https://pixabay.com/photos/game-the-strategy-computer-289470/

My use of computer technology in teaching has been to use it as a creative tool. Students in my classes are taught to publish documents, produce interactive PowerPoint presentations, make movies, manage spreadsheets, using technology as a tool to showcase their final assessment. My use of game-based learning to date has had a very narrow range, even though I was fully cognisant of a broader definition. I had used games that focussed primarily on drill and practice, “edutainment games that can be characterised as low-budget, student centric, skill-based games exhibiting simple gameplay, somewhat dated graphics, and simplistic underlying learning theories” (Egenfeldt- Nielsen, 2011).

My first movement into a wider exploration of game-based learning using the platform of ‘Minecraft’ I feel fell well short of my expectations. I felt that my lack of knowledge in game play and the actual mechanics of the game adversely affected the outcome for both myself and my students. I had been of the assumption that my students being ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2005, p. 29) would be able to use the game intuitively and that I would learn from them. This was not the case.

I do not see myself as a ‘gamer’. I wouldn’t even know how to turn the ‘X-Box’ on, but on deeper reflection I found that using my mobile phone to play ‘simulation games’, (Spacey, 2019, para. 9) identifies me as a gamer that uses skills such as “strategic thinking” and “planning” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004. p. 4).

Evidence indicates that “games appear to have high intrinsic motivational value” (Turkay et al., 2014, p. 3) and that children learn from a game experience that is at their level, what Darvasi names as the “Goldilocks sweet spot between to hard and too easy” (2020, para. 26), therefore it is a personal aim to become more familiar with the aspects that make a good game so that I can include appropriate gaming in my pedagogy. As Turkay  et al., (2014, p.8) state “An educator well versed in the relationship between video games and different aspects of learning theory will be better equipped to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of a given game for a specific audience in a particular context.”

To go beyond that I challenge myself to create appropriate games for my students. To accomplish this I will need to incorporate what Edurevolution (2014) says is essential to game-based learning “points, badges and leader boards”, but to also use Kapp’s wider definition and to think that “”Gamification” is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems” (2012, p. 59). I will also need to embrace Gee’s 13 Principles of Game Based Learning under the structure of the three categories of “Empowered Learners”, “Problem-based Learning” and “How to create deep understanding” (Thorn, 2013).

References

Davarsi, P. (2020). Five best practices teacher can learn from Dungeon Masters. KQED. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53553/five-best-practices-teachers-can-learn-from-dungeon-masters

Edurevolution. (2014, March). Gamed based learning vs gamification [Video)]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElcjSMHGP9Q&feature=youtu.be

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2011). What makes a good learning game? Going beyond edutainment. E-Learn, 2011(2). https://doi.org/10.1145/1943208.1943210

Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A. (2004). Literature review in games and learning. NESTA Futurelab, 2004 (Report No.8). Retrieved from https://telearn.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal00190453/document

Kapp, K. M. (2012) The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education and training. John Wiley & Sons

Prensky, M. (2005). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Gifted, 135, 29-31

Spacey, J. (2019). 38 Types of games. Simplicable. https://simplicable.com/new/games

Thorn, C. (2013, November). Jim Gee principles on gaming [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk

Turkay, S., Hoffman, D., Kinzer. C. K., Chantes, P. & Vicari, C. (2014). Towards understand the potential of games for learning: learning theory, game design characteristics, and situation video games in classrooms. Computers in the Schools, 31, 1-2, 2-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2014.890879