1

Beth Ruddock Visual Literacy Fall 2014.

Most of the descriptions have come directly from the website pages.
Name/source/link
1. Whyville
http://www.whyville.net
/smmk/nice

Description
Whyville is a virtual world geared for
teen and pre-teen girls and boys.
Whyville's millions of registered
"citizens" come from all over to learn,
create, and have fun together.
Whyville is their world. Whyville has
places to go, things to do, and of
course, people to see. Whyville has its
own newspaper, its own Senators, its
own beach, museum, City Hall and
town square, its own suburbia, and
even its own economy - citizens earn
"clams" by playing educational
games. And much, much, much more!

2. Minecraft
https://minecraft.net

Joining Whyville is free.

Minecraft is a game about breaking
and placing blocks. At first, people
built structures to protect against
nocturnal monsters, but as the game
grew players worked together to
create wonderful, imaginative things.
It can also be about adventuring with
friends or watching the sunrise over a
blocky ocean. Its pretty. Brave
players battle terrible things in The
Nether, which is more scary than
pretty. You can also visit a land of
mushrooms if it sounds more like your
cup of tea.

Target
Age
Pre-teen
girls and
boys
This
would
not work
for my
target
audience
of adults

All ages

Usefulness

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

Moderately useful. I like that

it focuses on science and
technology and that 60 % of
the users are girls. I also like
that it is inquiry based.

I couldnt
find the
specific tech
details, but
from what I
found, you
need a web
browser,
and you
need to
enable
cookies
that are sent
back to their
originating
servers.

Highly
appropriate for
the age group. It
appears to be
pretty safe for
pre-teens.

Minecraft
comes in a
variety of
formats.
Buy for
*PC/Mac
*Xbox 360
*Xbox One
* Playstation
3&4
* Pocket
Edition for
iOS and
Android

Moderately
appropriate.
Given its a game,
its ok. But Im not
really sold on it.

I would wonder how long do

kids play on it and at what
age do they start to not be
interested or think its too
simple for them, but overall
it seems great. I also like
that the avatars you create
look cool (i.e., interesting
hair cuts) Im sure that
appeals to pre-teens.

This
would
not work
for my
target
audience
of adults

Useful. It has some math

component but it seems
more focused on building.
Or exploring a world. It has
less of an educational
perspective than lets say
Atlantis. Or Atlantis is just a
better marketer on their
website. =).

And the
graphics
are
killing
me.

Id play Atlantis before I

played minecraft. I do like
the craft/build part of mind
craft, but it seems like it
could take forever.

If kids like it and

its not harming
them, then I think
its fine.
I think I just cant
get past the
blocky graphics,
given I know what
games can look
like today.

Oth
er
na

na

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Name/source/link

Description

Target
Age

Usefulness

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

3. Quest Atlantis
remixed
http://atlantisremixed.o
rg

Atlantis Remixed (ARX) is an

international learning and teaching
project that uses 3D multi-user
environments to immerse children,
ages 9-16, in educational tasks. ARX
combines strategies used in
commercial games with lessons from
educational research on learning and
motivation.

Children
ages 9
16.

Highly Useful. It has both

individual and group work as
well as a focus on the
overall global culture and
greater good for the world
population. Great for 21st
century learners.
The core elements are 1) a
3D multi-user virtual
environment, 2) learning
Quests and unit plans, 3) a
storyline, presented through
an introductory video, novel
and comic book, that
involves mythical characters
and a set of social
commitments, 4) a globallydistributed community of
participants, and (5) a
narrative programming
toolkit for remixing usercreated stories. The
narrative helps to establish
continuity among the
elements and helps to
bridge the fictional world of
Atlantis with the real world
of Earth, an act of
interpretation by each
individual child.

Recommen
ded:
Processor
2.0Ghz or
better
Memory
2GB
Free Disk
Space
500MB
(client plus
cache)*
Operating
System
Microsoft
Windows
Vista, 7
Mac OS X
10.6 or
newer
Video Card
Card with
32MB of
VRAM
Client
15 MB on
PC, 400MB
on Mac.

Highly
appropriate for
age group. I
specifically like
these themes it
incorporates.
The ARX project
will foster an
awareness of
seven critical
dimensions in
order to actualize
them in the lives
of children:

this was interesting about what it is

trying to achieve.

The challenge has been to

develop an adaptive entity that
is not simply about playing yet
remains engaging, is not a
lesson yet fosters learning,
and is not evangelical yet still
promotes a social agenda.
As well as this..
* Positioning students as critical
consumers and producers.

My
target
audience
is adults
but this
still has
universal
themes
that I
think are
importan
t to any
person.
My
audience
might
think its
too child
like but
it would
still be
good for
them
and you
might be
able to
tweek it
to have a
business
context.

Compa
ssionate
Wisdom - "Be
Kind"

Creativ
e Expression - "I
Create"

Environ
mental
Awareness "Think Globally,
Act Locally"

Oth
er
na

Person
al Agency - "I
Have Voice"

Healthy
Communities "Live, Love, Grow

Social
Responsibility "We Can Make a
Difference"

Diversit
y Affirmation "Everyone
Matters"
Name/source/link

Description

4. Portal
http://www.learnwithpo
rtals.com/
Teach with Portals
http://www.teachwithp
ortals.com

The Teach with Portals program offers

free content, information and tools to
help educators build innovative
curricula. Games and tools are
delivered through STEAM for
SCHOOLS, the school-friendly
version of our game distribution
service.
Educators can learn about and share
compelling, engaging and creative
content by accessing lesson plans
and resources on the Teach with

Target
Age
K-12
students

Usefulness
Moderately useful. There
are a number of different
choicessuch as STEAM
for schools, Portal 2 Puzzle
maker, Portal, and Portal 2.
It appears to focus on
STEM, which is hot right
now and it looks like there
are lots of teacher resources
and lesson plans.
Portal and Portal 2 sound

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

They have
PC and Mac
versions.
You can see
the specific
requirement
s from the
FAQ page
here.
http://www.t
eachwithpor
tals.com/ind
ex.php/faq/

Moderately
appropriate. It
covers STEM, but
if it covered more
content areas Id
rate it higher. Still
overall it looks
great.

Oth
er
na

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Portals website, and join a teachersonly community forum for peer
support and problem-solving.

Name/source/link
5. PowerPoint games
http://people.uncw.edu
/ertzbergerj/ppt_game
s.html

6. Flash/Skill/Drill
games (funbrain,
kids page, brain pop,
nat geo
http://www.funbrain.co
m/sudoku/Sudoku.htm
l

Become part of a movement that

shares ideas, methods and
experiences to teach students in
profound new ways.
Description
A number of templates or shells are
provided and you put in your content.
(for example, Jeopardy, 10000
pyramid, Lets make a deal TV show).

interesting since they are

games that challenge
players to solve puzzles
within a three-dimensional
world

Target
Age
Anyone

As a side note I love that this site has

timers. Timers are such helpful tools,
especially for people who arent use to
managing a classroom from day to
day. They really help keep things on
track. Our teachers for our programs
are not normally teachers, they are
consultants for their day jobs.
These are games focused on a
This site
particular skill or topic and not
has
particularly robust.
mostly
kids
These look colorful and appealing.
games,
Most are short, which would keep kids (K-8
attention span probably.
grade)
but
Sudoku
would be
relevant
to my
adult
audience

Usefulness
Highly useful because you
get to customize the
content.
We use these at work and
people always love them,
probably because we dont
over use them and its a
game. Any type of
competition and our people
love it.
Moderately useful. These
games tend to focus on one
particular topic/area and just
teach about that. Its not as
immersive as other games
like Atlantis that covers
multiple types of skills to be
applied at the same time.
Sudoku and then maybe
some of these for
icebreakers during a class
as a break would be fun. But
I might be able to find more
adult level types of
icebreaker games.

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

Power point. Moderately

appropriate. It
would be on the
designer who
determines what
content to put into
the shell. That
person would
need to be
diligent about
tying it to key
goals or
objectives
I think these
all just run
off the web.
So a web
browser.

Moderately
appropriate.

Oth
er
na

na

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Name/source/link

Description

7. Learning
Simulations
(MCGrawHill, U of Co,
Shambles, Lemonade
stand, Crazy
Machines
http://www.mhhe.com/
biosci/genbio/virtual_la
bs/

This one is specifically the virtual

science lab. I looked at cell
reproduction and kinetic theory.

From shambles
site..
8. Sim-U - An Online
UniverCITY Business
Simulations
http://sim-u.com/

Business simulations in the first

completely online MMOS in the world.
Engage students in a virtual world
where they can test their knowledge
and skills in a risk free environment.
Learn and apply skills in marketing,
operation, marketing, human
resources, and general management.
Not free but there are some trial
areas.
IndustryPlayer simulates all aspects of
entrepreneurship: from strategy,
investment and finance to the
interactions with competitors,
workforce, consumers, banks and our
environment (CSR, Carbon Footprint).
IndustryPlayer is the ultimate choice
in real-time strategy business
simulation games. FREE
downloadable trial version (9.5 MB)

9. IndustryPlayer
(free trial)
http://www.industrypla
yer.com/home.php

Kinetic theory was a bit more helpful

from a teacher and learning
perspective because at least it had
objectives listed and what was
suppose to be learned. The cell
reproduction one didnt. But the cell
one did have some interactivity in it
that students needed to input
information.

Target
Age

Usefulness

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

Middle to
high
school I
think just
based on
the
science
topics
listed.

Moderately useful. This

could use some additional
supporting materials like
lesson plans or additional
ideas for teachers on how to
implement it into your lesson
plan. But it could also be a
nice supplement to existing
materials that teachers
have.

I think these
all just run
off the web.
So a web
browser.

Moderately
appropriate given
the narrow focus.

Adults

Moderately useful given if

you need to learn one of the
mentioned topics (i.e.,
marketing, general
management), but it doesnt
appear to be multi faceted. It
would be great if they
combined a few of the topics
together to make it more
challenging.
Highly useful. They also
have an instructor Zone
which shows how to Set
up the scenarios. This
would be great and is
helpful.

I think these
all just run
off the web.
So a web
browser.

Moderately
appropriate

na

Not clear on
technology
requirement
s.

Highly
appropriate.
These have free
demos but you
have to actually
buy them so the
cost might get
prohibitive.

na

This
would be
good in
my
context

Adults
This
would be
great in
my
context!!

Our people would love this

and that they get to play
against people worldwide.
The challenge would be in

Oth
er
na

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finding time to have them
play it, while still working.
Name/source/link

Description

10. IndustryMasters
http://www.industryma
sters.com

IndustryMasters browser-based
business simulation with more than
200 industries grouped into 16
industry sectors: Aerospace,
Automotive, Beverages, Energy,
Cosmetics, Appliances, Electronics,
Recreation, Agriculture, Processed
Food ,Staple Food, Machinery, Metal,
Pharma, Wood & Paper,Textile.
IndustryMasters simulates all aspects
of management: from Strategy,
Investment and Finance to Product
Pricing, Marketing, Quality, R&D, HR
and Ecology.
You take the role of an entrepreneur
and compete live against players from
around the globe for market share,
profit and shareholder value.
There is a clause in the user guide
that says simulation that is based on
real-world events is only
representational and not an accurate
depiction of real-world
events. Users should under no
circumstances seek to imitate any
game experience in real life.
Unfortunately we would want our
people to have simulations that ARE
based on real life and that they
WOULD use their experiences
learned from the simulation in the real
world. So more due diligence would
need to be done to see if these could
really work for us. But they sound
great.

Target
Age
Adults.
Another
one
which
would be
great in
my
context.

Usefulness
Highly useful. This touches
upon just about all of the
industries that we serve, so
its very relevant.
Like the one above our
people would love this.
They appear to be global (at
least have contacts in the
three main regions of the
business) which is good for
us as a global company.
(i.e., they can support us on
a global scale.)

Tech Needs

Appropriateness

Not clear on
technology
requirement
s.

Highly
appropriate

Oth
er
na