MLearning-Technologies to Watch-Part V-Game-Based Learning

The following information is used for educational purposes only.

Two to Three Years: Game-Based Learning





1 Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
Game-based learning has gained considerable traction since 2003, when James Gee began to describe the impact of game play on cognitive development. Since then, research — and interest in — the potential of gaming on learning has exploded, as has the diversity of games themselves, with the emergence of serious games as a genre, the proliferation of gaming platforms, and the evolution of games on mobile devices. Developers and researchers are working in every area of game-based learning, including games that are goal-oriented; social game environments; non-digital games that are easy to construct and play; games developed expressly for education; and commercial games that lend themselves to refining team and group skills. Role-playing, collaborative problem solving, and other forms of simulated experiences constitute topics for further research, but are recognized for having broad applicability across a wide range of disciplines.


2
Overview


3 Proponents of game-based learning in higher education point to its role in supporting collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, the 21st century competencies needed by American students outlined by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in late 2010 in the National Education Technology Plan. Advocates also underscore the productive role of play, which allows for experimentation, the exploration of identities, and even failure. Gaming also contributes to the development of a particular disposition well-suited to an information-based culture and rapid change.


4 Gaming is an expansive category, ranging from simple paper-and-pencil games such as word searches all the way up to complex, massively multiplayer online (MMO) and role-playing games. Educational games can be broadly grouped into three categories: games that are not digital; games that are digital, but that are not collaborative; and collaborative digital games. The first category includes many games already common in classrooms as supplemental learning tools. Digital games include games designed for computers, for console systems like the Nintendo Wii, and online games accessed either through a special game client (like) or through a web interface (like Whyville).


5 Research into games for educational purposes reveals some interesting trends. Early studies of consumer games helped to identify the aspects of games that make them especially engaging and appealing to players of various ages and of both genders: the feeling of working toward a goal; the possibility of attaining spectacular successes; the ability to problem-solve, collaborate with others, and socialize; an interesting story line; and other characteristics. These qualities are replicable, though they can be difficult to design well, and they can transfer to games featuring educational content. More recently, the Serious Games movement responded to the desire to unite significant content with play. The games within this genre layer social issues or problems with game play, helping players gain a new perspective through active engagement. While some criticize these games as being too serious, and therefore lacking the fun aspects that can increase engagement, research shows that players readily connect with learning material when doing so will help them achieve personally meaningful goals.


6 A few years further out, but increasingly interesting, is the creation of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games designed for learning. Like their entertainmentor training-focused counterparts (World of Warcraft, Everquest, Lord of the Rings Online, America’s Army, and others), games of this type bring many players together to work on activities that require collaborative problem-solving. Games like these are complex, and include solo as well as group content and goals that are collaborative as well as some that are competitive. They are often goal-oriented in ways that tie to a storyline or theme, but the highest levels of interaction and play require outside learning and discovery. What makes MMO games especially compelling and effective is the variety of sub-games or paths of engagement that are available to players — there are social aspects, large and small goals to work towards, often an interesting back story that sets the context, and more. Players dedicate enormous amounts of time on task pursuing the goals of these games. The problem that needs to be solved, and which is being tackled on many fronts today, is that of embedding educational content in such a way that it becomes a natural part of playing the game.


7 One area in which there is currently a great deal of development is social games, especially those that can be taken along and played anywhere at all using a mobile device. With social games, players are never far from a game environment, whether it be a mobile in a pocket, a desktop or laptop computer, or a networked gaming console. With this kind of ubiquity, games are becoming a pervasive part of everyday life, and our notions of what constitutes a game are changing as fast as the games themselves.


8
Relevance for Teaching, Learning,Research, or Creative Inquiry


9 1 Considering the relevance of gaming within higher education can take one of two admittedly overlapping paths. In the first, gaming is deemed significant as a conceptual practice with outcomes that enable students to gain skills needed specifically in an information-based culture. The second path finds relevance in specific gaming content, which can overlap with course content, helping students learn material in an innovative way.


10 In the first direction, advocates support the act of gaming. They see value, for example, in creating a disposition or stance that enhances skills in decision-making, innovation, and problem-solving. The ability to identify with experts as one adopts differing identities in games can allow students to experiment with leadership. In MMO games, the “conceptual blending” required in navigating the real world and virtual spaces simultaneously in game play similarly contributes a valuable skill. Finally, gaining an understanding of the “procedural logic” or meta level of game design is also useful, helping students garner a deeper understanding of the systems that drive contemporary culture. In these ways, gaming as an activity contributes to learning broadly. In the second direction, gaming related specifically to course content helps student gain a fresh perspective on material and can potentially engage them in that content in more complex and nuanced ways.


11 Alternate reality games (ARGs), in which players find clues and solve puzzles in experiences that blur the boundary between the game and real life, offer a clear example in which course content and game play can overlap. Recent examples of large-scale ARGs include the educational games World Without Oil, a collaborative and social imagining of the first 32 weeks of a global oil crisis, and Superstruct, in which players imagined themselves 10 years in the future, in a world facing daunting environmental, political, and health challenges. The Tower of Babel, an ARG designed by the European ARGuing Project, was used in schools as well as by learners of all ages for learning languages other than their own.


12 Online games for single users are also popular, although they may be used more in informal than formal learning contexts. Examples of single-player online games useful in an educational context include those developed by Persuasive Games, which explores advocacy issues in a format intended to engage players in serious questions related to health, policy, and contemporary topics. Similarly, the Italian design collective Molleindustrial uses gaming to address pressing social needs. The Free Culture Game, for example, is described as “a playable theory” and deals with copyright and free culture, while Oligarchy considers international oil drilling. The premise behind these games is that while students may read about social issues in a given college course, actively playing through the topics may lend a new perspective and thorough means of involvement.


13 Open-ended, challenge-based, truly collaborative games have tremendous potential to transform higher education. Games like these, which occur in both massively multiplayer online (MMO) and nondigital forms, can draw on skills for research, writing, collaboration, problem-solving, public speaking, leadership, digital literacy, and media-making. When embedded in the curriculum, they offer a path into the material that allows the student to learn how to learn along with mastering, and truly owning, the subject matter. These games lend themselves to curricular content, requiring students to discover and construct knowledge in order to solve problems. They are challenging to design well, but the results can be transformative.


14 Research and experience have already shown that games can be applied very effectively in many learning contexts, and that games can engage learners in ways other tools and approaches cannot. As this area continues to expand, and as game designers continue to explore new ways to integrate serious topics and content area in engaging formats, gaming will become more useful and prevalent in higher education.


15 A sampling of applications of game-based learning across disciplines includes the following:


16 ◦Engineering. An engineering game called “Cool It”: An Interactive Learning Game for Cryogenics developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison teaches students about cryogenics by providing detailed information and feedback based on the engineering decisions they make when designing objects for this field.
◦Music. Melody Mixer is a game developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that teaches music students how to read and compose music. It encourages students to experiment with sound and composition to better learn how pieces are constructed.
◦Nursing. Professor Ann Burgess of Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing has developed a game called Virtual Forensics Lab that teaches students how to conduct forensics at a crime scene. The virtual game helps students develop critical thinking for solving crimes and piecing together evidence.


17
Game-Based Learning in Practice


18 The following links provide examples of how gamebased learning is being used in higher education settings.


19 Ghosts of a Chance
http://www.ghostsofachance.com/
This game allowed visitors to the Smithsonian American Art Museum a chance to decipher codes, follow treasure maps, send text messages, and uncover hidden objects in this multimedia scavenger hunt. The game was held in the fall of 2010.


20 Global Conflicts
http://www.globalconflicts.eu/
This educational game is designed to help teach concepts in citizenship, geography, and media. Developed by Serious Games International, it has detailed lesson plans and assignments for students.


21 Mass Extinction
http://shass.mit.edu/research/cms_game
MIT’s Education Arcade in the Comparative Media Studies Program is developing a curated game called “Mass Extinction” about climate change. The game will take place in the spring of 2011.


22 PeaceMaker Game
http://www.peacemakergame.com/game.php
This game is designed to teach concepts in diplomacy and foreign relations. The game allows the player to take on the role of either the Israeli Prime Minister or Palestinian President, trying to find peaceful resolutions to conflicts before the term of office expires.


23 Simulation Games for Business Students
http://it.uoregon.edu/itconnections/playing-for-a-good-grade
A sports business professor at the University of Oregon has taken a commercial game, Madden NFL, and used one of its modes for developing football franchises to help teach students about marketing and business decisions. The approach leverages an off-the-shelf game and uses it for educational purposes.


24 Sustainability Games — Video Games for Sustainability and Design
http://emergingmediainitiative.com/project/sustainability-games/
Researchers at Ball State University are designing video games for use in teaching landscape architecture and environmental design.


25
For Further Reading


26 The following articles and resources are recommended for those who wish to learn more about game-based learning.


27 Deep Learning Properties of Good Digital Games: How Far Can They Go?
http://www.jamespaulgee.com/node/37
(James Paul Gee, Arizona State University, January 2009.) This study by noted games-based learning researcher James Paul Gee discusses the design and effects of digital games.


28 Delicious: Game-Based Learning
http://delicious.com/tag/hz11+gamebasedlearning
Follow this link to find additional resources tagged for this topic and this edition of the Horizon Report, including the ones listed here. To add to this list, simply tag resources with “hz11” and “gamebasedlearning” when you save them to Delicious.


29 Design Outside the Box (video)
http://g4tv.com/videos/44277/DICE-2010-Design-Outside-the-Box-Presentation/
(Jesse Schell, DICE conference, 18 February 2010.) Carnegie Mellon professor Jesse Schell gives a compelling talk about the future of gaming and what the world may look like as games get embedded into the fabric of everyday life with sensors and network connections helping to create sophisticated feedback and scenarios.


30 How Video Games Are Infiltrating—and Improving—Every Part of Our Lives
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/151/everyones-a-player.html
(Adam L. Penenberg, FastCompany, 13 December 2010.) This article discusses the prevalence of gaming in everyday life and how this trend will only increase in surprising and interesting ways.


31 Moving Learning Games Forward (PDF)
http://education.mit.edu/papers/MovingLearningGamesForward_EdArcade.pdf
(E. Klopfer, S. Osterweil and K. Salen, The Education Arcade, 2009.) This white paper provides an overview of the field of game-based learning, focusing on K-12 education but is also useful as background for those in higher education.


32 Reality Is Broken, Game Designers Can Fix It (video)
http://www.avantgame.com/
(Jane McGonigal, Institute for the Future, 2010.) This TED talk features Jane McGonigal, a leader in the design of ARGs, who advocates incorporating principles of game design into the real world to effect social change.

February 8th, 2011