“Developing Educational Virtual Worlds with Game Engines” by Bendis
Conference:
Type(s):
Title:
- Developing Educational Virtual Worlds with Game Engines
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
Game engines are often overlooked in the investigation of virtual worlds technology. First-person shooters, head-to-head death-matches, and full-blown massively multiplayer online role-playing games have a lot in common with virtual worlds. Modifying existing games, as well as using authoring engines and toolkits, not only creates a new opportunity for the educator but also allows them to dip into a well-supported and well-populated world of creative energy, talent, and help. Also, because educators are not the primary audience for the gaming industry, many game companies are eager to work with educators and some are very generous with their licensing. The educator’s task is to repurpose these tools for their pedagogical requirements. With these tools in hand, this paper looks to address those pedagogical issues and in many places asks more questions than it answers.
Acknowledgements:
This paper and the ongoing projects at Case Western Reserve University’s Freedman Center, a partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Kelvin Smith Library, would not be possible without the support of Joanne Eustis – University Librarian, Thomas Hayes – Managing Librarian of the Freedman Center and the student research team of Benjamin Golub, Sue Qiao, Nick Fotz, and Eric Neuman who work tirelessly on projects with often conflicting priorities ever evolving goals.
