When I first came to a course which aims to tell us what e-learning is, the lecturer demonstrated a well-known online interactive game regarding ‘frog dissection’ for basic medical knowledge building. (see the website below) It really empresses me a lot since it is so interesting. Moreover, it lets me know that game can not only allow us to relax or to be social with others but also can be very educational.

        The purpose of designing this game is very easy to be understood. To reduce the number of dead frogs which are killed for the experiment purpose. It can be argue that even if the learning material is provided online, such as this ‘frog dissection’, it doesn’t mean this can assist learners to gain deep learning better instead of using a real frog. However, it still provides us a new vision to consider if the learning can be also amuse and educational. The answer is YES.

Games provide the designer a platform to communicate with the one who access to the games. However, it really depends on the designer what kinds of materials should be implemented in order to stimulate what kind of learning behaviour to occur.

Reference: http://www.articulate.com/community/blogdemo/frog_dissection_demo/player.html

Since this game is such a historical one, I won’t believe that if anyone tell me he/she has no idea what it is. However, it is really difficult for me  to play this game seriously. At the very first time when I was a kid, I don’t like to play it because I always lose. Compared with my friends, they can get higher scores than me, as a result, I feel frustrated and reduce the motivation to play this’ Pacmana’. Now, even if I try hard to play it as part of my assignment, I still can’t enjoy playing it.

What I want to know is why I can’t enjoy playing it. Does it just because it is part of my assignment? Not really, I think I am a slow decision-maker. I don’t like the games which are designed to complete with other from the speed, such as ‘Age of Empires’(see website below), real time game to be more precise.

In the ‘Pacman’, if you can go faster in the beginning, you will be more likely to gain high scores since all the monsters are not released together at the beginning. How to organise a strategy is also the key. Later, I try to not focus on the spots but how to eat the monsters instead, and then in my fifth try, the scores are higher and finally reach the second level. (And then I am satisfied. :p)

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Reference:

http://www.freepacman.org/welcome.html ‘Pacman’

http://www.ageofempires3.com/ ‘Age of Empires’