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Logo
Logo is a game that was created by Seymour Papert and Wally Fuerzeig to help students learn about math and programming which was just starting to become popular. It was also a coding language that was used and developed at UC Berkeley. The game taught students the beginning of coding using simple concepts using the Logo language. It was not very popular. -
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The History of Online Educational Gaming
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Oregon Trail Game
Oregon Trail is one of the most famous, well known educational games to be developed. This game was used in hundreds of schools, and today, has been updated to still be used in many classrooms. The purpose of the game is to teach American Geography and History, as well as the difficulties of survival during the 1800s. -
Lemonade Stand
The lemonade stand is a game that was developed by Apple II to teach students about entrepreneurship by enabling them to run a successful lemonade stand all on a computer. The game, though extremely simple, was impactful and changed the industry forever. -
Invention of the CD-ROM
The CD-ROM was invented in 1982 and with it, came a plethora of educational games more developed and advanced than before. This was one of the biggest impacts on the field, as people had the ability to develop new technologies and games due to the added amount of storage space. -
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Carmen Sandiego was one of the most popularized games of the 80s. In 1985, the first installment of this came out to help teach students about world geography through a new technique of randomly generated questioning. The character led to a series of countless games and TV shows as well as books. -
The 2000s Games
Some of the most popular educational games of the 2000s included "Reader Rabbit", "Freddi Fish", "Putt-Putt", "Math Blaster", and "JumpStart". These games took on a new style, often releasing games annually that followed storylines. The games featured puzzles that aimed to "Entertain your brain", which was quite advertiseable to parents. -
The Tycoon Game Craze
Another impactful change in the educational gaming industry was the introduction of the tycoon games. Tycoon/Simulation games were aimed to teach children about business, economics, history, and a range of "realistic skills". The most popular tycoon games are those that feature businesses or start-ups. This is very similar to the Lemonade Stand game from 1979! -
Game Based Learning Research/Learning Sciences
The introduction of the Learning Sciences or LS field helped inspire educators and researchers alike to pursue other forms of teaching, including game-based learning. Countless research studies since have been published on game-based learning and how games can or cannot be used in education.
