Teaching Kids About Nutrition Through Edu-Gaming in Whyville.net

Speakers: James M. Bower

Track: SGS: Learning & Instructional Theory

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: All

Description: More than one in six children and adolescents are considered overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on principles of constructivist, inquiry-based learning, Whyville.net is the leading educational virtual world for kids and teenagers. This session discusses WhyEat, an interactive edu-gamebuilt in partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to sensitize children and young adults to the crucial importance of good nutrition and its impact on the quality of one’s life. In Whyville, citizens’ nutritional choices impact the virtual health of their avatars. WhyEat teaches them to interpret nutritional information and food labels and to seek advice from the dietitian to keep their avatars in good health.

Idea Takeaway: Successfully engaging learners over the Internet involves using technology that implements interactive and inquiry-based educational pedagogy. Open-ended design is much more likely to attract sustained effort than are games with fixed strategies and outcomes. As in any real classroom, success also depends on creating and sustaining a learning community.

Intended Audience: This presentation is of interest to formal and informal educators as well as to game designers interested in increasing the educational power and influence of their products, especially those specifically aiming to engage young women.