Dallas-based Blockdot will speaking about serious games, in this year’s ScreenBurn conference, part of the SXSW Interactive Festival. Using games to train or educate is becoming a hot trend.
January 29, 2007 (Press Release) --
January 24, 2007 (Dallas, TX) – Dallas-based Blockdot will speaking about serious games, in this year’s ScreenBurn conference, part of the SXSW Interactive Festival.
ScreenBurn was launched in 2006 by SXSW Interactive to give more focus to the most current developments in the video game industry.
Paul Medcalf, Senior Game Developer at Blockdot, will be speaking on a Serious Games panel as part of the conference, discussing the balance of entertainment and education in the development of learning games. Medcalf was invited to speak by John Purdy of Red Knight Learning, the session leader and his former colleague. Their panel is the only serious games topic of this year’s ScreenBurn.
“I was excited (to participate) because the topic is intriguing. It’s something we have been talking to clients about – that balance between entertaining and educating the user,” says Medcalf.
Serious games can be defined as “learning games”. The games are intended to provide an engaging, self-reinforcing context in which to motivate and educate the players. Serious games are used for everything from military operations to medical simulation to corporate training.
The success of serious games lies in this ability to self-reinforce the material presented. Cisco Systems recently conducted a study on serious games and compared their effectiveness to that of a PowerPoint presentation on the same material. “Cisco has found that with learning games, adoption takes place more readily without learners feeling the pressure of completing yet another task.”1
Games were found to be more effective based on retention and engagement.
Medcalf has worked in the game industry for over ten years and has won many awards for his work, including multiple awards for his development of serious games for Cisco, both in gaming and training categories.
“The entertainment aspect of the game is what attracts the user, but you also have to educate. Having a focused conversation on that balance is very intriguing,” says Medcalf.
ScreenBurn takes place March 10-13, 2007, as part of the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. More information can be found at http://screenburnfest.com/2007/.
1 Source: “Learning Games for Certified Audiences: A Cisco Case Study” by Nader Nanjiani, November 23, 2005. http://certtalk.com/column_comments.php?showarticle=44
About Blockdot and Kewlbox.com
Blockdot, a Media General, Inc. company, is a leading producer and provider of casual games and company sponsored Advergames. Blockdot has created over 300 games for a broad range of leading brands and companies, including American Airlines, AT&T, Baskin-Robbins, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, Motorola, M&Ms, Nokia, T.G.I. Friday's, Universal Pictures and Verizon. Millions of people play Blockdot games on its game site www.kewlbox.com, which consistently ranks as one of the Top 50 gaming portals on the Internet and is used as the launching site for client Advergames.
ScreenBurn was launched in 2006 by SXSW Interactive to give more focus to the most current developments in the video game industry.
Paul Medcalf, Senior Game Developer at Blockdot, will be speaking on a Serious Games panel as part of the conference, discussing the balance of entertainment and education in the development of learning games. Medcalf was invited to speak by John Purdy of Red Knight Learning, the session leader and his former colleague. Their panel is the only serious games topic of this year’s ScreenBurn.
“I was excited (to participate) because the topic is intriguing. It’s something we have been talking to clients about – that balance between entertaining and educating the user,” says Medcalf.
Serious games can be defined as “learning games”. The games are intended to provide an engaging, self-reinforcing context in which to motivate and educate the players. Serious games are used for everything from military operations to medical simulation to corporate training.
The success of serious games lies in this ability to self-reinforce the material presented. Cisco Systems recently conducted a study on serious games and compared their effectiveness to that of a PowerPoint presentation on the same material. “Cisco has found that with learning games, adoption takes place more readily without learners feeling the pressure of completing yet another task.”1
Games were found to be more effective based on retention and engagement.
Medcalf has worked in the game industry for over ten years and has won many awards for his work, including multiple awards for his development of serious games for Cisco, both in gaming and training categories.
“The entertainment aspect of the game is what attracts the user, but you also have to educate. Having a focused conversation on that balance is very intriguing,” says Medcalf.
ScreenBurn takes place March 10-13, 2007, as part of the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. More information can be found at http://screenburnfest.com/2007/.
1 Source: “Learning Games for Certified Audiences: A Cisco Case Study” by Nader Nanjiani, November 23, 2005. http://certtalk.com/column_comments.php?showarticle=44
About Blockdot and Kewlbox.com
Blockdot, a Media General, Inc. company, is a leading producer and provider of casual games and company sponsored Advergames. Blockdot has created over 300 games for a broad range of leading brands and companies, including American Airlines, AT&T, Baskin-Robbins, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, Motorola, M&Ms, Nokia, T.G.I. Friday's, Universal Pictures and Verizon. Millions of people play Blockdot games on its game site www.kewlbox.com, which consistently ranks as one of the Top 50 gaming portals on the Internet and is used as the launching site for client Advergames.
Email
Print
SPAM
LEAVE A COMMENT
