4. 3-D Gaming in a 3-D World: Engaging Students! - Peggy Benton, Lucas Foundation Faculty Fellow and Professor at San Francisco State University (also interviewed in this newsletter)
5. The Power of Simulations - Immersion in a Learning Environment by Melanie Zibit, Professor at Boston College and Bill Halverson Co-PI of simSchool
6. River City: A Multi-User Virtual Environment Experiential Simulator by Debra Sprague Professor at George Mason University

Roundtable session
“The simSchool Project: Using Classroom Management Simulations to Help Future Teachers Teach and Improve Student Learning”

What transpires between a teacher and a student to foster learning is multi-faceted and abstract. So how can aspiring teachers develop effective teaching skills and decision-making processes before the actual experience of practice teaching? simSchool, a Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) project, is developing a simulated environment where users are immersed in the culture of the classroom, assuming the role of teacher, instructing students with diverse personalities, behavioral characteristics, and learning attributes and skills.. This roundtable is an interactive discussion with participants to explore concepts of how students learn, characteristics of a student’s personality, and the range of student behavior in the classroom. Participants have a chance to reflect on the question of how perception, psychology, community, intelligence fit into the picture of student learning. We will go inside simSchool to explain the theories, variables, and settings that are the basis for simStudent reactions to “teacher moves.” The presenters are particularly interested in having the audience react, and question the variables and rules underlying the simulation and how they are used to represent learning.

Poster Session
SimSchools: A Teaching Game to Improve Student Learning

Come learn more about simSchool. Virtual students, based on authentic student characteristics, react to decisions about task design and “in-flight” teacher moves providing the user with a rich web of associations and strategies to develop future teachers’ understanding and teaching skills.

NECC Concurrent Session
“Education: It’s Only a Game (or Simulation) -- Powerful Learning Models”

Recently there has been an increase in the use of games, simulations, and models as powerful learning tools. Millenial students are characterized as comfortable in group activities, experienced in the use of digital technologies, appreciative of education, are well-suited for environments where powerful games, simulations, and models are used effectively by teachers. This session will provide an overview of the current state of games and simulations as educational tools and examine their potential impact on contemporary student learning. Actual examples of students in gaming/simulation environments will be presented.

NECC 2005 Poster Session

If you are at NECC, please stop by our poster session to view and try out the alpha version of simSchool. Come join us at NECC for Birds of a Feather on games and simulations for educators.