Posted by jwatson on May 3, 2011 in
Design,
In The News The major units of Quest Atlantis (Plague, Taiga, Mesa Verde, etc) are housed in special virtual worlds designed specifically for those experiences. Unfortunately, that means that only those students whose teachers assigned the units get the chance to see those worlds. We always thought that was a shame, because those worlds are some of the most interesting virtual spaces we have in QA. But that is no longer a problem, because now we have invented the tourist month!
Tags: Kids, quest atlantis, transformational play
Posted by gdakram on Feb 14, 2011 in
Design Credit: Christian F. Burprich Lately, I have been working towards internationalization of Quest Atlantis resources such as missions, dialogue pages and quests. The impetus for this challenging task is being driven by the team’s desire and vision to provide a more localized experience for our users whose native language is not English. For brevity, I will [...]
Tags: i18n technical
Posted by jwatson on Nov 16, 2010 in
Design As our understanding of transformational play evolves, so must the space in which that play occurs. Quest Atlantis has always been a fluid, non-static environment that both its students and creators can influence and change. So when several of us realized that we had new, powerful ideas for the Quest Atlantis storyline, we dove in [...]
Posted by StevieS on Nov 2, 2010 in
Design We started a great project over the summer and hopefully some of you have already noticed a few of the changes. Quests are the main means of assessment for teachers in Quest Atlantis, but they appear quite static compared to the dynamic 3D environment. Kids love doing the missions but are sometimes not as enthusiastic about [...]
Tags: interactive Quests
Posted by Sinem on Sep 23, 2010 in
Design,
Research Can video games support family learning and bonding? To explore the answer to this question, we designed Family Quest. What is Family Quest? Family Quest is a new program within the context of Quest Atlantis that brings parents and children together in an afterschool, school, or home context and engages them in intergenerational play. The game [...]
Tags: Family Quest, intergenerational play
Posted by Sasha on Sep 1, 2010 in
Design,
In The News 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 [...]
Tags: backstory, Epic Missions, intro, lumination, Maq, OTAK, Social Commitments
Posted by Jackieb on Jul 16, 2010 in
Design,
Research The mathematics mission Crypto Coordinates: Plotting Adventure! was first released last fall, and updated slightly in early June. Both versions of Crypto teach coordinate plotting through the context of archeology and navigation of a magical island. During implementations of Crypto, researchers observed students expressing their own beliefs when playing the game.
Tags: curriculum, Design
Posted by matth on Jun 23, 2010 in
Design Here at Quest Atlantis, progress runs two ways. On the one hand, we constantly look forward, designing and prototyping new ideas on a daily basis. Simultaneously, we’re also mindful of the work we’ve already done and the ways that it can be improved, often based on the feedback and experience of thousands of Questers who [...]
Tags: Math World, Redesign
Posted by linas on May 25, 2010 in
Design,
Research Genetics is often touted as a complicated subject for most students. This is in part due to the fact that students are expected to understand the broad range of concepts over the span of one year. Firm in the belief that elementary students (specifically fourth graders and above) are capable of learning genetic concepts, the [...]
Tags: drakos, genetics
Posted by hees15karthik on May 11, 2010 in
Design,
Kid Voices Hello, fellow readers. I’m Karthik, and I would like to share how it feels like to be Student Congress leader. I am very happy to represent my fellow Questers in the Student Congress. I get to talk about our experiences and suggest new ideas. Being a leader is a very responsible job. I try not [...]
Tags: Kids, participatory design, student design, Student Leaders
