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The main reason for inclusion in the top 10 was the impact a game had on the educational gaming field. Some of these are getting rather long in the tooth as far as games go, yet their impact is still being felt in educational research that was foundational or continues to be published.

Second Life based FREE game development kit in a box. Used to develop Pilgrim (First Thanksgiving) game with University of Pennsylvania Students. Links to SLURL location, documentation, example game and kit on this page.

Top 100 Learning Game Resource list. If you are already developing learning games, these links will broaden your horizons, as they did mine. If you are contemplating beginning - it might help to look at links that interest you to get some grounding ideas.

Systems Thinking and Game Design through the eyes of a 4 year old. Interesting observations about the value of games in understanding problem solving and social interactions. Not directly related to virtual worlds - although good for understanding WHY virtual worlds and online games might be valuable student learning experiences.

Numbakulla: The Pot Healer Adventure Second Life Innovative Learning Environment SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Numbkulla/215/18/22 This is the kind of place that I imagined I would visit when I first signed up for Second Life. While Second Life itself may not be a game, it has massive potential to be a place where educational games can be embedded and hosted. The Pot-Healer Adventure is not an educational game per se, but a highly interactive quest that gets the player to explore and solve puzzles. However, it is one of the few environments I've found so far that has key elements that couldn't easily be reproduced as an Adobe Flash video. The game starts with a shipwreck, which has left debris strewn over land and floating in the sea. It's an intriguing beginning, and a nice device to allow the player to interact with nearly everything visible. At the start you can pick up a notebook, which keeps track of things you pick up in the game, and gives you hints about what to do. A notecard at the beginning tells players that they are to find out about a mysterious old civilization that a previous explorer is no longer able to investigate. I'm not sure how this environment itself could be used for educational purposes, but the way it has been designed could and should be adapted for other purposes. I imagine the explore-and-interact puzzle format to lend itself to teaching history, and anthropology. It would be a particularly good way to teach how historians gather evidence, and what they can learn from old diaries, work reports, and other documents. I am glad that I found this interesting environment, and hope to return and explore it some more. I think that it could serve as inspiration to others looking to create more interactive quest-type lessons.

Lengthy, but interesting article on sims and virtual worlds. Reminiscent of Bernie & Karl's game course.

Daniel LIvingstone's post listing  Free stuff for virtual worlds and game based learning good beginning list!

I've created this wiki to help teachers use simulation and game in the classroom. Please help me by suggesting articles, resources, and videos or sharing this with teachers at your school and/or via your blog. Thanks and hope you enjoy!

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. Participation in this game is designed to enhance the lives of children while helping them grow into knowledgeable, responsible, and empathetic adults. Does this interest you? They offer extensive educator training and support. Really an exemplary project. HIGHLY recommended.

"The Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. TEA's research and development projects focus both on the learning that naturally occurs in popular commercial games, and on the design of games that more vigorously address the educational needs of players." I joined this community and hope to learn a lot!

Second Life interactive game - good ideas for game-based interactions

Games: Six engagement elements, examples and applications. Community, Competition, Completion, Creativity, Puzzle-solving, Narrative EDTEC700: What elements make sense for YOUR 3-D learning design? Any of them? Something other?

This is a fun, interactive site which teaches students about the play Oedipus Rex and about conventions of ancient Greek theater, culture and politics. It uses a game show format and contemporary tone to get students engaged. The drawback is that it is text dense. Students simply click on what they think is the right answer. The right answer takes them to the next part of the narrative. The wrong answer takes them to a long paragraph of explanation. There are hot links within the text, though, which open other cool sites with pictures, maps, etc. This is a very specific site intended to enhance a person's study of Oedipus Rex.

Nicely detailed game-quality texture collection available for private use with attribution.

Let-Us-Learn is an international project that aims to investigate the potential of a 3D virtual learning environment (3DVLE) designed to engage learners in collaborative, creative problem solving activities in which numeracy, literacy, life skills and creative activities are embedded in a motivating game-like environment.   Australia/South Africa

SL murder mystery game running February 2010. Example of environment context, role playing, collaboration, problem solving?, fun. How could this strategy be used with educational content?

This award-winning website allows children to: * Interact with dozens of famous historical and fictional characters from the arts, literature and sciences. * Submit creative writings for others to read and comment upon. * Explore famous works of art and play art related games. * Undertake challenging quests that take kids into the world of classic literature, the arts and humanities. * Practice typing with typing-tutor games. * Learn best practices for staying safe on the Internet. The website is not free, and they have a Teachers Console for class management. They recently partnered with the San Francisco Opera to bring classical music to young adults.

Game challenge learning applying Learning in 3D book principles

Apparently it can be done. Here is a PowerPoint describing the possibilities fellow mathematicians ahve found for using second life to teach mathematics.

The more I explore SL, the more possibilities I see for education, even at the elementary level. Nearly all my 4th & 5th grade students play some sort of video games and love them, so why not use that as a medium for teaching? I think the hardest part will be convincing districts and parents that it can be valuable.