Randall's+Page

Hello everyone! My name is Randall Case and I currently reside in Salt Lake City, Utah. This page is devoted to my EDUC 8841 "Diffusion and Integration of Technology in Education" course project at Walden University. Please feel free to review my work and provide me with feedback!

**Project Topic: Educational (Serious) Games in Higher Education**
=**Final Project Video:**=

Below is the culminating presentation project for this course, including the video presentation, a transcript of the narration, and a copy of the original presentation slides complete with references.

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Narration Transcript:

And here is the PowerPoint Presentation containing References and links to the various resources I utilized:

Here is a great timeline of the evolution of gaming consoles. It's an important part of my presentation, as it demonstrates the roots of Serious Games.

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April 20, 2010:

Week Seven - Considerations for Project


 * Who would you expect to be (or who are) the innovators and early adopters in your field of work for the innovation you are exploring? What strategies are the most persuasive in convincing them to adopt the innovation?
 * Who do you think would be (or who are) the laggards in terms of rejecting the innovation? What strategies would be best to help move them toward adoption?
 * Which combination of perceived attributes would be best for helping your innovation meet critical mass in your industry?

A number of individuals come to mind when it comes to Serious Games. James Gee, Clark Aldrich, Raph Koster, John Hertel, Barbara Millis, and Marc Prensky, just to name a few. Of these, James Gee, Clark Aldrich, and Marc Prensky stand out as the most widely known and influential and would likely be useful in presenting this proposal to a board.

For the laggards, I can't say that there are any specific people or organizations I am familiar with. Instead, I would characterize them as those individuals who believe education should continue as it has historically. In other words, those individuals that believe that sitting in a classroom, being lectured to, regurgitating meaningless and trivial factoids, and assuming competence is a perfectly reasonable way to educate. Rather than calling them out specifically, though, I think I would simply design my presentation with these people in mind, just in case some of them will be in the audience. As much as I would like to scream to them, "Wake up!" that's probably not going to be an effective method for facilitating this adoption.

I think for this project, relative advantage and compatibility will be the most crucial aspects to keep in mind. Serious games are currently perceived as interesting, albeit trivial. Many people get caught up in the "game" aspect and consider Serious Games to be trivial in and of themselves. There is a perception that learning must be serious and rigorous, negating the importance of engagement and motivation. In my presentation, I plan to focus on the "more rigorous" aspects of Serious Games, demonstrating how they can be used to meet or exceed the goals of traditional methodologies.

S-curve: Research your innovation to find out when it was introduced, how far it has matured, and the rate of adoption over time. Be sure to include accurate time lines and the percentage of penetration from introduction to the present day. Add your S-Curve to the storyboard for your presentation, along with a brief explanation of what the data demonstrates.

This is a tricky component to identify clearly with Serious Games, primarily because the line between video games and educational games is somewhat blurry. In addition, because multiple companies and developers are working on video games across the industry, it's difficult to pinpoint who did what first.

Having said that, the first recognized example of an educational game was //Army Battlezone//, which was released by Atari in 1980 for military training. Since that time, a number of serious games have emerged but only from time to time and with limited popularity or success. In the late 1990s, however, the industry began to experience significant growth, due in part to technological advances, but also due to increasing popularity and familiarity with video games.

Addendum:

Important statistics:
 * US computer and video game software sales grew 6% in 2006 to $7.4 billion – almost tripling industry software sales since 1996.
 * **67% of American heads of households** play computer and video games.
 * The **average game player is 33 years old** and has been playing games for 12 years.
 * The average age of the **most frequent game buyer is 38 years old**. In 2007, 92% of computer game buyers and 80% of console game buyers were over the age of 18.
 * 85% of all games sold in 2006 were rated “E” for Everyone, “T” for Teen, or “E10+” for Everyone 10+.
 * 86% of game players under the age of 18 report that they get their parents’ permission when renting or buying games, and 91% say their parents are present when they buy games.
 * 36% of American parents say they play computer and video games. **Further, 80% of gamer parents say they play video games with their kids**. 66% feel that playing games has brought their families closer together.
 * 38% of all game players are women. In fact, **women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (31%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%).**
 * In 2007, **24% of Americans over the age of 50 played video games**, an increase from 9% in 1999.
 * 49% of game players say they play games on-line 1 or more hours per week.

IBM/Sony Research - Digital 2.0. Retrieved April 26, 2010.

April 16, 2010:

Okay, I couldn't resist this...I found this hilarious video that, in some surreal way, demonstrates the diffusion of innovation. I wonder if an S-curve would result if I plotted people's participation in this activity...

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April 12, 2010:

Another video on Educational Games. This one is far more optimistic and touches on some interesting points:

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April 6, 2010:

The below video is an interesting discussion of games. In my opinion, it's the worst case scenario though. Consider, as you watch it, the dangers and implications of the control and surveillance measures being discussed. I think games can make an enormous impact on learning, but this is an abomination.

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Here is a video that provides an overview of a Serious Game, as well as some discussion around its purpose, its use, and its potential benefits:

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March 22, 2010:

The link below will open my Week Two Assignment, which identifies my project topic and reasoning for selecting it. I've also included the highlights in the text below the link.

March 31, 2010:

This is my first rough outline of the storyboard for my presentation. This topic is proving tricky to apply Rogers' Innovation-Development process to, partly because the development is tied to sporadic technological advances and partly because it isn't one specific diffusion but rather an entire genre.

And here is the PDF Version:



Below is my work-in-progress presentation:

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