Locked in a Room

On June 25th, a group of students (Katy, Miheliwan and Christiana), faculty (Matt and Aaron) and a friend (Nicholas) were locked in a room for one hour as part of the “Escape the Room” experience. Once we went in, the door was locked and a computer started to count down from one hour. During this time, we had to solve a series of puzzles in order to unlock additional clues that would eventually lead us to a key that would open the locked door. If we can escape the room in this time, we “win.” (There is no prize, just bragging right, since only 15% of the participants is said to make it out in time). The experience – entitled simply “The Room” – allows for a maximum of six people to participate, and is set in a kind of Victorian setting. The puzzles didn’t need worldly knowledge (although they can help to some extent). In order not to ruin the fun for future attendees, we won’t go into the details of the puzzles, or how we solved them. But we will talk about what the experience allowed us to think about after the fact. Oh, by the way, we made it out in time!
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Recommended: The Circle

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The Circle appears to be the perfect corporation. Its aim is laudable. It seeks to use advanced technologies to put an end to crime, corruption, violence, misinformation, and other forms of human and natural calamities. If you work at The Circle, you are a valued employee. They provide you with an array of social events - parties, performances, concerts, and games with top-of-the-line health care, nutrition, housing, and they let you test products that are not yet released to the market. The Circle cares about you, your ideas, and your participation in the community. What will you give to work at such a place?

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CFP: International Journal of Game-Based Learning

The mission of the International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL) is to promote knowledge pertinent to the design of Game-Based Learning environments, and to provide relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the field of Game-Based Learning. The main goals of IJGBL are to identify, explain, and improve the interaction between learning outcomes and motivation in video games, and to promote best practices for the integration of video games in instructional settings. The journal is multidisciplinary and addresses cognitive, psychological and emotional aspects of Game-Based Learning. It discusses innovative and cost-effective Game-Based Learning solutions. It also provides students, researchers, instructors, and policymakers with valuable information in Game-Based Learning, and increases their understanding of the process of designing, developing and deploying successful educational games. IJGBL also identifies future directions in this new educational medium.
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