- "...designed to balance subject matter with gameplay and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world" (Editorial Team, 2013)
- "an approach to teaching, where students explore relevant aspect of games in a learning context designed by teacher" (Editorial Team, 2013)
A quick look for educational games brings up hundreds of games that are designed to assist with the development of certain skills. One such game that my students love is Sushi Monster. In this particular game, the monster display a number and the player must feed the correct combination of numbered plates to match the number the monster is showing. While this type of game is beneficial for helping students reinforce a concept that they are learning, it doesn't really highlight the power of games.
Games, allow us to experience something that we might not be able to experience in our reality and the truly powerful games, enable students to come to a better understanding of the world in which they live. For example, in the past I have used the game Stop Disasters. In this game, the players try to save a community from an impending natural disaster. With the right design, this teacher can help students understand the importance of municipal preparedness for natural disaster, government spending, and the impact of natural disasters.
Another game that many educators love is Minecraft. At the most basic level Minecraft is a game where people need to find and build things in order to survive. However, as the game is able to allows anyone to create their own worlds, there is a lot of flexibility in this game. This flexibility can be used by educators to create their own worlds which are specifically designed to target their desired concepts. A quick look on the MinecraftEdu wiki brings up a wealth of different possibilities.
While games like Sushi Monster have their place and ones like Stop Disasters and Minecraft allow for greater flexibility in terms of the target concepts covered, what does the research say about the possibility of games. One study conducted by Cicchino found that students who experienced game-based learning demonstrated higher levels of critical thinking when compared to others (2015). Aside from this game-based learning has the potential to change the world in which we live.
In 2010 Jane McGonigal, gave a talk at TED. In her talk she talked about her game World Without Oil. The game forced players to understand what their lives would be like if the world oil supply suddenly disappeared. After the game concluded, several players indicated that the game had resulted in a change in their everyday lives to reduce their oil consumption (McGonigal, 2010). Finally in 2013, scientists released a 3D diagram of an enzyme that resembles one linked with HIV to the online game Foldit. Within 10 days the players were able to solve the puzzle which provided answers for scientists and could lead to better understanding of HIV in the future (Fudge, 2013).
With the ability to engage students, increase critical thinking skills and the possibility of changing the world in which we live, is there any reason not to try using games within the classroom?
References
Cicchino, M.I. (2015). Using game-based learning to foster critical thinking in students discourse. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 9(2). Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1481
Editorial Team. (2013, April 23). What is gbl (game-based learning)? Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/dictionary/298-what-is-game-based-learning
Fudge, J. (2013, October 18). Gamers solve HIV puzzle in ten days. Retrieved from http://gamepolitics.com/2013/10/18/gamers-solve-hiv-puzzle-ten-days/
McGonigal, J. (2010, February). Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?language=en
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