AU Print/Online News Coverage

[DanQ]

Good evening, everyone.

I thought I would pass along both a link and print reference to a recently published article that highlights Apolyton University (AU). It's the feature story in the April 15th, 2005 edition of Library Journal magazine entitled "Meet the Gamers". I have written a news item and summary for it in Apolyton's 'Civilization III' section ( http://apolyton.net/civ3 ) -- a more static link is provided below as well.

At the same time, I am certain many if not all of you will enjoy reading what is written and said about AU in this piece in full and wanted to bring it to your attention beyond the news item write-up. My news summary only touches upon its surface points, in particular those not specifically centred around AU and CivIII in general. For all those who have and continue to contribute to AU, the recognition is well deserved. Congratulations!

Full article (online): http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA516033
Article summary/news item: http://apolyton.net/news/search.php?...affinity+space

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Tassadar500]

This is amazing.

[Rommel2D]

Has anyone looked at what James Gee's book says about this in it's entirety? It sounds like he used to at least lurk here...

[Theseus]

I don't know about James Gee, but I've emailed back and forth with Kurt Squire ("ksquire") a bit...

Hey, we're FAMOUS!!!

[ZargonX]

Go AU!

[ormuzd]

Good article indeed

[Dominae]

Yay Library Journal.

[Solomwi]

Outstanding

[Aqualung71]

[ksquire]

thanks for posting . in fact, a student of mine and i are working on a follow up paper that will be a more thorough look at AU, how it works and so on. I've been lurking quite a bit, and I've played through manyof the courses (and man i used to think i was good).

it's struck me, for one, just how hard it is to put the game down and take notes. you're disciplined people.

anyway, if you have any interest in participating in some interviews around AU, let me know...

[Theseus]

I'm in.

[Dominae]

Me too.

[Tassadar500]

As am I.

[ormuzd]

well deserved glory for all of you indeed

[Krill]

If you need another person to interview, I'm in

[Tassadar500]

Kurt, would it be possible for us to see the article before it is submitted?

[ksquire]

yes, most definitely. i like to pass it around to as many people who are wiling to read and get feedback -- especially to check if i'm interpreting people right and make any changes before any final drafts are turned in.

[punkbass2000]

I don't know that I would be the best person to interview for this, but I'd be happy to contribute.

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by DanQ
For all those who have and continue to contribute to AU, the recognition is well deserved. Congratulations!

[Theseus]

Did anybody see the update of this article in the October issue of Computer Games Review??

I was flipping through it this morning, and dropped my cup of coffee!!

[DanQ]

Hi Kurt. Good to hear from you, and thanks in advance for the article preview.

As far as interviewing people on AU goes, I'm sure I'm atop of your list already...

Originally posted by Theseus
Did anybody see the update of this article in the October issue of Computer Games Review??

I was flipping through it this morning, and dropped my cup of coffee!!

I haven't. Can you provide an excerpt or two for us (including name of author, page number(s))?

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Theseus]

Computer Games Magazine, October 2005, pages 94-95

"Applied Game Theory", by Henry Jenkins and Kurt Squire

"The Higher Education of Gaming: Is Apolyon University, an online school for players of Sid Meier's Civilization, a model for discovering the next generation of talent?"

"Imagine an online university, run by gamers, dedicated to helping you become a better player and maybe even a game designer. There's no tuition, and you're free to participate however you like. You might browse materials looking for strategies. Mayber you enroll in a few courses. Not only do professors read your ideas, they give extensive feedback. They even let you run your own course, if you think you can do it better. If you're really lucky, maybe a game company will take an interest in your talent and turn this interest into a career.

" Does that sound far-fetched? Well, it's not. In fact, it's happening right now at Apolyton Univeristy (AU), an online university of Civilization players at Apolyton.net. AU is a group of players who have mastered the basics of Civ and want to learn more, starting by redesigning the game rules to make it more challenging. There are roughly 24 courses, ranging from OCC, the "one City Challenge" (players must win with only one city, which is an insane, but fun, strategy), to "Give Peace a Chanc," a course challenging students to win through economic and diplomatic means. Alll of these courses are free online, and anyone can participate."

...

"As more educators look for ways to use games for learning, self-organizing learning communities such as AU illustrate the importance of looking beyond game technologies and also see the social changes that they are a part of. Customization and mod tools amplify the ever-blurring lines between consumers and producers. Making mods, scenarios,a nd game movies, or, in this case, "courses," is a natural extension of participation with the medium. And no one denies access based on a lack of credentials; kids from Croatia can participate right alongside PHDs in articifical intelligence."