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Discussion about entry: Real Lives - a software simulation of life in any country of the world
This is discussion about Real Lives - a software simulation of life in any country of the world.
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Intriguing idea. What is Real Lives competitive advantage over Second Life www.secondlife.com, the virtual world wherein people from various countries are building their own 3D online communities meant to reflect life in actual communities?
Adam Aberman
Director of Global Digital Strategy
Youth Venture and Ashoka's Youth Initiative
Second Life and Real Lives have very little in common and serve different markets.
I would characterize Second Life as an environment where people create a world they wish existed and then live in it in ways they can not or would not in their first lives. Otherwise, why bother with an artificial world? Second Life is a playground for people's imaginations.
Real Lives attempts to model the world that is by drawing on thousands of statistics. The characters' actions are constrained by the game mechanics and by the statistical likelihood of something happening. The goal is to increase the user's understanding of the living conditions, including health conditions, of people in other parts of the world.
In Second Life the lack of constraints makes the environment interesting. In Real Lives the constraints themselves make the simulation interesting, because we get a sense of the challenges faced by people in real situations.
Innovative, accessible and I can imagine Real Lives in museums and educational institutions world wide! Great work.
Two Things:
1. "Provide one sentence describing your impact. Real Lives has had a moving impact for many of its users, based on testimonials and awards. It has been especially effective in schools."
I would like to hear you describe the "moving impact" that Real Lives have had.
2. When you discuss how your vision will affect the world you raise some questions: "Why is it that people in sub-saharan africa suffer from so many contagious diseases? Why don't we?" and then you ask, "How will we act," or maybe What can we do? I am curious how these provocative questions and potential answers are (or could be) incorporated into the game. Is there a teaching manual that goes along with the game? Is there any follow up with the users to find out what they learned, how they felt and perhaps attention given to their thoughts, feelings and ideas?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
I've sat in on many classes where Real Lives was being used with middle school and high school students. Typical reactions are strong and sometimes emotional when students' characters face real-world difficulties or tragedies. Students quickly identify with their characters and sometimes are upset to learn of the difficulties people face in other parts of the world.
Here's an example generalized from reactions I've seen repeatedly: two students are sitting next to one another in a computer lab. One is playing a child in sub-Saharan Africa and the other has a child in western Europe. The African child dies of malaria or dehydration in infancy while the European child sails through childhood to a successful educational and work career. In the simulation, the game is over, totally, for the student who's character died. Frequently, students will blurt out what is going on with their character, wanting others to learn what they've experienced. Is life really like this in India or Mali, Honduras or Iraq? Many students can't believe that people in other parts of the world have to face the difficulties they do. Nothing in our school curricula prepares them for it.
Kallen Tsikalas from Computers For Youth is doing a study of Real Lives in teaching settings with kids and has compiled a lot of moving observations. I'll contact her and see if I can post some here.
Real Lives does come with a set of lesson plans. They can be downloaded from the website: www.educationalsimulations.com/Lessons.zip.
Bob Runyan
Educational Simulations
creator of Real Lives