A Review of Applications of Computer Games in Education and Training
Arango, F., Aziz, E.-S., Esche, S. K. & Chassapis, C.
Proceedings of the 38th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA, October 22 - 25, 2008.
Abstract
Scientists, engineers and educators are increasingly utilizing learning and research environments enabled by advanced cyberinfrastructure tools for their research projects, formal and informal education and training, career development and life-long learning.
For instance, academic institutions as well as private training and education companies have recently started to explore the potential of commercially available multi-player computer game technologies for the development of virtual environments for instructional purposes.
Most of these developments are still in their early stages and are focused mainly on investigating the suitability of interactive games for remote user interaction, content distribution and collaborative activities.
While so far the majority of the pedagogical computer game applications are aimed at areas such as the study of communication and the teaching and discussion of law, human sciences and the arts, some of the projects have the additional objective of analyzing patterns of human behavior, the collaboration between users and their interaction with virtual environments.
A few other developments go beyond basic communication and content distribution and aim at utilizing the computer game technologies as a platform for personnel training and educational laboratory simulations, wherein scenarios are created that foster interactive and collaborative as well as exploration-based learning patterns.
This paper will provide a review of the state of the art in computer game applications with a special focus on student laboratory implementations.