Contemporary Social Studies

Initial information Contemporary Teaching in Social Studies Project - request for initial information

For this project you will work with contemporary web-based resources and related approaches to teaching social studies subject matter that reflect 21st century learning goals. These approaches might include resources such as these

Social studies gaming (e.g. Civilization or Cyber Nations - http://www.cybernations.net)
Digital History (e.g. American Memory ? http://memory.loc.gov)
Web-based geo-spatial presentations of information (e.g. Google Earth)

Your work on this project will take form as action research. I will expect you to study one of these resources, plan for instruction using the resources, implement the activities in your class or a classroom setting, and report/reflect on the teaching and learning experience Your work will be due in stages and will be posted to this blog More information about the project is available in the Wednesday Oct 24 post under the Contemporary Teaching in Social Studies Topic area of this blog.

Please reply with a comment to this post indicating the plan for your teaching including the grade level, date(s), and topic by October 30

( Oct 25 2007, 05:44:51 PM EDT )

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Contemporary Teaching Project Description Contemporary Teaching in Social Studies Project - ECI 525 Signature Activity

For this project you will work with contemporary technology resources and related approaches to teaching social studies subject matter that reflect 21st century learning goals. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org) describes these goals as resting in three skills categories 1) Learning and Innovation Skills; 2) Information, Media and Technology Skills; and 3) Life and Career Skills. This project will involve the investigation of particular instruction materials and their adaptation for use in an authentic 21st century teaching context. This activity includes three parts which are described below.

Part 1 The identification and description of innovative resources Given recent advance in technology, a number of innovative teaching and learning resources for use in social studies have emerged. Identify one resource that is meaningful to you and describe the potential uses of this resources in a specific classroom setting (either your class or the classroom of someone through whom you can gain access). The following are examples of resources you might find as innovative.

Social studies gaming (e.g. Civilization IV or Cyber Nations - http://www.cybernations.net)
Digital History (e.g. American Memory http://memory.loc.gov)
Web-based geo-spatial presentations of information (e.g. Google Earth)

For this activity, you should take into consideration the following

information about the design of the resource,
the technology requirements for using the resource,
the levels at which the resource can be engaged,
the subject matter focus of the resource
the larger context or genre of this resource (e.g. part of a larger set of documents or one of many strategy-based military games, etc.)
the potential uses of this resource in the classroom include the appropriate grade level and adaptations that would have to be made for use in the classroom
the limitations of this resource in the classroom including cost, time to use, play or engage, et

Your work will be completed in two parts

Part 1 The development of instructional materials for using the innovative resource After you have developed a deep understanding of your innovative resource, plan an instructional activity for a specific class that either you teach or a class for which you have access. Your instructional plan should include the following elements.

An overview of the social studies subject matter for your lesson
A sample of specific objectives you hope to achieve through the lesson
21st century skills your lesson will address
A description of the procedures you will use in your lesson
A description of the means by which you will determine if your students have meet the specific objectives and developed the stated 21st century skills.

This section should run 2-3 typed double-spaced pages in length (500 miniumu words)
Due November 6

Part 2 An examination of teaching and learning with the innovative resource Your work on this part of the project will take form as action research and reflection. I will expect you to implement the activities for which you planned in Part 2 of this project. You should collect assessment information on your students' progress as measured given your lesson plan. Report the student grades (if you are grading the activity) or summarize students' work given the objectives and related 21st century skills development. In addition, write a reflection on the anticipated and unanticipated successes and pitfalls of teaching your lesson. What did you learn and what would you do differently? Focus on the subject matter and the methods you implemented in the lesson.

This section should run 3-4 typed double-spaced pages in length (750 minimum words)
Due December 3

Criteria

The identification and description of innovative resources.
The development of instructional materials for using the innovative resource including information about subject matter, objectives, 21st Century Skills, procedures, and assessment
An examination of teaching and learning with the innovative resource in terms of student learning and the teacher?s reflections on their success and limitations

Posted by jklee ( Oct 24 2007, 05:37:38 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Social Studies games - your experiences
Gaming has long been a part of social studies with simulations, role-playing, board games, and other turn-based games playing a central part in many social studies classrooms. Countless teachers have used off the shelf games or even invented games for their students. With the rise of personal computing in the 1980s, games took on a new life in social studies classrooms. Games such as Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego became staples of many social studies classrooms.

Given our first two readings on gaming (below) how do you think games can be incorporated into social studies. Think broadly and take into account you personal experiences as a learner and a teacher. How do you think games can be used effectively in social studies? What are some limitations? What are some games you have played (as a student or teacher) in school social studies and what are some game you have not played but would like to?

The readings for this response are,

1. Paper, S. (1998). "Does easy do it? Children, games and learning." Game developer magazine, June, 1998. Retrieved July 10, 2007, http://www.papert.org/articles/Doeseasydoit.html

2. Gee, J. P. (2005). The Classroom of Popular Culture: What video games can teach us about making students want to learn. Retrieved July 10, 2007, http://www.edletter.org/current/gee.shtml

For more info see

Marsh, C. J. (1981). Simulation Games and the Social Studies Teacher. Theory Into Practice, 20(3), 187-193.

Posted by jklee ( Oct 03 2007, 11:09:38 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [14]

Disaffected!

Game Information

The game I chose to review is called ?Disaffected?. Persuasive Games LLC created the game and suggests that it may be used to discuss labor issues and management. It is free to play and suggests no target age. It is a game that you can download from this website http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/game.aspx?game=disaffected

Game Structure and Teaching

The purpose of this game is to show issues related to labor and management issues within businesses. It also has an underlying context of suggesting that monotonous work could lead to ignorance and inefficiency. Curricular based goals and objectives could be derived from U.S. History in Goal 5 and Goal 11. Both of these goals deal with industry, labor unions, movements, and other issues relating to the impact industry and manufacturing has had on social, economic, and political relationships.
An indirect educational aim that this game entails is the empathy that is gained for the employees of these stores. It shows how difficult it might be to run a business with low staff and impatient people. It might encourage students to be more patient and understanding at consumer stores.
Instructional uses of this game could include using it to analyze relationships between employees and bosses, and talk about the impact this has on business success. You might also be able to talk about the importance of customer satisfaction in business success. This game seems to be geared more toward high school and post-secondary education.
This game does achieve some of the 21st learning skills such as communication and problem solving. Both of these skills are needed to keep the customer happy and make the simulated business successful. I think also that this game aims to suggest a new way to look at business operations and take a critical eye at the problems that employees face in big business. It also suggests that some problems are not addressed by companies and employees are forced to work in those conditions.

Game Play

The game starts off with choosing a level of difficulty. Next, you are given instructions on how to use the keyboard to move your ?employee?. You see a simulated store front (FedEx/Kinkos) and my game started out with two employees. The computer automatically issues problems that employees often encounter, such as too many customers at one time, boredom, and fatigue. This makes it difficult to make the customer happy. The game can be played with one or two players at one time. The objective of the game is to service the customer and get them their product as soon as possible. The computer automatically makes the customer leave if they are unsatisfied, so there is a time constraint. The game proceeds in levels, you must master the first level to proceed to the next. The game ends on the last level of game play, when you have satisfied all customers appropriately.

Game Critique

The limitations of the game include only focusing on the relationship aspect of the business situation. I think it could be better served if they talked more about the economic side of how the business runs. They did a fairly good job in indicating what things might help or hinder a business?s success. The non-monetary costs are low, depending on how well you play the game. If you are not that good, it might take you much longer to succeed. The cultural context of this game is very contemporary and includes only white employees, but several ethnic customers. It is obviously presented in an industrialized town/city with younger employees and older customers, perhaps sending a message about what kind of people work where. Finally, the downsides of this game could be that it doesn?t do well enough to address the economic side, and also it seems to ?put-down? service workers in retail by suggesting that they sometimes cannot do their job appropriately.

Posted by amlong3 ( Oct 01 2007, 07:03:13 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Sim City Classic Game Review #3 Sim City Classic ? Ron Jones No one has done it yet, so what the heck! Game Information: Name: Sim City Classic Company: EA Games Educational use: simplified civil engineering, development of cities Target Age: seems to be young adolescents Platform: PC Address: http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php This game is an oldie. It looks very DOS, but it contains the basics for play. Later versions, which must be purchased and updated, are state of the art. SimCityscape is 3-D and looks really modern. Game Structure and teaching: The purpose of this game is to teach about the growth of cities from villages to towns, concentrating on economic management, rather than political development. The direct curricular aim is not easy to see. This game could align with US History or with Civics & Economics, although the age range seems to be middle school. Perhaps a magnet elective like Odyssey of the Mind would be a good fit. An indirect aim could be to have the learner make decisions concerning development, and allocation of resources. Instructional uses could be the development of cities during the late Industrial revolution, growth of cities in response to industrialization of the late 1800 to late 1900?s. I think that this game could fort the 21st Century initiative in that it familiarizes the learner with the development of societies in a technological format Game play: The object is to design a city from a bare landscape. There are forests, lakes and rivers, and the city must fit within the confines of the land. (Geography still rules!). The first step is to build a power plant, lay out residential, commercial, and industrial districts, connect them with power transmission lines and roads. The game proceeds through time increasing month by month, from the year 1900. At various times neighborhoods are built, commercial and industrial zones are developed and then abandoned. There are even natural disasters, floods, fires, tornadoes and earthquakes, programmed in that effect the developed areas. All the while the infrastructure must be adjusted, adding newer zones, building roads and power lines. The game tracks population, satisfaction levels with the city and revenues from the tax base. There are budget adjustments that can be made with spending on infrastructure and with the tax rates. Game Critique: In playing this game I found that it was possible to set up the town and watch it grow, adding development zones and spending the budget as needed, all while doing something else. This lack of rapid change is a drawback, as it could be boring to some students. On a libertarian vein, I found that adjusting the tax rate downward did not have the effect of stimulating growth nor, because of growth, stimulate revenue. This leads me to suppose that the game was designed by people who disregard the Laffer Curve?s proven benefits. Posted by rejones ( Oct 01 2007, 03:23:13 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Climate Change Game Name- Climate Challenge Company- BBC Stated educational use- Global Climate Change Target age for use- Middle and High School Cost- Free Platform- web-based Game structure and teaching- The goal of this game is to provide students with the knowledge to make a decision on the issue of global climate change. This is a subject that is currently being debated in the political arena. Some direct curricular-related educational aims could include- understanding the subject of climate change, learn how to examine the research and science of global climate change, and evaluate possible solutions for this issue. I think that this game should be used in a civics and economics course or a geography course. Students would learn how human activity not only has an impact on the environment of their country, but it could impact the entire global community. Some informal learning activities could be presented by allowing students to have the opportunity to debate each other, after this activity. In my opinion, this would allow students to voice their opinions and support them with evidence from their research. The 21st century teaching and learning aims that would be covered by this game would include- information and communication skills, thinking and problem-solving skills, and creativity and intellectual curiosity. Game Play- This game is easy to assess, you can go to the BBC website and play the game. First, you will select a player. Your goal is to lower carbon dioxide emissions, since you are president of a European nation. There are five areas which are; national, trade, industry, local, and household. Under the national section, the player can introduce a new fuel tax, privatize electricity, and plant small forests. Next, you can examine the trade section. According to this area, you can send foreign aid. The industry area has the following options- subsidize aviation, switch from coal to gas, and promote industrial energy efficiency. The local section allows the player to improve building regulations, build more roads, invest in water infrastructure, promote cooperative wind farms, and build affordable housing. And the household section allows the player to promote recycling. Each of the subsections provides the player with the positive and negative public opinion on these issues. So, this game challenges the players? decision making skills as well. Game Critique- This game really does not teach students about the subject of global climate change. Instead, it should be used as a tool that would reinforce a lecture of a video on the subject. I think that this game is perfect for a geography course, due to the global impact of climate change. The game is free, so you would not have to worry about purchasing the software. Also, you could implement this game in a computer lab, since students could access this via the Internet. Posted by ltwhites ( Oct 01 2007, 02:32:55 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Sims by Rachel Palmer Game Information: I observed a male playing The Online Sims game. Electronic Arts is the creator of this program. The company is one of the largest developers with over $3 billion in sales in 2007. I was able to download a trial version of this game. To purchase the game there is a $9.95 monthly charge. Game structure and teaching: The objective of the game is to create a virtual identity and survive in a virtual world. There were not any clear educational uses stated. Upper middle school and high school students could play this game fairly easily. The player does learn to make economic choices in this game. I could see this game used in a high school accounting class. Game Play: In The Sims players don?t die. You could play the game forever. The objective of the game is to create and sustain a ?Sim?, or virtual person. The player had a week to use the trail version of the game. During that week the player was able to create one Sim, purchase a property, find a job, and create two friendships. The player had to maintain levels of certain functions for the Sim such as fun and hunger. Critique: The reason I chose to observe a man playing this game, is because this is considered a female game. This particular player seemed more interested in set up a home and getting a job than in meeting other players. When the player was approached by another player, he was not interested in creating a relationship. Instead the player wanted to gain information from the other player. Posted by rkpalmer ( Oct 01 2007, 10:05:01 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Stop Disasters Game Review Stop Disasters is a simulation based game created by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the Playerthree Company. This game is available online for free, but requires the use of the most to date version of Flash Player 7 or higher. It is a single player game where the goal is to try to prevent many natural disasters include earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes and wildfires that effect different areas around the world. Each of these five scenarios take approximately 20 minutes to play, and the games can be played on easy, medium, and hard difficulty levels. The game was designed for the interest of children between the ages of 9-16, but it is suitable for all ages because of the educational content. There is no distinct end of the game so it can be played indefinitely, but the end could be considered when each of the five scenarios has been successfully completed on each of the three difficulty levels. One of the unique characteristics of Stop Disasters is since it is on online based game the web site will save your best scores, and it allows you to play against people all over the world. Stop Disasters has a lot of educational value that it can offer to anyone who plays the game. The basic goal of the game is to protect the area from the natural disaster. This can be done by providing the locals with evacuation instructions, education, shelter, hospitals, and certain defenses against the storm. This has to be done while operating within the $35,000 budget. In the game you not only have to protect the area from the storm, but to also develop the area to meet the basic needs of the locals. In the online game I played I had to protect South East Asia from a tsunami. The objectives were to build 2 schools, 3 hotels and a hospital while still providing defense mechanisms. When you make a good move the computer prompts you with key facts which give you tips as you progress within the 15 minutes before the storm began. During the game you are in charge of providing the area with as much protection as you can provide. This includes developing the area with houses made of sticks, concrete, wood, and bricks while still reaching the games objectives. Therefore, the ability to learn how to budget is the key point of the game. I believe that this game would be very beneficial for an economics, science, or a social studies lesson that deals with natural disasters. It really provides a lot of insight on to the natural disaster that are prone to certain areas, and the defenses that can be used in order to help prevent as much damage as possible. These defenses include upgrading the existing facilities such as the community center, placing seismic sensors in the ocean, filling the water with mangrove bushes and breakwaters. Then on land you can build sand dunes and palm trees on the beach while putting trees inland. It is really geographically correct because you can only put certain types of vegetation in certain areas. Both developing and defenses options are allotted a dollar amount, and come out of that $35,000 beginning budget. Therefore, this game really provides a lot of importance on budgeting by determining which action is most appropriate for your budget. This game is great to meet the 21st century skills of critical thinking and problem solving in order to help students become more interested in the business community. As I played the game I realized that this would be an appropriate game to play with a class of economics, science, or social studies students. Since it was developed by the ISDR the game is educationally based, but I believe that it would be appropriate for the classroom. The game is not too difficult to play, but it is rather difficult to learn how to successful play each level. At the end of each of the scenarios it provides you with a detail about the amount the damages of the storm. These facts are presented as if the media is reporting on the storm because it looks like it is the cover of the news paper. It provides the amount of the storms damages, the total number of deaths, the amount injured, and then how successful you were based on a monetary amount. Then it determines if you failed or passes your mission in order to move to the next scenario. This was a very fun and challenging game to play especially because you can determine which difficulty level you would like to play. I don?t believe that students would have a lot of difficulty learning how to play the game, but it can become very frustrating putting that much time into the game to only realize you failed your mission. Therefore, I believe that I would recommend this game for any middle or high school economics, science or social studies classroom. It really does a good job providing information on geography, natural disasters, budgeting, and many other facts that can be used for educational purposes. This is a real user friendly game because it gives a lot of key facts and is very simple format that makes the game easy to understand. Therefore, I believe that Stop Disasters is a game that can provide a lot of educational value to many different classrooms. Posted by klmaxwe2 ( Oct 01 2007, 07:46:15 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Discover Babylon General Information: Discover Babylon was developed as a joint effort by the Federation of American Scientists, Cuniform Digital Libratry Initiative, Walters Art Museum and Escape Hatch Entertainment for the Learning Technologies Project. It is available as a free download at www.supersmartgames.org or the Discover Babylon website at www.discoverbabylon.org/index.asp. The game's stated purpose is to expose players to "Mesopotamia's diverse contributions in writing, mathematics, literature, and law...". Discover Babylon is targeted at 8 -14 year olds and is only available for Windows operating systems. Game Structure: The game operates in a scavanger hunt format in which the player must navigate through time, accomplish tasks along the way and find a missing archaeologist. Throughout the journey, players accumulate points for information uncovered while on their quest to visit Mesopotamia's key cities - Ur, Uruk, Babylon, Nippur, and Nimrud. The game does address several of the objectives of the NC Standard Course of Study for World History. Discover Babylon is appropriate for middle school through high school students and even adults who desire to learn more about Mesopotamia. The game does meet the requirements for 21st Century Skills by requiring players to solve problems such as bartering for food and understanding of geography. Game Play: The game begins with the broadcast of an earthquake in Baltimore which was created by a time shift attributed to an archeaologist who has time traveled to the past. The player begins his quest in a museum. He must navigate his way through the museum to find hidden items that make time travel possible. Once these items have been found, the player time travels to Babylon and assumes the identity of a 12 year old boy. There he learns what life was like from schooling to aquiring food in the city market. After each phase of the time travel is complete, the player leaps through time again to a different city, assumes another identity(such as a 13 year old fisherman) and continues his quest to find Professor Dax in order to bring him back to the present. On each leg of the journey, the player can choose to explore his envirionment further or continue his search for Professor Dax. The game concludes when the Professor has been found. Additionaly, the amount of points the player earns is dependent upon how much information he gathers/learns during the various phases of time jumping from city to city. Game Critique: Discover Babylon is a resource that all social studies teachers can implement in their classrooms. Cost is not a concern since it is free. The game can be downloaded by students for play on their home computers as well. Discover Babylon is fantastic way to introduce students to ancient civilizations. Students will learn and understand more about Mesopotamia from this game then they ever could from reading a texbook or watching videos. The one drawback of the game is the amount of time required to download (approximately an hour). If a teacher is planning to utilize the game in her classroom, the download needs to be completed prior to the day of intended use. The next time I am scheduled to teach a World History Course, I will definately include this game in my unit/lesson plans. Posted by japrober ( Oct 01 2007, 12:44:18 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Peace Doves Game Name: Peace Doves Company: nobelprize.org; sponsored by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (largest financiers of research in Sweden) Stated Educational Uses: The game teaches children about the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970 and the countries who possess nuclear weapons. Target age for use: 15+ Cost: Free online game Platform: web based The purpose of Peace Doves is both educational and political. The game is educational in that students will learn more about the countries that possess nuclear weapons. Peace Doves gives the player key information about each country like how many nuclear weapons they have, rankings in comparison to other countries in number of weapons possessed, historical conflicts, and whether or not they are legally allowed to own nuclear weapons by the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970. The game is political in the sense that the dialogue between the doves makes the policy suggestion of halting and disarming the growth of nuclear weapons in the world. In regards to the NC Standard Course of Study, 9th graders are learning about world history and this game could be supplemented to fit into this curriculum. Ninth graders must understand and know the current state of world affairs and through this game; a student would know where each country stands in regards to nuclear weapons possession. I found the game was helpful in highlighting each country that owned a nuclear weapon and where that state was geographically located. Possible instructional value of the game would be to either test a student?s knowledge of geography and history in regards to nuclear weapons or an evaluation of what students learned during a lesson on world nuclear proliferation. This game is a test of base knowledge on current world affairs. This game allows for students to think about nuclear disarmament as an important political issue for world actors. Peace Doves, taking fifteen minutes to play is an easy and interesting game. Remembering which countries possess nuclear weapons and how many they have in comparison to one another could be hard for students to recall. This game highlights geography and further information for all the countries that possess the weapons. Peace Doves starts by calling into action eight doves to disarm countries that own nuclear weapons. A player is given at the bottom of the screen three boxes in which to pay attention to information. The first box is labeled Message on the Ring which dispatches information about the mystery nuclear armed country. A player then must make the judgment on which country the message is pertaining to. The second box is called Pick a Destination where a map of the world is displayed. When the cursor is moved over the countries of the world the countries that have nuclear weapons are highlighted. It is then up to the player to select the country that corresponds with the information given in the message. The last box labeled Activate a Peace Dove sends one out of the eight doves to the country chosen. The mission will be complete if the information is correct and failed if the information is incorrect. With a one player option, the game ends with a summary of the countries that were disarmed or still armed. I only failed to disarm France?s 500 nuclear weapons. At first I believed the game to be too simple for fifteen year olds but by playing I learned about the number of weapons, rankings, history, and geography of each nuclear armed country. The content of the game is definitely important given the current state of world affairs. Teachers could then introduce the potential emergence of Iran into this mix of nuclear weapon owning countries. I believe that this game would be a great way to supplement this discussion. The interactive map was a useful tool during the game. Content that might be surprising for students is that Turkey, Cuba, South Africa, Israel, and Pakistan all possess nuclear weapons and that Russia owns more weapons than the United States. Although teachers could just tell students this information, the facts presented by the game were much more engaging and visually stimulating. A student could potentially recall the information easier if they remember playing Peace Doves by visualizing the map or failing to disarm a certain country. Posted by rsbumgar ( Sep 30 2007, 10:42:07 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Jamestown Online Adventure Game Review Game Information: Jamestown Online Adventure is a free web-based game. The game takes place in the year 1606 and you are the captain of the Jamestown Colony. Your job is to set up the first permanent English colony in the New World. Jamestown Online Adventure is ideal for a U.S. History lesson, taught in fourth, or eighth grades. Bob Dunn is both the creator and flash programmer of Jamestown Online Adventure. Historyglobe.com brings you the game free of charge. Jamestown Online Adventure does require a Flash 7 or higher. Game Play: Jamestown Online Adventure makes you the captain of a new English colony. You are given a copy of the London Company?s instructions to help guide you. Your job is to maintain a successful colony based on four things: food, health, morale and wealth. Fellow colonists as well as Native Americans are there to help you. The format is question-based. You are asked a series of questions about where you want the ship to land, how to interact with the Native Americans, what type of town to build, who will work, what crops to plant, and what activities should gentlemen participate in. At the end of the game, you are given a report on the state of your colony based on how well you are producing food, how healthy your colonists are (ie. Are disease and starvation present), how much money you are making for the London Company, and how good of a leader you are to your colony. You even get to compare your colony to the actual Jamestown colony at the end. Only one person can play this game at a time. The game ends when you have answered all the questions. There are a total of six questions. In a recent game, I chose my colony to be set up in a marshy area. I built a village, instead of a wooden fort or castle. I had my men fishing and hunting, instead of searching for gold. All men worked. I planted tobacco, wheat, and corn. In the end, my score report stated that I had good food sources, poor health, good wealth, and a fair morale. My colonists were not too happy with my decision to trade with the Indians, and to make all men work. Game Structure and Teaching: Jamestown Online Adventure is an educational U.S. history game. This game would be ideal for a fourth or eighth grade social studies classroom. While it does not deal directly to North Carolina, it does describe the settlement of an English colony. The game is very short, perfect for an introductory lesson into the colonies. Specifically, the eighth grade NCSCoS refers to the roles and contributions of Native Americans on colonies. Jamestown Online Adventure directly refers to Native Americans in some questions. You also have the opportunity to ask for a Native American?s advice with what type of structures to build and what crops to plant. Indirectly, this game gives students the opportunity to see what it was like to live back then when there was little settlement. The game illustrates the notion that the luxuries we have today were not available. The colonists truly had to live off the land. Jamestown Online Adventure does incorporate some of the 21st learning skills. However, the critical thinking one must utilize in this game is far less than in other games I have reviewed. The player must answer questions about his colony. However, the possible answers are already given. You do not get to see the direct impact your answer has on the colony until the very end of the game. Thus, the player is not forced to react to a positive or negative decision. Critique: Jamestown Online Adventure is truly an educational game. It takes only five to ten minutes to complete. It would serve as a perfect introduction to the English colonies. I think the game would really engage students and get them to thinking about what life was like when the English were settling in the U.S. This game could only be used efficiently in a North Carolina or U.S. History course when students are studying Native Americans and the New World. Honestly, I was a little disappointed with this game. I thought there would be more action, and I would actually get to see the impact my decisions had on my colony. There is no room for creativity as you are already given a choice of answers to the questions. On the upside, Jamestown Online Adventure does an excellent job of imitating life in the early 1600s. The sound effects and graphics are well done. The game also illustrates that life in the early 1600s was extremely hard. A colonist had to work very hard just to stay alive. Posted by slcarte2 ( Sep 30 2007, 08:07:33 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [4]

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Review The Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a ?real-time strategy computer game? developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game is a software-based game, but I played a free trial version available at www.microsoft.com/games/pc/age2gold.aspx. The game is rated T for teen, so the target age is about 13 years of age and up. In this game, the player controls a society and helps this society develop through four ages (Dark Ages, Feudal Age, Castle Age, and the Renaissance). The game begins in the Dark Ages. The player controls a village with one building and four villagers. The player assigns the villagers tasks such as cutting wood, gathering food, or mining for gold. When the community obtains a certain amount of food and houses, the player can create more villagers. These new citizens are then assigned tasks to contribute to the development of the village. Later, villagers can be trained as militia and barracks and advanced weapons can be developed. The village can be randomly attacked by outside forces, or the game player can choose to attack other communities. The game also has five campaigns to play, all of which reflect an event in history. These campaigns allow the player to start with a range of existing resources (food, gold, wood, stone) already in place, which is nice because building a nation from scratch is a tedious and time consuming process. The five campaigns are William Wallace (a tutorial campaign), Joan of Arc, Saladin, Genghis Kahn, and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa I. The purpose of this game is entertainment, but it can be used to teach individuals the factors that lead to the development of civilizations: resources, trade, alliances, agriculture, weapons, etc. Also, players learn the history surrounding the characters in the five campaigns - Joan of Arc, Saladin, Genghis Kahn, etc. The game connects with several NC Standard Course of Study competency goals such as: evaluating the ways people make decisions about the allocation and use of economic resources; assessing the influence and contributions of individuals and cultural groups; examining the development and use of tools and technologies and assess their influence on the human ability to use, modify, or adapt to their environment; and identifying the main commodities of trade for the different regions. This game also achieves some of the 21st century learning aims, such as Emphasize Core Subjects (ancient civilizations and their beliefs) and the Teach and Learn 21st Century Content (economic literacy). The trial version only allowed me to play the William Wallace campaign or a randomly assigned non-campaign game. I played the William Wallace campaign to learn the basics of the game (it is the tutorial campaign). Game play took several hours. In essence, all I did was gather resources, construct buildings, train militia, and explore the surrounding landscape. I was attacked several times by English troops, but successfully defeated them. Eventually, I developed my community enough to advance from the Dark Age to the Feudal Age. I am not sure how the game ends. I assume it ends when the player successfully completes all the campaigns. This game can be used for middle and high school students. If I used this game as part of a lesson, I would have students play it at home (maybe a particular campaign) and then discuss game play in class. This game takes some time to play so I?m not sure if the time invested playing it during class would be a worthwhile investment. This game does have some positive aspects though. The game gets players to think about factors that contribute to the development of a society. Throughout the game, you are constantly making sure your characters have enough food, money, and resources in order to continue play. Also, students learn historical facts about the central campaign characters and the lives they led. Posted by tsrhue ( Sep 30 2007, 07:31:08 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

virtual village Virtual Village is a downloadable real-time simulation game for Windows. It was developed by a company called Last Day of Work. The game can be played by all age-levels. It was developed more for the primary grades, but middle school students can benefit from the game as well. The player has to care and nurture a tribe of people by teaching them survival skills. The player teaches and trains the villagers to research scientific advancements and how to repopulate a strong village. The object of the game is to develop a thriving village. You start with untrained villagers. The player is in control of developing the villagers into farmers, builders, researchers, and parents. The game includes a tutorial guide, which provides advice on how to make wise decisions. After you choose the skills and placement of each villager, they are left alone to independently perform their tasks. Each time you play you?ll witness the fruits of labor. You can give the villagers directions and check up on their progress in restructuring the village. The strategy comes from the decision in how many villagers you assign to tasks and how you choose to advance their skills. The player also has to decide on how to effectively spend money. You can spend money on food, technology, tools, etc. The player obtains tech points, which can be used to upgrade the populations building skills, and farming abilities. The player must manage which abilities should get upgraded first and how to develop those skills. Throughout the game, the player is faced with puzzles to solve, which help you to accumulate tech points. I found Virtual Village to be interesting because it provides the player with a balance of playing a fun game that involves strategy and critical thinking. The game includes many educational purposes. The player needs to make critical decisions based on the survival of other people. The player has to manage a diverse group of people and consider their strengths and weaknesses when allocating tasks. The dynamics of the game, allow the player to gain an emotional attachment to the villagers because the player is made to wonder how their villagers are doing. This game provides content that is related to the third grade social studies curriculum. One of the objectives is for students to investigate the roles of families, work places, and communities. Students are also required to observe how community?s change over a period of time, which is a skill involved in the game. Some drawbacks of the game include, the progression of how the game is played, In the beginning, the player is making numerous decisions to make sure that the villagers are doing their job to keep the village thriving. After you have reached a certain point in the game, it?s safe to leave the people alone for days at a time. In order, to see the progression of the village, you have to play numerous times, which could potentially be a drawback if being used in a classroom. Posted by crcantel ( Sep 30 2007, 07:01:35 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Scribble States SCRIBBLE STATES Scribble States is a game that revolves around the geography of the United States. There are three versions of the game. In one, the player must draw and then recognize one of the fifty states, in another draw and be able to name the capital of the state, and in the third draw and know the state nickname. Players can choose to answer 10, 20 or 30 questions per quiz. The cost of the game is free, and is available online at www.addictinggames.com/scribblestates.html GAME PLAY: The player has a ?pencil? that is controlled by the mouse. Using the pencil, the player must connect a series of dots that will recreate one of the fifty states. At the bottom of the page, a grade for the drawing is given; as the drawing progresses, the point value goes down according to how many mistakes and/or misdrawn lines are made. Once the drawing is completed, a multiple choice question appears asking the player to identify the state that was just drawn. Again using the pencil, the player must bubble in the answer. Points are deducted from the quiz part of the player?s score based on the amount of time it took the player to choose the correct answer from the given list. At the end of the game the player is given an overall grade average for all of the drawings and quiz answers. STRUCTURE AND TEACHING: Purpose: educational. Possible instructional uses: enrichment activity/independent study activity to help with memorization of US geography. The game also provides practice using a computer mouse to create the drawings, which promotes motor skill use and development. CRITIQUE The game can be played quickly if the player recognizes all of the states he/she has just drawn. That may depend on how adept the person is at using the mouse to follow the dot-to-to pattern to make the drawing clear enough to recognize the state. When I played I could not figure out what a perfect drawing would look like. I tried going very slow and drawing precisely, but the grade I received for those drawings was not more than a point or two different from the ones where I drew rather quickly and the state outline looked a bit messy. I also had difficulty figuring out how fast was fast enough to answer the question to get a score higher than the low 90s. The timer apparently started the second the question flashed on the screen, and the value declined quickly. Even on the states I recognized immediately I never got a score higher than a 94. Either I took too long to answer the question, or I took to long to bubble in the answer so the computer could read it. At the end of my game, my average drawing scores were 84 and the question score average was 93. Even though I did not miss any question, my overall grade was only a B. The game might best be used as a refresher for a geography unit for elementary school students, or as time filler for middle school students. Posted by emartin2 ( Sep 30 2007, 04:01:29 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Activism: The Public Policy Game Activism: The Public Policy Game Game Review Activisim: The Public Policy Game is a web-based game created by Persuasion Games. It can be accessed for free at http://activismgame.com. This game was commissioned by the 2004 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The aim of this game is not in the realm of academic education but in political education. It has no curriculum based used but can be used with upper middle and high school students who are learning about government and political issues. A person playing Activism first enters their location, age range, and gender. This is used to compare to other games played in your area, in your age range, or by your gender. The player then creates a virtual activism plan that prioritizes the public policy issues most important to them by allocating different numbers of activist to each area. There are total of 10,000 activists to be dispersed. They player could also chose to load another player?s plan sorted by location, age, and gender. There are six issues the game discusses are economy (includes tax reform, healthcare, and college tuition relief), education, corporate policy (revives the economy by sending corporate tax dollars to the treasury), security, military, and internationalism (improving relationships between the U.S. and the international community). While the player is allowed to set their own priorities they are not allowed to ignore any of the six public policy issues. Each of the 6 issues has its own ?mini game? and all six appear on the screen at once. The player must play all six games simultaneously and keep the issues balanced. Each mini game has a gauge that indicates how well the player is performing in that area, color coded in green (good), yellow (okay), red (failure). If any of the six mini become red the game is over. There are also three ?Quality of Life Indicators? which are a light bulb, the dollar sign, and a peace symbol. These signs effect how difficult it is to manage other issues. In order to win the game the player must bring all six of the gauges in the green level. I have played this game a number of times and have never been able to get more than two public policy issues into the green area. The game starts as soon as you press play and you must prioritize your areas while playing the 6 mini games. You can change your priorities as you play but that distracts you from the mini games. This purpose of this game is educational and political. The object is to help John Kerry and Congress work together. This game would fit in the high school level United States history with the formation of political parties, AP United States Government and Politics. This game would demonstrate to the students how difficult it is to balance all different aspects of government simultaneously and would help them determine what their own personal opinions regarding public policy are. It also may open some of their eyes to the issues faced by Congress that they were never aware of. Critique: Activism is very busy and complicated because there are so many things going on at once. It takes a great deal of time to play as it does take quite a few minutes for anyone of the issues to fall into the red area and it takes a good deal of time to get an issue to go into the green area. Also, because this game was made for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee it is biased. However, this bias can be used to discuss differences in the parties as the GOP also has a political game online called Take Back Illinois. Posted by akhager ( Sep 29 2007, 02:21:10 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Political Machine Game Review Game Information: The game I chose to review for our third game review is called The Political Machine. While the game does cost money in order to play, I viewed a demo of it found here: http://www.politicalmachine.com/game.aspx. While the game does not specify an age group it is intended for, the student needs to have a firm understanding of U.S. politics and government. Therefore, the game is best suited for students at the secondary level learning about civics and economics. Game Play: The Political Machine allows players to choose between four different types of the game, including ?quick game? that is based on real world issues, or ?fantasy? game where the issues and state values are randomized. The player may also choose to play ?campaign mode? where he/she goes through different levels and in the end will face the top political candidates of all time. In the multi-player version of the game, players compete online against one another. In all versions of the game the player is a campaign manager for a United States presidential candidate. Players are allowed to create their own candidates (represented via avatar) or use real previous Presidential candidates such as Bill Clinton, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. The player must travel around the country in order to campaign and win voter support for his/her candidate. Some of the issues the player is faced with include the economy, policy decisions, and the War on Terror. Players are required to buy ads, make speeches, and go on T.V. as well as do other things in order to campaign for their candidate. If these activities make the candidate low on money the player must launch a fund raising event to help raise more money. Before the player goes to each state to campaign, they may view the top five issues that are most important to the people of that state as well as the political orientation breakdown (Republican, Democrat, and Independent). The players are confronted with scandals, ?smear merchants, spin doctors,? and other crises throughout the game. The main goal of the game is for the candidate to achieve 270 electoral votes for his/her candidate on Election Day. Structure and Teaching: The purpose of this game is to expose students to the processes that go on in campaigning for an election. The game helps the students grasp all the different things campaign managers and candidates must do in order to run for President. If the player chooses to play the ?quick game? that represents the actual political orientation and important issues to each state, the player will learn about real state political issues. The player is also forced to think about the issues that are important to him/herself. Many times secondary level students are unsure as to what kind of issues they are passionate about, and I believe this game is a great way to expose some of those issues and hopefully be a chance for political self exploration. The game hits directly on the issues of 21st century content because it encompasses issues that deal with global awareness, finance, economics, business, as well civic issues. This game would be great for a U.S. government or civics course. Critique: This game exposes students to the issues and realities campaign managers and candidates must face when running for election. The game allows students to engage in active learning and problem solving skills. Players must plan out and gear their speeches and ideas to the individuals or groups of people they need the vote from in each state. The ultimate goal of the game is to become President but in order to do that the player must realize and understand how to achieve votes in order to do this. So for example, if the player is representing a Democrat and is visiting South Carolina and looks to see prayer in school is a major issue there, they may think about focusing on that issue. However, the player must realize that many Democrats in South Carolina may not agree with prayer in school, and if the candidate focuses on that issue, he/she may upset the Democratic base in that state. There are costs associated with the game. The monetary cost of the game is anywhere between 20-60 dollars (depending on the vendor). Although I was not able to play the game, it will require a lot of time to complete. The game would require much classroom time if started from the very beginning. I believe Locke (who presented this game in the class) said when he used it in his student teaching he brought in a version that he previously started. This being said, I do believe the game would be very beneficial in the classroom. The graphics and pictures used are very aesthetically pleasing and there is a sense of humor brought to the game with spin offs of real television shows. However, the game does not expose the student/player to anything that happens before the Presidential election (i.e. primaries, financial issues with campaigning, etc). Posted by jlsmit13 ( Sep 29 2007, 01:42:02 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Dafur is Dying Game Name- Darfur is Dying Company that makes the game- MTV Stated educational uses- Target age for use- 11th and 12th Graders Cost- Free Platform- web-based http://www.darfurisdying.com/ Game Structure and teaching- The purpose of this game is to bring about awareness to the genocide that is taking place in Darfur. In addition to the game, it has links to humanitarian and human rights? organizations websites. This game would be ideal for a current events course, sociology, geography, or a modern African studies course. The indirect educational aims are those that would allow the students to obtain knowledge about other nations and the United Nations. This game could let students brainstorm solutions to this issue. If they were President of the U.S. how would they go about solving this horrific event? Would they use other African nations, or the U.N.? With these educational aims, I would use this game for eleventh and twelfth graders. In my opinion, they would be able to comprehend this issue and would have the best solutions for such a mature topic. If you students play this game, they could go out and discuss this issue with other students, family members, and members in the community. The class discussion on this topic has the possibilities of go beyond the community. In my opinion, this game achieves the following 21st century teaching and learning aims- Communication skills Critical thinking and systems thinking, Problem identification, Formulation, and solution, Creativity and intellectual curiosity, Interpersonal and collaborative skills. Game Play- The game begins with the player having to make a difficult decision as to who in the family will forage for water. Each person brings a different dynamic to the game. Most of the people will get captured and detained in the camp. It is up to the player to assist their individual in surviving through the camp. You have to run through the desert, in order to find water for the camp. You have to hide from the militia as they comb through the desert. I was unable to make it to the end of the game. So, I would recommend this game for sociology, international politics, geography, and current events courses. Game Critique- I think that this game really does not address a lot of the objectives in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Instead, it will allow students to gain a better understanding of how world events, such as the genocide will have on other nations. I allotted thirty minutes for this game, and I was unable to finish it, so that is somewhat of a deterrent for using it in a classroom. The potential downsides of the game would include the time allotted for the game and being a one-player game could pose an issue. For instance, if the computer lab in your school were not available, then students would not have the opportunity to play the game. During my student teaching experience, I encountered how the digital divide could pose a problem for Internet homework assignments, so I am very conscious of this issue when I planned my units. Posted by ltwhites ( Sep 24 2007, 02:11:56 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Stop Disasters Game Review Game Review 2 Game Information: ? Name : Stop Disasters ? Source of Game: International Strategy for Disaster Reduction ? Educational Uses: Stop Disasters, a game that targets 9-16 year olds educates players on how to best deal and prepare for disasters. A player must create a safe environment in order to protect their population from hazards caused by the disaster. ? Cost: Free online game ? Platform: Web-based Game Structure and Teaching: The purpose of this game was educational. A player had to build a base understanding of geography, economics, construction, and risk assessment. A class for example could use this game as a part of learning in middle or high school about natural disasters in America?s history like Hurricane Katrina, San Francisco earthquakes, and the Chicago fires. Students would then understand the importance of building infrastructure and defenses in hazardous environments. A player must continually assess the situation by making sure all of the people and buildings are protected. Students must critically think about where their resources would best be allocated under a certain budget. Game Play: The game unfolds by beginning with the choosing between five different scenarios which consisted of tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, flood, and wild fire. Each scenario then lists where each disaster is located and the nature of the terrain. For example, I chose for the first round the tsunami disaster which was located in Southeast Asia whose terrain was a coastal village. A player then chooses the degree of difficulty based on the map size. A mission introduction begins the game by telling a player what their stated objectives are in order to minimize the damages to the small fishing village. The challenge was to accommodate 320 people, build a hospital and a school and add two hotels to increase tourism in the area. A player is given a budget of $50,000 and 20 minutes to work with before the tsunami hits. During my game play, for my defenses, I built mainly natural barriers such as sand dunes, trees, and mangroves and provided a warning system. I succeed in the game?s objectives by putting into place a hotel, community center, school, and hospital. The hospital was destroyed during the tsunami so on my next game play I would strategically place the hospital further away and surround it with more defenses. The game rates a player at the end by producing a newspaper article about the job the player had done during the crisis and then a report of how many people had died and what buildings were destroyed, ultimately a statement of objectives completed or failed. Game Critique: The limitations to the game are that students could be more interested in building defenses and not concentrating on the outcomes of their decisions. Knowing where each defense should be placed was difficult although there were prompts during the game telling a player the advantages and disadvantages of using each defense. Each scenario is played within a time span of twenty minutes and thus there are no real non-monetary costs associated with the game. The game sends a positive message of the importance of communities to invest in disaster prevention. During game play, I turned down a complaint by a tourist wanting to build a hotel on the edge of the water. People should take more precautions in building in disaster prone areas although a hotel on the water would make more money and draw in more tourists, there has to be a point where safety is a priority. The potential downsides of this game are that students might not be able to relate disaster prevention and assessment. What practical knowledge would they be taking away from the game? Social concerns like caring for the poor, sick, and old during the disaster were ignored and there were also no contingency plans if a certain defense failed. Posted by rsbumgar ( Sep 24 2007, 12:28:48 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Darfur is Dying General Information: Darfur is Dying was developed by students at the University of Southern California and produced by a partnership of Reebok Human Rights Foundation, International Crisis Group, and MTV Networks. The game targets the liberal sector of society, particulaly youth in their late teens and twenties. Players are encouraged to forward the game to others in an effort to inform as many people as possible of the horrors in Darfur. It is available online as a free download. Structure: The game draws attention to the genocide that is currently being conducted in Darfur. The concept of genocide is part of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for US History. Although the game's purpose is to inform players of the conditions in Darfur, it goes beyond informing. The game and its designers are constantly encouraging players to become politically active and suggest ways players can become involved in socio-political issues through various means such as contacting their representatives in Washington DC. The game is probably too graphic or disturbing in its descriptions of atrocities to be used with middle school students. It would be more appropriate for high school students even though the game's graphics and simulations are low-tech to the point of being childish. Darfur is Dying does address the demands of 21st Century Skills by encouraging players to utilize the Internet to communicate to others. Game Play: Players are required to choose an identity of a refugee. They must help their refugee camp survive for seven days by completing tasks such as collecting water from a well. However, water collection is not an easy task. The player must navigate his way safely to the well and back without being captured or killed. If the player is able to help his camp survive for seven days, he has won the game. Even if the player survived, he is constantly reminded about the refugees who perish and suffer daily. Critique: I felt the game was too political. I would be hesitant to use it in a classroom because of the constant emphasis on political activism on a world wide scale. As a public school teacher, my role is to inform students of world events, not to push a specific political, social, or economic agenda upon them. I believe my role is to develop the knowledge and abilities my students need in order to make informed decisions about issues and topics. It is up to them to develop their own course of action, if they choose to, concerning a political, social,or economic problem which cues their interest. Posted by japrober ( Sep 24 2007, 12:06:00 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

review of Lemonade Tycoon 2 Game Review #2 - Ron Jones Name: Lemonade Tycoon 2 v.1.1.23 Company: Jamdat Mobil, Canada Educational use: Economics & Business Age target: middle to high school Cost: Free Demo, cost is $19.95 Platform: PC http://www.supersmartgames.com/Big_Kids/Life_Skills/Lemonade_Tycoon_2/ Game Structure The purpose of this game is to teach the fundamentals of economics and business. SCOS for 10th grade Civics and Economics Goal 7 ?The Learner will investigate how and why individuals and groups make economic choices.? The indirect educational aims is to develop an entrepreneurial spirit of ownership and business success. I believe that it could be used as young as 6th graders, with scaffolding, up to a 10th grade C&E class. It absolutely fits with the 21st Century initiative because once the basics of supply & demand business model has been learned, then global economics can be understood. Game Play This is an economics game, teaching the business side of retail. You are given a bicycle push-cart to sell lemonade on a street corner. You have to have to choose and buy a location, stock your cart with supplies, adjust recipes, pay permits & salaries. You can buy locations anywhere around NYC from the Bronx, to Grand Central Station, to the Statue of Liberty, with an increasing cost for more popular locations. You have to analyze foot traffic to find the best locations. Advertising is also available. The game is timed in days, with a time-chart showing weather (upon which lemonade sales is dependent), and you play until you are successful and build a monopoly of lemonade stands, or you go bankrupt. People are shown coming to the stands and either buying with an icon showing satisfaction or dissatisfaction, or leaving if the line is too long. You can adjust your recipe for taste, but it costs you your stock. The recipie must be adjusted because if customers dislike it, others leave and you will lose potential sales. You have to daily buy supplies of cups, ice, lemons, and sugar. You have top employ people to attend the stands. As you earn more money you can expand your pushcarts and buy more locations, but you also have to spend for more permits, supplies and wages. There is a page of reports that track sales, costs, profits and the bank account balance. It is a single player game, but the program has competition built into higher levels. You have to compete with various business plans, learning as you go. Game Critique This game concentrates on the supply side of capitalism. The only effect on demand that can be made is on taste appeal, location and price. There doesn?t seem to be any explanation of the motivations of the customer?s rational choice, either than price. This seems lacking. The cultural context is that its setting is NYC, but the customers and staff are multiracial. It?s a pretty cool game in that it teacher the basics of economics ? costs of labor, cost of materials, overhead and capital costs ? in a simple manner. This is a public good, as not for nothing is economics called the ?dismal science?. Posted by rejones ( Sep 23 2007, 10:22:38 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Review of Jamestown Adventure The Jamestown Online adventure is a free web based game that can be played at www.historyglobe.com/jamestown. The purpose of the game is to make the player feel what it was like to set off from England to try and establish the first permanent English colony in the New World. The game places you in Jamestown in the year 1607. The player is the captain of the colony and is faced with difficult decisions to make that will affect the colonists and settlers. The decisions are based on health issues, morals, gold, and food. You can compare your decision with the decisions made by the real colonists of Jamestown. Jamestown Online has many educational purposes. The game allows you to take the role of colonists and experience the difficult decisions that were made based on the desire to establish the first colony. The player has to make decisions that would allow them to succeed, yet could potentially harm the indigenous people. As you play the game, you are also learning about the geography, culture, and physical features of Jamestown. The player is able to compare and contrast their decisions with the real early colonial settlements. You can ask fellow colonists and the Native Americans for advice. However, the player has to decide whether the advice is useful and consistent with the values and views of the player. After you have made all of your decisions, you receive a report that evaluates how well you established your colony. The criteria is based on how well you provided food for the colonists, how healthy you kept the colonists, how much wealth you gained and the morale and happiness of the colonists. After you receive your score, you get to compare your colony to the historical Jamestown at the end. This allows the player to learn from their mistakes and to have the opportunity to improve in their decision-making skills. All of these educational purposes tie in well with the objectives associated with learning in a 21st century. Although this game is very educational, there are a few limitations. I feel that the game excludes many of the critical decisions that both the colonists and Native Americans faced. This could lead the player to believe that the decisions were more simplistic than they actually were. Also, in order for a student to benefit from the game, there must be a solid foundation of the history and the lifestyles of both the colonists and Native Americans. Posted by crcantel ( Sep 23 2007, 08:32:23 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark is an online game that can be found on the website: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/west/main.html . This game was developed by National Geographic Kids along with the help of Electravison in 1999. The game and its artwork is based around the book, How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark written by Rosalyn Schanzer , and published by the National Geographic Society in 1997. The purpose of the game is for educational use either at home or in the classroom to help students understand the importance of the expedition and the Northwest Passage. On average the game would be most useful in late elementary to middle school classrooms. I would implement the game in an eight grade social studies classroom in meet the NC Standard Course of Study competency goal 3.08 to examine the impact of national events such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the War with Mexico, and the California Gold Rush, and technological advances on North Carolina. The game would really help students develop their critical thinking skills, basic understanding of the importance of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and even helps develop decision making skills. This game does meet the 21st century skills of teaching and learning by the use of critical thinking and problem solving skills. Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark would be a fun game to play after the material was already taught to try to elaborate on the information the students had already learned. The game is played as if you are one of the expedition leaders working beside Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as you help making decisions in order to be successful on reaching the west coast. The game beings as you head out on your journey from St. Louis on request from President Thomas Jefferson to find a route to the western North America. As you play the game it becomes clear that the goal is to find a trade route to the west and a Northwest Passage which would be a water route between the east and west coast. Once you begin your journey you are prompted with questions that will affect your passage to the west. The way you answer these questions determines how successful you are and how efficient your trip would be. Throughout the game you are prompted with ?did you know facts? which are random bits of information about the original expedition to try to help explain exactly what happened. Also, there is an icon ?journal? which gives small segments of letters written by discussing their progress. When you are asked a question it gives you a couple of possible answers and you answer them as you feel is appropriate. Then the game gives you rational as to why your answer was correct or not. Throughout the game you have to answer questions about ?Which direction to go??, or how would you handle certain situations concerning your crews health, safety, and or the native Indians you encounter. As you progress through the game you are making decisions based on the facts you already know about the expedition, the facts that are given, and the situations you are faced with. The game also provides historical facts about the mission, very in-depth dates to events that occurred, and even used maps to chart your progress to see where your trip lead you after you were done with your game. Then once you answer all of the questions the game is over when you successful accomplish your mission. I felt that the game was limited in regards to curriculum because it really only is appropriate when dealing with Lewis and Clark expeditions and the Northwest Passage. It is also a game that played mostly for fun but if played more than one or two times would definitely become boring and wouldn?t hold the students attention. The associated cost of playing the game would mainly be the time that was taken to play the game. Although it was really easy to play and it didn?t require a lot of patience to learn the rules or the I really liked how it gave students the opportunity to be able to see a picture of the people involved in the expedition and the use of the map after your game is finished. I really enjoyed how user friendly the game was and found that it would be appropriate for children of all ages. Therefore, I would recommend the game Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark. This game was really fun because it really helped me use my critical thinking and decision making skills. I also found that the way I thought about priorities now were completely different from those of 1804. I answered questions the way I would today, but this wasn?t appropriate. For example, I chose to bring two years worth of food on the journey over books to write in. I thought food was an important survival tool, but actually the computer felt paper was more practical because it was easier to carry and they had no room for refrigeration in 1804. Therefore, I would recommend this game to be played in a middle school social studies classroom in order to help students elaborate on what they have already learned. Posted by klmaxwe2 ( Sep 23 2007, 06:31:29 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Trade Game Review Trade is a web based game on the Nobel Prize website (www.nobelprize.org) and it can be accessed for free. This game was commissioned by the Nobel Prize organization along with other games that explain the accomplishments of Nobel Prize winners in the areas of chemistry, medicine, physics, literature, and economics. The website does not explicitly state educational uses but it can be used to help demonstrate how trade can boost the economy of one country while setting another into a depression. A person playing Trade assumes the role of the trade ruler of an island. First the player must choose one of the four islands to rule. Each island has a different profile; some have high numbers of laborers while others have high numbers of technology resources. The high labor islands produce jeans and the high technology islands produce cell phones. Once the player chooses an island they get to create a physical identity and choose another island to trade with. The trade ruler then determines how much of each product is produced and how much to trade. The trading island can accept or deny the trade terms. The goal is to make a trade that benefits both islands equally. The trading island will accept a trade that is equal for each island or better for them (though they will be reluctant to accept an equal trade). After the trade the citizens of the trade ruler?s island either praise or condemn the ruler. One trade is made each turn for a total of 3 turns. After the 3 turns the player is allowed to see their progress. I attempted to play this game four or five times and I always managed to make my citizens angry at some point. It takes a great deal of knowledge of economics to be successful at this game. However, with trial and error a student having difficulty understanding economics may be able to figure out the ins and outs. The Nobel Prize organization commissioned Trade with the purpose of educating the player about Bertil Ohlin?s study of how two countries benefit from trade. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics in 1977. Within the curriculum this game applies to tenth grade social studies competency goals 7, 8, and 9 as well as high school economics. Outside of the social studies curriculum this game helps develop problem-solving skills through trial and error. Also, it teaches about fair trade. A wealthy country with many technology resources can help a country with many laborers by promoting fair trade over high profits. It would be best used in a high school or middle school social studies, economics, or business class. I had a great deal of trouble understanding trade and supply and demand concepts in high school economics. This game would have helped me better understand how trade works way back then! This game would be easily integrated because it is a short game, lasting about 2-3 minutes per game. For maximum impact a student would need to play a few different times in order to see how economies profit depending on the trade. Critique: Trade is short in length and does not allow for much change in the amount of exports produced. Not knowing much about economics I found it frustrating that the other island would deny the trade agreement without giving advice. Posted by akhager ( Sep 23 2007, 06:11:40 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Review of 3rd World Farmer Game Information: 3rd World Farmer, a free web-based game, simulates real-world mechanisms that may cause poverty in third world countries. 3rd World Farmer is presented by Arcade Town and created in Denmark by Ole Fabrious Toubrou, Frederik Hurmund, and Benjamin Salqvist. This game is a great starting point for discussions about 3rd world issues. This game would be ideal for use in grades 6-10. Game Play: 3rd World Farmer puts you in the shoes of a family of farmers. You are located in one of the poorest parts of the world where you are forced to make important decisions that will impact your family. You must decide what crops to plant, how you will invest your money, and whether or not your children will go to school. While playing, you should aim at keeping your family healthy, while investing in infrastructure that will allow your family to prosper. The game ends when the last person dies. In a recent game, I lasted 33 turns. I started out with four family members. By the time the game ended, I supported a total of eight family members. I was able to decide whether or not my family members would get married and have children. The more family members you have, the more money you will earn and the longer your family will survive. However, as you progress through the game, the family members get sick and die if you do not give them enough medicine. Medicine is extremely expensive. Also, you have to focus on buying crops and livestock so that your family will have enough money to survive. Each turn lasts a year. After each turn, you are given an annual report on how your crops and livestock faired. I lasted 33 turns, which is 33 years. In 33 years, two family members got married and each had a child. Game Structure and Teaching: 3rd World Farmer is an educational game that allows the player to manage an African farm and experience the difficulties and hardships one might face in a 3rd world country. This game would fit perfectly into the 7th grade curriculum in North Carolina when students learn about Africa. More specifically, players will have to recognize the relationship between economic activity and the quality of life in Africa, which directly correlates to Competency Goal #6 In the NCSCoS. While satisfying the NCSCoS, 3rd World Farmer indirectly makes issues concerning poverty relevant to the player. The player is forced to deal with the same everyday concerns as an actual 3rd world farmer. The game also promotes 21st century teaching methods by encouraging players to use decision making and problem solving skills. Players must incorporate critical thinking to make complex choices for their farms ? whether it be the purchase of crops or animals, buildings, medicines, schooling, or cell phones. Players soon realize that these critical choices will impact their family and their future in the game. Game Critique: This game is ideal for a social studies classroom. It teaches students about third world countries, various natural resources, and budgeting. However, given the annual report at the end of each turn, one must be able to read and understand the complex tables of information regarding productivity, livestock and crops. Thus, I believe this game would not be appropriate for the lower elementary grades. This game could be extremely short or extremely long, all depending how long your family survives. For me, it took around 30 minutes. I lasted 33 turns. The only downside to this game is that you cannot save and exit the game. Thus, you must keep playing until you quit or all the family members die. For some, I would think that would be quite some time. However, on the upside, this game gives its player an identity. The player must place his/her hopes and needs into a game player whose fate relies solely on him/her. Creating this identity encourages the player to reflect more deeply about their experience as a third world farmer and the implications poverty has on today?s population. Posted by slcarte2 ( Sep 23 2007, 05:16:21 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Waterbusters This is a game to teach tips for water conservation at home. It is tied to elementary social studies curriculum in grade 3, competency goals 1 and 3. Players can also learn more about how to save water around the house. The game was created by Seattle Saving Water Partnership. The game is simulation where the user, assuming the identity of Phil Dumpster, has begun a quest to find ways to save water around his house. He asks his friend Bert the Salmon to help him. The cost of the game is free, and is available online http://www2.seattle.gov/util/waterbusters/ GAME PLAY: Phil Dumpster is on a mission to reduce his family?s water bills. Phil asks his friend Bert the Salmon to help him find areas around the house where he can save water, money and the environment. As Phil, you have to quickly find and repair water leaks and also to install water saving devices around the house. Phil will have to find the tools to make the needed repairs and equipment changes. The player uses the arrow keys to walk Phil into various rooms around his house looking for potential water loss. Along the way there are tools scattered about that he will need to make repairs. (wrench, plunger, etc.) Once Phil has picked up the needed tools, he can make the repair. If a repair is needed but Phil has not yet picked up the necessary tool to make the repair, nothing will happen. Tools are not needed for everything, sometimes just ?smarts? about water usage. Once a problem is solved, Bert the Salmon pops up with congratulations and additional water saving tips. At the beginning of each level, you have a supply of water drops at the top of the screen. As time goes on, water drops disappear. You must fix all the water issues in Phil?s house before your water drops run out. Each water drop represents 15 gallons of water. The faster you fix the water problems, the more water you save. As the levels increase, there are more problems to solve (Phil?s family are apparently slow learners, as they are frequently the ones wasting water) and after level one you must avoid Running Taps---a game hazard. A faucet with running shoes is patrolling a particular area of the home; Phil must avoid this and still fix the problem. If Running Taps captures Phil, 2 water drops (30 gallons of water) are deducted from the water drop total at the top of the screen. When I played, I successfully fixed the water issues around Phil?s house and managed to save 191 gallons of water. (I was captured by Running Taps twice). If your game is successful, you receive a Water Busters Certificate and a Water Saving checklist that are printable from the game site. STRUCTURE AND TEACHING: The structure of the game puts the player in the middle of a typical home, though we only see the downstairs rooms of the kitchen, utility room and two bathrooms. This is explained at the beginning of play by reminding the player that washing clothes, flushing the toilet and showering are the biggest uses of water around a house. Purpose: educational and social?natural resources are becoming scarce, we all can do our part to help. Possible instructional uses: enrichment activity to reinforce the need for water conservation, especially in areas of drought. CRITIQUE: The game is rather simple, and does not require a lot of prior knowledge to play. The game is a quick play, about 10 minutes total. It is rather simplistic, but would be good for elementary grade children. Older children would find it too simple and probably not absorbing enough to keep their attention. Posted by emartin2 ( Sep 23 2007, 04:41:44 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Where Is That? Where IS That? This is an online game that is fun for younger students in the elementary school grades specifically third and fourth grade. this game is developed by Pearson Education and is found on the internet for free. It is a web based game. The purpose of this game is to get young people familiar with places around the world. The player is simply given a region to choose from and than that player has to name that state or country in which is highlighted on the screen. The game is straight forward and easy to play. The game unfolds as the following. As the student plays they choose a level to play. For example, level one is to identify which country or state is highlighted. If the student gets the country or state correct they are given a point. If the student answers incorrectly they are given an explanation of the correct answer. A player can get a maximum of ten points per round. Level two is to the spell the name of the highlighted state or country. In level three you are given the capital of the country or state and you have to identify the country. In level four your are given the capital and you have to spell in the correct name of the country or state. In the last level your country or state is highlighted and you have to fill in the capital. Each of these levels becomes more and more challenging to a young student. Only one player may play the game at one time. The game begins and ends when the player chooses to stop on whatever level they feel they need to improve on. A teacher may request that all students play all levels until they get at least half or five questions right. I played the game and proceed from level to level. However, with me being an adult the game was not challenging like it would be for a young student. I purposely answered some questions wrong to see what would happen. The purpose of this game is to teach young students geography. By learning about geography the students will be able to learn about regions or sections of the world that they other wise would have no clue about. A huge positive about this gam