Case 3 Report of a serious game: Spent Pinshu Zhou

Spent is a serious game on life simulation. It gives people chances to experience online about what and how poor people of America suffer by letting players choose a low-wage job and make variety of payments for a month living to see if you can get through. And meanwhile, it also offers what majority of American poor people do or confront, sometimes reluctantly, when they make the choice as well as you. Players are easily to go broke in few days, and in order to get through, you have to make multiple tough choices, give up enjoyments, time, image and even dignity. All these simulations above is to give people an impression of tough lives of poor American people and motivate us to make donations or to get involved to rban !inistries of "urham, a non-profit organi#ation offering spiritual support, to help those people. It$s more likely to be an advertising website of rban !inistries of "urham rather than a game. %irst, players should choose a job from a restaurant server, a warehouse worker and a temp, which are low-wage. &he temp re'uired typing test, and I failed twice. It tells players that even people at the very bottom of employment sometimes need specific skills to make living, which shows the difficulty of money-earning. (econd, players should choose a place to live. And as everybody knows, the closer to downtown, the more expensive the house rent is. Also, far living place re'uires more oil cost, so it$s a dilemma. People always choose to live far away, but in fact, as the website told, sometimes it costs more to live suburb due to more oil costs. &hen, different necessary payments appear, such as cell phone bill, car insurance, water bill, electricity bill, car repossession and food cost. &hese costs are common and e'ual in all classes, which makes it more heavy for low income level since they account for a greater share of their income. Also, reluctant decisions have to be made to get through this tough life. )e have to decide whether sell our stuff or by a storage, whether stand a noisy rent-share roommate or drive him out, whether allow children to their friends$ party with gift or not, whether buy a pair of new shoes or second-hand, whether hire a math tutor for children or teach them by ourselves$ poor math knowledge, etc. *ow income makes people struggle between enjoyment or suffering, comfort or hardship, reluctance or dignity. And of course, emergency happens. &raffic accident, overspeed driving and sickness costs serious money, even though they got insurance. +therwise, neither sickness nor family emergency can be an excuse of job absence, you$ll be fired if you miss , days of work. It seemed that low-wage jobs are always not humanistic. &his game does have educational value in getting players involved in suffered people$s lives empathically, therefore improving the awareness of American social condition and reality. -opefully, it can improve students$ sympathy and stimulate them to better serve our community using there knowledge.

Spent has its cons as well. It$s content is limited, with only , jobs, and many people can not finish the third one. As I estimated, students can finish all the steps in about ./ minutes. +n the other hand, it has educational value, but is not worth repeatedly playing. Spent can be a good source for a single topic of social study, but teachers should find some more abundant games rather than let students engage in Spent repeatedly to make sure both school time and after afterschool time are valuable and effective. It focuses too much on the negative side of society. It seems that the uni'ue bright way for poor people is to get help from rban !inistries of "urham,the one and the only. &oo much negative information is likely to drive 0 th grade students to be critical, rather than dialectical. (o I think Spent should include something positive. Also, some other costs should be included, not only water, electricity and food, but also taxes, parking, cigarettes, hair cut, seasonal stuff, etc. &hese could be a considerable cost as well. In conclusion, Spent has educational value on low income people living situation study. 1ut it$s not worth repeatedly playing since its lack of content. I recommend teachers to find something new for students. (erious games are good sources for teaching, parents do not have to worried about children$s addiction since serious games are more informative and educational than entertaining.

(erious 2ames And &he %uture +f 3ducation

Are serious games the classroom tool of the future4 Is the future already here4 &he tablet classroom may have once been the stuff of science fiction, but modern developments in technology and brain science may have come together to create a massive change in the way we think about education. 5&he essence of what$s going on now is the adoption of brain science6 It turns out that if you teach in a different way, you can get outcomes that are .7-87 times more efficient and stickier,9 says 1rainrush:founder ;olan 1ushnell. 1ushnell, founder of Atari, Inc and <huck 3. <heese Pi##a &ime &heaters, believes that an integration of video games and educational software will spur one of the most significant changes in education history. 5In some ways the world of education is going to go through one of the most massive changes in the next five years than it has seen in the last three thousand years. It$s a perfect storm.9 1ushnell believes the change will come from four key areas. .= &he rise of cheap, ubi'uitous hardware. 8= >obust networks that allow for connectivity without the administrative constraints of the past. ,= 3xtreme pressure on schools to produce outcomes ? &oo many kids are getting through high school with no meaningful job skills. @= Adoption of brain science software. 5+ne of the key factors is here is the adoption of brain science. 2etting it involved in the curriculum is massively effective. ;ot by 87A, not by /7A, but by many multiples of educational efficacy,9 says 1ushnell. 5&his is on a trajectory right now that is unstoppable by bureaucracy, but unions, by anything. It$s just going to happen.9

1ushnell states that these factors have created a situation where the

adoption of new technology isn$t just smart, but inevitable. 5&he real issue comes down to effectiveness. &he school systems have adopted a factory system of education, which says pretty much one speed, one complexity. As a result, there$s one person being taught at the right speed and the rest of the kids are bored or lost,9 says 1ushnell. 5&he computer allows you to adapt to each student$s particular skills and speed. Instead of A1<"%, all kids end up totally mastering the subject. It$s a big change. )hat it really does is it levels the understanding gap in the factory model with really impressive outcomes.9

Besse (chell

Besse (chell, founder and <3+ of (chell 2ames:, sees the shift not something that will happen in the near future but as something already happening. 5<oming from an entertainment games background used to be creative director at "isney Imaginary Cirtual >eality (tudio. %or the last .8 years I$ve been teaching t the <arnegie !ellon$s 3ntertainment &echnology <enter and about .7 years ago I started my own game studio in Pittsburgh,9 says (chell. 5)e$ve grown from / people to about .77 people right now and what we$ve found in the last few years is that the fastest growing part of the games industry is in educational games. )hat we see is going to happen is an avalanche of tablets into the school systems, they$re well poised to replace textbooks and then a number of other changes start to happen. (chell$s take on the situation finds some common ground with 1ushnell$s analysis. *ike 1ushnell, (chell sees the transformation not if, but when.

5"ebate on how this transformation when this is going to happen. I believe that schools only make changes when they absolutely have to or if they see there is a way to save money,9 says (chell. 5I think it$s possible that they will see tablets as a way to save money. &extbook costs are significant. &ablets are the moment are not terribly cheap, but look at phones ? things get 'uite affordable as time goes on.9

It can be difficult to visuali#e this takeover, but look at the video game industry and the shift to mobile titles. Dids are having their first interactions with games on mobile devices, something that current-gen gamers simply can$t identify with. )hen kids are having their first interactions with the tablet touch-screen classroom, similar things could occur. 5!y suspicion is that we$ll see it happen in pockets first, but at the same time we$ll start to see tablet integration take over,9 says (chell. 5)e$ve got a generation of kids now with tablets and touch being their first modes of interaction, expecting to come into the classroom and touch screens.9 And what about concerns that games may simply not be seen as an educational tool4 (chell shrugs off the possibility. 5People see the power that games hold. &hey see the focus. &hey see the engagement. Eou hear parents say FI wish they were as excited about Algebra as they are about <all of "uty.$ &he key is going to come down to data. It$s going to be very difficult to argue with data and results.9 &he classroom of the future is a connected one, with the teacher able to #ero in and command the flow of information and learning. )ith all of the talk about big data and analytics, these tools could be utili#ed in the new classroom with significant impact. 5It gives the teacher so much data. It$s incredible for both students that are behind and ahead. &his change has already started to happen. &eachers see the power of games to engage students. It$s about what happens when the students and the teacher are all using the same technology and it$s all connected,9 says (chell.

5&his is a fundamental change in the experience. &he teacher is almost in the role of a "ungeon !aster, giving out a scenario that everyone is working on, monitoring status, changing the challenge depending on situations, and moving things front and center to the board when something key happens.9 Annotation: &he article asserts that the world of education will go through a massive change due to the development of technology. !odern school education is lack of effectiveness, while computer allows you to

adapt each students particular speed and skill. &he article also said that just like video game industry and mobile title did, when kids are having their first interaction with serious game in class, they will expect further utili#ation of this new form of education. %orbesG87.,=. (erious 2ame And &he %uture +f 3ducationG"aniel &ack=. Adapted fromHhttpHIIwww.forbes.comIsitesIdanieltackI87.,I7JI.8Iseriousgames-and-the-future-of-educationI: Are serious games on tablets the answer to tomorrowKs educational needs4 As a parent with small children IKm keen that any use of technology is balanced between creativity and learning and Kjust for funK. ItKs not always easy to balance the time spent between the two when the iPad is in the hands of my youngsters, but I do try and at least fill it with KeducationalK content. (o imagine to my surprise to find out there is a whole revolution around K(teve Bob schoolsK see httpHIIwww.educationforanewera.comI where all books are replaced with the iPadL An iPad school if you like H httpHIIwww.businessinsider.comIsteve-jobs-schools-revolutioni#e-education-ipad87.,-0 &his we are told - is the new KbetterK way to learn. )e donKt need pen and paper or teachers, we just need iPads. >ightL And to somewhat add more fuel to the fire, the founder of that old Atari, ;olan 1ushnell claims that our current education system is just broken, everyone goes at one speed and we are all stuck. And that his Kserious gamesK are going to improve education by a factor of 87 timesL &hat would imply that . year of 1ushnellKs 1rainbrush game based education system Gsee httpHIIwww.brainrush.comI = is enough to replace 87 years of our standard education. -aving tried the platform IKve come to the conclusion that 1ushnell has lost his mind. (erious 2ames are so good at transferring knowledge 1ushnell claims that we really donKt need teachers anymore. 1ut what kind of knowledge4 <ertainly the type of knowledge that 1rain>ush transfers is no what weKd call tacit knowledge, its a set of factoid - not that useful in the 8.st century where my phone can look it up.

As a serious games practitioner and researcher IKm still 'uite sceptical that games by themselves are the answer. After all havenKt we heard all of this before with Klaptops will replace booksK and Kelearning will replace physical classroomsK. &he reality is far from this. 3-learning has not replaced classrooms and serious games on tablets are not going to replace teachers either, but hopefully help teachers teach better. 2ood teaching material, including games, simulations, videos etc can - if the teacher knows how to use them effectively Gand that means providing teacher material - make a significant impact on the educational outcomes, but to make claims of being 87 times better is rather naive if not

downright fantasy. &he trouble with todayKs education weKre told is that itKs stuck in a one speed system - no matter how bright you are you are Kforced to keep with everyone elseK and this we are told is holding us back. 1ut this over simplification of the varied landscape of education is blind knowledge, not only countries with Kone speedK - like <hina - are thriving. 1ut many western countries, with multispeed education are failing, rather spectacularly. -ysteria aside, the over reliance on technology to replace good teaching is absurd. ItKs just another tool. 1ut developers and researchers everywhere working on serious games take note - the future is tabletImobile shaped with touch interactivity and not necessarily on a P< in a lab. If you havenKt already made the switch to Kmobile firstK you are on losing ground. -ere at Play2en all our recent efforts assume Kmobile firstK, Ksocial secondK and well all other uses next. As to the 'uestion on whether Kserious gamesK will play an even bigger role in education in years to come, IKm not sure. <ertainly there will be even more technology in our schools - but my money is on a good teacher, not just a bigger selection of Keducational contentK on the app store.

AnnotationH &he article asserts that online learnings are not gonna replace traditional teaching, as well as serious games can$t replace teachers, but rather helping teachers to teach better. If teachers can use serious games effectively, it can be fantastic. &oday$s education is stuck with one speed system, and the use of serious games can change this condition. 1ut it$s not sure whether serious game will play a even bigger role in education in years to come since people always spend money on good teacher rather than unfamiliar technology.
2alaG87.,=.Are serious games on tablets the answer to tomorrowKs educational needs4GDam (tar=.Adapted fromH httpHIIwww.galanoe.euIindex.phpIhomeIM7M-are-serious-games-on-tablets-the-answer-totomorrows-educational-needs: