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MMO Family: The state of the game (at school)
When you think of kids and video games, the question that always comes up is this: What are they getting out of playing them? Usually, MMOs, even MMOs aimed at kids, are big on fun but light on learning. So it was refreshing to see teacher Ben Bertoli launch a Kickstarter project to promote development of his personal project ClassRealm into what could be a potentially valuable tool in the classroom. So why haven't we seen more educational MMOs, and why has there been a gap when it comes to technology at home vs. at school? In this week's MMO Family, we'll look a few issues with gaming and learning.
ClassRealm MMO rewards kids for being good students
Who says video games are bad for you? Not Ben Bertoli, a sixth grade teacher from Indiana who has built an MMO called ClassRealm that has students, teachers, and administrators singing his praises. Kotaku reports that the game is basically an experience point system that rewards kids for being studious and helping their classmates. There's also an achievement system and classes and races that include wizards, zombies, ninjas, and vampires. Bertoli initially started with something approximating a Google document but has since moved on to full-blown graphics and an app that works on mobile devices as well as laptops and PCs. Bertoli has partnered with a computer engineer, a graphic designer, and an illustrator to fully flesh out the project, and there's also a Kickstarter campaign in case you want to contribute. Bertoli and company are currently slaving away on ClassRealm in their spare time, but the rewards are well worth it. "If [kids are] struggling in a certain thing, but they are pushing hard because they want the XP, or an achievement, and then suddenly it clicks, seeing that happen is really rewarding. The student feels like, 'I was going for XP, but now I am happy that I learned something,'" Bertoli explains.
