Are you trying to "sell" games internally as a valid method of teaching content. Perhaps if you mention that government agencies like NASA are investing in this methodology, you might have a better chance of making your case. Also, guide them to Games Teach Life Saving Skills: Accidently as an argument as well.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced the creation of a Massively Multi-player Online, or MMO, educational game to interested development partners.
The game is
Designed to enhance learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, the game would be designed to draw players into a synthetic environment that can serve as a powerful "hands-on" tool for teaching a range of complex subjects, officials said.
Check out the article NASA tech might be used for Web gaming
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2 comments:
Dr. Kapp,
This was a very interesting article! I have been looking into government agencies and their use of eLearning as part of an assignment for Dr. Nicholson’s “eLearning Concepts and Techniques” course. I went to the NASA website to see if I could learn more about the MMO, and I ran across this site that explains the development of this project: http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/
The MMO is being developed as part of NASA’s Learning Technologies (LT) project. The purpose of this project is to increase the number of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. NASA realizes that to engage today’s students they need to reach them through a medium that they are familiar with: games. The language that NASA used to describe the nature of this project is interesting. They are seeking “to enhance formal and informal” learning of students, and they state that “the power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining recognition”.
More interesting, they posted their RFP to partner with a developer that can provide a solution to make this MMO a reality. Here is the link to their RFP:
http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/MMO_RFP.pdf
I read their RFP to see how an agency like NASA would write an RFP. I thought it was very well written, and very interesting. The following is from the RFP:
“The power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining recognition. Innovative university faculty are already holding classes and taking fieldtrips to synthetic worlds like World of Warcraft® and Second Life®. “
Dr. Kapp, I’m suprprised you haven’t received a phone call yet! The deadline for submission is June 18th 2008 at 4:30 pm EST. Dr. Kapp, what are your plans for this summer? Just kidding. At least this RFP would make a good case study of a government written RFP for games and learning.
-Brian Boyce
Brian,
Thanks for the link and the additional information on this subject, not sure I can gen together a proposal in that time period but I'll take a look:)
Karl
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