Q: What are some game-related activities in the ADL community?

A: The Games, Learning, and Society (GLS) conference is held in Madison, WI. It is led by a group of professors at UW-Madison referred to as the GAPPS (Games and Professional Practice Simulations) group. This group investigates the role of games in education. The last GLS conference (2nd annual) was held in June of 2006. The conference website is http://www.glsconference.org. Video presentations from the conference are available.

Webcasts of potential interest:

• Symposium: Games & The Military (Dr. Wisher's panel)
• Symposium: Media Literacy & Gaming Literacy (Hear from each member of the GAPPS group.)
• Symposium: MMOGs & Learning (John Seely Brown)
• Interactivity & Choice in Games (Nathan McKenzie is the game developer working with the Academic Co-Lab)

Q: Game-Related Prototypes

A: Each year, the Joint ADL Co-Lab funds promising research that explores effective learning technologies or methodologies. Below are quick descriptions for some of the research currently awarded.

Enable SCORM 2004 to drive adaptive training & assessment in multiplayer online gaming environments.

Develop and test a Competency and Training Record Management System (CTRMS) that manages and maps competencies from multiple service branches and fits into distributed service architectures.

Development of an assessment data model and associated authoring tools for Tactical Combat Casualty Care which are capable of capturing learner assessment data in an interoperable manner such that it can be used across multiple learning and training systems.

Produce an architecture for integrating simulation-based training with SCORM; define the interfaces to major components and the format of major data structures within this architecture; produce and demonstrate a prototype implementation of this architecture; define and demonstrate a framework for matching the most appropriate training to each trainee, as an individual or as a member of a team