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Help put videogames in the classroom!


SwinginSoriano

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Guys, my brother and a professor of his are designing a research study in which videogames are going to be used as elements of learning. Because they are in the field of social studies, they are interested in world war/sim/strategy sort of games. Neither of them play videogames (and I only play MVP and classic games,) so my brother asked me to ask you guys for suggestions.

The sort of game they are looking for is like Civilization III or Total War...a game that incorporates diplomacy, trade, war, nation-building--that sort of thing. Is there any game like that which is better?

The easier the game is to learn, the less warlike, and the more "educational," the better. Think of a game like Civilization III that a girl might play.

Sorry for all the stipulations and thanks for any possible input!

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civilization = hours of endless fun. i loved progressing my people and watching my city grow. the scenario mode lets you take control of a side during such times as wwII or the civil war. it was so fun

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Civilization IV is better but its a pain in the neck to learn. There is a manual about a half an inch thick and you basically need to read most - all of it to understand all the elements of the game. Once you have that down then your good to go.

You will be fine however if you have played a previous Civilization game.

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Day of the Tentacle -- dunno if it's educational but those kids will have tons of fun.

this thread leads me to frightening conclusion ... which is that I never played any educational games, even though I'm much more knowledgable on issues such as extortion, hitmen, jungle gunfights and giant crocs and snakes (Indy!!!) ... I'm pretty proud of it too

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1 word - chess. Incorporates all of the elements you're looking for, and is considerably less expensive than a video game and a PC to run it on. If it must be in the format of a video game, Chessmaster 9000 or Kasparov Chessmate are pretty good. ;)

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1 word - chess. Incorporates all of the elements you're looking for, and is considerably less expensive than a video game and a PC to run it on. If it must be in the format of a video game, Chessmaster 9000 or Kasparov Chessmate are pretty good. ;)

Chessmaster 10th edition is out too.

I used to play JumpStart educational games at home when I was in elementary school.

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I like the ancient civilization series: Pharaoh, Zeus, Poseidon, Ceaser - they teach you a lot about both ancient civilizations and how governments are run. Seriously, I was probably the only kid in my 3rd grade class who knew what irrigation was, all 12 major greek gods (and then some), and that beer was made out of barley.

Of course, i kind of forget a lot of that stuff now, but...

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Personally, I don't think that video games belong in the classroom. Not commercially available games anyway. People don't play CIV4 to learn about different cultures, they play it because it's fun and kills time. If you want to go and get some kind of simulation "game" that emphasizes some kind of lesson plan then more power to you, but Sim City and Civ both have no real educational purpose behind them and don't belong in a classroom during the school day.

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Personally, I don't think that video games belong in the classroom. Not commercially available games anyway. People don't play CIV4 to learn about different cultures, they play it because it's fun and kills time. If you want to go and get some kind of simulation "game" that emphasizes some kind of lesson plan then more power to you, but Sim City and Civ both have no real educational purpose behind them and don't belong in a classroom during the school day.
Normally I would say that video games don't belong in classrooms, but they actgually do help you learn about things. Seriously, I would have not had as good a understanding of how cities work if I hadn't played Sim City. Maybe they don't belong in the classroom, but you can deny that in a way they actually do help you learn.
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I hope you didn't take my statment as a joke, I will seriously beat any of you in chess.

I know you were being serious and actually think that, that's why I laughed. :lol:

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Day of the Tentacle -- dunno if it's educational but those kids will have tons of fun.

this thread leads me to frightening conclusion ... which is that I never played any educational games, even though I'm much more knowledgable on issues such as extortion, hitmen, jungle gunfights and giant crocs and snakes (Indy!!!) ... I'm pretty proud of it too

How appropriate -- you fight like a cow.

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