Resiliency, Goal Setting, Empathy and Relationships:

Introducing Digital Games to the National Draft HPE Syllabus

With the National HPE Syllabus currently in the final consultation stage (as at May, 2017), now is the perfect time for teachers to further develop their use of digital games in the classroom, or perhaps embark on including them in units of work ensure more comprehensive engagement with 21^st century learners.

Before beginning this process, it is important to understand how digital games can fit in to the draft syllabus, what content areas or stage statement descriptors digital games could address, and what current research says about how digital games can help students become aware of concepts such as resiliency, empathy, building positive relationships and decision making.

Examples of digital games directly linked to content and outcomes will also allow teachers to explore the use of digital games, ranging from games explicitly developed to meet the curriculum outcomes, as well as games that can be used to teach concepts and content. It is also important to address possible obstacles that teachers may face, or feel that they face, in including digital games in education.

1. An Introduction to the Place of Games in the Draft HPE National Syllabus

Personal Development, Health and Physical Education is a compulsory subject throughout all Australian schools. It has both a practical and a theoretical focus and at this stage is still governed by state and territory-based syllabus documents. The National Curriculum syllabus for HPE is currently in draft and consultation and feedback stage.
The draft Australian HPE Syllabus (2017) has taken on a strengths-based approach and calls for real life experiences to be drawn upon for students to learn such skills as resiliency and decision making. The following is an extract for the draft document.

“Learning in PDHPE encourages students to take a strengths-based approach to balancing and managing healthy, safe and active lives. Through a critical inquiry approach, students are provided opportunities to confidently interact with others and independently engage, research, apply, appraise and critically analyse health and movement concepts to maintain or improve health, safety, wellbeing and participation in physical activity.”

(NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), 2017)

It is often difficult for PDHPE teachers to model “real life” situations which allow students to address and learn complex decision making situations (Kiili, 2005), and often the syllabus requires PDHPE teachers to unpack such multifa issues as resiliency, managing social situations, building respectful relationships and seeking help for mental health issues.

A quick scan of the Draft HPE syllabus shows the following:

• Resilience or resiliency is mentioned 23 times
• The term “Respectful Relationships” appears 63 times.
• The word “social” appears 114 times. This word prefaces the following: values, norms, responsibilities, justice, skills, groups, change, situations, awareness, perspective, responsibility and capability.

So, is it possible that incorporating digital games in to teaching and learning strategies, and using them as a basis of pedagogy in some areas of the syllabus, HPE teachers could equip students with real-world skills that they have learned and mastered in an online world?

Jane McGonigal, PhD, is a game designer of alternative reality games, who believes that through gaming, real-world problems can be solved. In the following TED talk from 2010, McGonigal believes it is time the world harnesses the strengths of the world’s billions of gamers by outlining four of their strengths, or what she calls superpowers. She believes that those are:

1. Urgent optimism – gamers are self motivated and are searching for an “epic win”.
2. The creation of tight social fabrics – people tend to like eachother better if they have played a game together, They have a mutual respect for rules and goals of the game. They create mutual trust and cooperation.
3. Blissful productivity – gamers feel a sense being happy working on the game. Given the right work, humans often feel challenged and fulfilled.
4. Epic meaning – gamers love to be part of awe-inspiring missions, like in games such as World of Warcraft.

(McGonigal, 2017)

(McGonigal, 2010)

McGonigal (2010) goes on to say that gamers believe they can change the world. The only problem being that they believe they can change online worlds, not the real world. Her challenge is how to make this happen in the real world. As teachers, this provides a meaningful challenge to how we teach students about resiliency, building respectful relationships and managing social situations. Can we teach it through the use of a digital game, so students can take those lessons in to the real world? Presenting challenging learning experiences via digital games may enable students to make positive changes in their own world.

With sharper, more realistic graphics and intricate storylines and quests, games are becoming more and more representative of the real world. Therefore, it seems logical for PDHPE teachers, who deal with dynamic and complex health and well-being issues within their syllabus, would be looking for opportunities to incorporate digital games in to their teaching units. If students are immersed in imaginative world that incorporates sound as well as images to help them experience real world situation in context-aware games, then they may be able to transfer these online experiences to real life situations (Magerkurth, Cheok, Mandryk & Nilsen, 2005).

2: What do digital games researchers and proponents say about social skills and digital game playing?

Unfortunately, much research in to the psychological effect of digital games has been negative, and based on outcomes associated with commercially available games (Allaire et al., 2013). On the other hand, more research is starting to emerge about the positive outcomes associated with digital gaming in the classroom. Some research suggests that digital games can give us the information we need just at the right time that we need it, or on demand (Gee, 2003).

What this means is that skills or learning outcomes a teacher may be trying to achieve through the use of a digital game are delivered to the gamer at the right time and in the right context. This could be considered invaluable when teaching student about social situations, resiliency and relationships as it is difficult to provide the immediacy and specificity of particular scenarios during class discussions or other, more conventional classroom activities. Gee (2003) also believes that teaching skills via gaming creates a “cycle of expertise” (page 3), whereby students are constantly challenged after completing task levels. This could be transferred to the teaching of social and personal skills in the PDHPE classroom, allowing students to become online experts before practicing their skills in the “real world”. Ducheneaut & Moore (2005) describe this as building their online social capital as they learn to play their part in an online world and understand social structures and cues.

Therefore, multi-player, online games could help students build positive relationships, make informed decisions, seek help and build resiliency.

Surely the most pertinent of Gee’s (2003) ideas is that whilst playing a digital game, students “engage at a distance” and in the fine-grained environment of a game. Cognitive research suggests that this type of engagement makes players feel like they have moved their mind and body in to a new space. This is more than a textbook or a worksheet can do (Gee, 2003).

Single-player, or quest games that involve a single player, can also increase the motivation of a player in terms of learning. Often playing through a single character’s story and adding to their success entices students and many games are now very sophisticated in design and graphics (Dickey, 2005). These types of games can be used to teach concepts of self-actualisation and decision making.

Many proponents of digital games in the education relate it’s significance to students being modern day learners and that gaming is an integral part of learning that current educational structures tend to miss or ignore. Gaming is big-business and Prensky, even way back in 2003, believed that it made sense to merge learning with the motivation that students get whilst gaming. Lafreniere, Vallerand, Donahue & Lavigne (2009) write that gaming can lead to satisfaction and self-realization if the experience is positive, thus suggesting that the selection of games is important. Self-realisation can be linked to students’ ability to enhance resiliency skills and build positive relationships (Beardslee, 1989).

3. Three digital games that can be used in conjunction with the National draft HPE syllabus

i.Orb by ReachOut.com

Orb is a challenging, visually rich digital game that can be played on any platform and is downloaded for windows or via iTunes. It is directly linked to the National Draft HPE syllabus and centres around students learning about how their decisions can affect their well-being and the well-being of others. The HPE syllabus aims to develop students knowledge, understanding and skills as well as valuing the diversity of learners.

The Orb Game has been designed to form the basis of an entire unit of work, an interesting approach that Van Eck (2006) calls the “holy grail” of digital games in education, by addressing educational value and entertainment value in the one game and developed by educators. This type of design of games to meet educational needs, but still have all the entertainment features that draw us in to digital games, is the future of digital games in education (Van Eck, 2003).

Orb meets the following HPE syllabus objective and outcomes:

Students: develop, improve and strengthen personal identity, resilience and respectful relationships

Stage 4

• PD4-1: examines strategies to manage current and future challenges
• PD 4-2: examines and demonstrates the role help-seeking strategies and behaviours play in supporting themselves and others
• PD4-9: demonstrates strategies to effectively manage emotional situations
• PD 4-10: applies and refines skills to assist themselves and others to build and manage relationships in various social situations

Stage 5

• PD5-1: assesses their capacity to reflect on and respond positively to challenges
• PD5-3: analyses factors that enhance inclusive and respectful relationships and appraises strategies to address the abuse of power
• PD5-9: assesses strategies to effectively manage complex situations
• PD5-10: critiques their ability to enact skills to build and manage relationships in various social situations

(NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), 2017)(“Orb” by Reach out, 2016)

ii.  Spent

Spent is an online game about surviving homelessness and poverty. It was originally designed by an ad agency for a pro bono client who was trying to highlight these two issues in society. This type of game would be what some describe as being a game that develops global citizens (Bachen, Hernández-Ramos & Raphael, 2012) and enables players to see the world through another person’s perspective, with real-time feedback and learning experiences.

(“SPENT by McKinney”, 2011)

The potential of digital simulations to promote global citizenship is gaining traction, and this was mentioned by Jane McGonigal in her 2010 TED talk “Gaming Can Make a Better World”. This type of empathy-building is mentioned as one of the critical interpersonal skills and values and attitudes that PDHPE students should be learning under the Draft HPE syllabus.

This type of empathy awareness is written in to the draft syllabus as early as Stage 2, and is as follows:

• PD2-3 explains how respect, empathy and valuing diversity can positively influence relationships

(NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), 2017)

Empathy also forms important parts of knowledge skills and values statements throughout the draft syllabus.

iii.    Proof

Goal setting, motivation to take part in challenging physical activities, commitment to lifelong engagement in physical and addressing the concept of motivation are all key concepts of both the existing NSW PDHPE syllabus and the Draft HPE syllabus.

Proof is an online app that allows users to set goals, challenge other users and even compete for “virtual” prizes when reaching their goals. Being able to film yourself or your friends reaching their goals or completing challenges.

(“Introducing Proof!”, 2013)

Gamification of health apps has been a growing trend (Lister, West, Cannon, Sax & Brodegard, 2014), and Proof is part of this gamification. Foundation health apps allowed users to input data and static goals, but gamification has lead to higher levels of motivation amongst users (Lister et al, 2014). This is an excellent resource for PDHPE teachers looking to motivate their students in physical activity or developing goal setting skills.

Specific outcomes that Proof could address and enhance are:

Stage 4

• PD4-5 transfers and adapts solutions to complex movement challenges
• PD4-6 recognises how contextual factors influence attitudes and behaviours and proposes strategies to enhance health, safety, wellbeing and participation in physical activity
• PD4-8 plans for and participates in activities that encourage lifelong physical activity

Stage 5

• PD5-5 appraises and justifies choices of action when solving complex movement challenges
• PD5-8 designs, implements and evaluates personalised plans to enhance participation in lifelong physical activity

(NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), 2017)

4. Challenges to Teachers and Conclusion

The use of a digital game in the classroom must be well planned and authentic to the learning intention, just like any technology tool.

Many researchers suggest the teacher is at the heart of whether digital games are introduced in to learning experiences or not. Much has been written about why teachers don’t use digital games including beliefs, skills, experience and curriculum related concerns of the teacher (De Grove,  Bourgonjon & Van Looy, 2012). What teachers are looking for are reasons to look beyond the notion of games being pro-play and anti-work (Van Eck, 2006) as well as having empirical evidence that says games support pedagogy and vice versa (Beavis et al, 2014).

Issues such as inexperience, lack of time to experiment with games and the inablity to convey analysis and reflection on games can also play a role for teachers in whether they embrace digital games in their teaching units (Gros, 2007).

For a teacher to see the value in using any technology tool in their classroom, they must be convinced that it supports teaching and learning aims. Whitton (2009, p.23) outlines ten defining characteristics of games that may be of use. In terms of teaching students resiliency, empathy and the importance of goal setting and building strong healthy relationships, games must have the following features:

1. Competition – The goal is to achieve an outcome that is superior to others.
2. Challenge – Tasks require effort and are non-trivial.
3. Exploration – There is a context-sensitive environment that can be investigated.
4. Fantasy – Existence of a make-believe environment, characters or narrative.
5. Goals – There are explicit aims and objectives.
6. Interaction – An action will change the state of play and generate feedback.
7. Outcomes – There are measurable results from game play (e.g. scoring).
8. People – Other individuals take part.
9. Rules – The activity is bounded by artificial constraints.
10. Safety – The activity has no consequences in the real world.

(Whitton, 2009)

With the National Draft HPE syllabus still in consultation phase, teachers are poised to begin the process of implementing and using digital games within their teaching units. If we fail to recognise the role that digital games play in the lives of our students we are failing to engage 21st century learners. Gee (2011) outlines the challenge faced in engaging these learners in the video below.

(“Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy”, 2011)

References:

Allaire, J., McLaughlin, A., Trujillo, A., Whitlock, L., LaPorte, L., & Gandy, M. (2013). Successful aging through digital games: Socioemotional differences between older adult gamers and Non-gamers. Computers In Human Behavior, 29(4), 1302-1306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.014

Bachen, C. M., Hernández-Ramos, P. F., & Raphael, C. (2012). Simulating REAL LIVES: Promoting global empathy and interest in learning through simulation games. Simulation & Gaming, 43(4), 437-460.

Beardslee, W. R. (1989). The role of self-understanding in resilient individuals: the development of a perspective. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59(2), 266.

Beavis, C., Rowan, L., Dezuanni, M., McGillivray, C., O’Mara, J., Prestridge, S., … & Zagami, J. (2014). Teachers’ beliefs about the possibilities and limitations of digital games in classrooms. E-learning and Digital Media, 11(6), 569-581.

De Grove, F., Bourgonjon, J., & Van Looy, J. (2012). Digital games in the classroom? A contextual approach to teachers’ adoption intention of digital games in formal education. Computers in Human behavior, 28(6), 2023-2033.

Dickey, M. D. (2005). Engaging by design: How engagement strategies in popular computer and video games can inform instructional design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(2), 67-83.

Ducheneaut, N., & Moore, R. J. (2005). More than just ‘XP’: learning social skills in massively multiplayer online games. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 2(2), 89-100.

Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. (2011). Vimeo. Retrieved 25 May 2017, from https://vimeo.com/16430819

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 20-20.

Gros, B. (2007). Digital games in education: The design of games-based learning environments. Journal of research on technology in education, 40(1), 23-38.

Introducing Proof!. (2013). Vimeo. Retrieved 28 May 2017, from https://vimeo.com/62320159

Lafreniere, M. A. K., Vallerand, R. J., Donahue, E. G., & Lavigne, G. L. (2009). On the costs and benefits of gaming: The role of passion. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(3), 285-290.

Lister, C., West, J. H., Cannon, B., Sax, T., & Brodegard, D. (2014). Just a fad? Gamification in health and fitness apps. JMIR serious games, 2(2), e9.

Magerkurth, C., Cheok, A. D., Mandryk, R. L., & Nilsen, T. (2005). Pervasive games: bringing computer entertainment back to the real world. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 3(3), 4-4.

McGonigal, J. (2010). Gaming can make a better world. www.ted.com. Retrieved 25 May 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world#t-1184536

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). (2017). Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) K–10 Draft Syllabus for Consultation. Sydney: NSW Education Standards Authority.

Prensky, M. (2003). Digital game-based learning. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 21-21.

SPENT by McKinney. (2011). YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7T5x6nOlWQ

Squire, K. (2005). Changing the game: What happens when video games enter the classroom. Innovate: Journal of online education, 1(6).

Van Eck, R. (2006). Digital game-based learning: It’s not just the digital natives who are restless. EDUCAUSE review, 41(2), 16.

Whitton, N. (2009). Learning with digital games: A practical guide to engaging students in higher education. Routledge.