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Showing posts from August, 2015

Filament Shares Serious Games Measurable Results At The Upcoming G4C Google Hangout

Games for Change announced yesterday its second installment of the G4C Industry Circle series to be held Sept. 17, when Filament Games will share a case study evaluating the impact of their Serious Game Backyard Engineers . Hear even more about how Filament makes learning games and measures their results at the upcoming Google Hangout on September 17 at 2 p.m. EST. A CASE FOR SERIOUS GAMES Michele Huppert, seventh-grade STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and math) teacher at Spring Valley Middle School in Wisconsin, incorporated Backyard Engineers into her classroom activities. Backyard Engineers is an engineering learning game aligned to middle-school science standards, where players must customize different catapult elements in order to manipulate movement, accuracy, and range. In order to bring the advantages of game-based learning into the classroom, Backyard Engineers was incorporated into an interdisciplinary unit tied to Next Gener

Serious Games Educating Players About Transparency In Governance

Object of my prior post Serious Games For Investigating Financial Crimes And Recovering Assets , developers at Skyless Game Studios are about to release their new game, City Hall, for Android and iOS. Designed to be a challenging but realistic simulation of what municipal government really implies, City Hall is backed by Transparency International , a global anti-corruption and transparency watchdog organization, and the International Anti-Corruption Conference as part of their  Social Entrepreneurship Initiative . The program provides seed grants to social entrepreneurial ventures developing innovative products focused on governance and transparency. The goal of City Hall is to help players better understand the complexities of their cities’ government and the pros and cons of each decision made, with the hope that this will ultimately lead to a more informed and engaged public. It is a free to play game for mobile devices that challenges players to role play as a ci

Serious Games Promoting Careers In Highway Construction Industry

As part of the Future Road Builders interactive pre-apprenticeship program, the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania (CAWP) in partnership with SimCoach Games  have launched three new releases to promote careers in the highway construction trades: Reinforcers  is a rebar tying game where players learn and practice the basic methods for three different types of rebar ties;  Excavator   lets you practice the skills needed to be a real life machinery operator;  Traffic Control  is another game that promotes careers in highway construction and educate the public about safely navigating highway construction zones. The games are available for Android and iPhone, and can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. Future Road Builders is a Serious Game that introduces players to highway construction careers, allowing them to experience what it might be like to work as a carpenter, cement mason, laborer, heavy equipment operator, and pile or truck driver.

RealTime Immersive Rebranded To Focus On A Larger Serious Game Market Segment

Image credit: Mass Virtual™ Object of my prior posts Serious Games For Collective Training Inside A Virginia Class Submarine , Serious Games For Subsurface Special Operations Training , Virtual Attain: Serious Games For Patrol Operations , and RealTime Immersive Technology Demo For More Realistic Serious Games , RealTime Immersive announced yesterday that it has just changed the company name to Mass Virtual™ to focus on a larger Serious Game market segment. Mass Virtual’s award-winning team provides licensing, support and training for Virtual Attain®, an award-winning simulation and software development platform. Virtual Attain is a CryENGINE® powered solution inspired by efforts inside the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command. Virtual Attain is designed to be used by soldiers who had   previously received training, such as patrol operations, casualty evacuation, call for fire, egress, and special operation tactics. Virtual Attain’s use of robust r

Submissions Open For 2015 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge

Game submissions for the 2015 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge open tomorrow, August 3 through September 20. Finalists will be notified on October 15 and shall be prepared to attend the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). The 2015 I/ITSEC will be held from November 30 through December 3 in Orlando, Florida, at the Orange County Convention Center.  Finalists will be prominently displayed at the Serious Games Showcase &Challenge area located in the STEM Pavilion. All finalists will be expected to attend the conference to showcase their games to the conference attendees. During this time the attendees will also vote on the People’s Choice Award winner. Winners for all awards will be announced during the award ceremony on December 3 at 1:00 PM (location TBD.) Before entering make sure you read the  rules and understand what categories your game qualifies for. Prepare your  paper work , taking care in all of your answe

Games Have The Potential To Be Assessment Without The Test

In a recent article by Lee Banville, editor of Gamesandlearning.org , Dr.Kristen DiCerbo , director of eLearning at the Pearson Research & Innovation Network , states that “Games have the potential to be assessment without the test.” DiCerbo's research program centers on digital technologies in learning and assessment, particularly on the use of data generated from interactions to inform instructional decisions. A senior research scientist, she has conducted qualitative and quantitative investigations of games and simulations, particularly focusing on the identification and accumulation of evidence. DiCerbo admits that stealth assessments woven 'invisibly' into digital gaming environments is “a radical idea”, but it is one she believes in and with her background in the data and assessment tools available she thinks she has that potential to make it happen. She also believes we are at a key inflection point and we will arrive at a place technologically where