(CBS/AP) Online gaming is fun but not a productive use of time, right? Not so fast. Online gamers have deciphered the molecular structure of a key protein that retroviruses like HIV/AIDS need to multiply – an achievement that scientists believe will aid in the development of new AIDS drugs.

The non-scientist gamers came up with an accurate model of the so-called protease molecule in three weeks. Biochemists had been trying to create such a model for more than a decade.

“It’s the power of citizen science,” said Firas Khatib, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of University of Washington biochemistry professor David Baker. Baker’s lab developed the game, called Foldit, about three years ago, believing that they could tap into the brain power that puzzle-loving humans pour into computer games.

Continued…..

Read Rest of Article at CBS News Health Pop

“Incoming freshman at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, don’t have to go on a guided tour to learn more about their school’s library services. Instead the staff at the DiMenna-Nyselius Library can point their patrons toward another instructive resource – a videogame.

Inspired by Scene it, a series of popular DVD games that has players watch video clips to answer trivia questions, Library Scene: Fairfield Edition is a web-based game developed by the University’s Media Center and reference librarians that follows four students as they travel through key areas of the school’s DiMenna-Nyselius library to complete a 10-page research paper assignment.

Players must watch scenes of live action and animation, and afterward, they are presented with challenges including word puzzles, picture matching or multiple-choice questions. Upon completion of the interactive, multimedia game, students are better oriented to the DiMenna-Nyselius building and more likely to recall the library services that have been provided to support them.”

Rest of Story HERE

Watch Alert: This story appears as the third main story about 6 minutes into the episode.

Brian Mayer and Christopher Harris
Publisher: ALA Graphics

Price: $45.00

A Book Review.  This Description is taken from Amazon.com.

From School Library Journal

From Booklist

With all the hype on gaming in libraries, this new title focuses instead on “designer” board games as “curriculum-aligned instructional resources” for libraries and classrooms. Part 1 describes their value for student engagement and higher-order thinking, part 2 shows alignment with specific standards, and part 3 includes details for school libraries, such as purchasing guidelines. “Great Games” in part 4 lists 10 recommended games for each level—elementary, middle, and high school. For example, “Pandemic” takes 45 minutes to play and involves stopping the worldwide spread of disease, and “Froggy Boogie” strengthens color recognition and math. A glossary, index, and list of publishers are found at the end. The authors are school library system educators who have a conversational style while citing research. They make promoting a game collection attainable and sound without a lucky roll of the dice. –Susan Gooden

All text above is taken from Amazon.com web site located here.

At DePaul University, they go to the library.

DePaul is one of a growing number of university libraries housing video game collections for student research into game design, said James Galbraith, associate director of collections at DePaul’s library. Other university libraries with video game collections include Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carleton University.

Full Article Here:  http://media-newswire.com/release_1150226.html

This article from Media Newswire.

Similar article available at the Chicago Sun-Times.

In a recent speech to a group of students at TechBoston in Dorchestor, Massachusetts. President Obama had this to say about video games:

I’m calling for investments in educational technology that will help create … educational software that is as compelling as the best video game. I want you guys to be stuck on a video game that’s teaching you something other just blowing something up.

When I started my career in video games in the early 1990s, the idea of a sitting President saying anything positive about video games was pretty much unthinkable. Back then, the medium was routinely vilified by politicians and generally dismissed as a frivolous waste of time by everyone else.

Perceptions of video games are definitely changing.

Today, hardly a week passes without a new study highlighting how video games can be good for learning. There is a steady stream of books, blogs, TED talks and conferences making a wide variety of claims about the positive potential of games. These claims range from rigorous academic studies highlighting the efficacy of a single game to broad claims about games saving the planet.

So, is game-based learning hype or reality? Right now it is both.

Complete Article:
Game Based Learning: Hype Vs Reality
From Huffington Post: April 4, 2011

I have rarely found a greater concentration of information (research, documentation, and bibliographies) for educators, teachers, and designers (and would-be designers) of using games in teaching and learning.  Includes game reviews, lesson plans and articles.

Link here to the Historical Simulations in the Classroom blog.

Many undergraduates come to college having used little more than Google searches and Wikipedia when it comes to research methods. The complicated databases and myriad of academic journals in university libraries are often intimidating and difficult to navigate. A team of researchers in the School of Information at the University of Michigan set out to provide a solution that is both accessible and useful to universities across the country. Their answer to the issue? A video game. It’s called Bibliobouts, and it consists of four different sections covering collecting sources, selecting the best sources, rating and tagging opponents’ sources, and compiling a final bibliography of best sources from everyone’s pool of resources.

Access Entire Article Here

From Brian Alexandar

How can we teach with computer games?  One example can help answer this: the track record of instructors using Civilization in class.

Civilization is one of the most famous games of our time.  First published in 1991, this historical and social simulation puts players in charge of a nation.  “Civ” play starts from ancient times, then advances through time to our present day and a little further into the future.  The most recent installment, Civ V, was recently launched, as Ruben noted last week.

The game is primarily for the PC platform.  There is also a freeware version of the early game, FreeCiv.  Given its emphasis on historical and social content, it should come as no surprise that teachers have been using Civ in classes.

Rest of Article Located Here

From: National Institute for Liberal Education (blog)
by Brian Alexandar October 2010

From “The Escapist” by Mike Thompson 

Hearts of Iron II is one of those strategy games that, if you can get past its steep learning curve, is supposed to be a great deal of fun with a ton of replay value. While the game is certainly well-regarded for its depth and realism, no one’s considered the game to be an educational tool until now; a Political Science course at University of California, Los Angeles is using the game to help teach students about what led up to World War II.

The game is being facilitated by a student named Einar Engvig, who realized the game could be, “used in order to equip students with a better grasp of the Theory of Tripolarity and the general geopolitics of the world in the build up to WWII.”

Full Article Here