SERIOUS GAME MARKET

Image credit: Keenville - A Georgia Game-Based Assessment Initiative
The Georgia Department of Education has been working to develop a “game-based assessment” for the first and second grades – the Keenville Assessment. The state collaborated with the Georgia Center for Assessment at the University of Georgia and FableVision Studios on the project. 

According to GaDOE, traditional tests are not developmentally appropriate for young learners, and too often capture only one moment in time. Game-based assessment provides an alternative that is research-based and adds value for students, educators and parents.
Scot Osterweil, MIT Research Director, says “there is mounting evidence that games actually improve students’ cognitive abilities in both literacy & numeracy. Traditional assessment only measures what kids have already learned and largely only what they have memorized. In a game-based assessment, the students learn while they are playing the game – the experience of playing the game…

“Feeling the Content” Image credit: Mendel Grammar School in Opava City, Czech Republic Virtual biology and anatomy lesson: students are transported to a virtual classroom - a skeletal model with interactive components, like bones and organs. Students can manipulate parts of the model at will, using just their hands.
As the technology behind virtual and augmented reality becomes more advanced, the possibilities of use expand in an exciting way. Now, virtual reality is becoming a realistic option for classrooms.
According to Cornell Chronicle, in a new study by Cornell University, scientists explore whether the compelling, immersive nature of virtual reality (VR) provides a better learning outcome than conventional hands-on activities.
For the study, scientists created a simulation called Learning Moon Phases in Virtual Reality. The simulation is a part of a multi-phase research study to determine whether the immersive quality of VR improves learning.
The researchers randomly assigned Cor…

Last Call for Education, Training Game Entries: Feb 15
LOS ANGELES – Feb.5, 2019 -- Entries in the International Serious Play Awards competition for digital training and educational games due Feb, 15, 2019
Serious Play’s 11 year old award program recognizes outstanding games designed for use for education or training in business, government/military, healthcare, museums, higher ed, K12.
To submit a game, use the following link:
http://seriousplayconf.com/awards/
Board game entries can be submitted up to March 1.
http://seriousplayconf.com/tabletop-award-submission-2/
Contact:
Sue Bohle sue@seriousplayconf.com
Related Posts: Digital Entries in Serious Game Award Program Due Feb 15 2019 Serious Play To Be Held In Montreal & Orlando 15 Educational Games Win Awards in Serious Play Competition 11 Corporate, Healthcare, Government, Museum Training Games Win Awards in Serious Play Competition

Image credit: Strange Loop Games – EcoEducational Game Release 8.0
Eco is an online game where players must collaborate to build a civilization in a world where everything they do affects the environment. All resources come from a simulated ecosystem, with thousands of plants and animals simulating 24/7.
In the game, you live on a planet with other real players. Your goal is to go from having nothing to having enough technology to destroy a meteor. Through the player-run government and economy, you work together to build the technology to stop a meteor on a collision course with the planet, without polluting the world and killing it off in the process before that even happens. In 30 days, it will destroy everything — unless you work together to stop it.
The game was chosen by Venture Beat PC Gaming Editor Jeff Grubb as “Game of the Year” in 2018.
“Eco is a revelation,” says Jeff.  “The reductive way to describe it is “Minecraft with more systems. It’s also an educational game about simu…

Image credit: SQLearn
In the recent article “Playing Serious Games with Virtual Reality”, the Maritime Executive addresses how SQLearn has created VR familiarization walkthroughs using basic sections of a tanker vessel.
SQLearn has developed its Dolphin Platforms - a complete suite of specialized learning services for the shipping industry - focusing on the seafarer's active participation in the learning matrix while reducing the time and cost of the training process.
According to the company, VR technology offers unsurpassed scenario-based training opportunities. Now easily deployable at sea or on land, seafarers can play Serious Games with an autonomous device that generates interactive games designed to achieve specific training goals.
Applications of VR technology in the maritime industry include ensuring crew have the experience they need to safely and efficiently deal with situations such as mooring operations, machinery adjustments, galley fires or engine room explosions.
SQLea…

Image credit: Osmo
As Fortune reported earlier this month, Byju’s, an edtech company based in India, announced it has acquired Palo Alto, CA-based startup learning-through-play firm Osmo for $120 million.
Named after the teacher Byju Raveendran, who founded the company in 2011, Byju’s is making its first acquisition in the United States to advance its goals of expanding globally and adding very young children to its user base. 
Byju’s was attracted not only by Osmo’s game sets, but also by the company technology that allows kids interact in the physical world with the digital world via the iPad and the OsmoPlay System. Together, their market covers the age range from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.
What is Osmo Play System? Osmo is a unique gaming accessory, designed with reflective artificial intelligence, a groundbreaking technology that bridges the real and digital realms. The suite of Osmo Games includes apps that feature drawing, literacy, physics puzzles, spatial reasoning, coding, a…