T21M5 Stimulus

Games for Learning

The use of games for learning has the potential to be a polarizing topic. Those who promote the use of games, tend to be very passionate about it. The following TED Talk is a good example and is sure to stimulate your thinking and raise a lot of questions. The talk was recorded in 2010 and has had 4.75 million views.

McGonical, J. (2010, February). Gaming Can Make a Better World. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

If you teach teens or have teens in your family, you may have a rather different perspective on computer games. You may see games as the biggest distraction students have ever had and wonder if games are ruining the future for many students.

Before we look specifically at games for learning, it might be interesting to read the first 4 paragraphs of the following article to get a glimpse of how big the electronic games industry is.

Chetterson, C.  (2017, June 29). How Games Overtook the Movie Industry. Retrieved from http://www.geekadelphia.com/2017/06/29/how-games-overtook-the-movie-industry/

Obviously, our focus is not on games for entertainment. Games that are designed with the primary purpose other than entertainment are sometimes called serious games.

Gamification

We need to distinguish between playing games and gamification. The following video introduces the term gamification.






Foundry10, (2024, March 27). Gamification vs. Game-Based Learning. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/elJVk_Ro4VU?si=nyYQ9K8ZPwInUejQ

You might wonder what this looks like in the classroom, so the next video provides details on one teacher's implementation of gamification. The article that follows describes am implementation of gamification in higher education.



Ellis, M. (2014, November 30. Classroom Gamification Tips for Even the Non-Gamer. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDn5FM7aX1s

Langille, A. (2017, September 13). How Gamification Can Boost Student Success. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/how-gamification-can-boost-student-success-81666

Gameful Learning

Some people dislike the term "gamification" and prefer the term "gameful learning design". The underlying concepts are very similar but gameful learning design draws on self-determination theory as explained in the following article from GradeCraft, a project which originated at the University of Michigan.

GradeCraft, (2015)  Learn About Gameful Pedagogy. Retrieved from http://gamefulpedagogy.com/

From this site, read the section What is gameful? and browse the FAQs. If you are interested in oursuing this further, you will want to read Getting Started.

Evidence of Effectiveness

To finish this section we have three documents examining evidence of the effectiveness of game based learning.

The paper by Aguilar & Karabenick is presented in an interesting way and to read it you need to know how to zoom in with your browser. On Mac it is typically Command + (and Command - to zoom out.) On Windows it is typically Control + (and Control - to zoom out). If this does not work you will need to use commands in the View menu.


Aguilar, S & Karabenick, S (2014, June) Supporting Students' Autonomy through Gameful Course Design. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen_Aguilar/publication/267868795_Supporting_Students%27_Autonomy_through_Gameful_Course_Design/links/545c29e00cf249070a7a8aa2/Supporting-Students-Autonomy-through-Gameful-Course-Design.pdf

(Alternative link to use if the previous link doesn't work.)

Nott, M. (2016, March 22). How Game-Based Learning Can Help Students of All Ages Learn. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/game-based-learning-help-learn/


Innovation and Next Practice Division Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011, November). 2011 Innovating with Technology Games-based Learning Research Trials Findings to inform school practice. Retrieved from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/findingsreport.pdf

Is There Something Missing Here? 

After reading/listening to these reported benefits of the use of games, principles of gamification and gameful learning, have you wondered if there is something missing in the evidence presented? As you reflect on this, it might be a good idea to think about your philosophy of education and the ultimate goals of education.