Quest Atlantis Online Game
Teaches Children Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Compassion
Mar 16, 2009
Can a virtual world teach real world skills, both academic and ethical? Sasha Barab, Associate Professor at the University of Indiana, wants to prove that using digital technology in a game that appeals to children ages 9-15, can be an interactive way of teaching both academic content and social responsibility. Quest Atlantis combines the latest in commercial online gaming with sound educational research, providing an engaging learning environment that may turn educational practice on its head.
Children spend hundreds of hours a year playing video games. They have grown up immersed in iPods, video games, cell phones and electronic and digital devices of all kinds. There is no doubt that the skills they learn with these devices translate into skills needed to master tomorrow’s digital technology. S. A. Barab and his team want to use multiple user online gaming as a way to build responsibility and academic learning, rather than simply allowing it to be a digital distraction.
How Does Quest Atlantis Work?
Quest Atlantis’s eleven worlds present students with different quests and missions. For example, in the world Taiga, there is a water problem. The water is unclean and unhealthy, and students must work together to solve the problem. Each student takes on a different role, choosing from landowner, farmer, factory owner, conservationist, and so on, providing a wide spectrum of views.
Working cooperatively with the other characters in the virtual world, created by students from all around the real-world, presents questers with many different global viewpoints. This helps children learn to work together, to respect other people’s views, and to realize that actions may affect people in unexpected ways, depending on circumstances.
When students apply an action to the problem, they see results the next time they log in. Did the action increase the severity of the problem, or is it helping to resolve it? They must gauge the results of their answers, using scientific methods, and work to improve or continue with the results.
The Ethical Precepts of Quest Atlantis
On the home page of Quest Atlantis, there are icons for the seven ethical precepts of the game.
- Social Responsibility
- Compassionate Wisdom
- Creative Expression
- Diversity Affirmation
- Environmental Awareness
- Healthy Communities
- Personal Agency
Each of these precepts are addressed through quests and missions in the game. Each quest enables a student to learn the virtual and real-world skills needed to problem-solve and conquer academic content. They act as scaffolds leading up to the missions, where a problem is presented and the students work together to solve it, using both academic knowledge and creative problem solving strategies. Teachers utilize units that cover specific content area in an engaging manner.
Who Plays Quest Atlantis?
Students aged 9-15 from countries all around the world play this game. To play, they must be sponsored by a teacher or administrator of the school they attend. It is designed to be a classroom activity.
Teachers involved in the game act as virtual mediators, and they also receive reports on how well each student accomplishes missions. Teachers must attend online training before they enroll their students and themselves in Quest Atlantis.
Research Based Results Show Learning Gains
Quest Atlantis has ongoing research delving into the efficacy of the program in developing literacy, including reading, writing, and critical thinking, as well as science and math skills. The research reports prove that there are definite gains in student academic achievement after playing Quest Atlantis.
Quest Atlantis is hosted by the University of Indiana School of Education, and has been an active project since 2002. S. A. Barab and his team have received millions of dollars in grant funding through NASA, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.
Over 10,000 students on five continents have played the game and shown academic results. As news of the success of Quest Atlantis spreads, more of this type of learning activity may be produced. It may even prove to be the next wave in teaching and learning.
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