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What is MAGNUS? »
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A brief overview of Learning GamesIntroductionGaming has been around for some time. It involves a group of participants in the activity of decision making process at various stages in a simulated dynamic environment. These participants may be playing against each other or against the environment. It all started at the manual level with board games such as chess. Gaming simplify and abstract situations that can exist in the real world. The game participants, either individually or in groups, manage the situation or an aspect of it, by making decisions for successive periods or events. Thus, typically a game is a sequential decision making exercise structured around a model, in which participants assume the role of the decision makers. Other than for the purpose of entertainment, games can also be used as a teaching tool. An important characteristic of the game which make it an invaluable teaching tool is it allows the players to return back to any point of the game to try out a different set of decision and see the different effects and made comparisons from the previous to determine what the advantages and disadvantages are. Games in the 21st CenturyEntertainment games are now a billion dollar industry, making as much revenue as the movie industry. The choices available to gamers are vast - Consoles games on XBox, Wii and Playstation; PC games; Massive Multiplayer Online Games; Casual Games played on the Web; Handheld games and mobile games. It is for this reason that Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, says "Common sense tells us that a medium so basic to the lives of these 'millennials' has potential beyond the living room. We would be crazy not to seek ways to exploit interactive games to teach our children."
The theory is that games teach skills that employers want: analytical thinking, team building, multitasking and problem-solving under duress. Unlike humans, the games never lose patience. And they are second nature to kids. (MSNBC, 18 Oct 2006) This point is also emphasized in another article, published in The Straits Times on 22nd December 2006.
It goes on to elaborate on how games can be used in different industries:
Business Simulation GamesBusiness simulation games caught the attention of management and academics in the late fifties with the introduction of a business game by the American Management Association. Due to the unavailability and high cost of computers, most of the business simulation games at that time was developed to be played manually with simple scenario and rules. As computers get more affordable, increasing number of business simulation games are written to run on computers. Using the computation powers of these machines, more realistic and sophisticated game which requires complex mathematical relationships can be realized. The improvement in the modelling of the business environment has widened the application of business simulation games to be used as teaching tool and research tool. (Keys & Wolfe, 1990) Business Simulation games are usually played to learn something about the world that is modelled in the play whereas most other games are played purely for entertainment. Participants in a management game can use their knowledge of the outside world when playing the game and can use the knowledge gained in the game in the outside world. (Casimir 1995)
References(Straits Times, 22nd Dec 2006) (MSNBC, 18 Oct 2006) (Casimir, 1995) (Keys & Wolfe, 1990) |
