Posts Tagged ‘game-based learning’
vGBL reminders
Posted on: March 2, 2022
This MayTree tribute of the original Wii console music reminded me of the workshops I used to conduct on video game-based learning (vGBL). And, yes, one of the stations included a Wii.
That reminded me of the challenging lessons that video games might offer to teachers and educators. For example:
- Learning by doing and iterating
- Destigmatising failure because it is necessary for improvement
- Putting tests (do this) before content (what to do and how to do it)
- Negotiating ill-defined outcomes and problems
- Cheating is often OK especially when players learn to cooperate
- Creating content and sharing it openly for critique and improvement
Such are lessons only if we are willing to learn. I fear that only a few have learnt and even fewer have applied vGBL.
Interesting ≠ effective
Posted on: January 23, 2021
I was not surprised to read this tweet.
The tweet highlighted the main finding of a survey reported in this article:
More than 60 percent of teachers who are using games more often said the games are making learning more interesting for students, while only a quarter of the students playing more games said they make learning more interesting.
The article did not define what game-based learning (GBL) was nor did it give examples. The understanding and implementation of GBL varies from the incentivised gamification of tasks (which is strictly not what GBL encompasses) to full blown immersion and self-direction.
Gamification could include getting points for showing up, completing tasks, and levelling up based on said tasks. These are the low-hanging fruit of “GBL” — they are easy to implement and appeal to teachers and administrators alike because they look good on lesson plans and policy documents.
Game-based learning is a spectrum of structured and quiz-like challenges to freeform and exploratory MMO worlds. Objectives and outcomes vary from being closely standards-based to loose and emergent.
Teachers who are not given any or adequate professional development on GBL might use a layperson’s approach, i.e., use games to motivate and engage. This is the low-hanging fruit of trying to make lessons interesting.
But this a superficial approach that highlights how an interesting lesson is not necessarily an effective one. An expert and researcher on educational gaming, Richard Van Eck highlighted this when he said:
…children value games not necessarily because they’re flashy and entertaining, but because they’re “hard fun”—in other words, it is the thrill of the game’s challenge that keeps students coming back.
He also said:
Incorporating digital games as a tool for engaging students is okay… but if you do so on a superficial level, you’re not tapping into the benefits, like promoting problem solving and critical thinking.
I am not saying that teachers should not try GBL. But I am saying they should know what they are getting into. They should play video games first. Any game will do because the principles are largely the same.
They should also read up on educational GBL and/or attend rigorous professional development on the same. This will provide some structure in terms of educational theory as well as critical and reflective practice on GBL.
To not to any of this and to take, say, a vendor’s word on the wonders of some approved games in content system is to attempt to facilitate GBL blind.
Thoughts on a ten-year game
Posted on: June 4, 2020
Last month I discovered that I had been playing a mobile game, Clash of Clans (CoC), for ten years. I realised this only when a game update flashed this in its opening sequence.
While I played the game as designed initially (raiding and pillaging other clans), I have spent more time farming (tending to my resource generators and making repairs after being raided).
This led to my reflection on game-based learning (GBL). Teachers who try to leverage on educational or off-the-shelf games often take advantage only of gamification — the points, achievement levels, journey progress, etc. — because they align to circular and assessment standards.
GBL is more than that. It is also about creating a love for playing games and tapping on intrinsic motivations. The design of a game is critical. If CoC was designed only for raiding, I would not be able to farm. But I have been able to do this because it is a large part of the game (if no one farms, there is nothing to raid). I find farming to be soothing and I play the game to relax, not to get a hit of dopamine. That is my motivation and it comes from within.
But persisting with any game (even when the rewards are not obvious) should be important an outcome of game play and of GBL. This is a routinely ignored aspect of GBL design that puts learners off. They “play” not to play, explore, or satisfy curiosity, they do so because points are at stake. Such an extrinsic focus (get the marks!) is detrimental on the long run. It takes the fun out of play. It removes the intrinsic motivation.
I used to be able to run a few game-based learning workshops every year. Now I do about one a year as part of a course I designed. Sadly, changes to the structure of the programme that the course is part of might mean I might facilitate GBL just once every two years. Despite that change, I continue to play video games and use GBL principles in other courses. Why? I am intrinsically motivated to do so.
Game-based therapy and learning
Posted on: August 1, 2018
I can already see the anti-game groups cry foul about the practice of using specially designed games to treat psychological conditions. After all, they see video games as the root of the problem.
If they dig deeper, they might realise that the root causes are multifaceted, layered, and complex. Instead, they rely on personal bias (which then fuels ignorance) to block the possibility that such games might help their children.
The same could be said of teachers who only view video games as being pure distraction or only for delivering content. Off-the-shelf video games are not designed for delivering content; they are designed for creating experiences. It is what you do with those experiences that creates opportunities for learning.
Here is an unoriginal thought: You can get into a state of flow no matter what video game you play.
My wife, my son, and I play very different games on our phones. My wife likes tile-matching puzzle games — she started with games like Bejeweled and now plays Simon’s Cat Crunch Time.
My son plays a variety of games and seems to favour multiplayer inline battle arena (MOBA) games now. He is currently playing Mobile Legends.
My main game is Pokémon Go. This is a location-based game that requires me to leave home to catch Pokémon, spin stops, battle rival gyms, and coordinate raids.
Whatever game we play, we get into a state of flow. This is an almost zen-like state of focus, quick decision-making, and honed movements.
Different games and gameplay result in the same outcomes while allowing players choice of game based on their interests or strengths. If this sounds familiar, it is because the tenets are built on the same foundations as personal learning.
It does not take an external vendor, elaborate proposals, or a king’s ransom to implement personal learning. It takes actual gameplay and a willingness to reflect and try something new.
This TED talk is like a trojan horse, but a good kind.
It started with the unwarranted fears of “screen time” but was really about authentic game-based learning.
The speaker, Sara Dewitt, outlined how games were or could be:
- A form of embodied learning
- A possible replacement for standardised testing
- An opportunity for adults to co-learning with children
These aspects of gaming might be new to some. I hope they become standard fare in education because that is one of the places the mobile road is taking us.
I have distilled some differences and overlaps in gamification, game-based learning, and serious gaming.
I focus on their use and integration in educational contexts. I exclude contexts like industry style performance support, commercial sells, VWO campaigns, etc.
I distill factors that govern the three in the table below without elaboration. The explanations are for another time because my thoughts are not complete and each factor could be a class in a university course.
I may add to or subtract from this table over time.
Gathering loose ends
Posted on: August 5, 2017
I am trying to make sense of several loose threads on the overlaps and differences in gamification, game-based learning, and serious gaming.
So far I have gleaned and coded from several articles categories like:
- Game play
- Objectives
- Outcomes
- Ties to content
- Nature of learning
- Role of analytics
- Purpose
- Main motivation
- Locus of control
- Narrative
- Cost
- Platform
There is quite a lot of snipping, gathering, and patchwork to do…
I deliver a keynote this morning and am part of a panel in the afternoon on the broad topics of game-based learning (GBL) and gamification.
My keynote is about an hour long, but the messages, cases, and experiences boil down to these points:
- There are overlaps between GBL and gamification, but there are also distinctions. Educators who are thinking of implementing GBL strategies or gamifying experiences should know what these are so that they do this well and do it right.
- They need to do this because others have gone before them by conducting research and reflecting on critical practice. Not only should they stand on the shoulders of giants by giving credit where it is due, those that do not know their history are also doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
My keynote will merely skim the surface and probe the waters at strategic points, so I provide some readings in this curated list.
I plan on using a few go-to tools and one infrequent one.
My regular tools are Google Presentation as the main platform with TodaysMeet, AnswerGarden, and Padlet for a backchannel, crowdsourced word cloud, and case studies respectively.
I am opting not to use Google Presentation’s new Q&A tool because I want a more active backchannel. I also have some good questions from participants thanks to a pre-conference poll I conducted with Google Forms.
The tool I use strategically is AirServer. Most institutional wifi systems block it and I resort to bringing my own mifi device. But the room walls are often thick and/or the venues recessed deep enough to prevent good 3G or 4G signals. This time I might have a workaround thanks to some helpful folk at the venue.
I use AirServer only when it is sound to do so. In this case, I want to show real mobile games and a gamification app in real time. I have static screen captures as backups, but these are about as effective as looking at movie stills instead of the movie itself.
I plan on backchannelling the event on Twitter after I am done speaking and the organiser has decided on the hashtag #simgeconf. I almost abandoned TodaysMeet in favour of just using Twitter. But something tells me that the attendees are not quite ready for Twitter.
If you don’t do, you don’t know
Posted on: July 24, 2015
I loved watching this video of a few mothers trying Minecraft for the first time.
It is one thing to read opinion pieces of the game, particularly in the context of education, and another to experience it for yourself. Then once you try it out, it is one thing to have a taste and it is another to immerse yourself and keep at it.
Despite the short exposure to the game, I like how one mother told her child to move aside so that she could do something in the game. That is a step closer to immersion. Csíkszentmihályi would refer to this immersion as flow. We might refer to it as being in the zone.
This is experiential learning and learning-by-doing at its best. These are natural extensions of who were are and that is one reason why games like Minecraft are so successful.
I have said it before and I will say it again: If you cannot reach them, you cannot teach them. If you want to teach the learner, you must first be the learner.
This is not just about gaming. It is one thing to observe a child playing; it is another to be the child playing. It is about taking the child’s perspective and having an educator’s empathy.
If you do not do something new like playing Minecraft, you will not know why it appeals so widely or how to leverage on it. The first step is the hardest. Take it and do.
BTW, I played Minecraft (mobile and PC versions) with my son and created several videos of what we learnt together.
Another dot in the blogosphere? 