Video Game for Learning English

[Red5]

Here's something that will be of interest to you Mr. Russell...

Originally Posted by BBC

Games to be tested in classrooms

The use of computer games in education is going to be tested out in four secondary schools in the UK.

The project aims to find ways in which school teachers can include video games in their teaching.

It will also be trying to help game developers learn about potential educational uses for their products.

The year-long project is being backed by the games giant Electronic Arts (EA) and lottery-funded education organisation Futurelab. Of the four schools taking part in the trial, three are part of the UK education system and one is a German school in London. There are plans to extend the scheme across Europe using these schools as a model.


Read more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4134530.stm

[Red5]

Originally Posted by Marylin

Any more lynching from anyone else?

As at least one person here is feeling that they are being attacked, I'd like to remind everyone posting that we require people to be civil to others at all times. Read our forum rules for more information. That said, I'm sure that nothing insulting was meant. Let's try and keep things toned down a little, eh?

[A.Russell]

Thanks for that link Red. Bookmarked. More to come shortly.

[A.Russell]

If found this article today. A school was granted $450,000 to provide their students with Play Stations and software, primarily for English Language education:

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/68...ews652620.html

[Tdol]

It looks good for you.

[A.Russell]

Yes, I wonder who I can find to give me $450,000 to make my game?

In the mean time, I've been bogged down with all sorts of other rubbish. The plan has been developed quite a bit further, more on that to come. I also have some proof of concept software for you all to try in the very near future. Within a few days I'll be asking you all to test the speech recognition and give me some feedback. I have to wake my artists up and get them to hurry uip and produce something, too.

I have also started a website about educational games and simulations. It is still in its early stages, but there is content to keep you going for a while: http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com

[Tdol]

I have added it to the Links section: http://www.usingenglish.com/links/New/

[Francois]

Voted yes. Anything that works is good enough. I actually improved my English quite a bit playing poker

FRC

[A.Russell]

Thanks Tdol! And thanks for your comment too Francois!

Finally I have something for you to try. This is a proof of concept mini game to test out speech recognition:

http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/.../magicbook.jpg

The graphics are horrible, but that wasn't really the point. Please download and try it: http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/.../MagicBook.exe

Sorry, the files are not very well compressed. It's 44 meg.

You will also need to have the Microsoft English Speech Recognizer v5.1 installed on your system. A good explanation about what that is and how it's done can be found here: http://www.smart-butler.com/voiceinput.html


So, what's it all about? This is a very simple game to test out the possibilities for speech recognition as a pedagical tool in a language education game. It uses a dynamic command and control grammar that only loads the words that are needed in the immediate future. This way, you can get quite good recognition without doing a lot of voice training. Ultimately, I hope to get it so that no voice training is needed whatsoever and the speech engine is included with the software. In the meantime, please bear with me.

This playable mini game works very simply. You say "start" to make the camera zoom to the "Magic Book." The book displays a dialogue that you have to read. If you enunciate clearly and are familiar with the words it is easier to get a long recognition. You are scored on how many words you can get the recognition engine to understand in one hit. It is recommended that if you don't understand a word, you should look it up, since the more familiar you are with the language presented the greater your potential score.

The dialogue is also a blurb for the larger game that this element will become a part of.

The final game will have much better graphics. This is a test!



So, download the game:
http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/.../MagicBook.exe

Then download the instructions for voice enabling your computer:
http://www.smart-butler.com/voiceinput.html

If you don't have Microsoft Speech Recognizer v5.1 installed on your computer, also download this:
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...peechsdk51.exe




Okay, I hope you can all follow that. Please tell me about any problems you have with it, I really want to know. You can say something nice about it too, if you like


EDIT> @Web master - Images are still not showing inside posts. Could you set it to allow images, please?

[A.Russell]

Oops, the link to the game was wrong. Fixed now!:
http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/.../MagicBook.exe