Article Summary Of:

Annetta, Leonard. Murray, Marshal. Laird, Shelby. Bohr, Stephanie. Park, John. “Serious Games: Incorporating Video Games in the Classroom.” Educause Quarterly. 2006 Vol 3. http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=EQM0633

Primary Topic(s) Addressed:  Games in the Classroom

Secondary Topic(s) Addressed:  The 'Net' Generation; MMOGs; MEGAs

How this might be used on my dissertation:

Good for borrowing sources for my topic- article has good sources, with very short summaries in 'Literature Review' section

Questions Raised (potential topic for me):

How might we improve the process of creating educational games?  Teachers struggle with technology- we can't expect them to be 3D game programmers.  Potential for a framework / tool set for making MEGAs.  Maybe something that involves a teacher (vision) and programmer (implementer)

Summary of Paper:

A graduate student at NCSU attempted to make a course for teachers that taught them how to create MEGAs for their classes.  Paper somewhat poorly written and poorly justified.  Results not ideal- but raised questions of how teachers might best go about creating games for the classroom. 

The main reason this paper was worth reading is because of the discussion of the possibilities offered by using gaming in the classroom.  Games can 'engage deeply', provide rich experiences, and can offer a learning style that more closely matches 'Generation N'.

Terms / Definitions defined:

1. MEGA:  Multiplayer Educational Gaming Application
2. Generation N:  The 'net' generation (upcoming generation of kids that grew up with the Internet)

Good Quotes:

see paper (circled)