Is Games Based Learning the Solution to Student Engagement?

I recently came across an article from Edutopia entitled, ‘Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement’.  The article is a teacher’s summary of 220 students’ responses when asked what engages them.  Interestingly, they could mostly be answered, if only in part, by games based learning.  Below is her list, with my comments about how GBL could help.

1. Working with their peers – the original article explains the power of collaborative learning and discussion.  Many games are designed to be played together and many that aren’t designed this way can still be used in groups.  Games can spark discussion and debate, even if learners are working/playing ‘alone’.  Games can encourage students to problem-solve collaboratively and improve their communication skills.
2. Working with technology – of course GBL doesn’t have to involve technology, but that is the main focus of our blog.  Therefore, games are a great way to get students working with technology in an exciting and productive way.  The article also explains that technology can allow powerful ‘learning by doing’.  An immersive game can help people learn knowledge and skills in a more meaningful way.  And as the article hints, technology (and often gaming) is so prevalent in young people’s lives that it makes little sense for school to be technology and game-free.
3. Connecting the real world to the work we do / project based learning – good game design should help learners connect their learning to the real world.  The games should be relatable and relevant.  All of these things can help motivate students and allow for better memory encoding.  Games can be used as part of a larger project.  However, a good serious game almost acts as a project in itself.  It could allow exploration, learning, problem-solving, creativity and develop the student’s understanding/skills from start to finish.
4. Clearly love what you do – this is about the teachers.  If you are reading this now, it is likely that you are interested in, or maybe even passionate about GBL or innovative, 21st education.  Therefore, bringing a game to the table is likely to be something that you are excited about and that will rub off on students.  
5. Get me out of my seat! – The article explains that students learn most when they are active.  Not all games are built for movement, however some are.  For example, see our articles, ‘Kinect Games Based Learning’ and ‘Proof of the Pudding…’ (this one explains one of our games based workshops where the children or adults are encouraged to get out of their seats to negotiate, problem-solve, prioritise and more with other individuals and groups).
6. Bring in visuals – a good game will have meaningful visuals.  These can make concepts clearer and motivate learners.  For example, in our game, mentioned above, the children are put in charge of a town, which they have to improve by making purchase decisions.  The town graphic, as well as the reports, change according to their decisions.
7. Student choice – games can be very good for encouraging self-directed learning.  The article also mentions having a choice of activities related to a topic for different levels.  Games can be wonderful for allowing learning at the student’s pace and level.  Often games advance when the student has mastered the initial knowledge and skills.
8. Understand your clients – the kids – this one is obviously very dependent on the teacher’s attitude.  The article explains how important the culture of the classroom can be for encouraging learning.  Allowing learners to play games at school has the potential to bring about a lot of respect for the teacher.  This is especially true if the learners are given freedom to play the game as they wish.  Games can be very self-directed but structured which can encourage a positive environment in classrooms.
9. Mix it up! – Obviously games are a great way to mix things up.  They get people doing an activity that is unlike the norm, which can wake people up and keep them motivated to learn.  The article also talks about multiple learning styles (e.g. auditory, kinaesthetic).  See our article ‘Games Based Learning Supports Multiple Learning Styles’ for more about this.
10. Be human – the article finishes by reminding teachers to have fun themselves.  GBL can be a great way to break up the monotony, spark the imagination, bring fun into learning, wake people up, inspire and so on.  These things are important for teachers as well as students.  The article also suggests asking students what engages and motivates them.  How about going to work tomorrow and asking your students what they would like to see more of in the classroom?  Or maybe even if they would like to try GBL?

For the original article, click here.

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The Future of Ed-Tech and How to Get Started Now

Every now and then, we like to stray from the topics of games based learning and gamification and talk about something related but different.  We are fascinated by new technologies and what they can do for education and learning.  This blog post will look at some of the education technologies that might be a bit out of reach for the majority right now.  They might look a bit sci-fi, but this new tech could prove to be the future of education.  We’ll then give you a few ideas about how you can get started with implementing more ed-tech right now.  Please click on the tiny infographic too to the right from LearnDash to see a full-sized version with teacher and administrator opinions of ed-tech and some interesting statistics.

Google Glass
If you have never heard of Google Glass, the article, “A Teacher’s Guide to Google Glass” gives a good introduction as well as ways that the new tech might be useful for teachers.  Google Glass is likely to be out of most teachers’ price range right now, but educators have been getting excited about how it could revolutionise teaching.  The article, “How Google Glass Can Be Used In Education” is very informative and gives lots of inspiring ideas with a wonderful infographic.  For more real-world examples of how Google Glass is being used right now, have a look at “The Incredible Way a Michigan Physics Teacher Uses Google Glass”.

Augmented Reality
It might be a short while before augmented reality becomes mainstream too, mostly because the applications of the technology for education haven’t been discussed as prevalently as other technologies such as Google Glass.  But the article, “Augmented Reality is Going Mobile – And Coming to a Classroom Near You” is a very detailed analysis of what this tech could have to offer to the education world.

3D Printing
Again, this technology might be a little pricey right now, but as prices reduce and as people begin to discuss more and more applications of the technology for education, 3D printing might just be common-place in schools in only a couple of years.  This article discusses the “Importance of 3D Printing in Education”, including merits such as increasing interactivity and learning by doing.  For more examples of how schools are using this new tech, read “5 Ways Schools are Already Using 3D Printing”.

How Can I Get Started With Ed-Tech Right Now?

Before I give you some of my ideas, it would be very worthwhile to watch this short video from edutopia, “An Introduction to Technology Integration” which gives a great overview of why technology can be so powerful.

• Social Media: social media is an easy, natural, cheap and meaningful way of using more technology in your classroom.  Here is some suggested reading: “4 Ways To Improve School Communication Using Social Media” and for Twitter beginners, “100 Ways to Use Twitter in Education, by Degree of Difficulty”. 
• Blogging: again, blogging is relatively easy, cheap and meaningful.  It can be used in a variety of ways e.g. as a learning tool in itself (creative writing etc.), to promote school events, to connect with parents, to promote the school and so on.  Suggested reading: “10 Quick and Simple Ideas for Blogging in Class” and “A 60 Seconds Guide to the use of Blogging in Education”. 
• Virtual Field Trips: an easy way to give students more realistic and immersive experience of a topic or location from around the globe.  Field trips can include virtual tours of museums and art galleries, moon tours, virtual rainforest trips, arctic tours and so on.  Suggested reading: “10 Wonderful Virtual Field Trips for your Students” and “20 Awesome Virtual Learning Experiences Online”.
• Classroom Management: whether you want to incorporate gamification into your classroom management strategies or not, there are lots of ways of managing your classroom using technology.  These range from simple noise level monitors to full blown, gamified management systems with avatars, badges, leader boards and so on.  Suggested reading: “5 Classroom Management Apps Every Teacher Needs to Know About”.
• QR Codes: these are like bar codes that link to multimedia content when scanned with a device like a smart phone or tablet PC.  Suggested reading: “5 Real Ways to use QR Codes in Education”.
• Pinterest: I think Pinterest is a revolutionary tool for many people and teachers and pupils are no exception.  Have a look at our Pinterest boards for examples of how we use the tool.  Suggested reading: “How Pinterest is used in Education”.
• Scoop.it: an online tool for gathering information from blogs and news sites across the web that interest you or relates to a certain topic.  Suggested reading: “Why Scoopit is Becoming an Indispensable Learning Tool”.
• Interactive study guides: more and more apps are being developed for teachers and students and technology could be used to create interactive study guides.  Suggested reading: “6 iPad Apps that Help you Create Interactive Study Guides”.
• Projects: we have written about Project Based Learning before (“10 Benefits of Project Based Learning”), which is likely to become a popular feature of education in the near future.  Technology can be used to not only jazz up the presentation aspect of projects but also increase learning.  Suggested reading: “6 Brilliant EdTech Tools for Student Projects”  
• Tablet computers: you might not be able to integrate tablets right now and, as with everything, it is about what you do with the tech than the tech itself, but I couldn’t miss tablets from my list.  Suggested reading: “6 Examples of Successful Classroom Tablet Integration”.

Those are just a few ways that teachers could implement more technology into their classrooms.  Obviously there are many more ways, but these offer a good starting point.  It is important to remember though that technology should not be introduced just for the sake of it.  It can be powerful when used correctly and alongside fantastic teaching and is not a substitute for excellent tuition from teachers.  Careful thought and planning should be undertaken before any tech is introduced.

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Gamification Blog: 5 Excellent Articles

Earlier this week, I came across a blog, which is operated by Technology Advice.  They have several blog topics, one of which is gamification and they have a great selection of articles for you to get your teeth stuck into.  I have highlighted a couple below that are particularly interesting and introduced them briefly, just to whet your appetite.

1. The Debate: Gamification and Education - Discusses the positives (e.g. focus and planning skills and personalised instruction) and negatives (e.g. expensive and limited content) of gamification being used in education.
2. Not Just Fun and Games: 5 Uncommon Applications of Gamification - Includes making customer support fun, promoting social welfare and more.
3. Gamifying Healthcare: A New Trend - How gamification is being used in healthcare (in workplaces, not just hospitals) including results such as a 50% drop in smoking prevalence.  For more information on how games can improve health (Cystic Fibrosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dyslexia, Depression and more), see ‘Games Based Healing’.
4. Gamification Fostering Workplace Competition - Discusses the pros and cons that workplace competition could bring to the organisation and its employees.  Pros include productivity, profits and team competition and camaraderie.  Cons include stress, sore winners and losers and reduction of team spirit.
5. Big Data, A Side Effect of Gamification - A less discussed aspect of gamification but one which pixelfountain (the company which brings you this blog) is very interested in.  Gamification produces a huge amount of data, which can offer insights into employee or consumer behaviour.  This knowledge can be very useful and potentially profitable.

For more interesting gamification articles from Technology Advice (about 12 in total), visit http://technologyadvice.com/gamification-blog/.

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Gamifying the Classroom: 10 Inspiring Articles

1. Let’s play school: Gamification and the future of education - This short article discusses how gamification in education can increase motivation and engagement.  The article contains insights from Khan Academy president Shantanu Sinha who argues that games are motivational as they allow people to progress at their own pace, they give immediate feedback and praise and they allow people to push their own boundaries.

Infographic by SuperFunner via this article.

2. Study’s the Name of the Game - This article provides a balanced introduction to gamification including various statistics.  It explains how one school uses games in science classes to achieve self-directed, organic learning.  Gamification enables the students to become fully immersed, engaged, motivated, lower their fear of failure and become better time managers.  The article also discusses research done on university students that found students absorbed more information than reading a book.  Importantly, the article warns against students becoming too extrinsically motivated and that gamification can actually be used to develop the intrinsic motivation to learn.

3. Six Ways to Look at Badging Systems Designed for Learning - While we at pixelfountain believe gamification should be more than simply awarding badges, this article has some interesting insights.  Some of the ways that the authors see badges working in education include: badges acting as alternative assessment, as learning scaffolding and to develop lifelong learning skills.

4. Gamifying Homework - This article discusses research done by Richard Landers on undergraduate students to encourage them to do their homework.  The researcher developed a social network for the students that included basic gamification principles and 28% of the students willingly chose to do extra work that wouldn’t affect their grades.

5. How to Use Game Dynamics in the Classroom - This article gives a brief introduction of another piece of research about using gamification in undergraduate courses.  The experimental group will have the chance to complete various challenges, which will earn them points.  The control group will have the same lectures but will be asked to complete quizzes (containing the same questions, but with no points system).  The groups will be compared on engagement, attendance and academic performance.  I am unable to find the results of the study, but it will be interesting to see if gamification had an impact.

6. The Gamified Classroom - Part 1: The Unique Obstacles Teachers Face - This article argues that gamification will encourage engagement in classrooms.  However, it also discusses potential problems: budget and scalability.

7. The Gamified Classroom – Part 2: Technology’s Role in a Gamified Classroom - Part two of the series explains how children should be taught 21st century skills rather than focussing on teaching them how to use the technology of the moment as this will be obsolete in not very long.  It also discusses how education should be student centred, however, unless there are fundamental shifts in the education system, this is difficult.  However, technology could be a way of achieving this as much gamified content is differentiated for different levels and personality types.  The article goes on to explain that children know how to use technology for entertainment, but the job of a teacher should be to show them how to use them for other purposes.  They should develop their 21st century skills in conjunction with the technology, but not dependent on it, to work collaboratively on projects, for research and so on.

8. The Gamified Classroom – Part 3: The Importance of Motivation - This part dicusses the work of Educational Psychologist Jere Brophy.  Brophy argued that Motivation = Expectancy (of success) x Value (of succeeding).  Brophy developed a series of factors that he found motivating and the article discusses how gamification could be used to reach the same ends.  Factors include: provide opportunities for choice and provide opportunities for students to respond actively.  The author argues that gamification works better that traditional education as it offers a narrative; learning has a purpose greater than simply achieving grades, and this is why it is so motivating.

9. Education Meets ‘World of Warcraft’ - This article highlights some interesting teaching methods.  A teacher begins each semester by greeting his class with “Congratulations, you have an F” and adds, “But you can level up”.  He designs his class like a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) such as World of Warcraft by dividing his class into guilds which must complete quests (such as making a presentation) to earn points and advance to the next level.  The article discusses the results this innovative teacher has achieved and discusses more about why gamification works and other ways that it has been used (such as to promote good interpersonal skills, not just good grades and attendance).

10. Gamifying the Classroom with World of Classcraft - This software uses the principles of MMORPGs in a classroom setting with the ultimate goal of making the whole class into a game.  Students earn experience points by doing positive actions in class, these lead to them levelling up and gaining special abilities (for themselves, peers and the class).  The software makes use of an online leader board and can be used across the curriculum.

If you haven’t already read them, have a read of our blog posts on gamification:

• Gamification - Different Types of User 
• How to Bring Gamification to the Classroom: Best Practices 
• Gamification of the Workplace 
• A Nice Overview of Games Based Learning (Gamification) – Infographic 
• Gamification of life 
• Behavioural Economics and Education 
• Gamification in Education 
• Gamification and Behavioural Change 
• Gamification, Education and Behavioural Economics 

The Past, Present and Future of Playing and Learning with Technology

The importance of play to a child’s development is extremely well documented.  Research done by the likes of Piaget and Vygotsky argue that play is essential for proper development.  Research suggests that 75% of brain development occurs after birth and that playing influences the pattern of and connections between nerve cells which allows the development of many skills including motor skills, problem solving skills and learning ability.  Article 31 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child specifically recognises the significance of play in children’s lives, distinct to their right to recreation and leisure.

So, play enhances learning.  But how has play changed over the past decade or so, with the advancement of technology?  And what effects does this have on learning and education?  This infographic from Lego shows just how play has changed.  It is easy to see the parallels between the changing nature of play and the direction that education is going down.

The Past and Present

LEGO MINDSTORMS Infographic

How else is technology changing the face of play and learning for children today?  As this article explains, the rapid improvements in technology are having a profound impact on education for children with disabilities, often using games.  I have mentioned in a previous post about the amazing learning benefits of the Kinect for children on the Autism spectrum.

This year will see the launch if the new SimCity.  However, GlassLab has partnered with EA to build SimCityEDU, a version of the game specifically designed for education purposes.  The developers have appreciated the benefits of and demand for games based learning in education and have followed the likes of Portal2 in creating a game for schools.  We might just see a lot more game developers following suit in the future.

More and more teachers and schools are realising the benefits of games based learning.  However, one school in Sweden has made the playing of Minecraft a compulsory part of their curriculum for 13 year olds.  See my post ‘Unorthodox Uses of Games in Education’ for more information about Minecraft in schools.  The school has appreciated the far reaching benefits of games based learning.  A few of the ‘lessons learnt’ are environmental issues, city planning, creativity and computer skills.  Is this the future of education?

The Future

The Institute for the Future believes that this is the future of play for children:

1. Authorship, storytelling, fantasy, and role-playing will expand into new media.  Children’s content will increasingly be created by children (already prevalent with reviews on YouTube and so on).  The Institute for the Future argues that “Growing up immersed in virtual worlds, social networks, and YouTube videos, children will develop a different set of expectations for evaluating human proximity and presence, as well as a comfortable confidence expressing their views across various media.”
2. Play will be a more fluid material experience, blending the virtual and the physical.  Reinforcing what the earlier infographic mentioned, children will increasingly expect their toys, games and virtual platforms to interact.  The Institute believes that “By 2021, kids will expect their digital and physical objects to share more characteristics, including tangibility and connectivity.”
3. Toys show kids how to get emotional with technology.  MIT professor Sherry Turkle places us at a “robotic moment” in history.  This is characterised by our emotional readiness to attach to inanimate objects, which she argues will go on to provide more friendship and the “comfort of connection without the demands of human intimacy.”  Sociable robots, such as the new incarnation of Furby, encourage our children to care for and nurture them, ultimately “creating more powerful and affective human-machine partnerships”.

These new technologies will clearly unlock more and more skills in children and will bring with them a multitude of learning benefits.  However, as children’s expectations adapt to these new technological features of play, it begs the question, will these new technological advances feed into the education system?

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InformED

One of our readers has pointed me in the direction of a great website: informED!  It is full of fantastic features about education and learning and is well worth a look.  I have picked out a couple of their posts that are of particular interest to me below, but there are loads more.

‘15 Ways to Engage Students and Prevent Online Drop-outs’ by Miriam Clifford.  This post offers tips to engage students and prevent drop-outs including: plan interactive exercises, [use] different types of technologies and develop a ‘collaborative code of conduct’.  It is easy to see then, how games based learning could help, in these ways, to increase engagement and reduce drop-out rates.

‘Educational Psychology: 20 things Educators need to know about how Students Learn’ by Andrianes Pinantoan.  This feature relates to my recent blog post, ‘Games Based Learning Supports Multiple Learning Styles’.  It explains that there are seven learning styles:

1. Visual: Using sight
2. Auditory: Using songs or rhythms
3. Verbal: Speaking out loud the information
4. Kinesthetic: Using touch and taste to explore the information
5. Logical: A more mathematical approach to concepts
6. Interpersonal: Learning in groups
7. Intrapersonal: Learning alone

The article then gives comprehensive advice on how to use this knowledge to encourage successful learning.  It also covers other tips such as using technology and creating space.

‘How to Ignite Passion in your Students: 8 Ways Educators can Foster Passion-based Learning’ by Miriam Clifford.  This great post gives lots of ways to encourage passion and engagement from learners including: allow time for collaboration and allow time for play.  Again, it is easy to see how games based learning can foster this passion-based learning when incorporated with the other strategies.

The site also talks about trends in the education industry.  This is very interesting and gives some more insight into the future of education (adding to my blog post: ‘The Future of Learning Technologies’.

The site is definitely worth a look.  I always appreciate hearing about these fantastic websites and new products, so please do let me know if you have found anything particularly inspiring.  And as always please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and anything inspiring I find that I want to share with you.

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Outstanding Lessons and Games Based Learning

For anyone who doesn't know, or who doesn't live in the UK, ‘Ofsted’ stands for The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills.  They essentially inspect schools (and other children’s services) and grade them based on various criteria.  This has a considerable effect on the school’s reputation.

The top ‘grade’ you can achieve through Ofsted is outstanding and teachers and schools all over the UK are striving to achieve ‘outstanding lessons’.  But what does this mean exactly?  How can games based learning help more lessons to be outstanding?

Outstanding lessons will obviously vary greatly depending on the lesson being taught.  However, what is common to achieving this standard is the quality of teaching and learning.  Ofsted say that outstanding teaching includes “a focus on pupils making exceptional progress as a result of inspiring teaching, from teachers having excellent subject knowledge and the innovative use of new technology” (information from http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/outstanding-lesson-11943).

In other words, one of Ofsted’s main criteria for outstanding lessons is the innovative use of new technologies.  This, in itself, would be a good reason to use games in lessons.  However, if we look at the criteria more closely, we can see how games based learning can tick more than one box.

Outstanding teachers must fulfil the following criteria:

• Subject expertise and flair
• The involvement of every pupil in the learning process
• Intelligent questioning involving every pupil
• The use of a wide variety of resources as appropriate including new technology
• Involving pupils in the learning process and developing independent learning.

For me, it goes without saying that teachers should have a reasonable level of subject expertise.  However, subject flair is a little more interesting and perhaps more difficult to prove.  One cannot impose passion for a subject on teachers but a good way to exhibit it may be to use a related game in lessons.  Being up-to-date on goings on in their field and finding new ways to instil knowledge that they find interesting is impressive and games exhibit this.

Good learning games should also involve every pupil in the learning process.  Games can tap into multiple learning styles (‘Games Based Learning Supports Multiple Learning Styles’) meaning that all children should be able to access the learning at some level.  Collaboration is also a great benefit of learning games.  Although some technology limits the amount of players, the ideal situation is for all pupils to be learning collaboratively from one game (see the pedagogy page of our corporate website).

The next criterion is intelligent questioning involving every pupil.  In my blog post ‘Unorthodox Uses of Games in Education’, I talked about a teacher using Angry Birds to teach his pupils.  Pupils built catapults to launch real life angry birds and all the while the teacher asked them questions about the physics behind what they were doing.  This can also be done with computer based learning games.

The final criterion involves developing independent learning.  This is really about motivating and inspiring pupils.  It is unlikely that children will become enthused about a topic if the lesson is uninspiring and involves a dull presentation with written exercises to follow.  This is the bulk of most education.  Children can become enthused by a topic and want to learn more about it on their own.  If you make something fun, i.e. by using a learning game, surely they are more likely to do this.

Outstanding lessons are judged on teaching practices, but they are also judged on how the students behave in a lesson.  The key factors (from http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/outstanding-lesson-11943) include:

• Are the pupils highly engaged?
• Do they move from listening to being positively motivated?
• Do they learn and make progress?
• Do they obviously enjoy the lesson and have fun, and are they keen to discuss what they have learned and what they might be doing in the next lesson?
• Do the pupils ask appropriate (and challenging) questions?
• Do they show a keen interest in the tasks?
• Are they proud of their work?
• Are the pupils involved in deciding any part/content of the next lesson on the topic?

Most (if not all) of these criteria can be met with the use of games based learning as part of the curriculum.  Games are excellent for engaging and motivating students and providing fun and enjoyment (see blog post: ‘Motivation, Motivation, Motivation').  A teacher observing one of our games-ED lessons said:  “The children were fully engaged for all the session and the ‘buzz’ in the room was one of real active learning” (from 'Marrying up to the Situated Learning Theory').  Children also talked to their parents following the session about how much they had enjoyed the learning simulation and what they had learned.  This is obviously a step up from the usual question of “What did you do today at school sweetheart?” being met with the response, “Stuff”.

Games are also a great way of showing progress.  Many games have some sort of score, ratings, badges, achievements and so on to show progress.  A teacher overseeing one of our games-ED lessons commented: “[The children] 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!”  One of the pupils in the primary school also commented, “I liked finding out what score you got at the end and looking at the improvements.”  Playing a game multiple times enables you to clearly see skill / knowledge development.

From our experience of running our learning simulations in lessons, all of these criteria can be met.  If you want more of an idea of how learning games can help you achieve outstanding lessons, have a look at these previous blog posts, ‘Marrying up to the Situated Learning Theory’, ‘Proof of the Pudding’ and ‘Proof of the Pudding Part 2’ and have a look at our corporate website: games-ed.co.uk.  There are some demos of our products on there too, if you are interested.

There are obviously other factors that are important for outstanding lessons and using learning games in every lesson would be considered inappropriate.  However, it is extremely easy to see how using games in lessons can show evidence of outstanding teaching.  And more than simply providing evidence, games could achieve these outstanding outcomes for students and make real improvements to the standard of lessons and their learning.

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The Future of Learning Technologies

As we have covered many times in our blog we are living in an age where new technologies are being developed and released all the time and these technologies have fantastic uses in the world of education and more general learning.  A recent article discusses various learning technology trends of 2012.  These include cloud technologies (software online rather than on a single computer) and flipped learning (spending ‘home time’ doing things such as reading and listening to educational podcasts and ‘lesson time’ discussing and doing group projects).

One of the trends that the article cites is gamification.  It argues that games based learning is on the rise and it is effective as games “provide meaning through real engagement, immediate feedback and a sense of accomplishment that is well-integrated with sound pedagogy”.  In fact, the article quotes a neurologist in saying “games provide an individualized achievable goal that initiates the dopamine-reward system, which provides a powerful pleasure response”.  Scientific proof that games based learning is great :)  Another mechanism that occurs was discussed in our previous blog post, ‘Neuroscience, Stress and Games Based Learning’.

The article also suggests that games based learning works so well because it is a safe environment in which to explore.  I mentioned in a previous blog post (‘Unorthodox Uses of Games in Education’) an article entitled ‘9 ways virtual learning is better’ which is really worth a look and this makes the same point.  In fact number one on their list is “With virtual experience, there is no risk. No danger. No loss of money or resources (other than the cost of designing and doing the activity). Minimal loss of time. Not so in the real world”.

http://envisioningtech.com/education/

This is a nice little graphic from envisioningtech.com to represent the future of educational technology.  A large part of the visualisation is gamification, which they argue is so effective as it offers “instant feedback to acquired knowledge through achievements and reward systems”.  Another benefit is that is allows ‘self-paced learning’.  It looks like the future could be pretty bright for education technology, which could lead to some pretty bright kids.  Let’s hope that some of these technologies can actually break through the red tape and stagnation of the education system.

Three “Games Based Learning” Development Tools Explored

Developing with Adobe Flash

A lot of the games based learning products that I have developed over the years have been done using Flash. Adobe’s Flash is a fantastic tool and creates efficient code (a small file size that is great for web work) but is not necessarily that easy to use for non-programmers. In the last year, I have had a look at some other tools, which can be used to develop games based learning (even if that is not their primary purpose). This blog post is an overview my findings.

Captivate and other Rapid Development Tools
I have used Captivate within the context of e-Learning experiments and have blogged about these before at http://www.games-based-learning.com/2011/10/instructional-design-e-learning-and.html. The Situated example was an attempt to push Captivate to its limits. The SITUATED-training (http://www.pixelfountain.co.uk/captivate-situated-training-demo.html) course puts the trainee in a virtual setting where they need to visit various locations, talk to characters and interact with objects. The instructional design embeds a system simulation inside a dynamic story line. At the end of the training, the trainee is presented with a dynamic end report that shows what they did and didn’t do. The example I developed was a mini project management game, but the approach could be used in humanities and science education.

Captivate is traditionally used for system simulations, but it has a simple scripting language that can be used to control variables, visibility of screen objects etc. It is a bit clunky for people with programming experience, but as you can see from my SITUATED-training example, it can used to develop quite sophisticated solutions. For this reason and the fact that it feels more robust, I would rank Captivate above rapid development tools such as Articulate and Lectora.

Note: My experiments were done using Captivate 5.5 and I note that version 6 is now available.

Construct
Following on from a games workshop design project (http://www.games-ed.co.uk/games-design-workshop.html) with school children in St Helens (Merseyside, UK) I developed a prototype of the chosen design – Eco-Busters. Partly because I wanted to avoid the slow development process of Flash, I fished around the Internet for a game development tool. I settled on Construct 2 from http://www.scirra.com/. Scirra state that Construct allows you to create games effortlessly. They say Construct is a ground breaking HTML5 windows game engine that lets anyone make games without any programming experience.

My experience was that Construct is indeed powerful and easy to get into. But, the caveat I would give is that I have been programming on and off for 30 years – how time flies :( Anyway, I would say that Construct is a tad more difficult than Captivate but is infinitely cheaper in that it is free and Captivate is £850 on the Adobe site.

The Eco-Busters prototype can be found at http://www.pixelfountain.co.uk/Eco-Busters/ Note the game is HTML5, so you will need IE9 or Google Chrome or Firefox. The game is far from complete, but you will get the idea of what Construct can do. Make sure you read the instructions as the children’s design required an intricate method for controlling two characters.  Also, there are other examples on http://www.scirra.com/.

MIT App Inventor for Android Devices
I was recently looking for a tool to develop mobile apps and again I wanted something that was quick to get into. App Inventor lets you develop applications for Android phones using a web browser and either a connected phone or emulator. Originally developed by Google, App Inventor has been made open source and has been taken on by MIT see http://appinventor.mit.edu/.

You build apps by working with:
 The App Inventor Designer, where you select the components for your app.
 The App Inventor Blocks Editor, where you assemble program blocks that specify how the components should behave. You assemble programs visually, fitting pieces together like pieces of a puzzle.

Once I had got the App Inventor loaded and connected to my phone, which was a bit fiddly due to me having to find a USB driver on the HTC website, everything worked smoothly. Overall the programming environment was straightforward and powerful. The blocks editor might be slightly tortuous for accomplished programmers but the visual approach will suit the novice. In fact, I did a little bit of programming with my 11 year old.

At this stage, I haven’t developed any games based learning, but App Inventor shows potential for gamified quizzes and one of the tutorials is a Whack-A-Mole game.

Conclusion
The above three development tools are not the only tools out there. I chose the above tools as they were easy to get into but also were more than simple presentation builders. Please feel free to comment on any tools that you have used.

Thoughts on the Horizon Report 2011

The NMC Horizon Report series identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. The following blog post is a summary of the 2011 report (black text) along with some of my own thoughts (in blue italics). Oh, and given this a games based learning blog, pride of place is given to this technology.

Games Based Learning (two to three years away)
Early studies of consumer games helped to identify the aspects of games that make them especially engaging and appealing to players of various ages and of both genders: the feeling of working toward a goal; the possibility of attaining spectacular successes; the ability to problem-solve, collaborate with others, and socialize; an interesting story line; and other characteristics. These qualities are replicable for educational content, though they can be difficult to design well.

The production requirements seen in popular consumer games thus far have exceeded education providers’ abilities to build them. In The NMC Horizon Report: 2010 K-12 Edition game-based learning was also positioned on the mid-term horizon, and that remains the case today, although it does seem to be gaining acceptance.

One of the problems with the interest commercial games and education is that they seem to have overly influenced game based learning design. I agree that designing good games based learning might be a challenge, but central to the design should be that the learning experience is paramount. Throwing in all the bells and whistles like the latest blockbuster Xbox / PS3 game isn’t necessary. And in reality, in the commercial gaming world there is a growing segment of simpler game designs – Angry Birds, anyone?


What determines the design of games like Angry Birds or Wii Sport (two of the most successful games of recent times)? Well, they have to run on low spec devices; they have to be understood quickly; they don’t have to be complex; and (in the case of Wii Sports) they need to get individuals playing together. Sounds like The 6 Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning, funny that ;)

This year, there has also been a great deal of traction surrounding online games and game apps for mobile devices.

See comments on mobiles in UK classrooms, below.

Designing and developing games is another way to bring games into the curriculum. Good game design involves research, creative thinking, the ability to envision both problems and solutions, and many other learning skills.

Have a gander at a couple of game design development projects that I have been involved:

• Developing Games with Young People: LAP Recycling Game.
• Climate Crew: creative media skills and games development.

Another area of gaming that is increasingly interesting to schools is simulation-based games. When game design is of sufficiently high quality, it is increasingly clear that these approaches can deeply engage students in learning.

As gaming and the science of engagement become better understood, we are likely to see significant investment in large-scale educational games. The compelling nature of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games in particular is attracting researchers and educators who appreciate the revolutionary power of including games in the curriculum.

I agree with the simulation-based games point - I would, wouldn’t I, given that is what we do at games-ED. I  do worry about MMO games, though. As stated above, the learning should come first and the technology second, but MMO do offer a forum to get schools across the world working with each other and that could be very exciting. 

Other Education Technologies
Near-term Horizon (within the next 12 months)
Cloud computing has already transformed the way users of the Internet think about computing and communication, data storage and access, and collaborative work. Cloud-based applications and services are available to many school students today, and more schools are employing cloud-based tools all the time.

It will be interesting to see how the drive for academy status frees up schools to choose IT more flexibly and move away from Local Authority provided solutions.

Mobiles, especially smartphones and tablets, enable ubiquitous access to information, social networks, tools for learning and productivity, and hundreds of thousands of custom applications.

The power of mobiles is without question. But there are a number of issues worth noting in UK schools. Firstly, some teachers are starting to ban them from the classroom. Secondly, at present in the UK smart phones have not become the ubiquitous tool they might have in the US due to their cost, particularly if the user is on a pay as you go contract. In the UK, therefore, the adoption horizon might be two to three years. 


The second adoption horizon (two to three years out).
Open content is the current form of a movement that began a decade ago, when universities such as MIT began to make their course content freely available. Ten years later, schools have also begun to share a significant amount of curricula, resources, and learning materials.

TES teaching resources is starting to do this in the UK. So, it could be argued that, open content is on the Near-term Horizon (one year) rather than two to three years out.

Far-term Horizon (four to five years away)
Learning analytics loosely joins a variety of data gathering tools and analytic techniques to study student engagement, performance, and progress in practice, with the goal of using what is learned to revise curricula, teaching, and assessment in real time.

Being an avid user of Google Analytics, I think this concept could revolutionise how we understand learners’ use of digital resources.

Personal learning environments (PLEs) refer to student-designed learning approaches that encompass different types of content — videos, apps, games, social media tools, and more — chosen by a student to match his or her personal learning style and pace. Despite the use of the word “environment” in the name, the notion of a collection or a physical or online space is somewhat irrelevant to a PLE. The goal is for students to have more control over how they learn, and for teachers to set expectations that their students will be more engaged in understanding and applying their learning strategies.

Further Reading
The full Horizon Report can be found at http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf