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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Education Revolution: 5 Pieces of Inspiration

Anarchy!  I hope it is evident from our previous articles that we think the current education system is outdated and flawed.  It has its merits, but it is also has huge problems and is leaving many children ill-equipped and disenfranchised.  I have selected five pieces of inspiration, four videos and an article, towards an education revolution.  This is something I am passionate about, but they speak for themselves, so I'll just dive straight in and then let you mull them over.

And finally, an article from Cracked.com: '4 Ways Your Education Was a Conspiracy to Make You Bored' - be warned, this one contains swearing and sexual references.

-UPDATE-

I came across another fantastic, inspiring video.  Please give this one a watch too.  Also, you might be interested in another school which has used pupil directed learning, see our blog post, 'Games Based School'.

For more inspiration, see our previous posts: 'The Future of Learning' and 'Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Gamification'.

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.

Summary of Games Based Learning Meta-Analysis

Image courtesy of Tess Watson on Flickr.

A report by Futurelab at NFER was published in April 2013 entitled: ‘Game-based learning: latest evidence and future directions’.  The study was a meta-analysis of some of the existing research surrounding games based learning.  It sought to answer the following questions:

• What is game-based learning?
• What is the impact and potential impact of game-based learning on learners’ engagement and attainment? 
• What is the nature and extent of the evidence base?
• What are the implications for schools?

The authors found some interesting findings which I will summarise below and also offered some advice to teachers based on their findings (also below).

Academic Achievement

• Where studies expressly sought to measure ‘academic achievement’, five calculated some degree of improvement. 
• Another meta-analysis observed significant, but undefined, cognitive gains across studies utilising games versus traditional teaching methods.
• However, four studies found no impact on academic achievement.

Problem Solving Skills

• The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on problem solving skills.
• All five studies that specifically focused on problem solving skills found some degree of improvement.

Motivation and Engagement

• The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on motivation and engagement.
• The majority of the studies examining the impact of video games on student motivation and engagement found positive results.  However, it was unclear whether this impact could be sustained.

Attitude to Learning

• One study found that games promoted a more positive attitude to maths learning. 
• Another study explored mathematics or academic self-concept (the set of beliefs an individual holds about themselves as a mathematician) and found no improvement. 
• However, a meta-analysis found that significantly better attitudes towards learning were yielded for subjects using interactive games or simulations, compared to those using traditional methods for instruction.

Advice to teachers:

“The best way of integrating gaming into teaching is by using it within a clear pedagogic process. In particular:

• Place learning activities and academic content within the video game’s fictional and entertainment context, maintaining a balance between fun and learning. 
• Make the academic content integral to the game rather than an add-on. Content-specific tasks work better when embedded in the fictional context and rules (‘mechanics’) of the game. 
• Carefully plan the roles that you and your learners will take on in the game. Teachers should play roles that allow them to mediate the experience for learners: providing guidance when needed; ensuring that rules are followed; and maintaining a respectful atmosphere.
• Don’t try to divorce decontextualized components of a game (such as badges, scores or leaderboards) from the fictional context and rules of the game (the ‘mechanics’)”

We would agree with this advice and it is similar to the advice we give in our Games Based Learning Analysis and Planning Tool (click to download) and our blog post “Six Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning”.

Conclusion
The report seems very positive and optimistic about games based learning.  However, the authors seemed disappointed at the amount of and validity of existing research.  For example they say, “It is important we develop a more analytic approach that considers how the different elements that operate within video games impact in an educational setting” and “We noted a complete lack of evidence about ‘gamification’.”  That is, to some extent, to be expected as games based learning is a relatively new phenomenon.  However, what they did find was insightful and supports some of our opinions about games based learning.  It will be interesting to see what future research has to say about games based learning and gamification in education, and there is likely to be much more of it in the near future.

References

Perrotta, C., Featherstone, G., Aston, H. and Houghton, E. (2013). Game-based Learning: Latest Evidence and Future Directions (NFER Research Programme: Innovation in Education). Slough: NFER.

Click here to read in full.

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.

Proof of the Pudding Part 2

Building on a previous blog post (proof of the pudding), this post looks at the practical use of games based learning in the classroom. I didn't deliver the lessons, instead it was delivered by teachers at Kings's School Winchester.

What was particularly interesting for me, is that it wasn't delivered as a facilitated game - this is the way I normally deliver our Sustainaville product. Kings' School still used it as a collaborative game, but the students inputted their own decisions into the game and the teachers supported the game sessions more lightly. The students quickly picked up the game rules (due in part to worksheets produced by Kings' School Teachers) and made group decisions in what is a reasonably complex simulation game.

Report on Sustainaville by Jane Berridge, Enterprise Co-ordinator, Kings' School Winchester
For our year 9 Enterprise Day, we took the 330 students in the year group off time table and set them a business challenge based around a theme.  The theme was sustainability and the students were asked to investigate how they could improve their community in a sustainable way.

We wanted to provide the students with information and learning that related to a sustainable community project whilst being motivational and fun.  So, we chose to start the day with Sustainaville.

Sustainaville Dynamic Main Screen

The whole year group was split into teams of three.  Each team worked at a computer and took on the role of town planners.  Their brief was to look at different sectors of Sustainaville and decide where they needed to invest to improve the town and make it a better place to live.

To make the activity even more challenging, there were tutor group competitions with spot prizes and a prize was awarded to the team with the highest score in the year group.

The game was very successful and the feedback from students and adults was excellent.  The students said ‘we really enjoyed the game, especially when we won the tutor group challenge. We have learned what sustainability is and how to help the environment. Also, we learned how to work with others and to be confident when making business decisions.’  

The teachers said they thought it was a very useful and the students gained a lot from it.

Background on Sustainaville by Paul Ladley (games-ED)
Sustainaville is a games based learning product produced games-ED. The key to success of Sustainaville is that it incorporates the 6 Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning. In particular: it supports group game play; it uses technology appropriately (in Kings's case 1 computer per group not 330 computers) and it supports multiple conversations. The last principle is expanded in an earlier blog post - The Art of Conversation.

Feedback provided via report screens

In terms of Enterprise Education, Sustainaville helps learners to understand the importance of businesses in providing employment and prosperity. Learners understand how investment and specific sector skills underpin sustainable growth plus how generic skills and business improvements impact on competitiveness. They also discover that businesses do not operate in a vacuum and that social and environmental factors can both impact on the success of businesses and can be made worse by business activities.

The game allows the learners to practice skills that they and businesses need. They develop strategies, plan actions and manage budgets. They make choices and work within constraints. They use decision-making skills, practice problem-solving skills and work in teams.

Teaching Methods Deployed:
• Debates
• Discussions (experience transfer)
• Educational games
• Role-playing
• Simulations
• Pupil/student-led activities or exercises.

Proof of the Pudding...

I’ve written a lot about collaborative games based learning from a theoretical perspective, so I thought I would share a bit of practice.

Firstly, let me state I am not a teacher; in fact most of my skills as a trainer have been learned on the job.  Before we started our games based learning (ad)venture games-ED, my fellow directors and I ran a businesses called pixelfountain (actually we still do), where we delivered over 450 workshops using learning simulations. Around 40 of these workshops were delivered in schools, colleges and universities.

Pride in a winning score.

As part of our launch of games-ED, which licences our collaborative games based learning to educational establishments, we have recently delivered a couple of pilot classes. The first was held in Primary School for a group of nine and ten year olds. The second was delivered in an all girls school in London to a year 8 tutor group aged between twelve and thirteen. The ages were particularly important as we wanted to test the games with a younger age group.

Learning outcomes in the two schools:

• 77.5% improvement in subject knowledge.
• 57% improvement in decision-making skills.
• 67% improvement in understanding of cause and effect.
• 51% improvement in group working.

The Class Teacher / Deputy Head at Mellor Primary, who observed the session, provided us with the following comments:

• The children were fully engaged for all the session and the ‘buzz’ in the room was one of real active learning. 
• The money aspect involved really captured the children’s interest and they were genuinely interested to see the impact their purchases had made on the town. They were disappointed to see the results/consequences of their purchases in Year 2 and were keen to rectify them in Year 3!
• The workshop pulled together many elements – working together, impact of managing and dealing with other people who have differing opinions, dealing with consequences of actions, environmental issues, dealing with money, managing a budget plus many more. 

Pupils considering issues.

The Teaching Assistant at Mellor Primary School stated, “I thoroughly enjoyed the session, as did the children. This group of children love anything involving money so it really captured their attention whilst dealing with lots of important and complex issues.”

The Assistant Head at Central Foundation Girls School said, “The students were engaged in the activity and enjoyed seeing the results of their decisions.”

In a sense, the teachers confirmed what we already knew, but as the old adage goes ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’. I won’t repeat my previous blog “Six Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning”, but it is worth re-iterating five of the six principles and relating them to the experience in the two pilot classes:

• Create a sense of realism (as opposed to fantasy) – In the words of a pupil, “It was great being in charge of the town and seeing what the result was.”
• Deliver engaging interaction by means of authentic activities (not just playing for the sake of it) – Being able to spend money in the game really captured the pupil’s interest, but it was the link to the outcomes that was key, as one pupil said “[I liked] the way you were free to make a decision by yourself and your team mates and whatever you did it affected the village.”
• Group level game play where the goal is collaborative problem solving – all of the teachers picked up on the fact that the pupils were engaged in the activity and that they enjoyed seeing the results of their decisions.
• Provide an anchor for multiple learning conversations – The “buzz” in the classrooms was not a metaphor that was literally the sound of the children as they all discussed what they were going to do.
• The game needs to work in a learning continuum – the children played Sustainaville, which teaches sustainable development and links to geography, citizenship, PHSE, science, business studies, enterprise and supports mathematics and English. 

Dynamic main graphic of Sustainaville games based learning

The children enjoyed the constructivist learning style, typified by comments such as ““[I liked] the way you were free to make a decision by yourself and your team mates and whatever you did it affected the village.” I write in more detail on the value of Situated Gamed Based Learning in a previous blog.

If you want to read the full case studies of they can be found at Slideshare (see widget on the left-hand side of this blog) or visit the games-ED website:

• Mellor Primary School case study.
• Central Foundation Girls School case study.

I was going to write about a couple of projects where we designed and developed games with young people, but given this post has gotten a tad large, I think I will save that for my next instalment…