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Rediscovering Gaming In Education New Opportunities for Ancient Ideas Lloyd Rieber lrieber@uga.edu Department of Educational Psychology & Instructional Technology. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. High Tech, Low Tech, and Everything In-Between. Rediscovering Gaming.
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Rediscovering Gaming In EducationNew Opportunities for Ancient IdeasLloyd Rieberlrieber@uga.eduDepartment of Educational Psychology & Instructional Technology
Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
High Tech, Low Tech, and Everything In-Between Rediscovering Gaming
Some Principles to Guide Teaching & Learning Otherwise, why should you even care about what I have to say?
Constructivist Epistemology Nature of the learning experience Assessment Cognitive processes Instructivist (objectivist)
Constructivist Experiential Epistemology Nature of the learning experience Assessment Cognitive processes Instructivist (objectivist) Didactic
Constructivist Experiential Inquiry Epistemology Nature of the learning experience Assessment Cognitive processes Instructivist (objectivist) Didactic Memorization
Constructivist Experiential Inquiry Projects based on authentic & meaningful problems Epistemology Nature of the learning experience Assessment Cognitive processes Instructivist (objectivist) Didactic Memorization M/C tests
I’ve designed the perfect business training simulation. Unfortunately, it takes 30 years to play.
Designing Learning Environments that Excite Serious Play Elusive, But Always Ready to Emerge “We all play occasionally, and we all know what playing feels like. But when it comes to making theoretical statements about what play is, we fall into silliness. There is little agreement among us, and much ambiguity.” Brian Sutton-Smith
Play Theory • Confluence of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and education • Misconceptions of play • Only children play; Play is easy; Play is merely a diversion and is irrelevant to learning; All play is good • Play attributes • Voluntary; Intrinsically motivating; Involves active, sometimes physical, engagement; Distinct from other behavior by having a make-believe quality • Play as Progress, Power, Fate, Fantasy, & Self
… when it is most needed. Understanding when instruction is not necessary, or…
Did you say “Games”? • The term “game” is a loaded term • People tend to have a biased view about games – pro or con – few are neutral • Games are like books and movies in that they refer to a general medium or art form • Like books and movies, games can be inspiring, good, bad, or disgusting
Defining a Game • Harder than you might think • But, here’s the dictionary definition: • An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party games; word games. • A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules: the game of basketball; the game of gin rummy. • A period of competition or challenge: It was too late in the game to change the schedule of the project.
Defining a Game • An interactive medium in the sense that the path or outcome of the activity itself changes depending on a player’s input.(I dare you to try to define “interactivity”!) • One of the best opportunities for “serious play”
Learning in a Game:Affective Domain • Motivation • Competition, random features • Intrinsic motivation: You create your own reasons for participating • Triggering challenge and curiosity • A feeling of control, but with an edge of uncertainty
Learning in a Game:Cognitive Domain • Meaningful, relevant context • Active participation in an “interactive story” • Organization, situation, goals, and feedback • Helps students to organize information, followed by putting knowledge to use • Narrative: The power of stories • Myths & Archetypes (Joseph Campbell)
Game Design • Optimizing challenge • What is your favorite sport? • Change one rule or the parameter of one game object. • What is the impact of this change on the game?
Center court = 36 inches Side posts = 42 inches
High Tech Gaming in Education James Gee University of Wisconsin What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy Henry Jenkins MIT Comparative Media Studies Games-to-Teach Project Kurt Squire University of Wisconsin Learning World Historythrough playing Civilization III Sasha Barab University of Indiana Quest Atlantis
Quest Atlantishttp://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/ • Triadic Foundation for Design • Education: Designing for Learning • Entertainment: Designing for Engagement • Social Commitments: Designing for Change
Microworlds • A place to “live”, not just study, a domain • “Mathland” • Takes full advantage of processing abilities of computers • Matches students effectively on both cognitive & motivational dimensions • Examples • MicroWorlds Project Builder, StageCast • Geometer’s Sketchpad, ThinkerTools, SimCalc, GenScope
