On the horizon of emerging ideas today is the concept of
“serious games,” simply defined as games that have a learning purpose behind
them. Many of us have used the simple
concept of these in our school days with the typical “Review Jeopardy” that a
professor might do before an exam, but the concept of employing technology to
use games in the corporate world is quite different. This concept is so new that Ann DeMarle, the
director of the Emergent Media program at Champlain College,
knows of no other organization that provides the type of gaming applications that
they do. The Emergent Media program
provides opportunities for students to work on real-world projects outside of
their classroom studies. The group
recently attended an MPI conference and showcased two serious games, one called
“Go
Green,” which teaches users about the environment, and another called “A
Social Sim,” which explores the layout of space and how the environment can
generate ideas. Champlain College
is one of the few institutions in the nation to have developed gaming programs
in their curriculum and offer two degrees in this arena: Multimedia Graphic
Design and Electronic Game Development.
The Emergent Media program that DeMarle created aims to
define the future use of game technologies and encourage students to use
creativity and artwork in each of these projects. She defines the term “Emergent Media” as
consisting of four main elements: Network, Participatory, Interactive, and
Communication. 
Network simply refers to the media holding this project
together – basically, the Internet. This
emphasizes the point that the game environment is now virtual; there is no
necessity to be in the physical location of the game. Christopher Rolfs, a student at Champlain College majoring in Video Game Design,
says that he “considers the internet to be one of the best uses for networking.” When a game or a video is released on the
Internet, it becomes ubiquitous and connects people in a different way than
most other media. He concludes that,
“the Internet is a tying entity of our society that will start tying people
together across the world, significantly increasing productivity.”
The second element, participatory, describes how users are
actively engaged in the media. They use
the network to interact, thereby engaging with others and being able to converse
through the medium. Examples of this include
social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, instant messaging devices, or a
blog, where readers can read and post comments, often sparking new ideas and
discussion.
The term interactive, on the other hand, refers to a type of
communication that does not necessarily involve a response from another
person. An example that DeMarle gives is
YouTube. It is similar to the participatory
element; however, a response may not necessarily be elicited from the initial
publication or channel of communication.
The last term that defines Emergent Media is
communication. The underlying principle
behind this term is that this medium delivers a message or has a learning
element behind the fun. In this sense,
the device can be used for training or some other type of teaching mechanism.
Gaming technology for learning purposes in the meetings
industry is the wave of the future. The
Emergent Media program provides a wonderful opportunity, not only for the
students at Champlain
College, but also for the
industry. These games encourage greater
participation in training sessions and also increase retention. The pervasiveness of games in the consumer
world will undoubtedly lead to their further implementation and adoption into
the corporate world.
Author: Sarah Sultan
Published on: 3/24/2008
Vendors referenced: None
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