Games Based Learning – A Danish Experience

Recently, I was lucky to be invited to Aarhus in Denmark by the British Embassy Copenhagen / UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) to exhibit and network at the Knowledge is Great Conference. The conference was an opportunity for British and Danish companies along with educators and civil servants to discuss the future of games based learning.

So what did I take away from Denmark regarding games based learning? Firstly, schools get 50% funding towards the purchase of existing or bespoke digital resources. The Danish games based learning professionals were concerned about what would happen when the funding was removed in the coming years. A valid comparison was made to the demise of e-Leaning credits in the UK. Investment by schools could simply fall off a cliff. Civil servants from the Ministry of Education recognised this as an issue but were happy to let the market take control. Personally, I couldn’t help feeling that it would be nice to have a UK funding cliff to fall off, but I believe there is a place pump prime the industry.

But encouraging take up is not all about pump priming the supply side. There are demand side deficiencies as well. Specifically, teacher take up of games based learning. Here there are strong parallels to the UK situation. Teachers, while intrigued by games based learning, are reticent to take the leap rather like a novice player in a platform game. Pernille Korzon Dünweber from Serious Games Interactive made the point that there was a place for funding teachers in the use of games based learning.

Kristian Emil Andreasen (kanda) observed that the conference wasn’t attended by any entertainment games companies. I responded that there wasn’t intrinsically a problem with that; because while games based learning and entertainment games are obviously related, their design premise differs. Specifically, games based learning should be designed with learning at the forefront and not be crow barred in at the end. But, I think Kristian's point does have a broader significance, which was the point he was really raising, that games based learning needs to be fun and not just worthy, else students will reject it.  Designers need to strike a balance between game play and learning outcomes.

Following on from the importance of game design, at the start of a group discussion, the facilitators asked the group to name their favourite game of all time. While this was a simple ice breaker, it revealed the Achilles Heel of part of games based learning industry. Of the 20 people in the room, half struggled to name a computer game that they had ever played. Clearly, for a lot of people at the event, computer games are more theory than practice.

Kathleen Stokes from Nesta spoke enthusiastically about games based learning from a UK perspective and talked about students becoming makers as well as consumers. Roll on the Year of Code, I say.

All in all, I would say Denmark and the UK are similar in terms of games based learning. There seems to be an enthusiastic but slightly frustrated band of developers, a government that is keen to promote games based learning and an education system that is still getting to grips with what it all means.

Highlights of the trip other than games based learning were happening upon the Aarhus Cathedral which, while fairly utilitarian from the outside, has an amazing interior with some spectacular frescoes. Vivien Life (British Ambassador to Denmark) kindly hosted a lovely evening meal at Nordens Folkekøkken. Also, I had a chance to visit the art gallery (ARoS). Your rainbow panorama by Olafur Eliasson on the roof of the gallery is a unique and amazing experience. I am told that Den Gamble By open air museum is also very impressive, but I didn’t have time to see it.

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Our Blog Content by Category

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.

Design & Development

• What Can g-Learning Designers Learn from Commercial Games?
• Women and Game Design
• Research into the Brain: Implications for Game Design
• g-Learning: Is this the term that we have been looking for?
• A Games Based Learning Manifesto: 10 Thoughts for Discussion
• 10 Resources on Creating Your Own Learning Game
• Quick Guide to Developing a Learning Simulation
• Games Based Learning Integrated with Traditional Exercises
• How and Why Learning Simulations Work
• Three "Games Based Learning" Development Tools Explored
• Who are Social Gamers?
• Instructional Design, e-Learning and Games in Adobe Captivate
• 10 Tips on Getting Buy-In For Games Based Learning
• Best of Both Worlds
• Developing Games with Young People
• Six Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning
• Games Based Learning (GBL): Review of the Research

Games Based Learning Theory - Why It Works?

• ICT in Practice - Games Based Learning: Theory and Practice
• Video Games in School Infographic
• How and Why Learning Simulations Work
• 25 Games Based Learning Articles (and Infographic)
• Mistakes and (Games Based) Learning
• Learning Simulations, Retention and Neuroscience
• Six Great Games Based Learning Videos
• Adult Games Based Learning and sim-uni
• Games Based Situated Learning and Sustainaville
• Games Based Situated Learning - A Contradiction?
• Marrying up to Situated Learning Theory
• Games Based Learning Supports Multiple Learning Styles
• Motivation, Motivation, Motivation
• Ten Reasons Why Games Based Learning Works in Education
• The Fun Theory
• Digital Games in the Classroom
• Computer Simulations can be as Effective as Direct Observation at Teaching Students
• Sugata Mitra - For Implications for Games Based Learning
• Neuroscience, Stress and Games Based Learning
• Games Based Situated Learning
• Learn by Doing AND Learn by Being

Games Based Learning Practice - How it Can be Used?

• ICT in Practice - Games Based Learning: Theory and Practice
• The Role of Learning Simulations in Learning & Development Strategies
• 20 Computer Free Games Based Learning and Gamification Resources
• How and Why Learning Simulations Work
• 25 Games Based Learning Articles (and Infographic)
• Games Based School
• Part 1 - The 70/20/10 Learning Model and Games Based Learning
• Part 2 - The 70/20/10 Learning Model: Lessons for Education
• Games Based Learning Integrated with Traditional Exercises
• Apps, Education and Games Based Learning
• Adult Games Based Learning and sim-uni
• Outstanding Lessons and Games Based Learning
• games-ED (Games Based Learning)
• Kinect Games Based Learning
• Unorthodox Uses of Games in Education
• Games Based Learning, Education Policy and Market
• Best of Both Worlds
• Proof of the Pudding Part 2
• They are OK, are you?
• Getting Started with Games in the Classroom
• When Will Educators Get Serious About Gaming?
• Boys Will be Boys
• Five Things to Think About when Using Games in the Classroom
• Is Games Based Learning More Effective than Traditional Methods?

Games Based Learning Benefits - What Skills/Knowledge can be Gained?

• Video Games in School Infographic
• 10 Serious Games with Serious Messages
• Summary of Games Based Learning Meta-Analysis
• Gamer Myths - Infographic and 10 Facts
• 25 Games Based Learning Articles (and Infographic)
• The Gamer Disposition and Education
• Games Develop Social Bonds and Communication Skills
• Apps, Education and Games Based Learning
• Six Great Games Based Learning Videos
• 11 Educational Games for Social Good
• Adult Games Based Learning and sim-uni
• 21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning
• Games are Good for You!
• Proof of the Pudding 3 (Learning Simulations vs. Games Based Learning)
• Developing Communication Skills via Games Based Learning
• A Nice Overview of Games Based Learning
• Proof of the Pudding...
• Boys Will be Boys
• The Art of Conversation

 Gamification

• 15 Articles That Show Gamification is Taking Over Our World
• Badges, Gamification, Employment & Lifelong Learning
• 20 Computer Free Games Based Learning and Gamification resources
• Winner of Best in Gamification Awards
• Motivating Generation X and Y with Gamification
• Gamification Blog: 5 Excellent Articles
• Games Based School
• Gamification In and Out of Education
• Gamification with World of Classcraft
• Games Based Healing
• Gamification in Education (Infographic and 10 Articles)
• Gamifying the Classroom: 10 Inspiring Articles
• Gamification - Different Types of User
• Gamification of the Workplace
• How to Bring Gamification to the Classroom: Best Practices
• The Fun Theory
• Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Gamification
• Gamification, Education and Behavioural Economics
• Gamification of Life
• Behavioural Economics and Education
• Gamification in Education
• Gamification and Behavioural Change

Education and Education Technology

• The Future of Ed-Tech and How to Get Started Now
• Part 1: Why is Teaching Children to Program so Important?
• Part 2: Learning to Program: An Easy Way to Get a Job?
• Part 3: What Skills Does Programming Impart?
• Part 4: How Can You Get Started with Programming in Schools?
• Part 5: Case Study - Code Club
• Part 6: Programming, Project Based Learning and games-ED
• 10 Benefits of Project Based Learning
• The Future of Learning
• The Past, Present and Future of Playing and Learning with Technology
• InformED
• The Future of Learning Technologies
• Michael Gove on Education and IT
• ICT Classes are Boring - It's Official
• When Will Educators Get Serious about Gaming?
• Developing Games with Young People

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

What Can g-Learning Designers Learn from Commercial Games?

First of all, if you don’t know what g-Learning is, have a look at our post “g-Learning: Is this the learning term we have been looking for?”.  Then have a look at the infographic courtesy of topwebdesignschools.org and our insight below.


Source: TopCollegesOnline.org

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.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

ICT in Practice - Games Based Learning: Theory and Practice

I recently wrote an article in ICT in Practice magazine - Games Based Learning: Theory and Practice.

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.

The article has got picked on twitter and other blogs. Ryan Schaaf at the Committed Sardine Blog does a particularly nice rewrite.

A demonstration of Sustainaville can be found at http://www.games-ed.co.uk/sustainaville-demo.html

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Women and Game Design

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.


Source: WebDesignDegreeCenter.org

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Research into the Brain: Implications for Game Design

Image courtesy of  Frenkieb on Flickr

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.

Image courtesy of Scott M on Flickr

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:

1. Have concrete goals with manageable rules.
2. Demand actions to achieve goals that fit within the person's capabilities.
3. Have clear and timely feedback on performance and goal accomplishment.
4. Diminish extraneous distraction, thus facilitating concentration.

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.).

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

10 Resources on Creating your Own Learning Game

Image Courtesy of Ian Dick on Flickr.

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.

1. Cognitive Flow: The Psychology of Great Game Design 
2. Improving The Way We Design Games for Learning by Examining How Popular Video Games Teach 
3. Learning Game Design Series, Part 1: Play and Evaluate Games 
4. Creating Flow, Motivation, & Fun in Learning Games 
5. Designing Learning Games That Don’t Suck 
6. Designing Mobile Games For Engagement and Learning 
7. Games For Learning 
8. ‘Narrative’ in Serious or Learning Game Design Research 
9. Feedback Loops in Games and Learning 
10. Five Common Mistakes in Game Usability Testing and How to Avoid Them 

And for good measure, you might want to have a read of our post “Three ‘Games Based Learning’ Development Tools Explored”, if you are thinking about developing your own learning game.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Gamification World Championships

This week I thought I’d bring your attention to the inaugural Gammify 2013 Gamification World Championships, which will be held on October 13th in San Fransisco.

Gamification has been big over the last few months on our blog and this event is definitely worthy of your attention.  The Championships are an innovative, professional competition that celebrates world standard gamification amongst students and professionals.  Three world-renowned judges will decide the winner: Mr. Mario Herger, Ms. Marigo Raftopoulos and Mr. Yu-Kai Chou and the champion will receive $25,000.

Skilled, innovative professionals and students from diverse backgrounds, across the globe will compete in two online rounds, starting on September 1st 2013.  The two rounds assess competitors’ understanding of gamification strategy, experience and mechanics under extreme time-pressures.  Questions will test skills and experience from serious games design techniques to enterprise gamification and will take the form of multiple-choice questions and case studies.

Example Round 1 questions could include: prizing, point scoring, developing rules of play, instant rewards, virtual currency, and creating paths to consumer mastery and autonomy.  Participants will also require familiarity with human behaviours such as creativity, self-expression, social recognition, logic, calculations, achievement and ownership.  Round 2 questions will be similar but more advanced.

The Live World Finals Event will take place in San Fransisco on October 13th 2013.  The top 16 finalists will be flown to the event to be judged by the world-leading judges mentioned above as well as the biggest sponsors in global Gamification and Games Design.  Finalists will be tested on Speed, Innovation, Risk, Gamification Best Practice and more.  There will also be an exhibition Group challenge to help a leading global non-for-profit institution.  The winner will receive $25,000, second place prize is $10,000, third place prize is $5,000 and there is also a ‘Most Innovative’ Award.

Visit gammify.com for more information (and to register).

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