Getting into the game
What is game-based learning?
“In the Game-based Learning (GBL) model of classroom instruction, students
are active and engaged. Well-designed challenges help students collaborate
and compete towards a shared goal. The use of technology provides students
with individualized and instantaneous feedback, while assisting educators in the
complex management of game-based learning environments.”
Dr. Larysa Nadolny www.drnadolny.com/game-based-learning.html
The role of games today
58%
13 hours
183 million
3 billion hours
are spent playing video
or computer games every
week, globally
per week is the average
amount of time active US
gamers spend gaming
active gamers in the US
97%
40%
97% of boys under 18 and
94% of girls under 18 play
computer or video games
1 in 4 gamers is over the age
of 50—the average age of an
adult gamer is 35 years old
GAME
OVER
40% of gamers are women
On average, gamers fail 80% of the time and yet
they still find the gaming experience enjoyable.
‘Reality if Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World’, Jane McGonigal, Dec 27, 2011.
Why implement game-based learning?
In educational gaming, the ability to capture immediate data about each
student’s performance opens the door to entirely new modes of measuring
progress and achievement, in ways that reward and reinforce engagement.
By engaging learners with a format that they prefer, educational content
can be taken to a new level.
‘Impact of Game Based Learning on Education’, Sidhikka Bajpai,
May 20, 2013, www.edtechreview.in/e-learning/339
In her TED talk, “Gaming Can Make a Better World,”
author and researcher Jane McGonigal posits that in
game worlds people are “motivated to do something
that matters, inspired to collaborate, to cooperate.”
Video games are interactive and engaging. It’s no wonder
they are so pervasive with both children and adults!
‘Gamifying Student Engagement’, Matthew Farber, May 2, 2013, www.edutopia.org/blog/gamifyingstudent-engagement-matthew-farber.
In a study at the University of Waterloo, Stratford Campus,
student posts increased by 290–938% and there was an
80–248% increase in downloads of slides per lecture.
‘Improving Participation and Learning with Gamification’, Gabriel Barata, University of Waterloo, Stratford
Campus, Jan 29, 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v+dOSf8SeNILQ
LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow said in an interview with
ThinkProgress. “It was no secret to us where America’s
children were spending their time. … We just went to
the point of purchase, where kids were hanging out, and
brought them back to the written word.
“And we’re doing the same thing now, using the prevailing
technology of the day. Then it was TV, now it’s digital media.
And we’re using that very important engagement factor to
feed them something worthwhile.”
‘No one does literacy quite like LeVar Burton’, Nicole Krueger, June 30, 2014,
www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=88 IMAGE CREDIT: www.readingrainbow.com/press
The game-based learning workflow
1
Design
your game
•Plan
your goals, components, and rules,
2
•Give
where students need incentives
•Keep
Change the interaction / break the mold
•
Give something for “free”
•
Don’t be afraid of users “failing”
3
Set achievement
criteria
continuity of your story — give
users an overall goal to work towards
to move forward and stay interested
•
the students a platform to build
on and use their imagination
and communicate these to your users
•Predict
Build a game
narrative or story
4
Create incentives
and rewards
•
Score on a grade or quiz item
•
Completion of a survey
•Badges
•
Completion of a self-assessment
•
Bonus marks
•
Posting in a discussion forum
•
Additional games to play
•
Combine items to create variety
•
Additional interesting content
•
Access to exclusive discussion
•Rewards
for completing everything
•Videos
Get started!
Visit www.brightspace.com/services/
game-based-learning to learn more about
the Game-Based Learning service offered by
D2L Professional Services
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