How to Deliver Measureable Learning in Social Mobile Games

1. UNLOCK SKILLS, LEVEL UP! HOW TO DELIVER MEASURABLE LEARNING IN SOCIAL MOBILE GAMES SERIOUS PLAY CONFERENCE; JULY 16, 2017

2. Why Listen To Me? IRA SOCKOWITZ • CEO of Learning Games Studios, which develops and markets mobile educational games • Former Executive Director of Learning Games Network, an R&D organization founded by members of the MIT Education Arcade and the University of Wisconsin Games+Learning+Society center • Won and managed over $130mm of development grants from U.S. Department of Education for making educational media • Consultant to NY City Department of Education, Southern Region Education Board, and numerous not for profit educational groups © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 2

3. Play, Games and Gaming Play ¡ Self-directed and unstructured Games ¡ Defined goals ¡ Rules structuring the play ¡ “Win” states or demarcated successes through points or other quantifiable outcomes Gaming ¡ Activities, literacies, knowledge and practices within a game ¡ Problem-solving, non-linear navigation, risk-taking, understanding but testing rules © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 3

4. The Four Freedoms Of Play Scot Osterweil – Creative Director, MIT Education Arcade and cofounder of the Learning Games Network. The freedom to fail – player learns as much about the nature of things from failure as from success; gradual process towards mastery; develop perseverance and persistence skills The freedom to experiment - room to maneuver and invent new approaches to whatever task is at hand The freedom of identity – beyond examining physical and social nature of things; player can try several roles as work to define themselves. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9UIFi0z8jMI The freedom of effort – players may exert more or less effort, as they see fit but not in a proscribed manner. Play is on their own terms. © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 4

5. The Holy Trinity of Learning Games Integrating instructional design and learning science with game design Interdisciplinary approach – holistic collaboration in which all team members… ¡ share the responsibility for creating an engaging game that meets relevant educational goals, so it is important that team members become immersed in both aspects ¡ should have a solid understanding of the content and of successful and unsuccessful ways in which that content has been addressed previously ¡ should be familiar with types of games that address the content or could serve as a model to do so Desired Participants ¡ Instructional designers, assessment designers, SMEs, production manager, game developers © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 5

6. Chamberlin, B., Trespalacios, J., & Gallagher, R. (2012). The learning game design model: Immersion, collaboration, and outcomes-driven development. © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 6

7. Pre-Development - Conceptualizing the Game Considerations: audience, context, content, goals, and facilitation • What is fundamentally engaging about the subject • Scaffolding of core concepts • Motivate deeper exploration of the topic • Partake in those pleasures of the discipline that motivate its expert practitioners Establish core values and learning goals • Competencies and/or subject matter knowledge • Behaviors to be modeled and learned • Development of “soft” or 21stCentury skills © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 7

8. Example: Xenos Isle’s Structured Learning Learning Sciences research findings embodied ¡ CASAS standards for Essential Life and Work Skills for Youth and Adults ¡ David Nunan’s“Task Classification” framework ¡ Illinois content standards by skill for ESL Instructional Design scaffolds learning through Missions system ¡ Develops skills and increases difficulty as learners make progress ¡ Guides the learner; individualized view of learning pathway ¡ Missions act as a formative assessment Metrics for longitudinal growth ¡ Content covers three full NRS levels; equates to CASAS levels A & B ¡ Aligned to CEFR for worldwide use © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 8

9. Pre-Development - Shaping Educational Objectives ¡ How is this content currently being taught? ¡ Why is that not working? ¡ What common mistakes do learners make? ¡ How do we know if the learner fully understands this? ¡ What can they do, say or demonstrate? ¡ What would they do or say if they don’t fully understand this? ¡ What should the learner know, do, and understand to be able to learn this content? ¡ What does our learner already know or believe about this content? © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 9

10. Pre-Development - Some Guiding Principles § Authentic challenges (engagement/motivation) § Learning through doing - participatory (constructivist) § Scaffold/support increasingly complex problems (ZPD, Flow) § Social/collaborative (socio-constructivist) § Re-playability & Reflection © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 10

11. Pre-Development - Process Process for Integrating Learning Sciences, Instructional Design and Game Design § Design charette with all appropriate parties involved • Define learning objectives, game mechanics, assessment tools • Metrics defining success and user delight § Game Design Document • Includes the designs for the game mechanics that incorporate the learning goals, gameplay designs, technologies to be used, programming choices, as well as the concepts for art, audio and animation © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 11

12. Development - Game Play Transforms Learning Challenging but achievable goals ¡ Become motivated problem-solvers and exhibit persistence ¡ Scaffolded difficulty increases engagement as skills grow Social Aspects Build Community ¡ Motivates learners to practice skills with a community of peers ¡ Proven learner delight from interacting online, collaborating, and discussing content and strategies Gaining Agency in the Game ¡ Freedom of Identity ¡ Allows for cultural sensitivities © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 12

13. Development - Game Design Shapes Impact Ease of Use ¡ How much digital literacy skill is required ¡ Familiar interface reduces “drag” towards gameplay Supporting Mastery ¡ Duration fits learner’s situation ¡ Mechanics and engagement make games highly replayable ¡ Can play as long or as often as needed to master skills; progress always tracked Allows exploration, enabling learners to find interests and motivations Multiple pathways to success ¡ Failure has limited consequences – expected and not discouraging ¡ © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 13

14. Development Philosophy: Design, test & iterate ¡ Rapid prototyping ¡ Play testing – with target demographic audience ¡ Iteration – embody the results of testing into new playable prototypes. Leave adequate time in dev process for analyzing and incorporating feedback and test results! ¡ Embedded analytics – what does gameplay and telemetry data tell you? © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 14

15. Formative Evaluation During Development ¡ Refining educational objectives ¡ Defining what pre-requisite skills and knowledge the learner needs to meet the objectives ¡ Understanding how the learner can demonstrate required knowledge or behavior change ¡ Ensuring content is appropriate to the environment in which the game will be used ¡ Conducting formative testing to ensure usability and educational effectiveness ¡ Research informs Practice – outcomes of testing are baked into the product and supporting materials © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 15

16. Development - Critical Production Elements Set realistic production schedule ¡ Allow for formative evaluation, analysis of results and incorporation of findings ¡ Allow for consultation with non-developers at regular intervals ¡ Set achievable development milestones – alpha, beta, gold Support the release ¡ Not just bug fixes ¡ Continual updates from user feedback and new ideas / technology changes ¡ Meet scaling challenges © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 16

17. Dissemination - Platform Choices Where are your learners and what technology do they access? ¡ K12 ¡ Moving to Chromebooks ¡ At the expense of iPads? ¡ Higher Ed a mixed bag ¡ Adult Ed ¡ Limited technology at workplaces and adult learning programs ¡ Growing ubiquity of smartphone ownership across demographics ¡ Dual Generation learners ¡ What technology is in homes of low income families? © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 17

18. Dissemination -Accessible Learning Platform and Operating System Agnostic ¡ Works on any recent phone or tablet: Android, iOS, and Windows ¡ Works on computers: PCs and Macs ¡ Works across these platforms Anytime, anywhere learning via multiple platforms ¡ 24/7 access with single login credential via any platform Playable without an Internet connection ¡ Not all learners have constant access ¡ Progress made offline is tracked and added to progress tracker upon next connection © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 18

19. Examples of “Good” Learning Games At Play in the Cosmos Astronomy Xenos Isle English language and literacy © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 19

20. In Summary © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 20

21. Potential Shortcomings of GBL ¡ Though games are engaging, they do not necessarily guarantee learning ¡ Wide range of abilities and attitudes toward games. Learners cannot be regarded as one homogenous group of video game consumers ¡ Difficulty in measuring achievement of learning objectives ¡ Evaluations are prohibitively expensive for most developers and their clients ¡ Randomized control trial and quasi-experimental designs can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars © 2017 LEARNING GAMES STUDIOS 21

22. UNLOCK SKILLS, LEVEL UP! IRA SOCKOWITZ, CEO AND FOUNDER Ira@LearningGamesStudios.com | +1.301.455.6525