1.
Creating Game-like
Engagement for Learning
(without a Game Designer’s Budget)
Learning Solutions 2010
Julie Dirksen – March 24, 2010
Image via CC license http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/3367543094/

2.
Video
Game
Stare
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3.
What’s your budget?
- From www.gdmag.com/freeyear
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

4.
Halo 3 Sold 8 million copies
Take from http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Halo3/Screenshots/Halo3_Valhalla-3rdperson-01.jpg
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5.
What games do you play?
• Adventure / Strategy
• Role-playing (RPG)
• Multiplayer Online Games (MOG/MMOG)
• Sports / Racing Arcade
• First Person Shooter (FPS)
• Casual Games (Puzzle Games, Tetris, etc.)
• Simulations
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6.
What games do you play?
• Platforms
– Console games (Xbox, Playstation,
Nintendo, Wii)
– Online single player games
– Online multiplayer games
– Other PC or Mac games
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7.
How many of
you are using
games for
learning now?
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8.
Is this “educational gaming?”
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100
$200 $200 $200 $200 $200
$300 $300 $300 $300 $300
$400 $400 $400 $400 $400
$500 $500 $500 $500 $500
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9.
So what do we do about it?
“It may sound trite, but for us educational
games are first and foremost games. Whether
a bona-fide contest with logical rules and a
winning condition, or a Sim City-style sandbox
playtoy, a game experience needs to have
certain basic elements to be a meaningful
experience for players.”
- Eric Zimmerman
So, what are those elements?
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10.
1 2 3 4
Feedback Structure Attention Tools
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11.
1
Feedback
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12.
Feedback in e-learning:
Good Job! You correctly identified
Option A as the correct answer. That is
correct!
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13.
Let’s play a game
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14.
What types of Feedback did you
see?
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15.
How games do feedback:
Points
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16.
How games do feedback:
Collecting
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17.
How games do feedback:
Time
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18.
How games do feedback:
Sound
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19.
How games do feedback:
Events /
Reactions
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20.
Feedback Frequency
How often do users get feedback in e-
Learning?
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21.
Better than a Skinner Box
• Positive Feedback
• Negative Feedback
• Reward
• Punishment
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22.
• Points can provide
greater degree of
ambiguity & determine
outcomes
• Multifaceted feedback
(facial expressions,
coaching, line graph,
thoughts)
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23.
• Different types of elements
to be collected
• Motivational element
• Tracking progress
• Completion
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24.
Special Collecting: The Power-up
Power-ups: Improves the abilities of the
player
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25.
What I really find interesting:
• Gameify!
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26.
2
Structure
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27.
The boss prize of e-learning
• Familiarization
• Comprehension
• Conscious Effort
• Conscious Action
• Proficiency
• Unconscious Competence
- From Electronic Performance Support Systems by Gloria Gery
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28.
Cycles of Expertise
• Principle: Expertise is formed in any area by
repeated cycles of learners practicing skills
until they are nearly automatic, then having
those skills fail in ways that cause the
learners to have to think again and learn
anew...
• Games: Good games create and support
the cycle of expertise...This is, in fact, part of
what constitutes good pacing in a game.
- James Paul Gee
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29.
How games do feedback:
Leveling
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30.
Leveling
• If you are not
proficient enough,
you don’t move
on until you are
proficient.
• Completion =
proficiency
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31.
So, can we just put more levels into
e-Learning?
Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4 Module 5 Module 6
TEST
TEST
TEST
TEST
TEST
What does this get us?
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32.
What’s happening in the
brain?
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33.
What is going on when you are
learning something new?
Well, areas like
your frontal cortex
gets busy. It
starts burning a
lot of fuel, and fills
up pretty quickly.
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34.
What is going on when you using a
regular pattern you already know?
That leverages
parts of the brain
that can run
without a lot of
conscious
attention.
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35.
Glucose Metabolic Rate after several weeks of Tetris Practice
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36.
How is most e-Learning
structured?
Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4 Module 5 Module 6
Intro New Info More new Even Yet again Summary
Whew
Info more new with the !
Info new info
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37.
How are most games
structured?
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Some Stuff you Stuff Stuff Stuff Boss
new stuff, know you you you Fight
pretty plus a bit know, know know,
easy more maybe a plus a kicked
though little bit more up a
faster notch
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38.
It’s a lot like flow:
Ability
Challenge
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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39.
It also allows you to pay
attention to what’s different. Whew
!
In this model, everything is new and
everything is important (so nothing is).
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40.
It also allows you to pay
attention to what’s different. Whew
!
In this model, the new material is
mixed in with existing stuff, so the
new material stands out.
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41.
We all need a rest
sometimes:
Whew
!
If you don’t give people a break,
they will take it anyway.
Wait, this is Brain
important dead,
leaking
Tuned out out the
ears
Kind of
Uh huh. distracted
Okay, I
Uh huh...
get it
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42.
Goals, Goals and Goals
• Immediate, Short-term and Long-term
goals
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43.
Goals in Diner Dash
• Immediate Goal – Task / Level
• Short-term Goal – Stage
• Long-term Goal – Game Completion
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44.
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45.
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46.
Long-term Goal: The boss
fight
When you put all the
skills you’ve learned
together to beat the
BOSS.
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47.
The boss fight
“On the boss fight, you are
ready to fail 5-6 times until
you get it.
If I get a boss on the 1st try,
I think it’s too easy.”
- MS Hunter
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48.
• Examples: Dialog Coach
http://www.dialogcoach.com
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49.
Leveling
• Intermittent goals and
overall goal
• Variable mastery of levels
• Gradual improvement of
skills
http://www.dialogcoach.com
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50.
Evaluation is hard:
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51.
What if completion was
enough?
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52.
3
Attention
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53.
Why are brains like elephants?
• Why is our brain like a child riding an
elephant?
Jonathan Haidt – The Happiness Hypothesis
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54.
Child = conscious mind / executive
function (prefrontal cortex)
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55.
Elephant = everything else
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56.
Sometimes the elephant is
willing
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57.
Other times...
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58.
So, how do you train the
elephant?
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59.
What are you using here?
• How many people have had to take
the written drivers test lately?
Right of Way and Yielding
Right-of-way and yielding laws help traffic flow smoothly and safely.
They are based on courtesy and common sense. Violation of these
laws is a leading cause of traffic crashes.
When two vehicles reach an intersection at the same time, and there
is no traffic light or signal, the driver of the vehicle on the left must
yield to the vehicle on the right.
-Minnesota Driver’s Manual
• Think about how that feels.
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60.
Now, how
about this?
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61.
If there’s no urgency...
Most of the
burden is on the
executive function
(e.g. frontal
cortex).
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62.
Learning without urgency:
Relying solely on the executive function
is like:
Gasp!
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63.
What happens when there is
urgency?
Mid-brain areas (e.g.
limbic system / amygdala
are saying:
“PAY ATTENTION! This
could be important.”
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64.
Learning with urgency:
Learning that engages the whole brain
requires much less conscious effort:
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65.
What makes it work?
• Balanced gameplay
– Expectation
– Surprise
– Reward
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66.
Good surprises are good
• Pleasant surprises cause a dopamine
spike
“PAY
ATTENTION!
If this is good,
then you want
more.
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67.
Even bad surprises are good
• Unpleasant surprises cause a
dopamine drop.
“PAY
ATTENTION!
This is bad.
Avoid in future.”
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68.
No surprises are bad
Hmm. I wonder
what I should
have for dinner...
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69.
Games do this well
Gold Gold Gold Gold
Coin Coin Coin Coin
Super Platinum Hammer of Death™
that lets you SQUASH evildoers!!!
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70.
What else?
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71.
Narrative & Character
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72.
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73.
Visual &
Sound
Effects
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74.
Customization /Personalization
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75.
Competition
Leader Boards
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76.
Now you try!
• It’s your turn to try this out…
– Points
– Leveling
– Collecting
– Time
– Surprise
– Reward
– Urgency
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77.
So what’s the catch?
• So this is all great, but what’s the
catch?
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78.
What’s the catch?
• Games are good at teaching you how
to play games (not necessarily how to
actually do things)
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79.
What’s the catch?
Low Fast
Budget Easy
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80.
What’s the catch?
Low Fast
Budget Easy
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81.
What’s the catch?
Gamers are a self-
selecting audience
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82.
Playtesting
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83.
4
Tools
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84.
Tool: Rapid e-Learning Tools
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

85.
Tool: Quandary
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

86.
Tool: Game Shows
http://c3softworks.com/products/lms/
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

87.
Tool: GameSalad (Mac Only)
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88.
Tool: Thinking Worlds
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89.
Questions?
You can also reach me with questions at:
• Speakers’ Clinic at 4 PM
• Presentation Site: http://www.usablelearning.com/LS2010.html
• Blog: http://usablelearning.wordpress.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/usablelearning
• Email: julie@usablelearning.com
Thanks to:
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90.
References
• Books
– Electronic Performance Support System by Gloria Gery
– Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi (A reasonable Wikipedia explanation can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) )
– What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and
Literacy by James Paul Gee
– The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

91.
References
• Game Articles:
– Learning to Play to Learn - Lessons in Educational Game Design by Nick
Fortugno & Eric Zimmerman
http://www.ericzimmerman.com/texts/learningtoplay.htm - originally
published in Gamasutra
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050405/zimmerman_01.shtml
(Other publications by Eric Zimmerman
http://www.ericzimmerman.com/writings.html)
– Behavioral Game Design by John Hopson
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010427/hopson_01.htm
– Proof of Learning: Assessment in Serious Games by Sande Chen
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051019/chen_01.shtml
– Learning by Design: Games as Learning Machines by James Paul Gee
http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2004/features/20040324/gee_01.shtml
– Your Brain on Video Games by Steven Johnson
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/jul/brain-on-video-
games/article_print
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

92.
References
• General Articles
– The Neuroscience of Leadership by David Rock and Jeffrey
Schwartz http://www.strategy-
business.com/press/freearticle/06207
– The New Science of Change by Christopher Koch
http://www.cio.com/archive/091506/change.html
– Hijacking the Brain Circuits With a Nickel Slot Machine by Sandra
Blakeslee
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F70A14F7
355B0C7A8DDDAB0894DA404482 (paid access)
– Getting past the brain's crap filter Posted by Kathy Sierra on
December 22, 2004 on Creating Passionate Users Blog
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2004/w
eek52/index.html
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

93.
References
• Egghead stuff
– Predictability Modulates Human Brain Response to Reward by Gregory S. Berns, Samuel M.
McClure, Giuseppe Pagnoni, and P. Read Montague
http://www.ccnl.emory.edu/greg/Koolaid_JN_Print.pdf (Other recent publications by
Gregory Berns http://www.ccnl.emory.edu/greg/)
– When Things Are Better or Worse than Expected: The Medial Frontal Cortex and the
Allocation of Processing Resources
http://www.hnl.bcm.tmc.edu/articles/JNeuroScience2006PottsMontague.pdf Geoffrey F.
Potts, Laura E. Martin, Philip Burton, and P. Read Montague (Other recent publications by
Read Montague http://www.hnl.bcm.tmc.edu/faculty.html)
– Reward signaling by dopamine neurons by Wolfram Schultz
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/dopaminerev.htm
– Recent publications by Jonathan Cohen http://www.csbmb.princeton.edu/ncc/jdc.html
– Regional glucose metabolic changes after learning a complex visuospatial/motor task: a
positron emission tomographic study by Richard J. Haier, Benjamin V. Siegel Jr., Andrew
MacLachlan, Eric Soderling, Stephen Lottenberg and Monte S. Buchsbaum
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1617405
is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

94.
References
• Games
– Diner Dash:
http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/dinerdash.jsp
– Driver's Ed Game:
http://www.mofunzone.com/online_games/driversed.shtml#
– Super Collapse 3:
http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/collapse3.jsp
– Luck Charm Deluxe:
http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/luckcharm.jsp
– Insaniquarium http://www.shockwave.com
– Luxor http://www.shockwave.com
– Project ALERT: http://www.projectalert.com
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