Quest Atlantis

Teacher: We are going to start our unit on statistics today. It's going to be really fun! (Cue collective class groan.) We are going to use an online game called Quest Atlantis to help us out. (Hmmm...the students may be coming around...) I'll pass out this comic book to start. It will tell us the background of Atlantis before we get started with our Quest. (Our Quest? Has our teacher gone crazy?) It's quiet as the students start reading the comic books. A student from the back whispers, "Wow, this might actually be kinda cool."

We all know that kids love video games. Game-based learning, or GBL, can be an effective way to introduce new concepts and immerse students in material that has defined learning outcomes. Although much of the hoopla surrounding GBL refers to video game formats, game-based learning isn’t a new concept. Many traditional board games and card games fall under the umbrella of game-based learning, such as those offered by GameWright and others.