Games-based learning and the usage of video games in education and pedagogy has been a subject of interest for decades. Some of these games have been popular because they use the genre (action, adventure, role play, etc.) to engage learners. The cost of error for participants is low, protecting them from the more severe consequences of mistakes if the exercise was done in the real world. Obviously a game does not necessarily represent a real-world system and can provide flexibilities not available otherwise. A Serious Game can be thought of as “a mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with specific rules that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication objectives” [1]. We inscribe this research work into the fields of “serious games for education”, based on learners’ simulation exclusively performed online via the Internet. The goal of this project is to explore the potential of online video games for education through the concept of social networks, by designing, implementing, and testing multiuser games playable as a group through the internet, that will teach difficult concepts in economy, business and ecology to high/elementary school students.
[1] Michael Zyda, Alex Mayberry, Jesse McCree, and Margaret Davis “From Viz-Sim to VR to Games: How We Built a Hit Game-Based Simulation,” in W.B. Rouse and K.R. Boff (Eds.) Organizational Simulation: From Modeling & Simulation to Games & Entertainment, New York: Wiley Press, 2005.