WHY SERIOUS GAMES WORK
LEARNING
EVOLUTION
Games to teach individual concepts
 Multiplayer classrooms
 Schools structured as games
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 Quest
to Learn (NPR story)
WHAT’S THE IDEA?
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Games engage people
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Engaged people work longer, learn better
Along with a learning curve, there is a forgetting
curve
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People forget slower with games
… because they learned it better?
But is there science behind this?
LEARNING THEORY SUPPORT
Experiential learning
Inquiry-based learning
Authenticity
Self-efficacy
Goal-setting
Continual feedback
Cooperation
BIOLOGY SUPPORT
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Brain retains only the important
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Important = emotionally significant
Releases dopamine in amygdala
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Game playing increases dopamine
But what about studies?
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDIES
Business
Economics
Means of Test Scores
100%
80%
60%
40%
Management
20%
0%
GAMES OR MULTIMEDIA? North Dakota State University
Geology Explorer
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Lecture baseline
Web-based presentation
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No significant increase
Virtual world game
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Virtual Cell
15-40% increase
Lecture baseline
Web-based presentation
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13-30% increase
Virtual world game
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30-63% increase
New generation, New paradigms …
DIGITAL NATIVES (VS DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS)
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Receive information rapidly
Parallel process
Multi-task
Prefer graphics first
Prefer random access
Thrive on instant gratification and frequent
rewards
Fundamentally think and process information
differently
POPULATION CHANGES
Boomer
‘46-’64
Gen X
‘65-’79
Gen Y
‘80-’94
Training
Too much and
I’ll leave
Required to
keep me
Continuous and
expected
Learning Style
Facilitated
Independent
Collaborative and
networked
Problem solving
Structured
Independent
Collaborative
Feedback
Once per year
Weekly or daily
On demand
Task changing
Slows me down
Necessary
Part of my daily
routine
Gen Z
‘95-
Lancaster & Stillman
HEALTH
MANAGING ILLNESS (2 SNE GAMES 1995)
Bronkie the
Bronchiasaurus
 Asthma
 45% reduction in
crises

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Packy and Marlon
Diabetes
 70% reduction in
crises

PAIN MANAGEMENT
Free Dive
SnowWorld
REHABILITATION: PTSD
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Full Spectrum Warrior
Tailor environments
to traumatic
experience
Relive as much as
can tolerate
Significant results
PHYSICAL THERAPY
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Injury
Surgery
Stroke
Alzheimer
Parkinson’s
Burns
More fun = more time
EXERGAMING

Started with Wii
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Now on
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Wii Fit
EA Active
Kinect (Microsoft, Nike)
Playstation Move
And smartphones
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Zombies Run!
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Better than videos?
Are these games?
Does it matter?
GAMES WITH A PURPOSE
JANE MCGONIGAL
Gaming can make a
better world
TED talk
THE BIG IDEA
There are things that
people can do better than
machines
 There are lots of people
with a bit of time
 The more people, the
more diversity, the more
different approaches
 Crowdsourcing!

FOLDIT
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Folding Proteins
Goal: to fold a protein
according to constraints at
the lowest energy level
Recent: Misfolding and
Alzheimer’s
EteRNA: for RNA
TWO EXAMPLES
GWAP
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Knowledge Gathering
Various Games
Human association
Image tagging
SOCIAL IMPACT GAMES
SOCIAL CHANGE: OPINIONS
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Letters to the editor
Articles
Books
Television shows
Documentaries
Movies
Web Sites
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Blogs
Radio shows
Music
Paintings
Sculptures
Photographs
Signs
SOCIAL CHANGE
Transform
Awareness
Commentary

PeaceMaker
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Garbage Glut

3rd World Farmer

Darfur is Dying
RESOURCES
SOME INTERESTING WEB SITES

The Educational Game Database
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Games for Change

Marc Prensky