[games_access] Daedalic Developing Serious Game to Fight Illiteracy

[D. Michelle Hinn]

That's great to hear about a game like this, Sandra -- thanks!

It's important to note that there are also other reasons for  
illiteracy, including lack of access to adequate education. For  
example, I have dyslexia but lack of motivation to learn to read was  
not an issue for me -- I just never knew why I had to work harder in  
some areas even though I was in the so-called "gifted" (whatever that  
means...) curriculum and had trouble with multiple choice style  
exams. I wasn't officially diagnosed until the end of my  
undergraduate education. But, certainly, there is a wide range of  
people's experiences with or without dyslexia and there are some  
people that "traditional" educational methods do not reach because  
that is not what maps to the way that they think. So games that teach  
via other methods do have the capability to help more people for whom  
the education system cannot reach.

Just wanted to make the distinction between motivation to learn and  
mathematical/writing/reading disabilities.

Great to know that they are going to be making this available free of  
charge -- makes me wonder if a game like this could be used to help  
people learn to speak other languages such as German and reach an  
even wider group! In the US, learning a second language is something  
that is introduced way too late in most people's educational  
experiences, if it is taught at all.

Michelle

On Nov 4, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Sandra Uhling wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
> Daedalic is producing a game for people who have Dyscalulia,  
> Dysgraphia and
> Dyslexia.
> This game is aimed to motivate them to learn more.
>
>
> "Daedalic Developing Serious Game to Fight Illiteracy
> Hamburg/Germany: February 12, 2009. Increasingly,
> games are recognized for their largely untapped potential to
> make complex things easy to learn: As part of the „Alphabit“-
> project for the development of an educational game for
> functional illiterates, Daedalic Entertainment is producing a
> serious game with the German Adult Education Association and
> the Fraunhofer Institute.
> „Early-on, we have made the development of serious games a
> part of our business. Daedalic Entertainment is focussed on
> producing and marketing games with a strong narrative bent.
> Such games are ideally suited for educational purposes and this
> exciting project takes us a significant step further in expanding
> this part of our business“, said Carsten Fichtelmann, Managing
> Director of Daedalic Entertainment.
> The game is intended to motivate adults that have severe
> problems reading, writing and calculating. In Germany alone,
> there are an estimated four million „functional illiterates“, yet
> only a fraction of them make use of the available educational
> programs. Aim of the project is to give affected persons new
> motivation to educate themselves and to give them the opportunity to
> train and improve their literacy in a playful manner.
> Partners in this project are the Fraunhofer Institute for
> Computer Graphics Research in Rostock, the German Adult
> Education Association, the German Institute for Adult Education
> in Bonn and the Adult Education Association of Mecklenburg-
> Vorpommern in Schwerin. The project is funded by the German
> Federal Ministery of Education and Research as part of the
> initiative for adult literacy and basic education.
> The completed game will be distributed for free and used in
> Adult Education courses across the country. It is also planned
> to be made available in job centers as well as via internet
> download.
> About Daedalic Entertainment
> Daedalic Entertainment develops and publishes high-quality computer
> and video games worldwide, focussing on the production of
> entertainment software with strong narratives. The company based in
> Hamburg, Germany offers international partners services in the fields
> of development, publishing and consulting. With its talented internal
> team and an expansive network of experienced service providers,
> Daedalic is the ideal partner for games marketing, development and
> publishing.
> Daedalic has successfuly marketed products like Ankh – Battle of the
> Gods, Benoît Sokal’s Sinking Island and eXperience112 and has won
> accolades, incl. two 2008 German Developer Awards for Edna &
> Harvey: The Breakout, its first internally developed title.  
> Currently, the
> German company is developing the titles A New Beginning and The
> Whispered World, as well as additional new and innovative games.
> www.daedalic.de"
>
> Source: Press release by Daedalic
>
>
> The project is part of: alphabit
> www.projekt-alphabit.de
>
>
> Best regards,
> Sandra Uhling
>
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