Behavioral
Theories: GamesBehavioral
Theories: GamesThere are some collaborative effort by scientists, educators, and professional video game and educational software developers who have come together to do research on and develop teaching materials that integrate games and computer-based explorations with learning. Their research activities focus on the human-computer interaction issues associated with learning in an electronic game environment. Specific topics include studying which game formats (fast-action, simulations, puzzles, etc.) can be used to carry math-science educational content, which formats are most attractive to students, and which formats are most conducive to learning. They are also studying how to integrate electronic game learning with more traditional classroom learning environments, the effect of collaborative play and how collaborative work can be incorporated into electronic games, and the role of mediation by teachers.
The examples below illustrate some of the types of games programs available today. You can read the explanation of how these programs work or download a version of the program to try it out on your computer.
Examples
A word recognition question will be like: Rex says to look at the words below and click on the correctly spelled word. The following is a spelling question. The prompt reads: "Rex the Tyrannosaurus says, 'Using the clue below, find the magic word hidden in the list to the right! When you find the word, spell it by clicking on each of the letters! Click DELETE to remove a letter. Click ENTER when done.' Users are supposed to give correct answers in order to progress to the following question. The program allows the users to make last minute changes, though.
Once users answered the question, the program responds to you whether you have answered it correctly or not. The score panel is always displayed at the right hand corner to help users keep track of their progress.
To try out this trial program, you must install it on your computer's hard drive. To do that you must copy the folder called spell to your hard drive. That folder is on the CD-ROM in the subdirectory called programs/spell/. You might create a subdirectory on your computer named EDSoft (only if you do not already have one). Then you could copy spelll into the EDSoft subdirectory. Once you have copied spell over to your hard drive you can use the standard Windows procedure to install that program by clicking on setup.exe in the EDSoft/spell/ folder on your hard drive. Then follow the directions on the screen.
Click here to know more about installation.
The opening screen presents balloon buttons to take the child to 3 different activities offered by Living Numbers: Counting, Dot-to-dot, and Mr. Number Head.
Counting Objects Game: The counting screen of Living Numbers was designed to not only give the child number recognition, but to provide a concrete concept of what the numbers mean.
When the child clicks on the "camera" button, a group of pictures are displayed. The group corresponds to the currently visible number. As they click on each picture it is counted and moved down to the number line area. The number line area gives them a second visible representation of the number. By repetition, a very young child will master both number recognition and counting.
Dot-to-Dot: The Dot-to-Dot screen gives children an opportunity to practice counting to numbers higher than 10. Repetition is the key to understanding. The full version of the program includes numerous dot-to-dot pictures and a utility to add your own.
Mr. Number Head: The Mr. Number Head screen gives children an opportunity to create an almost unlimited number of goofy looking numbers just like what they can do with the Mr. Potato Head. They can select whatever eyes, mouths, hats, etc. and dress up the numbers to their liking. This is an activity to keep children's interest in the program for a longer period of time.
All the activities in Living Numbers can be used as preparatory activities.
To try out this shareware program, you must first run live123.exe on your CD-ROM under the programs/lnumbers/ subdirectory through File Manager or Windows Explorer.
Click here to know more about installation.
You choose the words and let Word Search for Windows do the rest. You may ask the words scrambled for a greater challenge. You may also print out a copy of the puzzle to take on a trip. The puzzle can be printed using any font installed in Windows. Have an audio card? Word Search for Windows will play music in the background while you search for words.
After starting the the Word Search program, choose the Word List menu at the top. To choose a puzzle, you can either use one installed in the menu, or choose Select and then double click on one of the lists.
The puzzle is randomly generated using the word list you choose. To circle one of the words in the puzzle, click the left mouse button on the first letter, and drag without releasing to the last letter. The word should be circled as you go. Release the mouse button, and if it is one of the words in the list, it will be circled and removed from the list (items removed from the list are grayed out). Continue to do this until all words in the list are circled. Once the puzzle is solved, you can repeat these same steps to play again.
You can create your own word lists with Word Search for Windows. To do this, select the Word List menu, then choose Editor. This will bring up a window from which you can add a new word list, or delete or edit an existing word list.
To add a new word list, click on the Add button. This will bring up the word list editor with no words in it. Click on the title entry field, and enter a title for the word list. The title can be up to 30 characters long, including spaces. This name is only used for referencing the word list. This word will not appear in the puzzle itself.
To add words to the list, click on the entry field near the center of the window, and type a word. The word must be between three and fourteen characters long, including spaces. The spaces will not appear in the puzzle, only in the word list for readability. The word must be composed of characters (A-Z) and spaces, or digits (0-9) and spaces. All the words in the list must be either words or numbers. You can not mix them in the same list.
To edit an existing word list, click the mouse on the word list to edit, and click on the Edit button. You can also double click on the word list to edit it. Follow the same steps in the paragraph above to add or delete words. You can also modify the title by clicking the mouse in the title entry field, and editing the value.
To delete a word list, click the mouse on the word list, and click on the Delete button. The word list will be deleted, and also removed from the menu (if it was installed into the menu).
To try out this trial program, you must install it on your computer's
hard drive. To do that you must copy the folder called wsearch
to your hard drive. That folder is on the CD-ROM in the subdirectory called
programs/wsearch/. You
might create a subdirectory on your computer named EDSoft
(only if you do not already have one). Then
you could copy wsearch
into the EDSoft
subdirectory. Once you have copied wsearch
over to your hard drive you can use the standard Windows procedure to install
that program by clicking on setup.exe
in the EDSoft/wsearch/
folder on your hard drive. Then follow the directions on the screen.
Additional Information
URL: http://members.aol.com/gamenet/index.html
Currently, this web site offers a total of 332 applications ( along with the fast download links ) in 12 different categories which the web masters feel are recommendable. Each application contains average 4-5) of Key Screen Shot(s) for previewing the features in advance.
URL: http://www.keyscreen.com/relaxfun.htm
