Instructional Games

Three part session: Mansureh Kebritchi and Atsusi Hirumi presented on how game designers are, or are not, identifying the learning theories they apply in their game design. Conclusion: things are getting more professional, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Debbie Denise Reese presented on game design (the game here being Selene) with the goal of bringing students to the state Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls "flow", that balance of skill and challenge that keeps you happily going until you realize to your surprise that many productive hours have passed unnoticed. Mary Jo Dondlinger and Les Lunce presented on wayfinding affordances (cues to keep the learner from getting lost) in virtual reality, a subject we will get to practically apply in Second Life.