In the dialogue on how technology may save education for a generation facing a broken public school system and countless distractions, gamification has received plenty of attention. But can digital games – often the very source of distraction — engage the new generation in education? Yes and no. Games are a tool, and their value in education depends on how they fit into our overall strategy.
via Can Gamification Save Our Broken Education System? – Forbes.
President Obama has recently called for an investigation to determine whether games and media can initiate violence. After recent tragedies, the President has proclaimed it would be irresponsible not to collect more data on the subject. However, it is well known that the President is a fan of games and, during a public conversation with Google+ about his February 14th State of the Union Address, he indicated his support of game-based learning. We might go as far as to say he was calling for more game-based learning in schools.
This web-based game from Rice University was submitted by Lynn Lauterbach. The game is available at medmyst.rice.edu.
Subject Area and Learning Outcomes
Life Science Middle Level: Pathogens, Immune System, Disease, Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoan, Zoonotic Diseases, Scientific Method, STEM careers
Summary
(1-2 players) MedMyst Original has five different mission options. It is generally geared for teaching about infectious disease, pathogens, and the immune response. Mission 1 is an orientation or general introduction, Mission 2 is based on a bacterial disease, cholera, Mission 3 is a viral disease in the pox family, Mission 4 is a protozoan disease dealing with malaria. Mission 5 is a combination of things and is built around zoonotic (animal borne) illnesses. MedMyst Reloaded has STEM career connections and scientific method modeling. Games are built in to the program as reinforcement and review of content.
Setup
There are teacher materials, vocabulary, and activites included.
Rules of Play
Self-guided. Winning is not the object as much as completion.
Sample Turn
The student is engaged in the text through a story line that is set in the future. They move through the program solving, learning, and reviewing materials dealing with Life Science concepts.
How this game works in class
I prefer to have students work individually although they can work in pairs. I like to put headphones on the students so the background music and other noises are what they hear. They work through at their own pace. I sometimes have them show accountability with some of the items under the teacher materials pages.
Post-Game Discussion/Assessment
The teacher materials pages have activities and assessments included. The vocabulary pages guide students learning new words and their meanings.
