In an earlier post, I explored how social technology tools (such as Twitter, Wikis, etc.) can be used in educational Alternate Reality Games, designed to engage student learning.
In that post I explained that, “ARGs are interactive, networked narratives (dubbed storyscapes) that behave like complex scavenger hunts. They rely on existing real-world environments as their game space and employ transmedia storytelling, often both online and offline, to deliver content that may be altered by students’ ideas or actions. They can be considered “games you play in order to get more out of real life, as opposed to games you play to escape it” (McGonigal, 2011, Chore Wars, para. 30).
Such ARGs have the potential to provide learning environments that help foster competencies and extend education to where learners are not only consumers of knowledge, but producers of it as well; a critical 21st Century competency.
To rewind a bit, I also wanted to explore and clarify what Game-Based Learning is and what it is not, as there can be a lot of misconceptions about gaming in education, in general.
No matter the genre or mode of delivery, games have a few simple defining traits in common: a goal (and obstacles that complicate its pursuit), rules and a feedback system (McGonigal, 2011, para. 5). In fact, some argue that what may be taken as a simple pastime is “not an ephemeral, inconsequential activity, but an essential, perhaps central factor in civilization” (Abba, 2009, p. 63). Educators are looking at gaming as a way to propel education further, contributing to the field known as Game-Based Learning.
Game-Based Learning (or GBL for short), may be especially relevant in the context of Remote Learning and Learning From Home, where students are already learning outside of the traditional classroom
(1) Game-Based Learning Is: A broader concept, which includes Alternate Reality Games
Game-Based Learning is the intersection where education and games converge. Game-Based Learning includes thoughtful, structured learning objectives designed to evoke and engage specific skills and / or competencies. Game-Based Learning includes Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), but go beyond to also include much more simple math games with playing cards, for example.
(2) Game-Based Learning Is Not: Learners playing non-educational video games
One of the biggest misconceptions is that GBL means learners sit and play popular consumer video games for hours on-end. Game-Based Learning can include intentionally-educational video games, but not all video games are educational video games. And in fact, not all GBL includes technology at all.
(3) Game-Based Learning Is: Intentionally structured to include learning objectives
GBL must include intentionally-structured learning objectives, based on grade level and learning expectations.
(4) Game-Based Learning Is Not: One size fits all
As Game-Based Learning is but one educational tool educators can leverage, it is broad in scope and so, it is customizable to fit the learner’s needs. The game can vary educator-to-educator and learner-to-learner.
(5) Game-Based Learning Is: Engaging
While certainly not true of all Game-Based Learning, well-structured GBL can be designed with learner engagement in mind (for example, what is the learner passionate about? Dinosaurs, Robotics? Outdoor play?). This can provide a level of interest and investment in the learning by the learner, providing one advantage over the traditional “chalk-and-talk” teaching that can sometimes exist inside our classrooms.
(6) Game-Based Learning Is Not: Always competitive
Not all games are zero-sum based, where winning comes at the expense of an “opponent’s loss”. There are many cooperative games, where winning is very much centred on a learner’s ability to cooperate with others.
(7) Game-Based Learning Is: About opportunities for “safe failure” and “failing forward”
Games in general offer a play-based approach to tackling challenges and obstacles. In GBL, the stakes are not high enough to permanently damage a learner’s future opportunities, but allow them instead to safely practice the necessary skills to overcome those challenges in real life, down the road. They employ the idea of “safe failure” where learners can experience failure, but have the option to persist at the task until they can become successful at it (“failing forward”).
(8) Game-Based Learning Is Not: All or Nothing
GBL need not be an all or nothing approach. As it is so customizable, it is also scalable. It can encompass one lesson or even one part of a lesson, or an entire unit of study (or even multiple units of study across multiple subjects, as can be the case in cross-curricular learning). It can be as complex or as simple as the learning objectives require.
(9) Game-Based Learning Is: Inclusive in nature
If structured with the learners’ needs and resources in mind, it can offer a model for inclusive teaching. GBL can offer “multiple points of entry” so learners can engage with the learning at their level of readiness, not an externally-imposed one.
(10) Game-Based Learning Is Not: Always effective
Not everything needs to be “gamefied.” In fact, not all learning is best done through GBL. Some studies suggest and question the effectiveness of GBL, and with reason. But that is not to take away from instances where GBL can truly enhance learning and better-engage learners.
sp*rk curiosity 