor in [...]

Ayiti: The Cost of Life is an online game created by teenagers through the Global Kids’ Digital Media Initiative with help from Gamelab. The goal of the game is to keep a rural Haitian family alive through education, work, and good health. Players struggle to provide an education for the family members while suffering from [...]

I have learned what Moodle and Second Life are in ED670. But I never think about what will happen if these two come together. Yes.They come together as Sloodle.Sloodle is an Open Source project which aims to develop and share useful, usable, desireable tools for supporting education in virtual worlds, making teaching easier. Through engagement [...]

I have learned what Moodle and Second Life are in ED670. But I never think about what will happen if these two come together. Yes.They come together as Sloodle.Sloodle is an Open Source project which aims to develop and share useful, usable, desireable tools for supporting education in virtual worlds, making teaching easier. Through engagement [...]

A number of people have already mentioned that Second Life can help can help cure real-world addictions. The game’s ability to provide real-time, world-wide counseling at little or no cost will definitely help those addicts with the means and knowledge to access Second Life. (A serious question to ask: How many crack addicts own computers, [...]

A number of people have mentioned

As a part of my MUVE project on creating an environment in Second Life for health care professionals to learn to eliminate agism from their interactions with senior citizens, I transformed my avatar into a senior citizen. I explored SL as my senior citizen avatar and discovered some very interesting patterns. On the tame side [...]

My daughter started playing Harvest Moon when she was 9 years old. So, two years has past and she is still very interested and now my son is very involved with the game. Before I knew anything about SL, I just figured it was a nice, wholesome game for them to play. What I new [...]

An article reflecting on why we play games on gamerhelp.com by Jason Fryer: 11 Reasons Why We Play Games |Note: explanations and example games are included under each! #11: The Childhood Dream# 10: No Ticket Required# 9: Rivals Make the Best Losers# 8: Games are Timeless# 7: The “Eureka” Moment# 6: It Feels Good to [...]

An article reflecting on why we play games on gamehelp.com

I found this page: http://secondlife.com/newsletter/2006_10/ and one of the first things I read was: Zen and the Art of SLThere are many beautiful and serene places in Second Life to sit and watch a sunset or listen to the birds. Gardens of flowers, waterfalls, and secret places can be found throughout the world. Here are [...]

My classmates game the Inevitable Room about ageism got me thinking. Could Second Life be used in the same way for diversity training for those that work with people with disabilities? My research brought me around to another view of the situation. I literally stumbled upon an article which talks about people with disabilities using [...]

In addition to a screen shot and short blurb about each game, the article’s authors include a “Your Fired” rating – the more red letters in the word “fired” to more addictive the game. I’m sad to say that I’ve only heard of two out of the ten games listed; I must need to play [...]

I was so tickled when I saw this news story covering something near and dear to our own hearts-yes, the use of virtual games to treat such a serious problem as drug addiction. The virtual reality game coupled with therapy, puts the soobering addict into the situations where he loses control. With a therepist to [...]

I was so tickled when I saw this news story covering something near and dear to our own hearts-Second Life. ABC says that the use of virtual reality games can be used to treat serious drug addictions. The virtual world is set up to appeal to a crack addict and all of his/her situations that [...]

I was reading the newspaper the other day, and I misread a headline. The story was about Schwarzenegger’s support for the gaming industry, but I thought I saw “educational gaming.” I wondered, “Is there such a thing?” Well, of course not. A quick Google search revealed a lot of information about gambling education, but nothing [...]

If you have access to it, Australia Network is showing a program on Second Life. From their website:This documentary film takes us on the parallel world of virtual online games, known as MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). Millions of gamers all around the world spend on average 30 hours a week playing games in [...]

OK, I think this is pretty cool. Nobelprize.org, the website of the Nobel Prize organization, has a section with educational games. These games are designed to teach kids (and adults too, I assume) about the work performed by physicists, economists, etc, who earned a Nobel Prize. For example, in 1920, Charles Edouard Guillaume was awarded [...]