Research has shown that even very young children have beliefs or intuitions of right and wrong. In the game world of Crypto, questers must decide whether to respect the island’s rules or uncover its secrets, particularly, whether to take artifacts out of the jungle or leave them undisturbed. This is a key dilemma in archeology; to whom to artifacts belong, and where should they be displayed? On the one hand, countless countries have been robbed of precious artifacts and keys to their history by other nations who are more powerful or have more resources. On the other hand, if artifacts stay only with the site where they were discovered, then peoples around the world lose an opportunity to better understand others’ histories. These tensions are exactly what the questers are asked to contend with.

As an example, one character, Archie, offers the quester cols in exchange for artifacts they remove from the island and deliver.

He also notes the importance of allowing others to learn about the important history of the island.  Thus questers may choose to take artifacts either for personal gain, or in the interest of spreading knowledge about the island. Alternatively, players who feel that the island should be able to keep its secrets, or feel that Archie has immoral intentions, may choose to leave the artifacts in the sand.

By providing a space for children to make choices based on their own beliefs about right and wrong, CryptoCoordinates allows them to personalize the narrative of the island and contribute their own perspective. It’s important to note that the space does not instruct students about “what is right,” but allows children to grapple with these moral questions on their own, determining what they individually feel is right or wrong. When a variety of characters and rules are presented (as in Crypto), there is no obvious right or wrong choice.

Rather than providing answers, games can offer narrative tensions and difficult questions so that individuals propel themselves forward by advancing a moral argument. Adding a moral tension into a narrative creates a path to the player’s own beliefs and intentionality. The player must exercise their intentions in order to progress within the game.

In games and in classrooms, asking questions in which there is no right answer opens up spaces for conversations that are often lost when the focus is simply on questions with a predetermined answer. We have seen that students exhibit a variety of beliefs and support their beliefs in many different ways, many unimagined by the designers. They often either elaborate on game elements (“What if there’s a curse? You might get your head chopped off!”) or real world elements (“What if it’s illegal?” or “I like my secrets to be left alone.”). They may instantly personalize the experience by judging an action or concept as right or wrong, and are empowered because their opinion cannot be deemed right or wrong. As a consequence, asking more difficult questions (questions without answers), in games or otherwise, may prove more motivating and engaging than questions without the same tensions and with existing answers.

The Learning Engagement Theory of Quest Atlantis, “learning, playing, helping” has not only formed the basis of the students’ work in QA, but has become part of their whole class experience. It has been beautiful to witness the way that the students themselves have recognized this. After their first term of participation, students were asked to reflect on their QA journey. Some of the responses from our 11 and 12 year old students were:

“Quest Atlantis is good for having some fun and doing some work.  So it’s like learning and playing at the same time.” “I think that the future of learning lies here, that Quest Atlantis can make everyone aware of human errors and that Quest Atlantis is a great way to communicate.” “I see people helping others, opportunities to learn and new friends. I think outside the square, about the world, about how others feel.”

We were, to say the least, “blown away” by these responses! You can read all of the responses on our My Quest Atlantis Blog or view our movie about Learning, Playing & Helping in Virtual World. We have seen a wonderful sense of gratitude from our QA students. One teacher commented that he feels QA has not only changed the way he teaches but even the relationship he has with his students.

“The students are able to participate in such a positive learning experience. They realize that you are the one helping to make that possible for them. As a result, there’s a definite feeling of gratitude towards all QA teachers.”

There have been a number of special moments that we have experienced with our QA students.

After our first student, Cleo, luminated for the first time, we decided to mark the special event by presenting her with a laminated picture of herself “in-world”. I will never forget the look on Cleo’s face as she took the picture out of the envelope. After giving me a hug she said proudly, “I know exactly where I’m going to put it – above my bed! That’s where I put all of my special things.” My heart melted! You can read more about Cleo’s QA experience in her blog post. For a number of years, our school has been involved with Kidzpositive and The Positive Beadwork Project. The project produces beautiful customized beadwork that provides income for many HIV/AIDS affected women in South Africa. We were able to create our own QA badge using their Online Design Tool. It was an exciting day when the badges arrived! The students were not aware of the QA badges that would be presented to them as they luminated for the first time. As I showed the students the beautiful new badges and explained their purpose, I remember looking at their beaming faces and hearing the chorus of “Wooow…” as I held them up. “Does anyone have any questions?” I asked. “I don’t have a question but I just wanted to say thank you.” Yet again, my heart melted!

As my role is to assist teachers with implementing Quest Atlantis in their curriculum, it is not uncommon for Questers to “pop in” and tell me about their latest achievements in QA.  ”Mrs B, guess what I’ve done in Quest Atlantis?!” In particular, I have enjoyed following the journey of our students who have been learning to build in QA. The students have an incredible opportunity to develop skills in building in a 3D virtual world. Students as young as 9 years old are building their own houses, furnishing them and, as I found out, building areas as gifts for other Questers. As I sat with Tess, she took me on a tour of her virtual home, complete with furniture and garden. “I made a mushroom house for you,” Tess proudly told me, “and I put a laptop computer in there because I know you love computers.” You guessed it, my heart melted! You can read more about Tess’ QA building experience in her blog post.

As we approach our last school term of the 2009 school year in Australia, it is also time to sit down and assess our participation in Quest Atlantis.  Our School’s Strategic Directions document states “Nurturing the Learner” as our first goal with “new programs enhancing the social, emotional and spiritual well-being of learners.” For us, Quest Atlantis has not only provided opportunities for our students to combine the “learning and playing” but, as we watch on proudly, we continue to see the “helping” shine through.

Lucy Barrow is the Staff ICT Trainer at a K-12 Independent School in Victoria, Australia. She is fortunate to work with wonderful staff, including Janet Hillgrove and Roger Barrow who have embraced the Quest Atlantis program. You can read the School’s My Quest Atlantis blog by going to http://myquestatlantis.edublogs.org/

Let’s take a quick look at the possibilities afforded by one QA Unit—our newest release, Virtual Mesa Verde (VMV).

A review of the Unit Guide shows standards alignments for the main subject area covered in the Unit—social studies— addressing geography and world history concepts like the balance of resources with human needs and the characteristics of civilization.

But there is a lot more content that can be mined for standards correlations in many other subject areas. Although you won’t find these standards listed in our Unit Guide (we can’t show correlations based on what a teacher MIGHT do with the content), additional standards addressed in these Units is limited only by the teacher’s imagination and need.

For example, every QA Unit is narrative-based, and the storylines and characters are designed as interactive novels in which Questers become active characters in the story. Think of the language arts content standards that you can cover by examining the characters (motivations, personalities); plot (conflict and resolution, climax and anticlimax); author’s purpose, tone, and craft; and the characteristics of fiction, science fiction, and fantasy! And that’s not all—each Unit also has unique “mini-lessons” that can enhance instruction in many other disciplines. VMV affords possibilities in:

• Science: The VMV Unit is filled with possibilities for science exploration, from agricultural science (the three-sisters gardening process favored by many native cultures and dryland irrigation techniques) to the study of the effects of wildfires on ecosystems and wildfire recovery science, and even more possibilities too numerous to outline here.
• Language Arts: The Unit’s main character, Lorisa, tells Questers a simplified version of the Hopi creation story. Why not compare that story with creation stories from indigenous people in your area or from cultures you’re studying in social studies classes, aligning instruction to comparative literature and mythology standards?
• Math: A technician from CyArk (http://archive.cyark.org/) demonstrates the use of laser technology to create accurate three-dimensional digital measurements (using bearing, inclination, and distance). Students can explore 3D measurements and scale by creating models of cliff dwellings and kivas.
• Social Studies: In addition to the main SS content specified in the VMV Unit Guide, the time travel features of the Unit also lend themselves well to activities in time, continuity, and change. Or expand the storyline with an in-depth study of the importance of primary source materials like artifacts in historical research.
• Art: Ancestral Puebloan (sometimes called Anasazi) pottery is distinctive for its black-and-white geometric designs. Have students create their own pottery and design new variations of this technique. Or plan a lesson on Ancestral Puebloan glyphs and decorations, exploring not only the art but the meaning behind the symbols.

• Health: Lorisa is struggling with peer pressure that is affecting her behavior and her health. Use her problems as a springboard for discussions on the influences of personal beliefs, culture, mass media, and other factors on health and self image as well as ways to communicate care, consideration, and respect for self, parents and family, and the diversity of others.
• Careers: Explore the career possibilities in national parks services, including park rangers, archaeologists, and anthropologists.

The suggestions above are just a small sampling of the standards correlations possible through a theme-based implementation of VMV. An exploration of your own content standards will spark ideas unique to your curriculum. As you can see, rather than a drain on your valuable instructional time, the QA Units can help you cover MORE content standards while engaging your students in transformational learning activities that build skills they can use for a lifetime.

Next time you’re browsing through the Quest Atlantis curriculum, check out the possibilities!