Also produced by the Center for the Advancement of Distance Education (CADE) at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, this public health preparedness module has many educational and interactive features. It includes choice of roles (clinician, lab pro, or public health official) a case scenario, response options, risk evaluations, subject matter [...]

During a public health disaster or emergency, it may be necessary to give large groups of people vaccines or medication to prevent or reduce illness. Public health preparedness efforts have focused on methods for accomplishing this rather daunting task. In the case of an anthrax attack, people in an entire region may need to receive [...]

I’ve had a fascination for those older computer games that I was able to play on my old Apple II. This is Alter Ego, originally created by Peter Favaro and published in 1986 for the Commodore-64, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and of course Apple II and has evolved thru various versions. Alter Ego is a life simulator [...]

While doing the e-game design, I learned quite a bit about the Unity game engine (and its price tag). I wondered if there was a web site out there that compared all of the game engines available. After browsing the web, I found this web site: http://www.devmaster.net/engines/ If this course has inspired you to make [...]

The process of starting and running a small business is a complex task suitable for simulation by board or online games. The players seek a desired change of state (no business to profitable business) by following a specific set of tasks. The environment includes competition and risk, and is an area that is relevent and [...]

I thought Iʻd do a post about the technology of Augmented Reality. Most people have never heard of it. Its actually pretty simple conceptually. So we know about blue-screens and green screens and how they are used to switch out backgrounds in movies, right? Well Augmented Reality is similar in that its somehow modified by [...]

This is actually going in the list of bad games that could be better. Itʻs called “The Plural Girls”http://www.funbrain.com/plurals/index.html I chose to pick a random educational game rather than a good educational game. It suffers from the many failures most educational games do: it fails to be a game but is called one. You canʻt [...]

Never have I played a game where I felt so heartbroken and exposed when it was all over.  Ayity (Creole for Haiti) puts you in control of a family of five living in the slums of Haiti.  The game is about work, living, survival, health, and happiness.  You, are in complete control of all of [...]

http://www.vinylgame.com/ It is a simulation about the PVC Industry and its sustainable development The idea of this game is to represent in a very fun way the efforts that the European Industry is making to ensure the sustainability of its production, processes and applications of PVC. In terms of game design, I found it a [...]

I came across this post from the Educational Games Research blog and thought it would be fitting to share. Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, and one of my personal favorites, Number Munchers, all made the list. Sure, the graphics may not have been the best, but looking back the educational value [...]

I stumbled across this interesting website that discusses games, simulations, and virtual worlds used for public health applications, sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Distance Education (CADE). http://www.publichealthgames.com/wp/?cat=4. Anyway, it has a ton of interesting, educational games that you can play or use for training. One game I found particularly interesting is being [...]

I found this site to be very interesting. The overview game a brief introduction of a land that is corrupt and dangerous. The game is suppose to teach high school students how to write investigative stories that portray the true events of the situation while exposing them to a different culture and global conflict. The [...]

The Defense of Hidgeon is a web-based board game developed to teach research skills to incoming students at the University of Michigan. It is profiled in the article “The Effectiveness of a Web-based Board Game for Teaching Undergraduate Students Information Literacy Concepts and Skill,“ in D-Lib magazine. The article discusses the effectiveness of the University [...]

How do you explain Nobel Prize winning work? How about with a simulation style game! The good folks at NobelPrize.org have done just that, as part of their Education Games series, previously featured on this blog. This post will focus on the economic game, called Trade, which is modeled upon the Heckscher-Ohlin theory of goods [...]

I’m sure this has been posted before but it is making a big impact in my little area of the world right now. This game came to me via a former student now in high school as something she was personally taking on for improving the world. This is part of her world history coursework [...]

FATWORLD: Fit or Fat? Live or Die? You Decide. After my last game review about Darfur is Dying, I thought it would be nice to explore a game that is a little less morbid and a little more fun. I came upon this game while I was researching a nutrition topic. The name is FATWORLD [...]

I regularly listen to a podcast called TED Talks (TED stands for Technology Entertainment Design). These are recordings of conferences on many different topics from Education to Physics. I thought I’d share it with all of you since many of the talks are very interesting and some really apply to this field. There are talks [...]

I came across this game when I was looking at the Wikipedia page on Serious Games. This game, actually published by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), is decidedly serious. The player must distribute food to a country that has been stricken by drought , due to natural and man-made causes. Ideally, the country [...]

I had the pleasure of attending the Elearning Guild’s DevLearn 08 conference in San Jose, CA last month. Serious games were a serious topic at the conference. While my interests were broad, I did attend a few of the many available sessions on learning through simulations and games. Here are a few of the learning [...]

A lifetime ago I participated as a cadet for three years in Air Force ROTC.  Though I did not go through with earning my commission as an Air Force officer upon graduation from UCLA, I still have fond memories of my experiences with military training. Twenty years later, although separated by many miles and separate [...]

A lifetime ago I participated as a cadet for three years in Air Force ROTC.  Though I did not go through with earning my commission as an Air Force officer upon graduation from UCLA, I still have fond memories of my experiences with military training. Twenty years later, although separated by many miles and separate [...]

One of the more enjoyable computer gaming experiences I’ve had is when I played Pop Top Software’s game Tropico for Mac/PC. The game has you assume the role of a Fidel Castro-like character that has recently come to power in the fictitious Caribbean island of Tropico. On the standard default difficulty level, you take power [...]

I was just searching for educational games that might help my 2 1/2 year old son Orion recognize letters and their sounds a little more consistently. I stumbled upon Starfall and started playing some of the A, B, C games and I now realize that I know some elementary teachers that use it. Although it [...]

A company called TruSim is developing a serious game for the purpose of training health care workers that are the first responders in the case of a violent disaster. The gamer interacts with a three dimensional environment where the camera views the world through the eyes of the first responder. As the player walks through [...]

I found this game while I was researching competitive games for the one I am creating for my e-game. The game has come up with a lot of realistic experiences the students in a high school will go through. I plan to allow my freshmen to try it out!!! http://games.the-n.com/games/avHigh/ahigh.php Features of the game: Name [...]

A small Seattle-based company called Sabi has recently teamed up with Microsoft to develop an interactive drawing/reading program called Itzabitza for the Microsoft platform. The game is unique because of its ability to recognize drawings and create interactions with the drawings that have been created. The goal of this educational egame is to inspire creativity [...]

I came across this game when I ordered a book through Amazon, as a simple way to teach basic accounting. The book: In order to introduce the concept of how the students were going to learn about Accounting (and allow them to utilize technology), I searched the Internet to find some sort of attention getting [...]

In 2002, I was fortunate to be able to visit the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. The exhibiters published a book titled “Cultures of Creativity” that explored the various creative strands of the achievements of Nobel Laureates from diverse fields. The books introduction states that the concept of creativity has deep [...]

Quia is a educational game site that makes creating games easy. I used it a few years ago. At that time I had 15 computers in my classroom. As students finished working on their classwork, they had the option of going to Quia and playing a game I created. Creating the games was easy, I [...]

There is good new for game developers! Interest in games and their use in training has spread to the US military. According to an article in the November 23, 2008, online Stars and Stripes magazine the Army has received approval to invest $50 million in a “games for training” program starting in 2010. These games [...]

Third World Farmer Game A female peasant interviewed on Mexican radio news that shocked me proved to be the inspiration for me to explore the “Third World Farmer Game” among the “Games for Change” selection. In the interview the woman explained why she chose to rent some of her land to “Narcos” (drugs dealers). She [...]

Hi all, I found a few educational eGames this weekend that I wanted to share with you. They are all related to science/physics, which seems to lend itself well to eGames. Using simulation software makes it possible to play with lasers, put bowling balls on levers, and launch counterweight trebuchets- experiments that wouldn’t be possible [...]

When a child discovers and completely comprehends the horror of nuclear weapons on their own, it is a difficult matter for any parent to address. My seven year old daughter saw the nuclear explosion scene in the new Indiana Jones movie and instantly became terrified of nuclear weapons. I have been distracting her from it [...]

I learned all about how to build a successful ant colony by playing the Ant War Game.  This game has you first pick which type of ant colony you would like to develop. It gives you a brief description of your ant species to choose from (leaf cutter, harvester, weaver, carpenter or fire).   From [...]

INNOV8 is an interactive, 3-D business simulator designed to teach the fundamentals of business process management and bridge the gap in understanding between business leaders and IT teams in an organization. This type of serious gaming – simulations which have the look and feel of a game but correspond to non-game events or processes such [...]

In the Garbage Game, http://www.gothamgazette.com/games/garbage.php, you decide what to do with the garbage of New York City. The purpose of the game is to showcase how decisions made by both individuals and city officials will affect the overall garbage situation. Each decision made by an individual to throw something in the trash or recycle it [...]

Reason: While perusing the site, www.gamesforchange.org, I encountered the title of an online game that I had seen people playing on Facebook (or at least a very similar game). The name caught my attention, which is why I decided to review it for this assignment. Game: FreeRice at http://freerice.com/ Premise/Cause: The premise and cause behind [...]

*Click to enlarge images!* Stop Disasters is a free online single player game that teaches disaster prevention awareness and is aimed towards 9-16 year old children. It is a Sim City-esque game that focuses on saving lives and reducing the financial impact that natural hazards cause when they turn into disasters. There are five scenarios [...]

Dimension X: Evolver Pre-Algebra is a game that definitely deserves a look. It’s designed to have the feel of a first person shooter and an RPG in one. It’s storyline and graphics will hold a student’s attention, while the math is incorporated into the game in a subtle puzzle solving nature. The game begins with us [...]

Against All Odds is an online game created to increase players’ awareness and knowledge about refugee situations by putting players in the position of a refugee. The game was created by the UNHCR, A United Nations Refugee Agency and is accessible to players in multiple languages. The game starts out informing you that you are [...]

Game URL: http://www2.seattle.gov/util/waterbusters/ Game Synopsis: Phil’s water bills are high. The player is tasked with manuvering Phil Dumpster around the house to locate water pollution and resolve the issue with tools and wit. Game Overview: The player uses the arrow keys to move Phil around the house: a kitchen, 2bathrooms, a backyard, and a utitliy [...]

Free Rice is an educational quiz-type game. Players answer multiple choice questions. Immediate feedback is provided in the form of 20 grains of rice for correct answers. Incorrect answers are corrected and repeated later until answered correctly. This shows the player that they are learning something. The player can select among categories to be quizzed [...]

WFP Food Force Game Description: The Games for Change website describes Food Force as ” is an educational action computer game that teaches kids about the problem of global hunger and the importance of humanitarian aid work. ” The game was developed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and is available in many [...]

The JASON projct website offers numerous simulations and e-games to increase student understanding. A nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, JASON connects young students with great explorers and great events to inspire and motivate them to learn science. Its core curriculum units are designed for 5th – 8th grade classrooms but are flexible enough [...]

In Harpooned, players control the Japanese Cetacean Research boats, conducting “research” on whales. Players are rewarded for shooting whales and collecting the whale meat. The whale meat is then brought back to the research station where the meat is sold for pet food and whale burgers. Players must avoid icebergs, the protestor boats, and the [...]

I looked at McDonald’s Video Game by Molleindustria. Molleindustria “Radical games against the dictatorship of entertainment.” Molleindustria aims to re appropriate video games as a popular form of mass communication. Their objective is to investigate the persuasive potentials of the medium by subverting mainstream video gaming cliche (and possibly have fun in the process). In [...]

The game, Mission: Migration, by the National Audubon Society is a game intended for young audiences although I have to admit I was entertained for a bit trying to perfect my score. In this game, the player chooses a bird to lead the flock in their migration. It begins with an easy flight over a [...]

Peter Packet is a game from NetAid and Cisco, that is geared toward children in an effort to bring them to social awareness. Peter Packet is an action figure that gives the players data about social challenges around the world. Players are given information about clean water problems in Haiti, education in India and creating [...]

Peter Packet is a game for children to become aware of world poverty. It is an entertaining game that has great visuals and music that kids would enjoy. You go with Peter on missions around the world, you may for example go to Haiti to help build a water filtration system. Along the way you [...]

There are missions such as helping Haiti get clean drinking water. http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/peterpacket/