Apropos of some of the discussion last week, those interested in design issues might find Mark Keegan's book, Scenario Educational Software, of interest (1995, Educational Technology Publications). For an important if not seminal overview and informed and thoughtful schema for addressing educational game research, see Margaret Gredler's chapter in Jonassen's (ed.) Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (1997, Macmillan). The chapter is entitled "Educational games and simulations: A technology in search of a (research) paradigm."
Students and researchers on this list who have a serious interest in research on games (educational or not) are again invited to subscribe to Psygame at listproc@u.washington.edu. The range of interests and topics is quite varied, though contributions are few, and we are always looking for participants who want to send papers or drafts or sketches on their work for comment.
Finally, I can't help amplifying a couple of Dr. Quinn's summary rejoinders to those who would marginalize the thrust of his work, to wit: Clark [Quinn, 28 Jan 97] observes that "there is certainly a dearth of results of commercial 'edutainment' ... But until such evaluation is done, we're likely to see the market continue to tout the value of their 'edutainment' without any basis." And again, "I am aware, however, that there are limitations both in the perceptions of 'games' (for example how hard it is to get funding for game research, sigh) and in the appropriateness of use."
I would argue that this is precisely the justification for more, not less research, funded or not. Many educators appear to prefer the view in the rear-facing mirror of their years of innocence rather than the view down the "road ahead." They appear not to grasp the most obvious technological transformations in all aspects of the human enterprise outside the academy that have already cut them off from the old ways as they dig in to fortify their traditions. The real world has changed since we were school kids. Look at what people are engaged with, for heaven's sake. It is time to cut the crap about the appropriateness of games, and the limitations of peoples' traditional hang-ups, and give the kids something worthwhile to be engaged with when they are interacting with media besides killing imaginary demons and monsters, because that is the content that is delivered by the media that engage them. It requires no vision at all to point to what the game industry is doing and dismiss it as irrelevant to education. Instead, we should find a way to give the public some guidance in the form of studies they can believe in. The reality is that "edutainment" software is, as it exists today, little more than interactive versions of Saturday morning cartoons. Game publishers don't have a clue how to create software that is educational. Left unchecked, this Saturday morning cartoon syndrome the industry calls "educational," rather than replacing teachers, will surely produce cynicism so deep that it will undermine even the possibility of turning this tool into a vehicle for enhancing learning.