The blog looks at gamification, g-Learning and games based learning theory and practice. It provides insight (via games-ED and pixelfountain) on games based learning use in education and g-Learning (including learning simulations) use in adult learning / training such as application in curriculum delivery, training, awareness raising, organisational development, communications and engagement.
This post is a collection of interesting articles about Games Based Learning. Some of them are pedagogical, some are more practical; there should be a good mix.
This is a list of apps which gamify different aspects of people’s lives. The ways they do this are interesting and varied. From encouraging children to help out around the house by it allowing them to win rewards and
level up their RPG character, to motivating you to go to the gym with the ultimatum of giving your money to other gym-goers. From apps that help you reach your goals by completing quests and defeating your personal ‘bad guys’, to motivating your workforce to complete projects. These apps are, in general, a very simplistic form of Gamification. The form that people usually have issues with; involving badges and leader boards. However, some of them are great uses of Gamification and show how varied its uses can be.
Self-Improvement/Task Management
SuperBetter – An app that helps you reach your goals. You build strength in four areas: social, emotional, mental and physical. The app enables you to complete quests (such as finishing a workout), defeat bad guys (such as the self-critic) and get the support of allies (real friends) to achieve ‘epic wins’. The game is built on the principles of positive psychology and their aim is to make players feel better for playing, not keep playing.
EpicWin – This app aims to help you to ‘level-up your life’. It adds a role playing twist to to-do lists. Completing quests (such as doing chores, sending an email, going to the gym) develops your character, gains experience points, earns riches and more.
HabitRPG – This is similar to both apps above, but works on the principle that repetition builds habits. You can choose what habits you want to develop or get rid of in several categories: ‘Habits’, ‘Dailies’ and ‘Todos’. You get points for doing positive things and lose them for doing negative things or not doing positive things. You can use these points to get rewards, which you can define or improve your weapons and armour.
Chore Wars – This is an RPG for completing chores. Every chore completed earns the player experience points which cause the players to level up. You can create groups for households and workplaces and assign different rewards for completing different chores (such as pocket money or choosing the film/TV show on Saturday night). The character classes change to reflect the chores that have been completed.
HighScore House – This works like Chore Wars, but without the fantasy RPG style. It is also intended for parents. Set up chores and rewards and the whole family can earn points, badges and stars. The parents have their own dashboard, so they are in control of doling out points and rewards. This one is still in beta mode.
ChoreMonster – This is very similar to HighScore House - but with monsters! Kids can earn points and monsters for completing chores that the parents define and verify and then spend them on treats. It is also available now and not in the beta stage.
Fitness
Gym-Pact – This app uses the GPS on your smart phone to check you are going to the gym. Then it rewards you or punishes you with REAL money for going or not going. You set up how much you are willing the app to deduct from your bank balance for not going, but this money goes into the pockets of people who did go. On the other hand, if you are a regular gym-goer, you could earn money for something you would have done anyway.
Nike Plus GPS – This one is for runners. It allows you to log your distance, calories burned and so on. You can also activate PowerSongs to help you reach the finish line. Post your workout to Facebook and you will hear real-time cheers from likes and comments as you run. You can also challenge yourself to beat others or your own personal bests to earn badges and achievements.
Work (Performance and Project Management)
Work.com – A way for managers to recognise team and individual achievements, in real-time, socially. They can give custom badges as well as ‘real’ rewards such as Amazon gift vouchers. It summarises performance and managers can coach employees live.
DueProps – Describes itself as a peer appreciation game for workplaces. Co-workers can offer gratitude to one another, which could make them happier, more engaged and more productive. Each ‘prop’ has a brief description and a number of points associated to it, which form a leader board. You can also complete challenges. Props include Einstein, for intelligence and originality and Class Act for handling a situation with professionalism, class and style.
RedCritter Tracker – This app turns completing projects into a game. When someone completes an important task, they earn a badge and reward points. These can be spent in company reward stores to get gift cards, to lunch with executives. They list the benefits of Gamification as being:
Increases employee productivity
Increases quality of work
Improves employee morale
Increases employee retention
Creates an exciting work environment
It's easy to get started just visit www.redcrittertracker.com
Personal Finances
Mint.com Personal Finance – This app aims to consolidate all of your financial information in one, user-friendly place. It is useful to budget, track and manage your money. You are scored on how financially fit you are and it gives you tips and tasks to improve this level. You can see visually what you spend, what on and how often. You can also choose goals and budgets and it helps encourage you to stick to them.
We have written quite a lot of content on this blog so far. We thought we'd give you an easy way to browse our posts by category, so you can easily find the topics that interest you most.
So, what can we learn from the above infographic? Does it contain any useful information for g-Learning designers? We think so. There are some useful reassurances about perceptions of games and some interesting demographic insight (average game player is 30 years of age). However, we think that g-Learning designers should take note to the types of games and gameplay that feature on this list as the ‘top’ games. The top games on the list can be split into several broad genres:
•Adventure (e.g. Assassin’s Creed, Halo)
•Sport (e.g. FIFA, Madden NFL)
•Strategy (e.g. Age of Empires, The Sims)
•Party (e.g. Just Dance, Guitar Hero)
This is useful in itself, as g-Learning designers could design their games around these genres/styles. However, what interests me, is how most of these games are famously played cooperatively. Obviously you can play most of them solo, people may only ever play them solo and some of them can only really be played solo (e.g. The Sims). However, by and large, the top games seem to be the ones which allow cooperation and collaboration.
This is interesting, as it suggests yet again that gamers aren’t all anti-social loners and that this view of gaming is seriously outdated (see our article, “Gamer Myths: Infographic and 10 Facts"). However, for g-Learning designers, it suggests that perhaps we should be creating more collaborative learning games. Perhaps these are the most enjoyable or engaging. Click here for a case study of one of our collaborative learning games, to see how we do it. Interestingly, our market for sim-uni is also adults. Click here to see our “Adult Games Based Learning and sim-uni” post.
I won't spoil the read too much suffice to say that it covers ground that we have blogged about here, but it is well worth a read as it works as a nice summary. The article introduces games based learning, discusses our design and development approach, the underpinning learning theory (situated learning) and goes on to present a case study of the use of our Sustainaville product in schools.
This week, we thought we'd share an infographic with you. One of our fans from webdesigndegreecenter.org alerted us to it. Hopefully it will be inspirational for some of our readers (and particularly young women, like myself). If you would like to learn more about easy ways to get into
programming, click here or click here for more about designing a learning simulation.
There has been quite a bit of research into the effects of games on the brain. For example, a study looking at the effects of playing Mario 64 by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development had very interesting findings. The research found that those who played at least 30 minutes of Mario 64 every day for two months grew significant amounts of new grey matter in three areas of the brain. The areas were correlated with spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory, and motor performance. The control group who did not play Mario, didn’t have the same growth (their grey matter actually decreased; attributed to ageing). For a nice summary of the research, click here.
However, what can games designers learn from research into the brain?
A fantastic article by Ben Lewis-Evans looks at research into dopamine. He concludes that while the research is interesting and may provide some insights, it is rarely applied and especially not to gaming. He thinks it would be more useful for games designers to use observational data from test subjects playing their game, than looking to neuroscience for answers. However he does say: “One exception could be that a theoretical neurological approach may be able to detect if a player was ‘wanting’ to play your game without consciously realising it (something that may indeed be possible)” and “All this said, if you are interested in knowing what your games may be doing to peoples brains, or perhaps you are working in serious games and want to see if games can improve (or worsen) brain function. Then, here, neuroscience can be valuable.”
While this seems negative, it is a powerful insight. Ben discusses how people both over-use and over-trust the prefix ‘neuro’. He urges us to be ‘neuroskeptical’ and not think something is more worthwhile just because it sounds scientific and important. He thinks that while research into the brain may improve and be more useful in the future, at the moment it might be better to stick with observing people’s behaviours. And what is wrong with that? Most games designers won’t have access to laboratories and MRI scanners. So, if games designers can try and use some premises of neuroscience, along with common understandings of people’s behaviours and observations, they should be suitably well informed where the brain is concerned. And, if researchers do try to see the serious effects of games (as in the example above), that is great and could help to fill in some of the blanks and provide much sought after ‘evidence’ that games can have serious learning outcomes.
Ben also lists some of the findings from non-neuro research into the preferences/motivations etc. of gamers, which provide powerful insight and help for games designers. Just because these findings weren’t obtained through peoples’ brains being hooked up to a machine, they are no less of an insight into the mind’s inner workings and human behaviour. For example:
Rewards that are unpredictable (loot drops) are generally more motivating than rewards that are predictable (100 xp per monster).
Rewards should be meaningful, e.g. food is not particularly motivating for most people if you are already full, or if you are in a relatively visually sparse setting then new, unusual, stimuli will attract your attention more readily.
People tend to have a preference for immediate rewards and feedback and are not so motivated by delayed rewards and feedback. This preference for immediate gratification is strongest when young, but persists throughout life.
A predictor for a reward can serve/become a replacement for that reward in terms of behavioural response (e.g. getting points in a game becomes associated with having fun and points can therefore become a motivating reward in themselves).
For the full article and Ben’s list of sources, click here.
I have referred to cognitive flow before in my article: “10 Resources on Creating your Own Learning Game”. This is another area of research into the brain through observations, and it has many implications for game design. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that skill and task difficulty cause people to have different cognitive and emotional reactions to stimuli. When their skill level is too low and the task is too hard, people become anxious. However, if the task is too easy and their skill level is too high, people become bored. ‘Cognitive Flow’, like in the story of Goldilocks, is when skill level and difficulty are ‘just right’.
During this state, there are several effects. For example, extreme focus on the task and the experience of the task itself being the justification for continuing it. Csikszentmihalyi also defined four characteristics found in tasks likely to induce Flow states. Tasks were likely to:
Have concrete goals with manageable rules.
Demand actions to achieve goals that fit within the person's capabilities.
Have clear and timely feedback on performance and goal accomplishment.
This obviously has huge potential for games designers, and particularly for learning games designers. A fantastic job of describing Flow in more detail and unpacking its implications for game designers has been done by Gamasutra here.
So, as you can see, observations into human behaviour and mental states can be powerful tools for game designers. I couldn’t resist tagging this article about neuro-gaming onto the end of this blog post. It looks at how future gaming technologies could tap into our whole nervous system and drive gameplay (brain wave data, emotional states, emotional recognition, pupil dilation etc.).
In a previous blog (A Games Based Learning Manifesto: 10 Thoughts for Discussion), we stated “Use the “G” word sparingly”. Using games in the title is great if we want to sell to the innovators and early adopters, which as developers we probably are doing. But - and it is big but, I won’t lie - is that innovators and early adopters often need to get buy-in from others who don’t quite get it.
At pixelfountain, we have been selling games since 1998 and have needed to avoid the G word. In the early days we used the term Virtual Training. This seemed to fit nicely with what we were doing which were exploratory adventure style games where users interacted with characters and objects in simulated organisations and sites. As it happens, we now use Situated Training for this type of product / pedagogy as it is built on the theory of Situated Learning. By the early noughties, we had started developing resource management games or simulations. Thus, we started using the term Learning Simulations. To date we still use this term for this type of game, but the problem is that it is a subset of all learning games of which there is no overall nomenclature in the way there is for entertainment games (simulations, first person shooters, platform and so on).
In a terrible spoiler, I have already stated my preferred term g-Learning in the blog title - note to self, must create more suspense if I am ever to make it big as a novelist. But, let me appraise the current contenders, before announcing g-Learning as my winner (doh, I’ve done it again).
Games Based Learning: For me, this term conjures up education and includes the G word. We called our blog Games Based Learning as we had originally planned to just talk about education, but we have partially drifted away from that narrow focus.
Serious Games: “Serious Games” has gathered some traction but is somewhat of an oxymoron - games are supposed to be fun. I appreciate it is the outcome that is serious not the game, but that is not clear from the term. Also confused with serious games meaning hardcore commercial games.
Learning Simulations: As previously stated, this is my preferred term for simulations (obviously) but it doesn’t encompass the array of game styles.
Learning Games: Too vague (doesn’t imply digital) and contains the G word. So in the tradition of judging recent UK Eurovision song entries; that will be nil points from me.
Gamification: The term of the moment, but it is too encompassing describing everything from badges, leader boards through to complex simulations.
The case for g-Learning:
It only sneakily hints a games - it is the Assassins Creed of learning terms.
It sounds like advanced e-Learning, which I guess it is.
It fits in with the learning nomenclature: e-Learning (electronic learning), m-Learning (mobile learning).
It sounds techie and sounds like a category (see bullet above).
It is succinct.
So, I Googled g-Learning to see what I could find: a few people are using it in the same way that I am suggesting; there is a training company in the UK trading with the name (they don’t do games); a blogger is using g-Learning as in Google learning and another is using it to mean Green Learning. So with that little amount of research, I don’t think there is a reason why we shouldn’t annex the term, what do you think?
In September, we (pixelfountain) held a workshop in partnership with Virtual College. The delegates were professionals from a wide variety of sectors who were invited to discuss the role of serious games/games based learning in learning and development strategies. For more of an introduction and to see footage from the day (and to appreciate more how our workshops work), watch the video below.
After playing the learning simulation, the delegates discussed using serious games for learning and development. Various applications were suggested, including:
Inductions
Management training
Partnership working and relationship building
Staff engagement days/away days
Stakeholder collaboration
Team building
Assessment centres
Training needs analysis
Community/resident groups
Barriers to adoption were also discussed. These were fewer in number, but included:
The term ‘game’ and misconceptions about games for training
Access to technology
IT literacy
Cost
One of the main aims of the day was to discuss the delivery method of the games and the positives and negatives of different methods. For example, workshop-based, facilitator-led, collaborative delivery as opposed to individually played, online delivery. There was a bias in favour of the games being workshop based, but that is likely to have been because the simulation used on the day was designed for that purpose, which could have skewed opinion.
The delegates had a fantastic day and really loved our newest simulation, Planit-Housing, which was developed in partnership with The University of Northampton. For more information about Planit-Housing, click here and to learn more about our other products and how our workshops work, click here.
To download the full Virtual College report, click here.
The following manifesto is some thoughts that have cropped up over the course of this blog and some new ones. We would welcome your thoughts, and together maybe we can create some guiding principles that might help move the technology forward.
1. Use the “G” word sparingly.
In education you might be able to get away with games based learning, but in the commercial sector it is usually better to stick with terms like learning simulations. “Serious Games” gathered some traction but is somewhat of an oxymoron.
2. Don’t believe the hype (or more accurately understand that clients might believe the hype)
“The minute they see me, fear me
I’m the epitome - a public enemy”
Don’t believe the Hype, Public Enemy.
Games bring with them a lot of baggage. Titles such as Grand Theft Auto are controversial, but games in general are seen as trivial and time wasters. Sell to the believers (innovators and early adopters) and provide them with the ammunition to succeed in their mission of gaining buy-in in their organisation.
3. Don’t sell the sizzle, sell the WHY.
While selling benefits rather than features might be perfectly sensible for products that have become commoditised, that is not the case with innovations. As Simon Sinek says we should “start with why” - . What inspired us to develop games based learning? Sell that why. Tell that story. Inspire others and create a movement.
4. Learning design trumps game gimmicks
If (for example) 3D graphics and a first person perspective help the learning, then use them; if they don’t, then don’t use them. Not only do they add to the cost of development, they are aesthetically tied to entertainment games and make games based learning look trivial and so on.
5. Real enough, not really boring
Whilst the simulation “models” a situation, it is not a model in the strictest sense. A learning simulation needs to be real enough to allow learners to quickly explore a situation without getting too bogged down in detail.
6. Don’t crowbar games into the solution
Just because we can develop games doesn’t mean that they are the correct solution to a particular problem - apropos games.
7. Games = game changers
Games can reach the parts of learning other methods can’t. We need to look for intractable learning problems. Complex issues that are hard to explain with traditional learning methods fit the bill, as does the need to engage large numbers of people. Death by PowerPoint won’t work in these situations.
8. Gamification and serious games / simulations are not the same thing
As Andrzej Marczewski points out, gamification shares some aspects with games such as scores, leader boards, badges (rewards). But, serious games / simulations incorporate game play. And serious games / simulations differ from entertainment games, which are only played for fun. This fact has design and marketing implications and is more than a simple semantic issue ‘about names’.
9. Glammed up quizzes aren’t really games
They are tests in disguise. Games take many forms but they have traits such as problem solving, narrative approach, situational reference (simulations), challenges, jeopardy, interactivity, engagement etc. While a quiz might be engaging if there is a potential to win a million, they are not going to expand learning much.
10. Fads can become mainstream
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
The law of Diffusion of Innovation (Everett Rogers) shows how innovations are taken up by innovators, then early adopters, then come the early majority, the late majority pile in and finally the laggards turn up. Games based learning is still in the early adopter phase and we should be marketing to these types of customers. But to go mainstream, as Geoffrey A Moore states, we will need to cross the chasm, by building momentum and creating a bandwagon effect that the pragmatists will take notice of.
I hope you all enjoyed our previous post (our very own infographic: “Quick Guide to Developing a Learning Simulation”). I thought I’d follow up this week by sharing with you a list of resources to help you further in designing and developing your own learning game. The resources cover cognitive flow, feedback loops, making games engaging, common usability testing mistakes and so on. The list is obviously not exhaustive and some of the more academic papers may warrant something closer to ‘skim reading’, but these are just some of the best and most useful articles, papers etc. that I have found. The first one is particularly interesting and definitely worth a read.
It's been a long time coming, but as promised, here is our very own infographic. It is a quick guide to the process of developing a learning simulation. Feel free to use our infographic, but please credit us and direct people back to us if possible because they might be interested in our other posts. Click image for larger PDF version. Enjoy and let us know what you think in the comments section!
Earlier this week, a wonderfully informative and interesting infographic was brought to my attention. It is from bestmastersineducation.com and this post is simply going to be dedicated to the infographic (it's a pretty long one). And as ever, if you have anything relevant like this to share, please do so in the comments section or email us at pfinfo@pixelfountain.co.uk
Okay, yes, that title may be a bit of an exaggeration and may make gamification sound like a bad thing (and some of these articles will look at why that could be true). But the aim of this article, is to show the broad spectrum of uses (and abuses) of gamification, from education and training, to business, healthcare and more.
We often talk of gamification and have even won an award for doing so (click here). But we (and many others) usually talk about how badges are engaging and motivating for the learner or even how they can essentially coerce people to do things that an organisation/individual wants (e.g. good behaviour in class, sharing promotional content on social media sites, reviewing products etc). Badges and other gamification strategies have been used very successfully in this way. However, the report, ‘Expanding Education and Workforce Opportunities Through Digital Badges’ takes a slightly different look at the phenomenon.
This new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education and Mozilla has looked at how badges can be used as a way of showing and verifying to employers the skills that individuals have amassed. These can be formal education, knowledge based skills, 21st century skills as well as skills gained through hobbies and other ‘extracurricular’ activities. “A digital badge system can bring resumes into the twenty-first century,” says Gov. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “Digital badges are making anytime, anywhere learning a reality for learners of all ages who want to pursue their interests with tangible results in real time… Badges bridge the divide between formal and informal education, and they have the power to transform competency-based learning and hiring practices.”
The report does explore how digital badges can be used to improve student learning and outcomes, but also how they can expand vocational and interest-based skills for learners of all ages. And importantly, what this can mean for employment. “The way we learn and the way we work have radically changed in today’s digital age, and we need the credentials that make sense for the way we live our lives today,” argued Erin Knight, senior director of learning and badges at Mozilla. “Open Badges can connect learners to better jobs and opportunities, allowing them to increase skillsets and marketability. In return, employers can look beyond abstract credentials or self-reported resumes and get credible information on candidates—finding a better match, and unlocking a better future for all involved.”
Expanding Education and Workforce Opportunities Through Digital Badges defined badges as ‘credentials that represent skills, interests, and achievements earned by an individual through specific projects, programs, courses, or other activities.’ The report argued that it is important that badges are defined accordingly and are measured against a specific set of standards so that they could be used by employers in a meaningful way. The report suggests that for this to happen, there must be an open badge standard that ensures all badges contain the same level of criteria and evidence, which allows people to earn badges from different issuers, manage and collect them, and display them on websites as they see fit. Mozilla has created this “Open Badges” standard that ensures the credibility of verifiable skills involved with the badges. They aim to make the badges credible by making them store information through hyperlinks about what tasks, projects etc. were completed to earn the badge.
Schools can use the system to connect their pupils’ curricular and extracurricular learning as well as rewarding them for developing their 21st century skills. The schools and colleges that have adopted the system so far have also done so to make learning more engaging and innovative. “Learning pathways differ from student to student, but badges can bridge those differences and provide students with opportunities to follow their interests, and connect what they have learned—at any time and place—to academic achievement, career success, and civic engagement,” Wise said.
But what interests me most is what the badges could mean for employment. It is unlikely that this system would completely become the norm, but it does make one wonder. It could encourage children from a younger age to think about their careers. It could encourage a closer relationship between students and employers, giving both valuable experiences. Employers could tailor more what is being taught in schools. They might put emphasis on different elements of a person than their grades. The system also has interesting implications for lifelong learning. It could foster a more positive relationship with learning as a whole. It may make people think of and approach learning differently. People could become inspired by the badges of others. The intrinsic reward of a badge along with the ability to ‘show off’ to others could generate an impressive level of learning.
Obviously, these are all big ‘what if’s and this one system is unlikely to do everything (if any of these). However, I do think it highlights something interesting and very positive about society and it would be great if it took off. The popularisation of geek-chic (which I thoroughly approve of) along with the acceptance and popularity of video games may just have amalgamated to create something that could be great for learning and learners. One thing I would like to see being emphasised though, in a system like this, would be badges for good deeds, charitable giving and so on, and then we could really be on to something great!
I wrote an article back in 2012 called “11 Educational Games for Social Good”. Since then, more serious games with serious messages have been made. This list of ten includes games to teach about financial management, the environment, social issues and so on. The games are all aimed at different ages but many could easily be used in schools.
Marine Missions - A game designed by the National Geographic Society to teach children about ocean animals and the importance of water.
Budget Hero - This game puts the player in charge of government spending and aims to teach about financial management and decision making. There is also information specifically for teachers wanting to use the game in class: http://www.teachbudgethero.org/.
HeartSaver: An Experimental News Game - The aim of the game is to “Save as many heart attack victims as possible by getting them to the best emergency room in time”.
Plan it Green Live - A city builder game to teach about being environmentally friendly and making people aware of the latest ‘green’ technologies.
Dafur is Dying - The game “provides a window into the experience of the 2.5 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. Players must keep their refugee camp functioning in the face of possible attack by Janjaweed militias”.
Bite Club - The game aims to teach about saving for retirement, paying down debt and managing consumption as players manage a "day club" for vampires.
Gauging your Distraction - The game shows how external distractions (in this case, texting) affect drivers’ reaction times.
Half the Sky Movement - I play this game as a Facebook app and I love it. It aims to educate people about women’s issues and oppression around the world.
Quandary - “Players aged 8-14 shape the future of a new society while learning how to recognize ethical issues and deal with challenging situations in their own lives”.
Financial Football - This is a fast-paced game that engages students while teaching them money management skills. Teams compete by answering financial questions to win their (American) football game.
