on Sep 1, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
I wanted to share a post because I was feeling so grateful this week. The initial vision six years ago to create a game that would help kids care and learn about academic content while at the same time aiding them to grow into responsible and engaged citizens is becoming a reality. In particular, the new Epic missions and broader backstory really bring to fruition lots of work and game play that has involved dozens of designers, hundreds of teachers and thousands of children. This week we released the new introduction and epic missions, which are unlocked as one completes various missions and luminates on the project’s Social Commitments. We very much look forward to hearing the reactions of our community and sincerely hope that you find playing it as powerful and engaging as we did designing it. (more…)
on Aug 15, 2009 in
Design,
In The News Just came across this video with QA and World of Warcraft in the same video post! Wow, isn’t that a cool moment for a designer…my work posted in the same video with Warcraft. Not that I have any grandiose visions that this is a meaningful comparison, but big dreams Watch Video. //–< ![CDATA[ $j("a#mesa_verde_trailer").fancybox({ 'hideOnContentClick' [...]
We have now had this unit virtual world active almost 2 years and have been able to collect data on its value in multiple classrooms. Using this data and some recent improvements in our graphic potential (as well as lots of amazing work by Ellen Jameson, Janis Watson, and Gary Neely), we have updated the virtual world. While much of the original design remained untouched, this new iteration is certainly more visually appealing and realistic (see images on Flickr). However, what is really useful from a curricular perspective is how the revised narratives engages students in more deeply thinking about notions of civilization, and the way it prompts them to examine more deeply the natural and cultural heritage of indigenous cultures.
In particular, the current scenario requires students to learn about what factors combine to constitute a civilization (permanent structures, division of labor, farming, art, writing, etc) and to interrogate the sophistication of indigenous cultures in America. Over the course of the unit, students uncover evidence in the daily lives, culture, agrarian practices, and ruling structures of the Puebloans, which help them decide whether or not the ancient people of Mesa Verde should be considered a civilization or whether the pilgrims were the first true civilization to occupy America.
In our first implementation, while students were engaged, our research showed that they learned little content and the motivation was determined to be limited in establishing legitimacy of the academic content. In particular, the initial narrative rested on the premise of negotiating whether Columbus discovered America, a tension revolved quite quickly through game play. To complexify the learning scenario and make the narrative tensions endure over the entire two-week unit, we added the theme of ‘Civilization.’
The Mesa Verde Unit provides students with an opportunity to travel back in time to learn more about the Ancestral Puebloan people who inhabited an area in the American southwest over 1400 years ago. Students are contacted by Lorisa, a modern day Hopi teenager, who is haunted by dreams and images after neglecting to speak up on behalf of her ancestral history. She invites players to travel to Mesa Verde to help her understand the meaning behind the strange images. The questions at the heart of the curricular drama now are whether Columbus was the first civilized presence in America, what constitutes a civilization, and what factors might lead to the fall of a civilization?
