To be sure the idea behind WolfQuest has merit, let children ages 10 to 15 become virtual wolves and learn about wolves and their habitat. But in production, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and privately supported free WolfQuest game is disappointing. I found it to be tedious and buggy (on my Macintosh). Just to be fair, I did induce my 11 year-old son to try out the game. By induce, I confess, that I paid him an hourly rate to try it out. He played for about three hours total. I will say that the game does have good 3-D graphics and when my 8 year-old son saw him playing the game, he was induced to be a wolf just for the fun of it–for about one hour. They seemed to spend most of their time hunting, which wasn’t all that much fun (lots of running, with some attacking). They never did get around to mating….

I do suppose that some children may become deeply immersed in this environment, creating their own online wolf packs and exploring aspects of wolf social behavior. And if a good percentage of tweenagers were motivated to do a couple of extra hours of science explorations, I suppose the NSF would be happy with the $508,253 grant they gave to the Minnesota Zoo for the project. (I don’t know the full budget but private organizations contributed quite a bit as well.)

But where is the science? You would think there would be a “for educators” or “for parents” description of the science that might be learned. I couldn’t find any descriptions like this on their web site or the downloadable manual. The developers apparently don’t think this is important, but yet the WolfQuest merchandise link was very prominent. So what did my sons learn? They saw some variation in wolf types as they created their avatar.  They also learned that wolves in Yellowstone National Park hunt elk and hares and perhaps that the life of a lone wolf is not that much fun.

It is not easy to criticize this project; it is much like in the movie Teachers (1984), where Alex says, “That’d be like $#*%ing on the Peace Corps!” It is far more PC to say, “Wow, this is nice, look at all the downloads they attracted!” or “Wouldn’t you rather have your kids play this?” I know I might come off as sounding “anti-wolf” or against conservation of natural habitats, but that is not at all my view. For instance, when I was co-author for the biology textbook, Biology: The Dynamics of Life (Glencoe/McGraw Hill), I introduced for the first time a chapter on Conservation Biology that was eventually copied by other textbook companies. I have also taught a Conservation Biology course in the National University when I was living in Costa Rica.

Besides the lack of fun, my problem with this game is with the lack of science education. Perhaps the goal isn’t science education. Oddly enough, the web page does describe one of the goals: “Gameplay will create a strong emotional connection between players and wolves, changing player’s attitudes toward wolves and habitat conservation in the real world.” First, I think this is a ridiculous statement. My children have “become” so many characters in video games, and I have not observed strong emotional connections form. Indeed if this was the case, in any Nintendo game I would insist my sons never become Wario and always become Mario! Second, I think this is a misguided goal; the idea of a good education is to develop an understanding of a situation to make informed choices. Our goal should be to help children understand species, ecology, and conservation and not to have their emotions guide their behavior.

Resources

Chandria, Pultkit (December, 2007). Wear the skins of wolves in WolfQuest

Linde, Aaron, (January 2008). Be a wolf, learn about nature in WolfQuest

WolfQuest: Amethyst Mountain Deluxe Review

          Attempting to Avoid the Problem of the Student who Holds the Mouse Dominating the Activity.

Miguel and Gabriela discussed the type of borders they would erect in their panda habitat and then Miguel entered their selection into the Activity Object. They both were pleased with how their selection protected this endangered species. As they continued their explorations they deepened their understanding of ecosystems, communities, populations, species, and concepts to consider in designing protected habitats for endangered or threatened species.                                                                                                               

In the spring semester of 2008, I was part of a team evaluating the use of Adaptive Curriculum by middle school students in a low-SES school (89.2% free or reduced lunch) in Phoenix, AZ. The school had one laptop cart with 14 computers, so teachers had students doubled up, two to a laptop.

The two-students-to-a-computer environment worked for this particular school year. Ironically, last year it wouldn’t have worked. Class sizes were pushing 35 students, so it would have required some triples for the laptop cart. I was told the population of the school dramatically fell as a result of a new Arizona law requiring more stringent proof of immigration status to obtain employment.

Students seemed to work quite well in pairs using Adaptive Curriculum. As with Miguel and Gabriella, there were many good discussions observed between partners. But the lack of discussion is not as obvious, and there were situations where the old maxim of “he/she who controls the mouse tends to dominate the activity” probably applied.

Some simple things can be done to alleviate the one-student-dominating problem in the use of shared computers at school. For example, if one person controls the mouse, the other could control the keyboard. This presents a more cooperative situation, where hopefully sharing of control will lead to sharing of ideas and plans. If the computer activity is one where there is a greater use of the mouse than the keyboard, instructing students to switch roles after certain periods or segments could be helpful.

But why not have computers with two mice? Wouldn’t it be great if both partners had equal access? Sure they might try to get to things quicker than the other person, but it would make for lively interactions. Two-mice computers might even have specific activities designed for them, from cooperative tasks to competitive events. The two-mouse computer is not so useful in the business world, so that is why we don’t see them, but computers in schools should have hardware and accompanying software optimized for student learning. Two-mice computers should be an option. Just as surely as Miguel and Gabriella designed an effective habitat for the pandas, we should optimally design the learning environment and not just take what is given to us.

 References/Resources

Habitat Designer: Panda. Adaptive Curriculum.  http://www.adaptivecurriculum.com/us/details/USSSM190101