Learning in Immersive Worlds: a review of game based learning

There's a nice 75 page report about game-based learning. You can read the whole thing here (pdf link) or go to the title link to find out more background about it.

The Learning in Immersive Worlds: a review of game based learning report, authored by Sara de Freitas, scopes out the current use of games for learning in UK HE and post-16 education and has been produced to inform practitioners who are considering using games and simulations in their practice.

found via http://libgaming.blogspot.com/

Escapist Magazine - Free Fall: Running with Armadillos

This is a very interesting article about Armadillo Run, a game that uses the laws of physics as the basis for getting an armadillo from point a to point b. You're given materials, a target, and a budget, and then you can come up with whatever way you can to move the armadillo--strap rockets on a sled, or make a rubber net. The article touches on how schools have been using it in classes, even though it wasn't initially designed as an educational game.

Everyone, on some level, knows the laws of physics, and everyone knows what's fun and what isn't. Few, however, can take the two ideas and make a great game out of them.

It reminds me of the work we did looking into a video game that teaches library skills--it's harder than you think it is.