One more advancement in this game–based learning is Massive Multiplayer Online Game (abbreviated as MMO). MMO (also called MMOG) is an online multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting a large number of players simultaneously. Educators are considering it as a very effective way to encourage students to collaborate, solve problems, create and think for themselves within a game. A group of researchers in MIT’s Education Arcade has initiated the journey of MMO games into the educational field. They’ve created a new educational MMO game, The Radix Endeavor that helps students improve their knowledge and skills through online interactions and enables them to think like mathematicians and scientists. Let’s learn about this game.
About The Radix Endeavor:
The Radix Endeavor, a Massive Multiplayer Online game, designed by MIT and funded by Gates foundation, enables STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning in high schools. The story of Radix is set in an earth like world and it enables players to learn all the Science concepts while playing the game. In the game, students will be playing the world characters who have to take on quests to help people in the world, each quest is related to a particular content area either in Biology or Mathematics and as they pursue those quests, they get feedback in a detailed step-wise that helps them understand those ideas. Let’s learn about the areas of subjects that are covered in the game.
Subjects Covered:
The initial phase of Radix widely covers high school topics of Biology and Math subjects. In Biology, Radix covers Ecology, Evolution, Genetics and Human Body Systems as sub–topics while in Mathematics, it covers Algebra, Geometry, Probability and Statistics.
Special Benefits of Radix:
Problem Solving and Exploring without constraints:
The majority of tasks in Radix are designed to be very open without one particular correct answer, because the main motto behind this educational MMO game is to encourage students to solve problems and explore without the constraints of having to go for that particular correct answer.
Broader Process Skills:
By playing Radix, students learn process skills about how to investigate, how to emphasize, how to solve problems and how to control for variables in the way they solve problems. It includes all the problem solving approaches that good Scientists, Engineers and Mathematicians do in the course of their work.
How to get started:
Go to RadixEndeavor.org , register an account by choosing your occupation (Student or Teacher) and entering few details such as name, school, email etc., once you’re done with registration, everything is set to learn STEM concepts by playing the game.
Quick Guide:
Once you’re done with registration, a system generated mail will be sent to you. Log in to your account and hit “Play game”. Be patient while it takes a few minutes to load, after that choose your avatar by customizing the hair type, hair color, dress type and dress color. Once you’ve completed this, wait until it loads the bladed planes and generates the environment. You’ll be shown a virtual world on your screen and this is where your game starts. Move your avatar to the nearest character by using a mouse, follow the instructions. While progressing through the game, you’ll learn many Science concepts by talking to different characters and solving problems. You’ll be provided with some tools to measure, inspect and travel to solve the quests.
This is how Radix provides students with a collaborative, social experience in a system-based game world where they can explore how the world works and discover important scientific concepts. We hope this information is useful for you to know about a great MMO game, The Radix Endeavor, which benefits students and educators in STEM learning. We’d like to know your personal views on game–based learning. Please feel to share with us in the comment box.
