Games and learning

Games and learning is a field of education research that studies what is learned by playing video games, and how the design principles, data and communities of video game play can be used to develop new learning environments. Video games create new social and cultural worlds - worlds that help us learn by integrating thinking, social interaction, and technology, all in service of doing things we care about.[1] Computers and other technologies have already changed the way students learn. Integrating games into education has the potential to create new and more powerful ways to learn in schools, communities and workplaces.[2] Games and Learning researchers study how the social and collaborative aspects of video game play can create new kinds of learning communities. Researchers also study how the data generated by game play can be used to design the next generation of learning assessments.

Research

The Games and Learning research world studies how new digital media tools shift the topic of education research from recalling and repeating information to being able to find it, evaluate it and use it compellingly at the right time and in the right context.[3] Games and learning research explores how games and game communities can lead to 21st Century educational skills such as higher order thinking, the ability to solve complex problems, think independently, collaborate, communicate and apply digital tools to effectively gather information.

Research conducted by Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison shows the educational and social benefits of digital games. Games do not need to be specifically geared towards education to be educational tools. Games can bring together ways of knowing, ways of doing, ways of being, and ways of caring.[4] As John Dewey argued, schools are built on an obsession with facts. Students need to learn by doing, and with gaming, students can learn by doing something as a part of a larger community of people who share common goals and ways of achieving those common goals,[5] making gaming a benefit for social reasons as well. Gaming has also changed the look of content-driven curriculum in schools. In content-driven media we learn by being told and reflecting on what we are told. In gaming, game designers create digital environments and game levels that shape, facilitate and, yes, even teach problem solving.[6]

Another experiment investigated the effects of utilizing the iPad as a learning tool in American Preschools. The results from the experiment contrasted greatly to the common notion that the increasing use of technology by children proves harmful. In their results, the use of the iPads, specifically the completion of the application's tasks within it, yielded positive results. Peer interaction, participation, and learning were all evident since the task was administered in a classroom setting that required the children to work together.[7]

Games also teach students that failure is inevitable, but not irrevocable. We learn from games differently than we learn from books, news and school. In school, failure is a big deal. In games, not so much. You can just start over from the last save. A low cost failure ensures that players will take risks, explore and try new things.[8]

Much of the debate about digital games for education was based on whether or not games are good for education. But that question is overly simplistic. The National Research Council’s report on laboratory activities and simulations[9] makes clear that the design and not merely the medium of a physical or virtual learning activity determines its efficacy. Digital games are a medium with certain affordances and constraints, just as physical labs and virtual simulations are media with certain affordances and constraints. Simulations and digital games actually share many similarities in this regard. Although there are multiple definitions for games,[10] the key characteristics differentiating games from simulations involve the explicit inclusion of (a) rules for engaging with the simulation, (b) goals for players to pursue, and (c) means for indicating players’ progress toward those goals.[11][12][13][14] Properly designed, features of games can provide powerful affordances for motivation and learning. Individual studies have shown, for example, that well designed games can promote conceptual understanding and process skills,[15][16][17][18][19][20] can foster a deeper epistemological understanding of the nature and processes through which science knowledge is developed[21][22] and can produce gains in players’ willingness and ability to engage in scientific practices and discourse.[23][24][25][26]

In his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, James Paul Gee talk about the application and principals of digital learning. Gee has focused on the learning principles in video games and how these learning principles can be applied to the K-12 classroom. Successful video games are good at challenging players. They motivate players to persevere and teach players how to play. Gee's video game learning theory includes his identification of thirty-six learning principles, including: 1) Active Control, 2) Design Principle, 3) Semiotic Principle, 4) Semiotic Domain, 5) Meta-level Thinking, 6) Psychosocial Moratorium Principle, 7) Committed Learning Principle 8) Identity Principle, 9) Self-knowledge Principle, 10) Amplification of Input Principle, 11) Achievement Principle, 12) Practice Principle, 13) Ongoing Learning Principle, and 14) Regime of Competence Principle and more.[27] Withiin these learning principles Gee shows the reader the various ways in which games and learning are linked and how each principle supports learning through gaming. One example would be Learning Principle 6: "Psychosocial Moratorium" Principle, where Gee explains that in games, learners can take risks in a space where real-world consequences are lowered. Another of Gee's principles, #8, that shows the importance of games and learning states that learning involves taking on and playing with identities in such a way that the learner has real choices (in developing the virtual identity) and ample opportunity to mediate on the relationship between new identities and old ones. There is tripartite play of identities as learners relate, and reflect on, their multiple real-world identities,a virtual identity, and a projective identity.[28]

Scot Osterweil, a research director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Comparative Media Studies program states that these standards and testing methods are not conducive to teaching methods that incorporate video games.[29] Games alone will not make schools more efficient, cannot replace teachers or serve as an educational resource that can reach an infinite number of students. The extent of the roles games will play in learning remains to be seen. More research in this area is needed to determine impact of games and learning.

Application

Digital learning tools have the potential of being customized to fit the abilities of individual students and can engage them with interactive tasks and simulate real-life situations.[30] Games can create new social and cultural worlds that may not have been available to everyone in the past. These worlds can help us learn by integrating thinking, social interaction, and technology, all in service of doing things we care about.[31]

Video games are important because they let people participate in and experience new worlds. They let players think, talk, and act in new ways. Indeed, players inhabit roles that are otherwise inaccessible to them.[32] One example of a game where players are learning while playing would be Sims. This game is a real-time strategy game where players need to make decisions that alter their character's life. They can manipulate the scenario to create digital lives where they can experience the struggles of single parenthood or poverty. Players in this game are not allowed to modify a previous decision to alter the outcome, even if the outcome is unpleasant. The goal is to survive to the best of their abilities. The game is complicated and difficult, just as it would be to live a real life in this situation. Regarding a more traditional approach to education, The Sims game has been used as a platform for students to learn a language and explore world history while developing skills such as reading, math, logic and collaboration.[33]

Controversy

Critics suggest that lessons people learn from playing video games are not always desirable. Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University found that children who repeatedly play violent video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older. Researchers from this study found that over time children started to think more aggressively, and when provoked at home, school or in other situations, children reacted much like they did when playing a violent video game.[34] But even the harshest critics agree that we learn something from playing video games.[35] While research on the behavioral and cognitive impacts of video games with violence have shown mixed outcomes, games with little or no violence have shown promising results. Elizabeth Zelinski, a professor of gerontology and psychology at the University of Southern California states that some digital games have been shown to improve the function of the brain, while others have the potential to reverse cognitive loss associated with aging.[36] Some games even require players to make decisions to drive its progress, and they can range from simple to quite complicated.

Some researchers question whether a greater reliance on video games is in students’ best interests, indicating there is little proof that skillful game play translates into better test scores or broader cognitive development. Emma Blakey notes very few studies have examined whether video games improve classroom performance and academic achievement.[37]

Others, like Emma Blakey, a PhD researcher in developmental psychology at the University of Sheffield in England, question whether a greater reliance on video games is in students’ best interests, indicating there is little proof that skillful game play translates into better test scores or broader cognitive development.[38] Because schools are working to meet Common Core State Standards, which dictate what students should be able to accomplish in English and mathematics at the end of each grade, (using standardized testing as a way of tracking a student’s progress) game use for learning becomes obsolete. http://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/digital-games-for-learning-exec-summ_0.pdf

Game List

Here is a list of some of the leading commercial and educational games that have been studied by games and learning researchers.

Minecraft (or Minecraft EDU), a digital game that promotes strategy and imagination while creating structures from cubes, teaches students mathematical concepts including perimeter, area and probability. Students can also collaborate to build larger, more elaborate structures. Created by Mojang & 4J Studios.

SimCity(or SimCityEDU), the popular city-building game, is another learning and assessment tool that covers English, math and other concepts that middle school students need to understand to meet Common Core State and Next Generation Science standards. Created by 20 developers. See link for all involved in development.

World of Warcraft, is a game of strategy. Players choose characters and embark on missions as teams (teams can consist of players from anywhere in the world) and work together by various forms of digital communication, including messaging & through headsets. This game has a prescribed grouping of levels, 1-100 for each character, meaning that if you change your character you start back at level 1 for that specific character. Teams can play against opposing factions in battlegrounds or world encounters. players also embark on challenges or raids to defeat 'bosses' which are computer generated players for gold, items to better a player's stats and achievements. Created by Blizzard Entertainment.

League of Legends, is a multi-player game of strategy where teams of characters embark on battles against other teams to win league points for a player's global rank and to gain influence points to obtain new champions. Teams can be formed of players from around the world that communicate in a variety of digital ways. This game has many options - of characters, game types, areas of play, and free to play - making this game popular with a variety of age groups and skill levels. Created by Riot Games.

Civilization, a game where players attempt to build empires from ancient through modern/future times requires organization of players around a shared goal. This game has discussion forums, a radio station, shared game file systems and even a university (Apolyton) where players learn how to play the game. Created by Sid Meier & Bruce Shelley.

Full Spectrum Warrior, a U.S. Army simulation game teaches skills that soldiers would need to be successful, including giving orders to 2 squads of soldiers, consulting GPS devices, radioing for support and communicating with commanders. A manual accompanies the game explaining that players must take on the characteristics of professional soldiers to be successful players in this game. Created by Pandemic Studios.

Lineage, is a massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) where players can trade raw materials, buy/sell goods around the digital world & speculate on currencies and learn the skills needed to be an international financier. Created by NCSOFT.

In Deus Ex, players experience life as a government special agent, operating in a world where the lines between terrorism and state-sponsored violence are called into question.[39] Created by Ion Storm.

Backyard Engineers, an engineering learning game where players create a catapult to launch water balloons at the neighborhood kids, teaches students to customize different mechanical elements of the catapult - manipulating movement, accuracy, range, and damage to drench even the most evasive of targets. This game meets the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Created by Filament Games.

Reach for the Sun is a game where players grow plants from a seedlings, defend them from insects, and survive the seasons to pollinate and produce flowers. The objective is to help your flower survive to the end of the year, learning about photosynthesis and the ways that seasons relate to plant life cycles. Aligned with Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Created by Filament Games.

Molecubes, a game consisting of a robot trapped in a castle who needs your help getting out, teaches about acids and bases as players work their way tunnels trying to neutralize puddles to gain access to exits and more difficult levels. Aligned with Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Created by Filament Games.

Notes

  1. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  2. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  3. ↑ Institute of Play - www.intstituteofplay.org
  4. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  5. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  6. ↑ Gee, James Paul (2010)
  7. ↑ Lee, L. (In Press). Digital media for supporting young children’s learning: A Case Study of American Preschool Children and Their Uses of Ipads. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5(7).
  8. ↑ Gee, James Paul (2010)
  9. ↑ National Research Council, 2005
  10. ↑ Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. 2004
  11. ↑ Clark, Nelson, Sengupta, & D’Angelo, 2009
  12. ↑ Klopfer, Osterweil, & Salen, 2009
  13. ↑ Koster, 2004
  14. ↑ McGonigal, 2011
  15. ↑ Annetta, Minogue, Holmes, & Cheng, 2009
  16. ↑ Clark et al., 2011
  17. ↑ Hickey, Ingram-Goble, & Jameson, 2009
  18. ↑ Ketelhut, Dede, Clarke, & Nelson, 2006
  19. ↑ Klopfer, Scheintaub, Huang, Wendal, & Roque, 2009
  20. ↑ Moreno & Mayer, 2000, 2004
  21. ↑ Barab et al., 2007
  22. ↑ Neulight, Kafai, Kao, Foley, & Galas, 2007
  23. ↑ Barab et al., 2009
  24. ↑ Galas, 2006
  25. ↑ McQuiggan, Rowe, & Lester, 2008
  26. ↑ Clark, D, Tanner-Smith, E., Killingsworth, S., & Bellamy, S. (2013)
  27. ↑ Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6538-7
  28. ↑ Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6538-7
  29. ↑ Malykhina, E. (2014)
  30. ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education/
  31. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  32. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  33. ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education
  34. ↑ Iowa State University Study, 2014
  35. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  36. ↑ Bergland, C. 2013
  37. ↑ Malykhina, E. (2014)
  38. ↑ Malykhina, E. (2014)
  39. ↑ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)

References

External links

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