Online Gambling: A Press Release from Gibraltar

I had to laugh today while browsing news releases. I came across this one from Belle Rock Entertainment’s Online Casinos, which operates out of Gibraltar. Recall that the US bans online gambling, even if the site is offshore, and this peeves European casinos. So much so, they and some Caribbean nations have filed suit with the World Trade Organization against the US and the offending legislation. I’m not a fan of gambling, and I don’t condone it. But, I’m interested in research on the human element surrounding the risk of personal money with online gaming.

Reading the press release from Belle Rock, I’m struck with the similarities to mainstream MMORPGs. Here is a sample quote:

Gladiator is an online video slot of truly epic proportions set in Ancient Rome and features a massive 50 pay-lines. Its hero is a robust but romantic gladiator and when the sparks fly between him and his Roman Maiden, players score all the way with a Mixed Pay reward.

A gladiator’s battles resulting in rewards? Sounds a lot like World of Warcraft only with real money at stake. Take a look at this paragraph:

For those who prefer the snowy winterscapes of colder climates, Snow Honeys, is a feature rich, 5 reel 20 pay-line, entertainment-packed video slot. It has uber-cool mountain ski resort graphics, complete with bronzed ski instructors, Mounties, hibernating bears and snow Bunnies. The easy-on-the-eye ski-girls who show the way to a generous mix of Free Spins, Scatters, multipliers and a major Bonus feature, will delight any slot player. Adjacent Ice Castles could deliver up to 100 x multipliers and also enable the player to open up the second screen Hide and Seek bonus selection of 5 out of 12 winning windows in the castle. When the Ski Resort Scatter symbols combine, the player can score up to 30 Free Spins with a 5x multiplier and five of these adjacent will result in a massive 100x multiplier booster. Snow Honeys offer high energy slot action and has brilliant audio effects. Wagers from as little as 0.01 up to 0.5 coins can be made, making wins of up to 20 000 coins in the base game, 100 000 coins on the Free Spins and 10 000 coins on the bonus game possible.

It’s a neat press release, and it makes me hope that researchers concerned with online gambling will investigate the ramifications of combining elements of online gaming and social networks with the free spending nature of offshore wagering sites.

 

Will Mean Girls Get Meaner in a Mean Girls Game?

When bad news comes out about a videogame, or salacious details are leaked, many are those quick to jump on the bandwagon deriding the game. This seems to create a perpetual cycle of bad press regarding various games (and the medium in general) as they come down the pike. We saw suggestions from local politicians that Bully be banned, even before it was released. The Grand Theft Auto series has had its share of bad press, with the Hot Coffee incident being the worse. More recently, Manhunt 2 has garnered plenty of bad press for being over-the-top violent.

Now, a new game due out in January is garnering criticism for teaching girls how to behave badly. Coolest Girl in School is like Bully, with protagonists as females who must “lie, bitch and flirt [their] way to the top of the high school ladder.” As such, teachers are seen as rubes to be manipulated, rumor mongering is seen as a social tool, and sexual experimentation is rife with potential.

In an article for the CanWest News Service, Misty Harris writes that the Aussies are upset with details concerning the game (beta testing has occurred in Australia).

“The activities in the game have been shown through vast amounts of research to cause significant, long-term problems for young people,” a spokeswoman for the Australian Family Association told the Daily Telegraph this month.

But, the developers insist they’ve been unfairly tarnished:

“We have had a lot of press and, unfortunately the game has been misrepresented in some articles,” says [Holly] Owen [creative director of Champagne for the Ladies, the game’s developer] . “It is … a very tongue-in-cheek look at the perils of the quest for cool in high school. Key word: irony!”

Owen notes that although activities such as smoking or using drugs “might seem obviously cool,” they can work against a girl in the game because she could be sent to virtual rehab or have foul-smelling breath when a love interest approaches her.

Academics in the article express their doubts. Christine Daviault at Concordia U. in Montreal is quoted as saying she doubts young girls will get the irony, and are at a developmental crossroads where negative influence may hold sway. The final quote:

Anastasia Goodstein, a noted youth media consultant, believes the game’s premise might hit too close to home for some.

“Coolest Girl In School sounds a lot like high school,” Goodstein writes on her marketing blog YPulse.com. “Do girls need to play a game to remind them of high school’s depressing social hierarchy?”

On one hand, negative press about any videogame hurts the cause for educational products that seek to do good. On the other hand, any publicity is good publicity, and public outcries against games for whatever reasons ultimately lead to higher sales than otherwise realized.

References:
Harris, M. (2007, November 22). Videogame teaches teen girls to slither up social ladder. Canada.com. [Online.] Available: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?
id=e581f83c-77a5-4dd8-a589-0b8db5ad3a1c&k=21807

IBM Helps Universities to Innov8

Here’s a nice article by Julie Moran Alterio from Gannett, appearing in the Asbury Park Press (“From the Jersey Shore to You”) on IBM’s new business leadership skills game, Innov8. Taking a page from the military’s America’s Army game, IBM hopes to instill desired skill sets in those “fuzzy” areas that games are so good at teaching, such as leadership, teamwork, social skills, and real world problem solving.

Innov8 came about through IBM’s corporate case challenge, which involves B-school teams from two universities competing with one another to provide a solution to a business problem. IBM VP Sandy Carter noted that 40 of the 44 teams from Duke and U. North Carolina suggested using a videogame to help people develop needed skill sets for business acumen. Since January, Carter has shepherded development of Innov8, using some of the students from the case challenge to help design the game. Pilot studies were completed earlier this year and the game is now ready for prime time, to be offered free to 2000 universities worldwide.

Gameplay should be familiar to World of Warcraft players. It’s a 3-D virtual interactive environment (VIE) with human avatars. Players assume a female avatar tasked with solving various business-scenario dilemmas. NPCs provide helpful dialogue.

Jim Lawler, an information systems associate professor over at Pace University, is given prominent mention. He worried game dynamics would be difficult to master, thus detracting from lessons. However, he was won over after quickly mastering the game. His key quote: “Enrollment is lower in computer science and information systems nationally. This is what schools have to do, integrate these kind of games and tools.”

David Rejeski is also mentioned prominently in the article:

More corporations and the U.S. government are starting to see the potential of games to teach serious subjects, said David Rejeski, director of the Serious Games Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

“The thing about games that’s really nice is you can fail softly,” Rejeski said.

The Apply Group, a high-tech consulting firm, predicts that one in five of the Global Fortune 500 will adopt gaming for learning by 2012.

My take: IBM has long been at the forefront of top companies that “get it” with gaming and Web 2.0 technologies. For instance, the company has obtained considerable virtual real estate in Second Life and holds online meetings there with avatars showing up from personnel spread across the globe. It is heartening to see this effort to help train business students in appropriate skill sets. Offering the game to universities free of charge is a good way of helping B-schools graduate students with the knowledge and skills needed by IBM and other big corporations.

References:
Alterio, J. M. (2007, November 26). New video game teaches students business and computer skills. Asbury Park Press. [Online.] Retrieved November 28, 2007 from: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20071126/BUSINESS/711260306/1003

Games Are Bad, Right? Misericordia Survey Aims to Find Out

Sam Galski over at the Hazelton, PA Standard-Speaker (“Serving Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill, Columbia, and Monroe Counties since 1866”), reports today on a survey led by Dr. Ellen McLaughlin, interim dean for Health Sciences at Misericordia University in Dallas, PA. The survey, “Exploring Children’s Video Game Use,” was delivered to 4,000 students, 7-12 years old, in two Pennsylvania school districts and one parochial school. The idea is for students to take the survey home to be filled out by parents.

Expressing a potentially negative attitude toward gaming, McLaughlin is quoted in the paper as saying, “With the rapid increases in video gaming, and the emergence of a computer culture, we are beginning to be concerned about how too much time spent in this type of activity might potentially influence other areas of their life.”

The survey asks parents about times children play videogames, and times they spend in other leisure activities. They will also be asked “to check a box if the child would rather spend the time playing video games.” Timeframes on the survey for playing will start at 0-15 minutes and go up nine check boxes to “over 3 ½hours.”

Questions will also entail issues of free choice among games, time limits, and ESRB ratings. Finally, behavior issues will be sought from the parents:

The survey asks participants to check boxes if certain behaviors were noticed, including whether a child has persistent thoughts of video game use to whether he or she has ever jeopardized or lost relationships because of gaming.

References:
Galski, S. (2007, November 26). Hazleton Area students to take video game study. Standard-Speaker. [Online]. Retrieved November 26, 2007 from: http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=6308&Itemid=2

 

Programming a New AquaMOOSE? Virtual Real Worlds Using MellaniuM & Unreal 2

The famous AquaMOOSE study came out of Georgia Tech a few years back, led by Amy Bruckman. High school students were exposed to a game developed by the team focusing on three-dimensional mathematics (think of Logo, only in 3-D). However, the students had high expectations going into the study, and were disappointed with the graphical sophistication of the home-brewed software. Since then, and maybe because of Team Bruckman’s findings, educational gaming research seems to have shifted more to examining pedagogical potentials within existing products.

On many levels, this makes sense. When one considers the multi-person staffs, high dollar budgets, and extended timelines for creating top notch videogames, replicating that level of sophistication becomes problematic on the typical budgetary levels professors are used to winning in grants. Big grants offer a nice exception to this rule. Even then, the funds may run out, as we saw earlier this year when Castronova over at Indiana was forced to pull the plug on Arden, his ambitious Shakespearean-themed VW.

So existing game engines are hot, especially for serious game development. Appropriate the engines already developed and focus on the pedagogy … this seems to be a guiding principle. Fortunately, folks are out there working to help us utilize some of the state of the art platforms for business and educational purposes.

I spoke via e-mail recently with Joe Rigby, over at MellaniuM, who offers a look into his company’s product that allows highly detailed representations of real world objects created in AutoCAD to be exported into the Unreal 2 engine. Elaine Alhadeff has written an excellent entry in which she explores the product and interviews Rigby. The video Rigby has shows things like a World War II Spitfire, half in shadow, half in light; a motorcycle with multi-spoke wheels (each spoke standing out in detail); and a horse-drawn carriage that looks incredibly detailed.

The product highlights the notion of “virtual real worlds,” where users can explore realistic representations of locations that exist now, in the past, or in imagination. Training or exploration within such environments may be advantageous to police teams learning to deal with emergency situations; military groups learning urban warfare; and college students interested in exploring architecture, archaeology, or historical contexts.

Details within virtual real worlds can be extremely important, and products such as MillaniuM’s offer tantalizing possibilities to programmers.

References:
Elliott, J., Adams, L., & Bruckman, A. (2002). No magic bullet: 3D video games in education. Proceedings of ICLS 2002. Seattle, Washington, October 2002. [Online]. Available: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/aquamoose-icls02.pdf

Went to a Fight and a Conference Broke Out: Instructivism vs. Constructivism

One of my stat profs loved academic arguments. He enjoyed reading journal articles arguing different points of view. He especially enjoyed going to conferences and watching other stat profs fight over the minutiae of their field. One of his anecdotes centered on a conference where the book The Bell Curve was a featured topic. “People were screaming at one another,” he noted with glee. Good stuff!

Academic arguments, my professor maintained, are where new knowledge and ideas are tested, refined, and eventually accepted or rejected once the dust settles. Like a schoolyard brawl, people come running far and wide just to watch. Well, at least those in that field of academia do.

Currently an academic skirmish is in full swing over a paper published a year ago that strongly attacked constructivist learning. I have to speak in broad generalities here, but basically constructivists believe learning can be facilitated through the student creating her own knowledge. A constructivist would say: you can tell a student something all day, but if she discovers it on her own it will hold a much more powerful impression. Also, learning by doing will always be stronger than passive approaches.

An instructivist believes the teacher must guide the child in learning. An instructivist would say: you have to tell the student what he needs to know. Otherwise, how do you know he’s learning what you want him to know? He can’t get there (at least, not efficiently) unless you show him the way.

Probably most learning takes place somewhere between the two camps, and in truth many people likely fall on a spectrum between the two extremes. Nonetheless, slavish adherents exist on both sides, ready to rail against the other side’s philosophical position.

Constructivist learning is generally promoted in university education departments. In K-12 settings, where high stakes examinations at the state level are so important, instructivist learning dominates. The thinking here is, if students are to pass the state exam they must be directly taught what is on the state exam. So, instructivism dominates in schools.

At this point it may be prudent to note that, broadly speaking, folks involved in educational gaming tend to fall in the constructivist camp. One of the underlying assumptions of serious/educational/instructional games is that the whole videogame structure is one offering high engagement for potential learners. Thus, while some games are designed to “trick” players into picking up knowledge or skills (the hidden agenda approach), others are more overt in their pedagogy while couching objectives in an experiential gaming environment. But, they all assume players will engage in the game rather than passively consume information such as that transmitted in a lecture.

So with that as background, we come to our current fight. The paper in question is by Paul A. Kirschner, over at the Educational Technology Expertise Center, Open University of The Netherlands and Research Centre Learning in Interaction, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; John Sweller over at the School of Education, University of New South Wales; and Richard E. Clark, over at the Rossier School of Education at University of Southern California. The paper’s title is a shot across the bow of constructivist teaching: “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching.” It appeared in Educational Psychologist last year, but as in so many other things with educational publishing, its impact is only now being fully felt.

Clark was involved in the famous Clark-Kozma Debate. This academic argument played out in the pages of Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) and elsewhere, with Clark stating that, all things being equal, information transmitted via whatever media would not result in significant differences in outcomes at test time. Thus, info transmitted during a live lecture, or via videotape, or via audio recording, or through text … all would result in similar scores when subjects were tested on the information. Clark called this the delivery truck metaphor. Media is essentially the delivery truck, and it affects content no differently than real delivery trucks affect theirs. Kozma, for his part, felt Clark was painting with too broad a brush.

Clark has joined Kirschner and Sweller in the current debate. Several academics have taken exception to the arguments outlined in their paper. The most prominent is Stephen Downes over at the National Research Council Canada, Institute for Information Technology. Downes has linked a video of a lecture he gave addressing identified shortcomings in the paper on his main site, downes.ca. In addition, on his Half an Hour blog, Downes has posted the back and forth between him and Kirschner over debated details. He lists his arguments against the paper here. Finally, he has a long post called Kirschner, Sweller, Clark (2006) - Readings, that lists an extensive set of comments from people across academia and the blogosphere who have opined on the paper.

-*-

We’ll see what happens when the dust settles. Personally, I’m a fan of constructivist teaching when possible and practical. Many times when teaching to the test as required in our schools these days, a constructivist lesson is not the most efficient way to impart knowledge. But, there are times when a constructivist approach leads to profound and life changing lessons. The constructivist approach is especially useful for those “fuzzy” lessons that defy standardization such as on ethics, leadership, and social factors.

I’ve also noticed, especially with computer programs, few people want to “take the time” to read the manual. Instead, they’d rather jump right into the program and start figuring things out. I would say these people are eschewing the instructivist approach in favor of a constructivist one. In fact, one is hard pressed to find a substantial written instruction manual included with software programs these days. There may be online help included, or a brief “getting started” document. But, instructivists must resort to buying separate books for extensive program manuals. There is a lesson there, somewhere …

References
Clark, R.E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29.

Kirschner, P.A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R.E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2). 75-86.

Kozma, R. (1994). A reply: Media and methods. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(3), 11-14.

Study the Wii for Your Ph.D.

Reporter Joanna Smith has an article today in The Toronto Star about Future Play 2007, held last week at Algoma University College.

Everyone was there to talk and learn about video games and their psychological, sociological, political, technical, metaphorical – what have you – dimensions, which are all lumped together in the emerging field of game studies.

That’s right: video game studies, which is busy establishing itself as a bona fide academic field.

Scholars might spend hours discussing avatars – the identities people adopt in online virtual reality games – but they are doing so in post-secondary institutions, peer-reviewed journals and in societies of the learned, such as the Digital Games Research Association, which held a large conference in Tokyo this year, or the fledgling Canadian Game Studies Association, which publishes a mostly online journal called Loading.

 

Smith goes on to briefly discuss the history of game studies, including Huizinga’s Homo Ludens and his discussions of “the magic circle.”

Professors mentioned prominently in the article included Mia Consalvo over at Ohio University and author of the new book, Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames; Jennifer Jenson at York University and co-President of the Canadian Game Studies Association; and Jayne Gackenbach over at Grant MacEwen College in Edmonton who is studying effects videogames have on dreams.

References:
Smith, J. (2007, November 24). Pursuing a Ph.D.? Considered Wii studies? The Toronto Star. [Online]. Retrieved November 24, 2007 from: http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/279372

Are Social Sites Good for Educating?

After examining the convergence of MMOs with social networking sites and their game-like similarities, we are faced with the question: Should schools leverage social sites for academic purposes? In a report released this summer, the National School Boards Association indicates that school districts “may want to consider re-examining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes.” The discussion continues in an online chat at NSBA’s website with Will Richardson over at the Weblogg-ed blog and Connective Learning entitled, “What are the Educational Benefits of Social Networking for Students and Teachers?”

The report released by the NSBA, “CREATING & CONNECTING//Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking” came out in July, 2007. The report compiled results from three surveys. The first was online, with 1,277 students aged 9-17. The second involved 1,039 parents and was also online. Finally, 250 school district decision makers were surveyed by phone. Grunwald Associates directed the study while Hypothesis Group managed the field research. Funding for the studies was provided by Microsoft, News Corp., and Verizon.

Researchers looking for statistics of online social networking among children will find a goldmine of info here. The 12 page report is filled with charts and graphs detailing online activities and preferences among young netizens in MySpace and Facebook showing that online activities are approaching parity with television watching among the nation’s youth in total hours devoted to entertainment.

But the recommendations at the end of the report have caused social sites opponents and those against use of the Internet in classrooms to cry foul. In particular, the following recommendations have ruffled the most feathers:

- Consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development.

- Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking.

- Reexamine social networking policies [in schools].

- Encourage social networking companies to increase educational value.

The funding element has led the focus for most of the criticism. In an L.A. Times article, reporters Alex Pham and Alana Semuels note that the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston cast aspersions on the report due to its funding by Microsoft (part owner of Facebook), and News Corp. (owner of MySpace).

But because the report was funded in part by companies behind two of the most popular social-networking sites, the school board group should disavow its recommendations, said Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood at the Judge Baker Children’s Center, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

“The report reads more like a public relations tool designed to allay educators’ concerns about social networking than a serious investigation of the complex issues raised by introducing new commercialized technology into the classroom,” Linn wrote in a letter to Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the school group.

In response, Bryant indicated the funding entities had nothing to do with conducting and writing the report, and that to ignore the educational potential of social networking sites is tantamount to “putting one’s head in the sand.” The reporters conclude by suggesting most of the angst with social networking in schools revolves around online advertising on the sites.

The tug-of-war between those desiring greater access to technology and Web 2.0 tools in the schools versus those who do not, continues. As Miguel Guhlin pointed out last week, it extends down to the tech director level, showing up in various levels of attitudes. As more and more luminaries and national organizations come out in support of the idea, though, will resistance fade or strengthen?

 

References:
Creating & connecting//Research and guidelines on online social — and educational — networking. (2007, July). National School Boards Association. Alexandria, VA.

Pham, A., & Semuels, A. (2007, November 19). Educators weigh merits of social network sites. Los Angeles Times. [Online.] Retrieved November 24, 2007 from http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-fi-schools
19nov19,1,5428223.story?

 

Update:

Thanks to the folks at the LifeLongLearning Lab for pointing out the link to the report changed. I’ve updated it.

 

Raid a Dungeon then Trade Business Cards: Professional Networking Merges with MMOs

Here’s a refreshing Australian news piece slanted toward the positive aspects of gaming. An article running in ABC Southern Queensland offers an interview with Dr. Penny de Byl in the Department of Mathematics and Computing over at the University of Southern Queensland. Here is the most intriguing quote of many:

“There is a field called ’serious games’. Serious games have come from the ‘edutainment’ genre that used to be around. They’re serious games for training military personnel, mathematics applications, emergency wards in hospitals. If you can think of a domain, there will be a serious game out there for it. What they do is they bring the authentic environment to the students…Games inherently teach. Whenever you pick up a game you will learn something new, because you will learn how to control it. People learn better when they’re interacting with things. You can’t help but learn from games. Because kids are so engaged in games, if we can put serious content into them, in the correct way, they’re learning without trying.”

So academically, games are good fodder for research. The article then examines the social aspects of gaming. Now that doctors, lawyers, and other professionals are such ardent gamers, does this leisure activity gain the same social stature as, say, golf? It certainly offers possibilities for higher numbers of contacts while socializing than do many RL activities. “[Y]ou could still play golf, but you can’t play golf with thirty of your mates at the same time,” one interviewee pointed out.

On a related note, the Associated Press ran an article recently on the merging of social networking with online gaming.

Social and gaming networks, once considered polar opposites, are cross-pollenating [sic] as online interactions replace prime-time TV and other, more traditional media experiences. Games like “Kaneva” are attracting players that games like “Super Mario Brothers” never did … Game developers say there’s money for both sides in this convergence.

Kartrider and Kaneva offer opportunities to socialize while playing. Facebook has Scrabulous and MySpace plans a game channel soon. Could we see redefinitions of MMOs and MMORPGs as we know them?

MySpace and Facebook are massively multiplayer games in disguise, says Gabe Zichermann, who is developing “rmbr,” which he says will make a video game out of tagging and sharing digital photos … “They’re going to be able to monetize their users at the same level (as the games do),” Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association, said of the social network sites. “That’s a lot of money.”

Christopher Sherman, executive director of Virtual Worlds Management, and Joshua Smyth over at Syracuse also get nice quotes.

So, stay a while, slay a while, and by the way … here’s my card.

References:
Associated Press. (2007, November 22). Online video games meet social networking tools and find they have a lot in common. [Online.] Retrieved November 22, 2007 from: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/23/america/
NA-FEA-A-E-TEC-US-Social-Games-Online.php

Is it OK for adults to play video games? (2007, November 22). ABC Southern Queensland. [Online]. Available: http://www.abc.net.au/southqld/stories/s2098500.htm?backyard

CFP: Games for Health, 2008

The Games for Health Conference 2008 will be held May 8-9 in Baltimore. Registration is now open. Ben Sawyer put out a call for content on the Serious Games listserv, a copy of which is online over at Education Spree, which posts chatter from the Second Life Educators (SLED) listserv.

Several interesting topics are noted in Ben’s call, including using virtual worlds for health, the nascent field of cyberpsychology, exergaming, and virtual patients. Games for Health is a subsidiary project of the Serious Games Initiative, which is backed by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This marks the fourth year for the Games for Health Conference.