Educational Gaming Commons

Posted on March 11, 2008 
Filed Under Community Hub, EGC

EGC Tag SmallThe PSU Educational Gaming Commons aims to create a community of users who will support both physical and virtual infrastructure to promote the broad impact of gaming within the teaching, learning, and research environment. Serious Games, or gaming for learning purposes, have become a very hot topic in higher education in recent years. Gaming in general is one of the most universally participated in activities on college campuses. It is because of this that we feel it is important to create an environment that fosters a community of users around the investigation and utilization of games within the learning environment. To this end, ETS will create a Serious Games initiative that strives to provide an infrastructure for growing the wide adoption and use of games to support teaching, learning, and research.

Virtual Worlds Tag SmallAnother component of our ongoing investigations are online “virtual worlds” such as Linden Labs’ Second Life. These spaces are increasingly gaining attention and are gaining the attention of faculty, staff, and students. A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment in which a participant is represented in a humanoid or other form, called an avatar. The avatar can move through the environment and manipulate objects. The most popular virtual worlds are in 3-D format and involve multiple users whose avatars can interact and communicate with one another. Participants can but do not need to be present at the same time. Five Faculty Engagement Initiatives in Virtual Worlds are under way, ranging from language learning to network visualization.

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