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What is the future of digital games and learning by Nicola Whitton

by University of London Computer Centre (ULCC) on Oct 09, 2012

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FOTE12 presentation 'What is the future of digital games and learning' by Nicola Whitton

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Hello and thank you for listening. I’m going to talk for the next twenty minutes about computer games and learning; I’m going to start with a little bit of future-gazing, followed by a bit of theory and some examples of games in practice, and finally some quick take-aways... Main focus is on Higher Education, although a lot of what I’m going to say is probably true for other sectors too. I’m a research fellow at Manchester Metropolitan and I specialise in research into the design and use of games in Higher Education. I’m also a self-confessed gamer, geek and lover of anything involving micro-chips... Mention the game that’s running, hope to exemplify some of these principles
Lo cost games – toolkits for game creation, casual gaming rather than high-end production Traditional and mixed-media games GameMaker, Inform, Adventure Game Studio, Sandbox Gamemaker Gamification – hype will peak then backlash, idea of embedding gaming elements in teaching Playfulness Exploration and surprise Game structures – challenge, progression, rewards, scaffolding Student-centred gaming – students become game creators, supporting transferrable skills, creativity, technical skills, overlap between real world and game world (e.g. ARGs), developing resources and communities around the game
Action – many games embody active learning principles Collaboration, problem-solving, experiential learning, principles of feedback and scaffolding, ability to practice These aren’t unique to games, but a way of getting active learning principles in ‘through the back door’ Engagement – a lot of these techniques are used in gamification Goals, rules, challenge, rewards, points, leaderboards/competition, collection, curiosity/mystery Won’t appeal to everyone, can be disengaging as well, has to be well thought out Play – educational games don’t have to be ‘serious’ For me, playfulness is the key aspect, the idea of the ‘magic circle’ that allows people safe spaces in which to make mistakes, use of fantastic environment, narrative and storytelling, playing on the emotions, giving students agency to make decisions
Games embody the characteristics of active learning environments, learning by doing, experiential learning, problem-solving Marketplace – 3rd year ‘application of marketing principles’ course, replaced a lecture series, heavily used scenarios, and exam The game took over the entire course, students we put into teams (companies) and had to make marketing decisions each week, starting with east decisions, the results of their decisions were fed back each week so that students could reflect on their choices and experience Assessment not linked to game – presentation of marketing plan, marketing strategy report, individual reflection playFOTE12 – aims to get people actively engaging in the sessions, by looking out for specific things
The Great History Conundrum – University of Leicester First year undergraduate history – critical web search and analysis skills Four week online game, students provided with puzzles (with different difficulty levels), which can be solved any time, puzzles = points (shown on a leaderboard) and completing a puzzle leads to a new one Collaboration – through swapping, and online discussion/wiki Assessment for combination of: a) points, b) discussion posts, c) group mark for students who submitted to the wiki playFOTE12 - Points, continual updating, prizes, differing levels of challenge, set collection FOTE12 – use of points, challenges of different types/levels, leaderboard, rewards
Staying the Course Developed at MMU as a board game to set student expectations – students have to be first to get around the board, answering questions about different aspects of university life. Use of chance elements - surprises Create a forum for discussion Use the narrative of a student completing his/her first year Physical ‘large-scale’ version Lowers barriers, build trust playFOTE12 – fun, silliness, getting people to do things/think a bit differently, meeting people at conferences not always easy, takes away the embarrassment factor
Still time to take part in the game. Game structure - race, prizes, reward progress, gradual challenges, visualise progression Add some mystery - randomness, surprises, do something unexpected Add some playfulness - use toys/physical objects, creative exercises, do something silly

What is the future of digital games and learning by Nicola Whitton Presentation Transcript

What is the future of digital games and learning? Nicola WhittonManchester Metropolitan University
The future of games in HELow cost gaming Bespoke game production Casual games Traditional and mixed-media gamesGamification Beyond points, badges, leaderboardsBlurring boundary between player and creator Student-centred gaming
Why are games great for learning?
Action• Click to edit Master text styles – Second level • Third level – Fourth level » Fifth level
Engagement• Click to edit Master text styles – Second level • Third level – Fourth level » Fifth level
Play• Click to edit Master text styles – Second level • Third level – Fourth level » Fifth level
Some ideas to take away... • Click to edit Master text styles – Second level • Third level – Fourth level » Fifth level
Thank you for listening! Dr Nicola Whitton n.whitton@mmu.ac.uk @nicwhitton http://playthinklearn.net/http://gamesandlearningsig.ning.com/

What is the future of digital games and learning by Nicola Whitton

by University of London Computer Centre (ULCC) on Oct 09, 2012

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What is the future of digital games and learning by Nicola Whitton Presentation Transcript