Active Learning Immersive Scenario Games in Teaching & Learning: GBL Organizations & Conferences

Role-Playing Games for Engaged Learning

Walden, A Game is an exploratory narrative and open world simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond. The game begins in the summer of 1845 when Thoreau moved to the Pond and built his cabin there.

The Serious Play Conference is a leadership conference for professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience and working together to shape the future of training and education. Speakers from all parts of the globe share their knowledge and experience creating or using games or simulations in the corporation, classroom, healthcare institution, government, military and many other industries, offering tips on how to move game-based education programs ahead.

The Federal Games Guild (FGG) is an informal community of practice of federal agencies who are interested in the correlation of games for federal initiatives. As a platform, the FGG connects federal entities and staff interested in the application of games in the federal space. Member organizations range in their relationship to using games, from those who support game development through funding, to those active in using innovative technologies in their practice, to those who design and research games as part of their agency’s outreach efforts around public education.

Megagames are large games involving teams of players. Although we use the term “game”, a Megagame is more of an experience. Lasting all day, you will become immersed in the subject and the interactions. The subject matter can range from politics, economics, history, science fiction and heroic fantasy. Much of what goes on might be described as role playing - though there is also a large element of problem solving, strategy, negotiation and of course, humor.

Foldit is a revolutionary crowdsourcing computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research. It is part of an experimental research project developed by the University of Washington, Center for Game Science, in collaboration with the UW Department of Biochemistry. The objective of Foldit is to fold the structures of selected proteins as perfectly as possible, using tools provided in the game. The highest scoring solutions are analyzed by researchers, who determine whether or not there is a native structural configuration (native state) that can be applied to relevant proteins in the real world. Scientists can then use these solutions to target and eradicate diseases and create biological innovations. A 2010 paper in the science journal Nature credited Foldit's 57,000 players with providing useful results that matched or outperformed algorithmically computed solutions. (this description adapted from Wikipedia)

An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions.

The form is defined by intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real time and evolves according to players' responses. Subsequently, it is shaped by characters that are actively controlled by the game's designers, as opposed to being controlled by an AI as in a computer or console video game. Players interact directly with characters in the game, solve plot-based challenges and puzzles, and collaborate as a community to analyze the story and coordinate real-life and online activities. ARGs generally use multimedia, such as telephones, email, and mail but rely on the Internet as the central binding medium. (Description from Wikipedia)