My slides from the 2009 MLTI student conference.

1. WHY VIDEO GAMES ARE
GOOD FOR YOU!

2. WHO AM I?
• Tim Hart
• Instructional Technologist for
UMaine
• www.edutim.com
• Gamer

3. GAMER?
• Played Video Games all my life
• Some systems I’ve owned:
• Commodore 64, Atari 2600, NES, Gameboy, SNES,
Genesis, Virtual Boy, N64, Playstation, Gamecube,
Playstation 2, XBOX, Nintendo DS, Wii, XBox 360
• XBox Live account ID = Hartix
• Currently playing: Resident Evil 5

4. WHY DID YOU COME HERE?

5. WHY DID YOU COME HERE?
To show you how to convince
your parents, teachers, and
principals that gaming is
worthwhile.

6. WHO IS THIS?

7. WHO IS THIS?
Image courtesy of Nintendo

8. WHO IS THIS?
• Mario
Image courtesy of Nintendo

9. WHO IS THIS?
• Mario
• Bonus Points - Full
name
Image courtesy of Nintendo

10. WHO IS THIS?
• Mario
• Bonus Points - Full
name
• Mario Mario
Image courtesy of Nintendo

11. WHO IS THIS?

12. WHO IS THIS?
Image courtesy of Nintendo

13. WHO IS THIS?
• Samus Aran
Image courtesy of Nintendo

14. WHO IS THIS?
• Samus Aran
• BonusPoints - Male
or Female
Image courtesy of Nintendo

15. WHO IS THIS?
• Samus Aran
• BonusPoints - Male
or Female
• Female Image courtesy of Nintendo

16. WHO IS THIS?

17. WHO IS THIS?
Image courtesy of Bungie

18. WHO IS THIS?
• Master Chief
Image courtesy of Bungie

19. WHO IS THIS?
• Master Chief
• Bonus Points - Full
name
Image courtesy of Bungie

20. WHO IS THIS?
• Master Chief
• Bonus Points - Full
name
• MasterChief Petty
Officer John-117
Image courtesy of Bungie

21. WHO IS THIS?

22. WHO IS THIS?
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

23. WHO IS THIS?
• Niko Bellic
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

24. WHO IS THIS?
• Niko Bellic
• BonusPoints -
Cousin’s name?
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

25. WHO IS THIS?
• Niko Bellic
• BonusPoints -
Cousin’s name?
• Roman Bellic
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

26. GAMER FACTS
source: entertainment software association

27. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
source: entertainment software association

28. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
2. More than one-third of gamers are women .
source: entertainment software association

29. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
2. More than one-third of gamers are women .
3. More than one in four gamers is over 50.
source: entertainment software association

30. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
2. More than one-third of gamers are women .
3. More than one in four gamers is over 50.
4. The average game purchaser is 40 years old.
source: entertainment software association

31. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
2. More than one-third of gamers are women .
3. More than one in four gamers is over 50.
4. The average game purchaser is 40 years old.
5. Sixty-three percent of parents believe games are a positive
part of their children’s lives.
source: entertainment software association

32. GAMER FACTS
1. The average gamer is 35 years old.
2. More than one-third of gamers are women .
3. More than one in four gamers is over 50.
4. The average game purchaser is 40 years old.
5. Sixty-three percent of parents believe games are a positive
part of their children’s lives.
6. Sales of quot;family entertainmentquot; video games more than
doubled in 2007, making it the fastest growing segment of
the video game market. source: entertainment software association

33. THE NUMBERS
Game sales in 2007 - $9.5 billion.
source: entertainment software association

34. THE NUMBERS
Game sales in 2007 - $9.5 billion.
That is nine games sold every second of every day in 2007.
source: entertainment software association

35. THE NUMBERS
Game sales in 2007 - $9.5 billion.
That is nine games sold every second of every day in 2007.
Halo 3, the best-selling title of 2007, took in more revenue
in its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend
ever for a movie (quot;Spider-Man 3quot;) and the final quot;Harry
Potterquot; book's first day sales
source: entertainment software association

36. SALES BY RATING
E (Everyone)
16% T (Teen)
M (Mature)
28% 57%
source: entertainment software association

37. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?

38. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun

39. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun
• Immersion

40. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun
• Immersion
• Empowerment

41. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun
• Immersion
• Empowerment
• Creating and strengthening social
bonds

42. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun
• Immersion
• Empowerment
• Creating and strengthening social
bonds
• Exercise

43. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES?
• Fun
• Immersion
• Empowerment
• Creating and strengthening social
bonds
• Exercise
• Others?

44. WHAT DO ALL THESE PEOPLE
HAVE IN COMMON?
Image courteous of Scott Lewis

45. THEY ARE ALL IN THE “ZONE”
Image courteous of Scott Lewis

46. WHAT IS THE ZONE?

47. WHAT IS THE ZONE?

48. CHALLENGES FOR GAME
DESIGNERS
• Creating an activity that allows for a “in the zone” experience
• Allowing
a wide array of skill levels to initially enjoy and be
immersed in the game
• Sustaining “in the zone” throughout the experience

49. CHALLENGES FOR TEACHERS
• Creating an activity that allows for a “in the zone” experience
• Allowing
a wide array of skill levels to initially enjoy and be
immersed in the lesson
• Sustaining “in the zone” throughout the experience

50. THEY ARE THE SAME!
Game Designer = Teacher

51. THEY ARE THE SAME!
Game Designer = Teacher
OMG!!!

52. STUDENTS AT RISK

53. STUDENTS AT RISK
Kids who don’t play video games
are at risk!

54. STUDENTS AT RISK
Kids who don’t play video games
are at risk!
They get in trouble more often!

55. STUDENTS AT RISK
Kids who don’t play video games
are at risk!
They get in trouble more often!
Lawrence Kutner, PhD, and his wife Cheryl K. Olson, ScD

56. SOME RESEARCH
• Lawrence Kutner, PhD, and his wife
Cheryl K. Olson, ScD
• Research was funded with $1.5
million by the U.S. Dept. of Justice
• Findings
reported in Grand Theft
Childhood: The Surprising Truth
About Violent Video Games and
What Parents Can Do.
• Hereare some of the myths
debunked

57. MYTH #1
• The growth in violent video game sales is
linked to the growth in youth violence —
especially school violence — throughout the
US.

58. FACT
• Violent
Crime in Schools fell 44%
from 1994-2001
• We have the lowest juvenile
arrest rate for violent crimes since
1983.
• Murder Arrests in 1993 = 3,800
• Murder Arrests in 2001 = 1,400

59. MYTH #2
•Girls
don’t play violent video games like
Grand Theft Auto.

60. FACT
• 29% of girls say they play at least one M-rated game a
lot
• One in five listed Grand Theft Auto
• Grand Theft Auto was second only to the Sims in
popularity.

61. MYTH #3
•Never playing games keeps you out
of trouble.

62. FACT
• Boyswho rarely or never played video or computer
games were more likely to get into fights or have
problems at school.

63. SO BASICALLY...

64. SO BASICALLY...
•“There is absolutely no evidence
that playing violent video games
will turn kids into criminals.”

65. SO BASICALLY...
•“There is absolutely no evidence
that playing violent video games
will turn kids into criminals.”
~ Lawrence Kutner

66. SO VIDEO GAMES DON’T
HURT YOU...

67. SO VIDEO GAMES DON’T
HURT YOU...
...but do they help you?

69. YES!

70. HOW?
• Don’tBother Me Mom - I’m
Learning
• Marc Prensky
• Internationally acclaimed speaker,
writer, consultant, and designer in
the critical areas of education and
learning.
• Here is his book in a nutshell...

71. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
•“The true secret of why kids spend
so much time on their games is that
they’re learning things they need for
their twenty-first century lives”

72. FOR THE DOCTORS
• “I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as
I use for surgery.
• Dr. James Rosser, Beth Israel Hospital
• Doctors that played games earlier in life made 40% less
mistakes during surgery.
• Playing video games before surgery also lowers error rates.

73. MULTITASKING
Increases the ability to do many
things at the same time
AND
do them well.

74. RULES
•Gamers figure things out on their own
better than non-gamers
•Probetheir environment for
understanding

75. RISK TAKING
•Gamers are risk takers
•Gamers are more likely to try
different strategies
•Enlightened trial and error

76. GAMES TEACH STRATEGY
• Cause and effect
• Long term winning versus short term gains
• Order from seeming chaos
• Complex system behaviors
• Counter-intuitive results
• Using obstacles as motivation
• The value of persistence

77. 10 YEAR OLD GAMERS
LEARNED.
• Everyone can save the world if they try
• Two against one isn’t fair
• Don’t shoot people
• Have patience
• The good guys always win
• Don’t trust everyone you meet
• Help your friends

78. SOME OF MY GAME PROJECTS
• Black Bear Island
• VirtualIsland for studying
virtual worlds for teaching
and learning.
• Offered courses on the
island
• http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Black%20Bear%20Island/
144/100/31

79. SOME OF MY GAME PROJECTS
• UMaine OpenSim
• Virtual
Island Server that is
free and open source
• Planto offer free, private,
virtual space to Maine schools
• http://
opensim.umeedu.maine.edu

80. SOME OF MY GAME PROJECTS
• OS X Virtual World App
• Virtual World
software for
your computer
• Can load different worlds -
like the Matrix
• http://www.edutim.com/
opensim-app

81. FOUR QUESTIONS
1.Why are you doing what you're doing to beat the game?
2.What aspects of the game lead you to that approach?
3.Where are you taking risks, and where are you playing it safe?
4.What skills do you need to develop to get better at this game?