Farmville as an example for learning environments

Farmville is addictive and a fast way to develop RSI in a matter of weeks. So far the bad news. Zynga cashed 60 million $ from its users. No one I speak to ever spent a buck, so......some of us do in a major way. The good news is that I think we can learn a lot from the people that developed FV. We might consider to use their model of interaction in the way we organise and stimulate learning and teaching. How do they succeed in keeping us coming back to plow, to seed and to harvest, as a individual farmer and as a neighbour. What happens if we relate these activities to the learning process? Isn't that plowing, seeding and harvesting too? Take a look at the interaction - model I developed lately, maybe it gets you going!

Farmville and learning

3 weeks I am playing FarmVille now! It is fun, interesting and a challenge to stop. One can think of thousands of reasons not to play it! It is also a learning experience. Its a combination of a boardgame, a playfull virtual community and a complex and ongoing mathematical problem. It is also about making money and see things grow. The game-team found a brilliant set of tools to stimulate the players. I think this, relatively cheap way of making games has great and immediate potential for young learners. Why? I was hooked me in the first minute.