GAME FOR SCIENCE: A unique virtual world of scientific discovery

GAME FOR SCIENCE: A unique virtual world of scientific discovery

Since February 2009, a number of museums have taken part in a unique collaborative effort: GAME FOR SCIENCE (http://www.gameforscience.com). This platform, a virtual world dedicated to scientific discovery, was developed by CREO Studios (www.creo.ca) with funding from the Canada Media Fund and 25 Canadian and international partners.

One of the keys to engagement in a virtual world is personalization. As they gain experience, students earn talent$, which they use to personalize their avatars with clothing and accessories. At users’ request, designers are pushing this personalization even further by offering players a personal space that serves as a science museum. Budding museum workers can now acquire artefacts, photographs, videos and sound files to create thematic exhibits they can invite their friends to.

In the virtual world, young people 8 to 16 years old choose an avatar and go exploring with their friends. They can go on quests, play entertaining games, and earn neurons and virtual money. A number of museums have used Game for Science to highlight games and videos produced as part of their project supported by the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC), helping to increase the visibility and traffic of these productions. The platform, which receives 35,000 visitors a month, is attracting increasing numbers of Canadian, French, and U.S. teachers thanks to its free teaching resources suitable for elementary, high school, or collegial levels. A number of museums also take part in the GAME FOR SCIENCE Neuron Hunt, an inter-school contest that takes place throughout the school year. Sponsors offer prizes such as tickets and school visits for winning participants and schools.
Ideally, we hope to offer even more artefacts in the future, including objects presented by partner museums. Imagine if players could visit your exhibitions (the real ones) to acquire exclusive (virtual) artefacts provided by your institution. Because at CREO, we also want our virtual world to encourage players to explore the riches of the real world.

This article and link courtesy of the VirtualMuseum.ca Teachers' Centre.

Get Your Gizmos On!

Sign up for Gizmo Refresher Webinars!

Attention Ontario Gizmologists!

Need a refresher to get you back on track using Gizmos?
ExploreLearning has several refresher webinars scheduled to support you throughout the 2012-13 school year! Choose from one of the dates below to attend from the comfort of home or anywhere you have internet and telephone access. Come and join us on any of the following dates:

• Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, October 11, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, November 8, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, December 6, 2012, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, January 9,2013, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, January 10, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, February 6, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, February 7, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, March 7, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 8:00pm EST
• Thursday, April 11, 2013, 8:00pm EST

To register for one of these webinars, visit: http://www.tinyurl.com/GizmoRefresher

Download the Refresher Webinar flyer to share with your colleagues: Gizmos Refresher Webinars Flyer

Engaging Science

Continuing the Science theme from yesterday, here is Engaging Science, a website that explores learning in the Sciences through games.  There are Earth and Space, Physical, and Life science sections for students to explore.