Bill MacKenty

Technology strengthens, deepens, and broadens our learning...

Games in education

I’ll be running an after-school class in text-based games next year (starting September 2008).  I’m quite excited about it, and there seems to be interest from many in the school community.

I’ve developed a tentative outline, and I have begun reaching out to others in the text-based gaming community to get some ideas and feedback. I’ll keep track of my progress here on my blog, and I’m really looking forward to running this class.

The class would last an entire school year (September through June), meeting once a week. So we would be looking at about 30 class meeting times (probably more like 20 with interruptions and field trips).

I have thought about this a bit, and here’s my basic outline:

Text based games

The classics:

play part of Adventure
play part of zork I
play a multiplayer text based game (but this is tricky as they will
all be minors)

MUDS

Talk about different code bases
Play some muds:
fantasy
science fiction
popular fiction
building
build a mud using (mud code base 1)
build a mud using (mud code base 2)
interviewing a mud builder
interviewing a mud creator

MUSHES

Talk about different mushes
Play some MUSHES:
fantasy
science fiction
popular fiction
building
Build a mush using the pennmush server

MUXes

playing muxes
playing a Battle tech mux

Interactive fiction

The big difference in interactive fiction and MU*’s
playing IF: play some games
designing IF using Inform 7
Puzzles: what makes a puzzle fun?

Good writing

How to write a good story
How to write a good bad guy
General game skills
How to run a TP (tiny plot, from the mu* world)
Coded systems versus free form RP

Mark Wagner has finished his dissertation! Many congrats to Mark.

His dissertation, MMORPGs in Education, asks if MMORPG’s can be educational, and under what conditions.  This paragraph, from a draft of the conclusion, is so perfect about some problems of implementing games in education:

If such a paradigm shift is a desired destination, the road will likely be a long and difficult one. The results of this study suggest that significant infrastructure and logistical challenges may lay ahead for any implementation of MMORPGs in schools. Infrastructure challenges may include student access to computers, hardware requirements, and bandwidth requirements. Logistical issues may include great costs, in terms of finances, time, and human resources. Even more significant may be the kinds of organizational change necessary for successful implementation, particularly given the likelihood of resistance not only on account of MMORPGs being seen as videogames, but also on account of the tendency of educators and educational institutions to resist innovations in educational technology.

Again, that games are educational is without doubt. but the devil is in the details - and they are formidable. But this study contributes heartily to the informed discussion of how we can use these important tools. I’ll keep working on it!

That games in education “work” is without question. When used properly, games can uniquely motivate, teach, and encourage our students. If you really use games effectively, you can motivate poor performing or under-performing students; you can help bright students ask important questions and relevant questions about themselves and their world; you can help gifted kids simulate highly complex systems.

However, it is not simply a matter of sticking a kid in front of a computer game and hoping for the best.  There are a specific set of circumstances which must coalesce in order for games to work.

The Right Teacher

A good teacher must plan a lesson, measure learning, and ask the right question at the right time. Using computer games for learning, a teacher must have special clarity concerning learning objectives, scope, and assessment. But the teacher must also have strong technical acumen, a sense of adventure, and positive experience playing games.

Asking the right questions and setting context before the game is played is important. The right teacher will probably understand regularly interrupting game play is a bad idea. After the game is over (perhaps in the next class), it’s critical to debrief and discuss the learning experience.

Being a geek helps.

The Right Students

When planned well, games work for 90% of the students I’ve encountered (of all ability levels).  However, there is a group of students who simply don’t “do” computer games - no big deal, it’s simply not their thing.

Gifted and talented students require special mention here.

First of all, when I talk about gifted and talented students, I’m talking about the top 5% of the top 5%.  These students are quite rare, but you must understand something about this kid: they grok patterns REALLY quickly. And as we know, games are essentially really fun patterns (here and here). They also seem to have higher-than-average motivation to learn. 

I’ve not yet found a clear and consistent way for gifted kids to use games to enhance their learning - however, there is great promise in the modding community, and in the building of their own games. I wrote a brief piece about my confusion how to use games with talented kids. But I am increasingly aware that building complex systems fits well into the gifted realm (and games model complex system really well).

The Right Parents

It’s ok if your parents are clueless about technology, but you might run into some trouble with parents who are afraid of computers or computer games.  This is where clear planning plays an important role. If you can approach a parent, and clearly explain the activity, and demonstrate learning objectives, most parents will see that this isn’t a waste of time. It also helps if you’ve spent some building relationships with parents and at parent groups.

As if it needs to be said, this is an area where your choice of game, and your learning objectives will be tested. Most parents have a finely tuned bullshit meter. If you say “we are playing World of Warcraft and the kids are learning about swords”. You will have earned the right for them to complain to you and your administrator.

The Right Game

I have an opinion that the best type of game for use in education are COTS games (more).  Not everyone shares my opinion, for perfectly good reasons. However, as you read on, please understand I’m giving you my opinion - that COTS games are the best choice for games in education.

A game has to be a good game before it can be a good educational game. This is why I shun edutainment titles, and games designed especially for education (there are some magnificent exceptions).

This isn’t to say there isn’t value in edutainment titles, just not the kids of education I’m talking about here. So here is what makes a game educational:

1) The game has an educationally-accessible context (historical, contemporary, hard science-fiction)
2) Game play has genuinely educationally-accessible content (Age of Empires has a great educational context, but lousy educational gameplay)
3) Success depends on intelligent choices and decisions (not twitch)
4) Failure exists and teaches when it happens. It is possible to lose
5) The tutorial is crystal clear, and checks for understanding
6) There are multiple victory conditions
7) The feedback model is short - students can quickly see how a decision effects a larger whole picture
8) The game becomes increasingly challenging and difficult

You have to get four things right when you use a computer game:

It has to work right and well.  Technical problems are disastrous in games in education. Short classes and limited technical support make technical problems a serious issue.

It has to be fun. It doesn’t get boring.  A guiding mantra should be “if it’s not fun, why do it?”.  This is why we always think about the game first and then educational potential.

It has to be challenging at different levels of abilities.  Some students are naturally interested in technology and games, others are not.  As much as something which is very difficult can cause problems, so can something which is very easy.  Levels of difficulty help alleviate this situation.

The game need to be accessible for different types of players (ala Bartle player types). Explorers, achievers, griefers, and socializers.  There should be something in the game for everyone.

The Right Administrator

If you are working in a school with colossally stupid administrators, you will not be able to use games in your classroom.  However, I’ve found most administrators are not stupid. Most of them are open to new methodologies, but demand some sort of evidence or plan. 

I often talk about building credibility and trust with administrators. It is important to build trust with your building leaders. Games in education are a novel thing,and frought with potential failure. Most administrators should approach the topic with a measure of distrust. Thus it is up to the teacher to provide clear learning objectives and clear plan for using games. 

The Right Support

The right support comes from the teacher who is using the games in class.  In my experience, schools often have little technical support.  If there is a technical problem, the teacher must be able to solve the issue in class. It’s really that simple.  I suppose I could of put this in the right teacher section, but support deserves it’s own mention.

This is the second in a series of blog posts which focus on eve-online. The last question I focused on was could eve-online be educational?  The answer: maybe, but probably not.

Now I’d like to focus on casual gaming (also see here for casual game).  The question: can eve online be played casually?

Eve is, of course, a MMORPG. These games have traditionally catered to hardcore gamers, and demand from players a large investment in time.  That is, the longer you play, the more quickly you ascend and become more “powerful” in the game world. Some games become quite difficult for new gamers as the older, more powerful players have a monopoly on the best items, skills, and power (this is actually a criticism of Eve which I do not agree with). Another common experience of MMORPG’s is the “really fun” stuff is reserved for the more seasoned players (who are often pushing on the limits of the game world!). Adding to this interesting situation is the idea of guilds (or companies) in eve-speak. any missions in Ev simply cannot be won playing solo - it must be a team effort; this adds to the time sink that eve can become (although this is mitigated by Eve’s single-server solution).

The question is then, can I play Eve for a hour a day, or maybe an hour every 2 days, and still have fun?

My answer is yes. Eve is absolutely playable as a casual game, a few hours a week, and remains a fun, dynamic game. Among the more interesting aspects of Eve’s “casuability” are:

1) The skill system, which moves in real-time; it doesn’t matter if I am logged in or not, my avatar continues to gain in skills and “place” in the game. This is especially important as playing more doesn’t make your skills progress any faster.
2) The PvE game in Eve is rich. There are hundreds of agent missions, where I can login, take a mission, go have fun, and then logoff. The missions are cumulative; the more I do, the more I “stand” in an organization.
3) Eve is a single-sharded game. This means the game isn’t segmented into separate servers. Instead, the game is one giant virtual world; there is always someone on to help, or play with.
4) The storyline is not one. There aren’t epic quests one must complete; Eve is more of a sandbox which is fun to play in - you can really do your own thing (mine, produce stuff, fight, etc...)
5) Moving isn’t slow - jumping from one system to another system is pretty fast, so if I want to meet some friends, I can do so without having to wait for a long time.
6) For me, Eve works brilliantly on OS X, so I can play at home for an hour or so, and still have time for fun, exercise, and life.

There is huge PvP aspect of Eve, but I haven’t played it. My sense is it doesn’t lend itself to casual gaming (since the other people who play PvP seem to play in groups!).

I think Eve is a great game, and is quite enjoyable as a casual experience. When starting Eve for the first time, I suggest setting aside 2 full hours to fully play the tutorial (it’s good, and it is supposed to get better with a new release).

update: sorry for the odd characters, I pasted this in from pages and haven’t quite figured it out yet.

For those of who don’t know, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_online .  Basically, Eve is a massively multiplayer online game (MMORPG). It is thematically a space game - taking place in the far future, allowing for fantastic technologies.

Eve holds the distinction of hosting all players in one virtual universe. This is different than other popular MMORPG’s, where the game is split into shards or different servers. Often times, there can be over 30,000 simultaneous players online at the same time, from all over the world.

A player in Eve chooses a race, and then travels through a richly realized space - trading, fighting, and interacting with players from all over the world.

I have 2 areas I’d like to explore about Eve: the educational potential, and if Eve can be played casually. 

Using my criteria for evaluating games in education let’s look at Eve-Online.

The game has an educationally-accessible context (historical, contemporary, hard science-fiction)

The Eve story: humans left earth many years ago and basically splintered into 4 different factions - factions which are so different after thousands of years that they are unrecognizable to each other.

There really isn’t anything to grab onto here; I would hard pressed to find some thread I could bring from the Eve story to a classroom. However, there are some really interesting things about Eve which are intriguing - but not the context.

Eve is a non-linear, morally ambiguous game. Good guys and bad guys aren’t clear, and there are no clear events which might trigger action by a player. Eve is very much a sandbox for choice - I’ll get to this in a moment.

Game play has genuinely educationally-accessible content

This item demands attention from the teacher guiding the students.  Distances are calculated using standard Au (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit). There is impressive choice tree for play path; be it pirate, merchant. industrialist, explorer, or miner. The skill tree is impressive, and it is extraordinarily difficult to become a master of all skills. Choices are real - that is, different choices make a noticeable difference in game play. The size of the game-world is staggering, and there are multiple, dynamic variables students must juggle in order to be successful. Players simply must work together in order to be successful.

Success depends on intelligent choices and decisions

Eve-Online is not a “twitch” game - success does not depend how quickly you can click on things (although in combat you may need to be a little fast). Success is more defined by the types of choices you make. For example, if you plan on mining, you will want to look at different types of Ores, where they are, and which markets are buying them at the highest prices. You also might want to have good skills in mining - you’ll quickly figure out the faster and more you can mine, the more profit you can make, and the more ships you can buy, etc…

Failure exists and teaches when it happens. It is possible to lose

One of things I love about games is how kids can fail in them and not get depressed and sad about loosing. Failing in Eve is VERY possible, and it is even possible for your avatar to be killed! Fortunately, Eve has instituted:

* High security space, where acts of aggression are very rare.
* Insurance on ships, so if you lose a ship, you can buy a new one.
* Clones, so if your avatar “dies” you can come back to life.
* Good chat channels, so you can learn what you did wrong by simply asking.

The tutorial is crystal clear, and checks for understanding

Yup. The tutorial in Eve-Online is good, walking the player through the GUI and checking for understanding. There is actually quite a bit of helpful instruction. There is a special “tutorial agent” you can activate if you have a question about something.

There are multiple victory conditions


Heh. There are /no/ victory conditions in Eve. This is Eve’s greatest strength and it’s biggest weakness. I don’t see a point in Eve where a player might say “I’m done” except when they are...there is no magic level, or year of completion. Very interesting stuff, actually. Eve can be played in many ways and be a fun game (this is a very difficult thing to do from a game design perspective).

The feedback model is short - students can quickly see how a decision effects a larger whole picture

Well, sort of. Although I have only played Eve for month, I am not aware of a larger plot in which I am involved - the game is purely self-interest for now. This may be due to my playing style, which is casual and occasional.

The game becomes increasingly challenging and difficult

Yes. Eve has two primary modes of play: PvE and PvP (Player versus Environment and Player versus Player). I am a PvE player, and I have found myself increasingly challenged.

The Final Verdict?

There is plenty of educational potential in Eve. However, I don’t think this is a game which would fit well in a traditional classroom - Eve is to big. Students see cause and effect, decision matrices, reputation management, money management, resource planning, and tactical decisions in every aspect of the game.

As I continue to explore Eve, I’ll continue to write about it. When I’m online, feel free to look me up - I’m Boris Enichov (a long time nome de plume for me).

Good article in the New York Times about compulsive Internet use and a special boot camp in South Korea to help kids.

My short response to the article

Relax. Some teenagers go over the deep end and get hooked on internet games and chatting.  Some teenagers drink to much, some teenagers don’t eat enough. Like anything else, teenagers need guidance, boundaries, support, and involved adults in their lives. There is no evidence that playing a computer game makes someone an addict.

But we often hear and read stories about such things happening in the news.

There are some unique characteristics about computers and the internet, though, that may invite teenagers to become hooked.

My slightly longer response to the article

All teenagers deal with some sort of angst as they move from an identity centered on child to an identity centered in adult. In fact, the central struggle in adolescents is one of identity.

I think many teenagers play computer games because in the computer game, teenagers experience success, control, and power. In fact they may not be experiencing these things in real life. Logging onto Eve Online or WoW, a teenager is a powerful presence; they help new players, battle powerful opponents, and see their abilities and stature grow. They may become part of a guild, and work together to solve especially complex puzzles.

But the central issue is one of identity. Games let teenagers explore the very important question: who am I?

And this is what I think is the central hook - this is why computer games are more likely to draw teenagers into them than other mediums - teenagers can pretend to be another person, get away from angst, and troubles, to a virtual place where they are (often literally) a king.

The problem, of course, is when teenagers get stuck in these games. As I mentioned above, teenagers need guidance, boundaries and support - involved adults need to balance care and letting go as teenagers find themselves.