Game on!
I decided to test out Axl Wise rather than Second Life because at this point in time, Second Life does not really appeal to me. I think it is because it seems to have no purpose for me right now. If I had something to do or accomplish, then I might be more willing to explore. But I know myself, and I think that this is one of those applications I know I probably would not come back to for awhile. Some of the reasons for this include the fact that it would take me a longer amount of time to figure out how second life works than I'm willing to spend figuring it out. I have to appreciate this in the context of the lecture this week, where the presenter's daughter(?) was commenting on how he taught Second Life, and she was like, "what do you need to teach? You just log in and do it!" I am, however, intrigued by the opportunities to attend lectures, concerts, and informational sessions in Second Life and I can see how the librarians invovled in the creation of libraries and info island can really impact a virtual world.
Rhonda (again from the lecture) made the comment that she was able to collaborate on a poster session for ACRL with people she never met until they presented the poster. It sounds like info island is making more of a difference for librarians than for patrons. It honestly sounds like there are more librarians than patrons taking advantage of what info island has to offer.
But anyway, back to Axl Wise. I felt sort of awkward trying to play this game the first time. After reading the intro, I had a sense of what I was supposed to try to accomplish, but I wasn't sure how to accomplish it. I have never been very successful at playing role-playing games, I could never figure out how to accomplish the goals. I always gave up after a session or two. It definitely helps to have the guides or play with people who know what they are doing when you are trying to figure out a new game.
Axl Wise (the game) reminded me a little bit of "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" which I loved as a kid. Carmen San Diego also involved collecting clues to find a villain in a structured way... first you had to find enough evidence to obtain a warrent. You couldn't arrest your villain without it.
I thought Axl was a creative way to teach students about the kinds of information they need to figure things out and I think that the "how to search" process might stick better in students' heads if they have to figure it out themselves. We learn better when we try to figure things out ourselves and when we make mistakes. This is how gaming leads to learning. When we can't figure things out, we're more likely to try and find people or other sources to help us get to the next level. Since I didn't complete the game (has something to do with our guest log in?) I now know where to go first. I'm not sure that I like how I have to figure out the game as well as figure out how to search in this game.
My one other comment about gaming is that it just takes a lot of time, first of all to conceptualize and program them, and second of all to try and make them functional, entertaining and educational (if our goal is to teach people). I think that there was only one level in Axl Wise, so once students complete the task, there aren't any other varients or variables in the game. If you play it once, you do not necessarily need to play it again. However, it was definitely more creative than any other library type game I've seen.
I have a friend who is a video game programmer, and he and I have had a lot of discussions lately about who's gaming and why. We talked a bit about how games are like instruction in the sense that they should be challenging enough to intrigue people, but not so difficult that people just give up because it is too hard. There has to be the right balance between offering a challenge and offering support when things become difficult.
