Learning to play in digital games (original) (raw)

Activity theory and learning from digital games: developing an analytical methodology

Digital Generations: Children, Young People and New Media, 2006

In the last few years, there has been growing interest in the use of digital games for educational purposes. Researchers have explored a range of concerns such as the practical issues raised by using games as classroom resources ; the possibility of using game-like interfaces and designs to make educational software more motivating and effective ; the social practices that develop around computer game play outside school ; and the kinds of multimodal literacies which games develop . Two areas of research focus in particular on the relationship between the design of the game and the experience of the player during the game playing process, examining how and what players learn through play and how games function as pedagogic texts or designs. In so doing, they raise questions regarding the balance between the text and the player in learning through game play. The first of these areas concerns itself with the informational or factual content of games and adapts the kind of frameworks used in the evaluation of educational software. In the UK, the BeCTA (British Educational Technology Agency) and TEEM (Teachers Evaluating Education Media) reports into the educational benefits of computer games are the most prominent examples of this kind of research, examining the cognitive and social processes involved in playing a number of games (Dawes and Dumbleton, 2001; McFarlane et al, 2002). The BeCTA report, for example, argues that The Sims can teach the value of budgeting, as it requires players to manage financial resources; whilst Championship Manager, which involves putting together football teams according to the strengths and weaknesses of different available players, can be used to teach database handling (Dawes and Dumbleton, 2001). This kind of research defines the educational potential of games in terms of the opportunities for players to evaluate information, hypothesise and test out solutions, and work in groups. However, it does not comment on how such opportunities are taken up. The TEEM report, for example, reviews the informational content of a number of digital games and includes feedback collected through post-play focus groups and questionnaires. But it does not observe the process of playing, nor does it include research on the nature and quality of moment-by-moment social and technological interactions and how these might relate to each other. Both the Becta and the TEEM reports

Toward a Framework for Learning and Digital Games Research

Digital environments, serious games, video-games, and game-based simulations continue to expand as foundations (e.g. Quest2Learn schools in New York City and Chicago) and adjuncts (e.g. River City, Whyville, Civilization) to pre-college level curriculum and learning. However, studies examining the psychology of learning from, with and within game-based settings have remained largely atheoretical. Both private and public funders of game-based learning have recognized this situation. Further, it has compromised the development of psychological theory which with to account for learning via gameplay as influenced by factors such as gender, developmental level, motivation for learning, socioemotional factors, and specific content/skill targeted for instruction (Connected Learning, 2013; NSF Task Force on Cyberlearning, 2008). Accordingly, the goal of this special issue is to provide readers with a strong research base framework that advances and integrates the psychology of learning (cognitive, behavioral, cultural and socioemotional) with emerging theoretical perspectives of game-based learning from different approaches that involve the science of learning, pathways of influence, playful learning and connected learning.

Games and Learning: what's the connection

International Journal of Learning and Media, 2009

This article reviews how the relationship be- tween computer games and learning has been conceptualized in policy and academic litera- ture, and proposes a methodology for exploring learning with games that focuses on how games are enacted in social interactions. Drawing on Sutton-Smith’s description of the rhetorics of play, it argues that the educational value of games has often been defined in terms of rem- edying the failures of the education system. This, however, ascribes to games a specific on- tology in a popular culture that is defined in terms of its opposition to school culture. By analyzing games produced in school by 12- to 13-year-olds in the context of a media education project, the article shows how notions of what a game is emerge from conventionalized and historical relations within a setting, and that the educational value of games can therefore be re-thought in terms of the situated significa- tion of “game” rather than games causing learn- ing. The students’ production work is analyzed using a discursive, semiotic methodology and focuses on changing principles of design across time. Changing notions of “game” and “play” are therefore highlighted and analyzed in terms of how students position themselves in relation to the teacher, researchers, and their peers. The significance of the study for conceptualizing the relationship between games and learning is re- viewed in the conclusion.

Digital games that teach: a critical analysis

2008

1 1 Playing and Learning – A Bird’s Eye View 3 2 Playing and Learning – An Intuitive Account 5 3 Case Studies in Edutainment 6 3.1 Case Study Physikus, 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2 Case Study Brand im Hafen, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.3 Case Study Genius Unternehmen Physik, 2004 . . . . . . . . 14 3.4 Case Study Genius Task Force Biologie, 2005 . . . . . . . . 18 4 Analysis and Evaluation 23 5 Summary and Conclusions 29

Editorial. Digital games and learning

Journal on Educational Technology, 2019

This special issue aims to increase the body of knowledge and evidence concerning the learning potential of video games and gamification, as well as the problems associated with educational uses of games (Persico, Passarelli, Dagnino, Manganello, Earp, & Pozzi, 2019). The selection of papers presented here has been informed by this overarching aim. At the same time, we hope that educators planning to employ games in their classes will find that they provide inspiring examples of educational uses of games. Since designing appropriate and pedagogically sound game-based learning interventions is a difficult endeavour, we do hope that the following articles will contribute to dissipate the fog that often envelops design principles for Game-Based Learning.

Games, learning & society: Introduction to the special issue

2009

Each year, the Games, Learning and Society (GLS) program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hosts a conference to facilitate conversation about digital literacy learning in the spaces of popular culture, fandom, and interactive media-like games. Each year, we bring academics, designers, educators, and media fans together to share thoughts and findings on how digital media, commercial and otherwise, can enhance learning, culture, and education. The event has been a surprising success in many ways, and we now boast an acceptance rate (13-30%) more stringent than some peer-reviewed academic journals and a waiting list for entry each year. In response, we have not only expanded our capacity for participants each year but also increased our audience through special issues in journals central to our community such as E-Learning. This special issue represents one of our attempts to connect important research themes represented at GLS to broader conversations about the nature and quality of learning through digital media more broadly. Although the title GLS specifies 'games', our interests are better conceptualized as 'learning through interaction' in more comprehensive terms. The community and field has expanded over the past five years to include research and design in areas well beyond video games alone to include popular culture and fandom communities, digital/visual cultures, and interactive design more generally.

Beyond Entertainment: Games as Learning Technologies

2004

Computer and videogames are increasingly becoming recognized as providing a powerful means for learning. This paper explores what is it about today's digital games that provide such deep learning experiences, together with how educational designers can harness the potential of games.