Theresa Trejo

Week 5 Assignment

Video Games in Education: An Annotated Bibliography on game design

using open-source tools for learning.
By Theresa Trejo

Please note: this is a discussion document and is always being updated.

Assignment
Alyssa Yackee, Kay Miller, Weaam Almuzain, and Theresa Trejo. (2009). Trends Class:
Second Life: Immersive Education and Virtual Worlds, Retrieved February 20, 2010,
from class assignment web site: http://secondlife6750.wordpress.com/

Abstract/Notes: Presenting an overview of some of the many educational activities

within the virtual world of Second Life. Second Life is gaining popularity with
universities, corporations and others as a means of providing educational opportunities
and training.

BOOKS
Tract Fullerton. (2008). Publisher Morgan Kaufmann, Second Edition: Game Design
Workshop. Retrieved 2009, Bookstore EBay web site: http://www.half.ebay.com/

Abstract/Notes: A play centric approach to creating innovative games.

Create the digital games you love to play. The importance of putting the design process;
Strategies for thinking about creating games, and a method for putting game design
theories into practice.

Brian A. White. (2008). Que Publishing, Second Life: A guide to your virtual world.
Retrieved 2009, Bookstore EBay web site: http://www.half.ebay.com/

Abstract/Notes: Create your virtual life in an incredible online world. This book is about
Linden Lab’s (SL) and how to understand your target audience, residence. Tutorials to
get acquainted with second life since there is a lot to learn. Written for a broad audience.

Development Tools
Mark Overmars. (2007). Yo-Yo: Game Maker: Where people come to play, make, or
share educational Games: Retrieved February 22, 2010, from YOYO Wiki web site:
http://wiki.yoyogames.com/index.php/Main_Page, &
http://www.yoyogames.com/; http://www.yoyogames.com/search?q=education
Abstract/Notes: Yo-Yo Games Ltd is a UK Based Game Start-up founded by games
industry veterans, Sandy Duncan and Michel Cassius. Employing a web 2.0 community
model. Yo-Yo Games allows users to “Play, Make and Share games” for free.
Game Maker is used in all levels of education, ranging from primary schools to
university. It provides an index to useful pages on the wiki about the use of Game Maker

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in education. There educational purposes, is a vehicle to teach students about
programming, technology, and of course game design itself.

Andres Monroy-Hernandez & Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.
(2007). Scratch is an educational initiative: Retrieved 2009 from scratch web site:
http://scratch.mit.edu/ & http://info.scratch.mit.edu/educators

Abstract/Notes: Scratch-Ed is a new online community where Scratch educators share

stories, exchange resources, ask questions, and find people. Scratch is a programming
language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games,
music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. As young people create and share
Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also
learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. It provides
the tools for children to learn and express themselves using digital technology.

Carnegie Mellon University. (1999-2010). Alice 3.0: Educational Software that teaches
students computer programming in a 3D environment. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from
Alice web site: http://www.alice.org/index.php

Abstract/Notes: Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy

to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share
on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first
exposure to object-oriented programming. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop
interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming
experience. Alice is a teaching tool designed as a revolutionary approach to teaching and
learning introductory programming concepts.

Games & Simulation

Game name: STK commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software product
Subject area/learning domain: Aerospace
Link: http://www.agi.com/partners/edu/index.cfm?tab=overview
AGI's Educational Alliance Program provides eligible colleges, universities, military
training institutions, high schools, and nonprofit educational groups with free licensing of
AGI products for instructional use. Educators can introduce a new dimension to the
curriculum by giving students hands-on experience with the industry-leading, commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) software product used by tens of thousands of aerospace, defense,
and intelligence professionals for national security and space initiatives. STK allows
students and instructors to create dynamic, 3-D scenarios of complex space-related topics
and solve real space analysis problems. The program currently serves approximately 200
academic institutions.

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Game name: Second Life & Teen Second Life.
Type: Mac and PC computer game
Link: http://secondlife.com & http://teen.secondlife.com/
Number of players: 1, but a community of avatars.
Subject area/learning domain: Building Tool Set.
Summary of educational fit: Teen Second Life is an international gathering place for
teens 13-17 to make friends and to play, learn and create. In Second Life, teens can create
and customize a digital self called an "avatar," fly through an ever-changing 3D
landscape, chat and socialize with other teens from all over the world, and build anything
from skyscrapers to virtual vehicles. It’s more than a videogame and much more than an
Internet chat program – it’s a boundless world of surprise and adventure that encourages
teens to work together and use their imaginations.
Game name: Kongregate Labs.
Type: Flash Games.
Link: http://www.kongregate.com/
Subject area/learning domain: A new tutorial/toolset aimed at teaching the basic, and
elements of designing Flash games for designers.
Summary of educational fit: To play Games, or Build them.
Wiki
Media Wiki. (2009). LSL: Second Life Linden Scripting Language Portal. Retrieved
February 24, 2010, from http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal &
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:Portals
Abstract/Notes: The goal of this portal is to centralize all information likely to help
Residents. Second Life features hundreds of fascinating locations for learning and
teaching. Simteach.com is a place for university instructional designers, faculty and
administrators to find information and to share their own experiences designing, teaching
and administering classes in immersive environments, Multi-User Virtual Environments.

Erwin Coumans & Gino Van Den Bergen. (2000). Wiki: The Blender Game Engine.
Retrieved February 22, 2010, from the Wikipedia web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Blender

Abstract/Notes: The Blender Game Engine is a component of Blender, a free and open-
source comprehensive 3D production suite, used for making real-time interactive content.
The game engine was written from scratch in C++ as a mostly independent component,
and includes support for features such as Python scripting and OpenAL 3D sound. The
game engine layout is simple and easy to use, and it is easy for non-programmers to learn
to create simple games. Larger and more complex games tend to require the use of
Python, which can be used to extend the engine and create more complex behavior. The
game engine's system of graphically connecting "logic bricks" allows non-programmers
to quickly create logic setups simply and easily. These "logic bricks" are highly adaptable
and can be extended using Python scripting.