Starting
the game of Superbetter, I came to my first roadblock- deciding which item I
want to get better from. Most seem to be
all related, and I can relate to all but a few. Depression/anxiety? Well most on the list, if improved would make
either one better. Sleeping better would definitely help (I have a pretty big
problem with this.) Less stress definitely would improve many issues. Having more energy-working out- these are
proven to help in all the above issues.
Eating better and losing weight would also be beneficial for all the
issues. Too bad indecisiveness isn’t on
the list. That would fit me to a
“T”. So, which of the above issues would
be considered a main one causing the others?
They are so intertwined. How
about a just be happier quest? Argh!
I read a
book recently that was on just this topic (being happier).
(So, I just got back from finding the book to reference
it. I went into kitchen for something
and had to stop myself from making the chocolate pudding I was going to make
earlier. Oh look, SQUIRREL!) ADD maybe?
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
The book is called The Happiness
Project by Gretchen Rubin. Of
course, I didn’t finish it, but I made it halfway through so far. Even so, I highly recommend it. http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Project-Aristotle-Generally/dp/006158326X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389941566&sr=8-1&keywords=happiness+project
The author was not clinically depressed.
She just wanted to make her perfectly content life better. She made some
decisions based on things she had learned from literature and scientific
research on what kinds of things would make her happier. She divided up
sections monthly and decided to work hard each month on a new area. This game, Superbetter, seems somewhat
similar to this. I guess if I wanted it
to be the closest, depression may be the one to choose. The good thing is, you can change it whenever
you want. The bad thing, I might be
changing often if I don’t like the challenges.
While
searching online for serious games, I did not find a suitable site that I felt
did a good job of giving a list of or examples of serious games. I did find a blog site, http://blog.seriosity.com/, that is a
blog talking about gaming and how it can be useful in work and business. Although it looked to be a couple years old,
it had some interesting information.
Upon
looking further I found a great blog, http://seriousgamesmarket.blogspot.com/
that blogs about different serious games.
It includes games made for interrogations, learning the water cycle,
educational games and much more. There is
a list down the right side of categories that you can browse blog articles
from. One that I am going to try is
Algeburst, a game to improve mental math skills. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/algeburst-lite/id567739842?mt=8
- See more at: http://seriousgamesmarket.blogspot.com/#sthash.f4W3N2Mj.dpuf
I am interested in brain games or games that increase mental
abilities.
Donna, I really enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the other two blogs that you posted. I too like the health and lifestyle sort of games that allow you to make healthy decisions. I have not played too much on superbetter but it sounds really interesting and helpful. I am not sure if this counts as a "serious game" but I use an app to track healthy eating and exercising. It is very motivating when you get to see your accomplishments. I also really like different educational games for students, I really like looking at the water cycle game, I could see that being very useful in the classroom. I found the following list of educational games and what each game teaches students. Thought it was interesting. Also, here is the link for the paper that this information came from. http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/project_reports/becta/Games_and_Learning_educators_report.pdf. It is a paper that reports on the use of games as a resource in an educational setting, it is called "computer games, schools, and young people".
ReplyDeleteMoshi Monsters: Collaboration and team work
The Movies: Multimedia narrative creation
Myst: Creative writing stimulus
Nintendogs: Animal welfare, collaboration
Pictochat on Nintendo DS: Enquiry-based learning
PlayStation Portable: Video production and fieldwork data
collection
Professor Layton and the Curious Village: Creative design
Roamer: Maths and programming
SimCity: Geography curriculum module on settlements
Spore: Science concept understanding
The Winning Game: Sports and Physical Education
performance analysis
Thinking Worlds: Citizenship
Trauma Centre 2: Anatomy and biology
Tycoon games: Business Studies simulations
Nintendo Wii Sports: Fitness training and cardiovascular
workouts
Wii Tennis: Design and numeracy
Donna,
ReplyDeleteI loved your post…probably because it sounds so much like me…my students hold up two fingers in class (rabbit ears) when I go down a “rabbit trail”…although they like them. It doesn’t help that my students have their backs to the windows, which means I am always able to look out of them when lecturing…”wow, cool truck”, “I wonder what that lady on the bike path is doing out there?”, etc.
OK, so start with the depression part of “Superbetter” and just stick with it.
Algeburst sounds awesome. I wonder if I could make my math students download it and require a few minutes each day playing it? Hmmmm, might be something to work on. I guess I’ll have to try it out first : )
Am curious about “The Happiness Project”. I have this weird philosophy that if we love people, even when they are not nice, we will be happier. If we treat all people with respect, and look for the good in others, we will be happier. If we stop seeing the “crud” in life and seek out the beauty, we will be happier. Maybe I should come up with a serious game on the idea…hmmm “Oh look, Squirrel!”