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Games and learning

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Games and learning is the research based educational theory that video games should be used to further education. 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. Games can bring together ways of knowing, ways of doing, ways of being, and ways of caring.[2]

Research

Learning is an ever evolving entity. Learning today has shifted 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] Early 20th Century education focused on the acquisition of basic content knowledge and skills including reading, writing, math, science and history. 21st Century educational skills are higher order skills, including 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]

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.[7]

Others, however, 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. 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, using games for learning becomes obsolete. 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

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. For more information from this article see What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy

Controversy

Critics suggest that lessons people learn from playing video games are not always desirable. But even the harshest critics agree that we learn something from playing video games.[13] 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. 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. 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. For all of the enthusiasm around games and learning, very few studies have examined whether video games improve classroom performance and academic achievement, says Emma Blakey, PhD researcher in developmental psychology at the University of Sheffield in England. Because we know memory is a crucial cognitive skill for school learning, practice at playing games that challenge memory should, in theory, lead to improvements in classroom behavior and academic skills, she says.[14] But only additional research will show whether or not games will play a role in improving learning.

Game List

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.

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.

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 other teams of 'bosses' which are computer generated players. Created by Blizzard Entertainment.

League of Legends, is a multi-player game of strategy where teams of characters embark on quests and battle other teams to win items or quests. 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, quests, areas of 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. [15] Created by Ion Storm.

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. ^ Gee, James Paul (2010)
  8. ^ Malykhina, E. (2014)
  9. ^ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education/
  10. ^ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  11. ^ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  12. ^ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education
  13. ^ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)
  14. ^ Malykhina, E. (2014)
  15. ^ Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005)

References

  • Cazden, C., Cope, B., Fairclough, N., & Gee, J,;et al. (1996). A pedogogy of multiliteracies; Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 1-14.
  • Gee, J. P. (2000). Teenagers in New Times: A New Literacy Studies Perspective. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 43(5), 412-420.
  • Gee, J. P. (2010). Video Games: What They Can Teach Us About Audience Engagement. Nieman Reports, 52-54.
  • Gee, J. P. (2012). Digital Games and Libraries. Knowledge Quest-Participatory Culture and Learning, 41(1), 61-64.
  • Shaffer, D., Squire, K., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005). Video Games and the Future of Learning. The Phi Delta Kappan, 87(2), 104-111.
  • Squire, K., Shree, D., & DeVane, B. (2008). Designing Centers of Expertise for Academic Learning Through Video Games. Theory Into Practice, 47, 240–251.
  • Squire, K., & Gaydos, M. (2012). Role playing games for scientific citizenship. Cultural Study of Science Education, 7, 821-844.
  • Squire, K. (2006). From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience. Educational Researcher, 35(8), 19-29.
  • Squire, K. (2013). Video Game–Based Learning: An Emerging Paradigm for Instruction. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(1), 101-130.
  • Malykhina, E. (2014). Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education. Scientific American, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education/
  • Institute of Play: http://www.instituteofplay.org/about/context/why-games-learning/
  • International Society for Technology in Education: http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-students


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