I played Buzz! once at Krotoski's place, and got thoroughly trounced. I'm still sulking over that. But Dan just wrote in to tell me that Buzz! The Schools Quiz is releasing:
Since 2005 we have been working in conjunction with Sony and the Department for Education and Skills to create Buzz!: The Schools Quiz - a version of the Buzz for 7-11 year olds to be used in primary schools. The questions, which cover the entire syllabus, are written by teachers and the game includes 'teacher features' and game modes which let the teacher direct the game as they see fit.
Crazy, eh? Make it a multiple choice paper, and it's boring. Make it a game, and it's fun - and yet it's exactly the same content.
We've conducted initial trials and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the children have been playing well into their lunch breaks. We're anxiously awaiting the results from Sony's official tests - we'll let the teachers have the final word on whether Buzz!: The Schools Quiz is a success.
Aren't humans odd?
Buzz!: The Schools Quiz is not a replacement for teachers but we hope it will be a useful and fun tool for teaching. At worst it will be an interesting experiment.
Fantastic. I love this. This is just proof of how we're learning how the brain likes to learn, and finding ways of teasing the brain with what it wants in order to make us learn more. From MMO advancements in understanding "dripfeeding reward", to Amy Jo's brilliantly insightful Putting the Fun in Functional, examples like this make me feel happy for kids in tomorrow's classrooms.
(Thanks Dan!)
Aside: Relentless looks like a great place to be: check out their Days Without Crunch counter!
hey! i think that was you that show the "weplaythis" site before.
They are working now! yaay \o
Add me there http://weplaythis.com/warchild
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Posted by: WaRchild | January 22, 2008 at 19:34
I could see some studios having a non-consecutive "days without crunch" counter... but not Relentless :)
"Make it a multiple choice paper, and it's boring. Make it a game, and it's fun - and yet /it's exactly the same content/"
I've been thinking about this since level design first hooked me, and to this day it makes my mind boggle: Games, TV, conversation, writing, design, hypnosis, most things seem to lurk around the question "How do we make things compelling?"
Posted by: David Hayward | January 23, 2008 at 10:37
i seem to recall that you kicked MY butt at buzz!.
not that i'm keeping tally or anything.
aleks (krotoski)
Posted by: aleks | January 31, 2008 at 10:19