Gaming in Education
What is Gaming in Education?
Gaming in education allows teachers to use games and gaming mechanics and gaming principles to teach and design lessons and units. Gaming can be digital (e.g., video games, serious/educational games) and non-digital (e.g., board games, physical/athletic based games).
There are three branches to Gaming in education
Gamification, Gamebased Learning and Serious Games some of this can apply to digital and non-digital games.
All of these forms can be used in education simultaneously and on their own.
Gamification involves the use of gamed design or principles in non-gaming situations (Schaaf, 2019). For example, a reward program from a company like Starbucks where multiple purchase gives you start which you could eventually use to procure a food or beverage item. Badging is another form of gamification where get can get badges (level up) when they master a task or concept. Tools like Badgeville or Credly (https://info.credly.com/
Gamebased Learning entails the process of using games digital or non-digital to teach a learning outcome or entice individuals to learn a concept as they play the game ((Schaaf, 2019). Some games like SimCity or Minecraft started off as games for entertainment but now they have turned in platforms with educational value such as SimCityEDU and MinecraftEDU. Even a game like Angry Birds can be used teach angles, physics, and probability. Monopoly is a great way to teach financial education, negotiation, and number sense.
Serious Games are games that have been designed to be explicitly educational. They are offer a gaming experience but are done by industries where training or simulation scenarios are involved such as the military, science, mining, and medicine. Now, some companies are incorporating VR/AR technology to enhance these learning experiences as well.
Main topic
What's the difference between Gamification and Game-based Learning?
A conversation about how gaming can have long term benefits
Jane McGonigal's foray into gaming and learning.
Esports as viable curriculum in school from k-12.
How does this fit with the learning commons? What would this look like in your school learning commons?
Physical Space and Resources
In order to to have gamebased learning or gamification to ensue, you will need a wide variety of materials and technology. Also since the LLC is an open space for learning for all, teachers need to approach it with a learner's stance where they are read to learn alongside their students and possibly colleagues.
To start, having a variety of board games that you could either use to launch a lesson or reinforce concepts are paramount. In my LLC I would have board games that would enable Math, Language, and STEM learning that are collaborative by nature. You can also get games that are more educational., spefic to a subject area (e.g., Flash card games)
Technology-wise, I would have gaming computers, tablets, or gaming consoles (Xbox, PS4), Nintendo Switch) with games that are age appropriate and could be used with certain lessons and units. Some popular games that I have used to teach a variety of subjects math to history include Mario Kart, Wii Music, Forza Racing, and Sid Meirs' Civilization. Some of these games may have an online component which you may or may not want to use. With the use of so much hardware you would have comfortable seating and tables suitable for collaborative efforts along with an lcd projector/screen to display the ongoings of the game. Another added bonus is that alot of the gameplay can be recorded through stills or video which could later be used as part of a lesson or a documentation/assessment of the learning.
Curriculum and Programming
21st Century Competencies
Gamification, Gamebased learning and Serious games fit well with the curriculum simply because they allow for 21st Century Competencies to flourish such as Creativity, Learning to Learn, Collaboration, Communication, Problem Solving and Global Citizenship. This method of teaching can be specifically used with a wide variety of subjects such as Math, Geography, Science, Language, Art, Reading, Phys. Ed., Music
Here are some example where I have used games and Gamebased learning. For Music and Science, I used Wii Music to teach students orchestral musical instruments and the sounds/musical tones these instruments created. The game allowed for multiple players to play music simultaneously and see if they could follow the beat. Students ended up researching their instrument and then they created an instrument to learn how sound is created. This was perfect for my Science unit on sound for grade 4 and Music as well. I have also used Guitar Hero and Rock Band with the XBOX 360 to have students learn about musical genres, financial literacy and writing by having them create a setlist of music that they would play on a tour; come up with a budget they would need for their tour by factoring in the cost for roadies, lighting, and amenities a band may need; and then the students would write about it, either as a blog or in a writing journal.
In Math and Science I have gamified the learning by using Gizmos (https://www.explorelearning.com/) from Explore Learning to teach various concepts in these subject areas for grade 7. A Gizmo will have an interactive game where students can manipulate items to learn certain concepts (e.g., Spin the wheel on a probability wheel). At the end of the Gizmo is a 5 question quiz which assesses their learning.
Within my class I have also used gamification tools or program with game mechanisms like Kahoot, MyBluePrint, Loopy, Classroom Screen, and Flippity to engage learners. With Flippity (http://www.flippity.net/), this program allows you to use Google Sheets to input data that could be used for group selection (random name generator) and the reinforcement of concepts (quiz show). Another tool I like to use is Classroom Screen, which is a classroom management tool that has gaming elements such as random name generator, noise level capture, timer, traffic lights and more. Another tool I introduced recently to my students is Loopy (https://ncase.me/loopy/) which is a program that can be used for systems thinking which is great when you want to show students simulation and models. This is another gaming mechanism that can be utilized especially if you want to students to manipulate data in interactive and engaging way. I recently showed my grade 7 students for our Mental Health Unit a model of what happens when you have anxiety and depression. In addition, board games are great for teaching students Collaboration, Cooperative Thinking and Problem solving. Games like Chess, Monopoly and Ticket to Ride make students think strategically about their next move. With Ticket to Ride, the object of the game is to get to a destination in a way that accumulates you points the more points you have the easier it is for you to win. However, as an opponent you can block someone's move to your advantage and of course their disadvantage.
In essence this pedagogical approach can be utilized easily within the LLC because it can help you launch lessons that tie into a variety of curricular subjects. Even further, this methodology allows a students to learn those 21st Competencies of Collaboration, Communication, Problem-solving, Innovation and more.
Subtopic
Subtopic
Assessment
Gamification, Gamebased learning and Serious games is a pedagogical approach that can be easily implemented by teachers in their classroom and within the LLC. To document and assess the learning, students have a myriad of ways to display their learning with a variety of technological tools, as do their teachers.
Over the last several years I have used a variety of gamebased tools to teach curricular subjects. As an example, for a grade 7 Geography and Science unit I have used Minecraft, Roblox, and CoSpaces (VR/AR tool) to have students create simulations. The premise behind the project is to create a safe haven from an impending zombie apocalypse. With this project, students learn about the environmental impacts of using different natural resources and how to use them sustainably in a given environment. Students would then describe how they were using natural resources sustainably though video capture (Screencastify for Google, Quicktime Screenrecord for Apple, and Game Bar recorder for Windows) with a voiceover. I would then be able to assess their learning through this medium. This project allowed students to use the assets within each program to create these environments in innovative ways by using their knowledge or gained knowledge of the software. We would often house the creations within a site and use a blog to comment on each other's work. As a teacher, you can compile their work and then share it through multiple avenues such as social media, Google Classroom, or a parent communication tool.
For gamification, I have students create their own game on subject material that was taught to them based on the popular BreakoutEDU games, my students created digital Breakout games for the grade 7 History (e.g., War of 1812) unit. They used gaming mechanisms that are prevalent within a breakout game by using features within GSUITE (Forms) and other online tools like Jigsaw Planet (https://www.jigsawplanet.com/) to create the puzzles. Here are student examples: https://bit.ly/2t2zg7a . All of their work was eventually housed in a Google site and then shared with other classes. Assessment was determine by the correct factual information and if the gameplay made sense. Here is the assignment: https://bit.ly/2G4usqh
I have also used Serious games to help teachers explicitly teach a subject and in my own practice. As part of a research project with York University (Dr. Jen Jensen), we had several schools use different applications to learn a variety of subjects. At the primary level, a school I supported used CompareWare which was an iPad app for early readers. Teachers were able to document their students' acquisition of language, which was especially good for their ESL students. For intermediate students, they played a game called Epidemic where they learned virulent diseases through gameplay and then created a poster to display their understanding.
Assessing in this manner enables students to create in an multimodal literate approach which allows for differentiation and the apprehension of concepts that suits their needs. It also encourages teachers to see student's learning in a different light and perhaps see their creativity and ingenuity.