Oh, hello.
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What was that? An intangible voice whispered through the leaves and asked, “what’s new in game-based learning?” We’re glad it asked. Read on for less boos and more news!
A lack of access to higher-level STEM courses for K-12 students is a large contributing factor to the lack of diversity in STEM fields. As a step toward learning equity, organizations like the National Center for Women and Information Technology and Learning Undefeated’s mobile STEM labs bring a new classroom to the student, no construction required. These labs-on-wheels bring robotics, flight and drone simulation, 3D printing, VR and AR, and more technologies to the front steps of schools, hoping to spark and nurture students’ curiosity in fields such as aerospace engineering. Though not a permanent fix for systemic inequalities in STEM education, mobile STEM labs hope to introduce students to new technology and game-based learning to not only pique student interest in STEM fields but to sustain it. [READ MORE]
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas A&M University College of Architecture have joined forces to create Project S.W.A.R.M. (Strategic Widespread Agricultural Response Management Simulation). This project centers on developing a simulation game to teach farmers and other agricultural professionals how to manage animal disease outbreaks. Animal disease outbreaks can cause economic turmoil, food scarcity, and in some rare cases, outbreaks of disease in humans too. The developers want to use this game as a preventive and preparative measure, and also to create a space where players can learn through failure. [READ MORE]
According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, “a difficult airway is defined as the clinical situation in which a conventionally trained anesthesiologist experiences difficulty with facemask ventilation of the upper airway, difficulty with tracheal intubation, or both.” These difficulties can be life-threatening when they occur in the operating room and require quick and careful action by medical professionals. Dr. Jessica Feinleib, an anesthesiologist at VA Connecticut Healthcare System and VA’s SimLEARN national course director for Out of OR Airway Management, wanted to develop a new way to teach medical staff how to deal with difficult airways, which resulted in the creation of the DAARC (Difficult Airway Algorithm and Rescue Cricothyrotomy) game. Like the aforementioned Project S.W.A.R.M., this app game aims to prevent tragedies and teach through a safe environment to learn and fail. [READ MORE]
Imagine a game that allows you to map your own mind, to catalog and delineate your memories. You won’t have to imagine much longer, because the original creator of The Sims franchise, Will Wright, is partnering his studio, Gallium Studios, with blockchain gaming platform Forte Labs Inc for his upcoming game, Proxi. Proxi allows a player to encapsulate memories in “snow globes,” describing them with words and images. Everything a player creates in this game will become their very own NFT. The game aims to promote self-discovery and to encourage people to take the (sometimes anxiety-provoking) plunge into learning more about themselves. [READ MORE]
This winter, students will be able to plunge into the waters of the Great Lakes and investigate shipwrecks beneath the depths — all from the comfort of their classrooms and homes. Last academic year, Field Day and PBS Wisconsin Education brought on fourteen Wisconsin teachers for their Shipwrecks! Game Design Fellowship. These teachers co-designed the game and also sought feedback from their own students, who were given the opportunity to play-test it. In this interview, two educators explain why Great Lakes education is important — and why video games are a great tool for education! [READ MORE]
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