Colleagues,

Do your students use computer simulations for learning?  If so, which  
ones and for what kinds of students? (ABE? ESOL? ASE? Basic Literacy?  
College transition? Others?)  What simulations do your students find  
engaging? What simulations help them learn?  Is the use of computer  
simulations in the adult education and literacy field increasing?  I  
would be willing to put together a list of simulations you recommend  
and add it to the Literacy List [ http://alri.org/literacylist.html ] .

Below are some bits from a Chicago Tribune article yesterday about  
how computer games and simulations are being used in classes and  
libraries, including with low-income people.

+ Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago uses computer games to teach low- 
income people.

+ A study announced in June  by the Pew Internet & American Life  
project provides evidence that poorer families are gaining access to  
computers. For example, the study found that 40 percent of African- 
Americans have broadband connections to their home PCs, which is up  
from the 14 percent the survey found two years ago.

+ Another recent survey has found that more than 80 percent of U.S.  
libraries allow patrons to use their computers to play games. More  
than 40 percent run programs promoting games.

+ Librarians at Arizona State have created a game for college  
students that helps them understand how to use a library to get  
critical information.  "Gaming teaches how to evaluate information,"  
said Jenny Levine, Internet specialist for the American Library  
Association. "It teaches how to handle large sets of data, filter  
results, navigate information. You take in a lot of real-time  
information, process it and strategize. These are the same skills  
that businesses need."

Would this simulation be useful for ASE students or college  
transition students? Are there other simulations at a more basic  
level to help students use a library?

You'll find an article on all this in the Chicago Tribune for Sunday,  
August 12 at

http://tinyurl.com/28hcxv

You'll find a wiki article on the library game with links to a .pdf  
of a presentation on it and to the game itself at

http://tinyurl.com/29js6q


David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net