Games
are Graphically Advanced Multi-player Educational Simulations. The
GAMES idea is to create multi-player, educational, simulated worlds
(sometimes called synthetic or virtual worlds); then to populate those
worlds with authentic simulated artifacts (objects, devices, agents,
and so forth); and then to open the world to learners for exploration,
discovery, problem solving, and learning.
When
playing in GAMES, a human learner is immersed in a Reality-Oriented
Learning Experience (ROLE). The players in a ROLE-based environment
actively participate in a sustained problem-solving simulation. To
succeed in these virtual worlds, and to effectively play the GAMES,
a learner will necessarily master the concepts and skills required
to play their part in the ROLE-based environment. ROLE-based learning
is learning-by-doing within the structure and context of playing a role.
Rather than simply teaching goal-based behavior and task-oriented skills,
ROLE-based learning teaches a way of practice - where you do not just learn
the law, but how to "think like a lawyer" as well.
By
putting a student in a world that "sufficiently" models the domain
you are teaching, the student learns about that world the student
learns their role in it the student learns about the domain.
A
GAMES world is:
-
Predictable because it makes sense in terms of the real world --
in other words, the simulation is "sufficiently authentic."
-
Compelling and Engaging because a comic-like graphical interface
(the MOOPort) presents the virtual world.
-
Reactive because the game is built on an existing architecture
for real-time multi-player games (MUDs), using the most flexible implementation
(Pavel Curtis's LambdaMOO, from Xerox PARC).
-
Sensitive because there is a Proactive Tutor in the simulated world,
watching the players' actions and informing them when they do something
questionable.