I believe gaming is a viable future for education. As teachers, we often find ways to incorporate games into our lesson plans. I like the idea of using games to not only help students learn the content, but also as an alternate to evaluating their mastery. I found that describing the basic premise or format of a game and then asking my students to create the game, or games, was very successful. You can see, then, why I was drawn to Marc Prensky’s theories in his book Digital Game-Based Learning. I have searched the web for a site or downloadable tool that is free and yet robust enough to create interesting games, by both myself and my students. I believe I have finally found one. Atmosphir.com is a game playing and creating and sharing with all website. You can download a stand-alone version, which, of course, runs faster, or you can play online. I decided I wanted a stand-alone version to allow me to experiment before putting any of my creations online to share with the rest of the community. I say community in the best sense of the word. The people registered at this site help each other out willingly. There are pieces, like “Loading” screens, and “Character Creation Center” modules you can use that are already done and available for you. There are plenty of games the community has created; you can play for fun or to get inspired about what you can do. When you are ready you can create your own games.
My vision is to make it one of the possible ways students can learn the content, choosing to play a game I or another student made on the content. I also see it as a way to evaluate students pre- and post-module. Most of my students are very experienced with video games, so this website should play into their interests and engage them in a way a “tell and test” lesson plan would not.
The website URL is http://www.atmosphir.com/ and I invite you to try it out and let me know what you think.
Kate Eskesen
Reference:
Prensky, M. (2007). Digital Game-Based Learning. St. Paul. MN; Paragon House.
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