Gaming the System: What Higher Education Can Learn from Multiplayer Online Worlds
- Published:
- Briefs, Case Studies, Papers, Reports
- Author(s) and Contributors:
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Author(s): J.C. Herz
- Source(s) and Collection(s):
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Collection(s): Forum for the Future of Higher Education (Archives)
- ParentTopics:
Abstract
A chapter from the The Internet and the University: Forum 2001. The entertainment technology industry invests vast sums in research and development to create the advanced simulations, characters, and scenarios that underpin computer games. TheUS Army recognizes the transferability and learning potentialof these games, collaborates with industry to create customizedversions for a wide range of training purposes, and, ultimately,to generate realistic virtual experiences that will movemilitary training a quantum leap into the future. Academiamight also benefit from the model presented by online, multiplayer,role-playing games (RPGs), in which networked environmentsfoster active engagement and track participants'contributions. Colleges and universities could create environmentswith similar capabilities that use technology to capitalizeon the strengths and learning styles of the "wired generation"to enhance teaching and learning.