Gamification – Lesson 43
This workshop is designed to be explored alongside lesson 42 ‘Flipping the Classroom’. It will look into some of the theory of games based learning, as well as recommend several online games currently being used successfully by teachers around the world. To understand more about ways games can help us learn, watch this Ted Talk from Tom Chatfield. 7 ways games reward the brain.
Next consider the work of Dean Groom Head of Educational Development Design at Macquarie University. Dean is a passionate advocate for games based learning, especially the use of virtual worlds and the online game minecraft. If you have not yet heard of minecraft, check out this great infographic which clearly shows the rise in its popularity.
On his blog Dean writes You can’t have a so called ‘flipped classoom’ until you have performance before competence – and to do that, you need an entirely new way of working and assessing – which is exactly what you get with Xbox Live. Watching my own children design, make, play, problem solve and create within game worlds has convinced me of the value of gaming as a learning tool. Dean recommends educators interested in exploring games based learning start by reading his latest book. Virtual Worlds which he co-wrote with Judy O’Connell. Contained in the book are compelling arguments explaining why educators should be dipping their toes in virtual waters.
Why not learn while you listen? Start with this podcast Game And Learn: An Introduction to Educational Gaming from Ruben Puentedura, he argues that ‘video games can provide learners with rich worlds and complex narratives that both enhance and transform their educational experience‘. A description of each episodes content can be found here. This 14 part series including includes detailed links and researched backed evidence on the value of gaming.
One episode is a case study on the game Scratch. Scratch from MIT Harvard is a free download. It is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art – and share your creations on the web. The Scratch website includes student user cards, tutorials and videos on how best to use scratch in your classroom. Chris Betcher writes here on ways he has implemented scratch at his school, he also includes a video of student created scratch projects.
For research based evidence of the impact of games based learning read this blog Educational Games Research and this wiki Games in Education. To join an Australian community of learners join Game-based Learning Australia. Play and learn as you follow your curiosity and share your potential via learning games all over Australia. Game-based learning Australia is place for educators and learners to share their games, their discoveries and their achievements.
Other games worth exploring include sploder, atmosphir and kodu. Sploder is an online game creating tool in which participants can design, create, make and share free games. Check out this screencast video for instruction on how to create a physics game in the style of angry birds. Atmosphir is another online game creator with educational possibilities. And from Microsoft comes kodu, which is probably best suited to upper primary. It too is a free download and the site includes video tutorials which will teach you everything you need to know.
Ben Jones who until recently, was a Professional Learning and Curriculum Support Project officer with the NSWDET argues in his blog that commercial gaming consoles could be the next learning opportunity for educators. He writes ‘It is no longer a question of when but the more important question of how will we use them for teaching and learning?‘ In particular he makes a compelling case for gaming consoles such as the xbox to be used within the PDHPE department.
Finally can I recommend you listen to this podcast from the edtech crew Games in Education. In which they interview Derek Robertson. Derek has been working with teachers across Scotland to explore and share just how the appropriate use of computer games can have a positive impact on teaching and learning and more recently, to encourage pupils to become creators – not just consumers – of games.
So you are interested and need to know what to do now? Follow this advice and guidance on how to implement a games based class. Or take part in this online research called selene which aims to see if students will learn science better if it is packaged as a video game.
Alternatively for a refreshing view on how to ‘Gamify’ your classroom without using technology read this post from Mr Daley.
Nice article. You have certainly given the workshop participants plenty to think about. This is a comprehensive list of resources and sites for learning with and building learning games. My students also like gamessalad.com which is a nice little intro to gaming for them.
Thank you for your comment, I have heard of gamessalad and I will mention it too