Speak 180: Why Is Game-Based Learning Good for Today's Youth? | Marcus T. Wright Speak 180 hosted by Marcus T. Wright is a new written segment where industry experts, thought leaders, and notable figures get a chance to answer an important question in 180 words or less. A 180 represents a turnaround, as in, our guests have 180 words to possibly turn around your opinion about a topic. Today's question:Why is Game-Based Learning Good for Today's Youth? So let's hear from three industry experts. Today's Guests: Lindsey Tropf, Founder & CEO, Immersed GamesDr. Lindsey Tropf 176 words Games are a natural learning environment that make lessons relevant within context and without risk. Dr. Good games offer compelling opportunities to engage with the world around us. Dr. Play in general is beneficial.
instaGrok.com What Game Based Learning Can Do for Student Achievement If I had written this article two years ago, it would have been very different. Back then, I would have made (or felt like I had to make) a compelling case for why we should even consider the idea of incorporating video games into classroom instruction. Back then, I would have expected most readers to incredulously click to the next article. But today, Game-Based Learning (GBL) and Gamification are gaining some real traction in the teaching community. Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: Gamification vs. Gamification vs. Gamification refers to the adoption of game-like principles when working outside of a gaming context. Any time a teacher assigns points to a student, uses a leaderboard, or distributes badges, he or she is gamifying. Here is a nice guide to gamifying the classroom, written for newbies (or “noobs,” in the language of the gamers). Game-Based Learning, on the other hand, simply means including games in your instruction. Why GBL in the Classroom?
Three Ways to Make Games More Effective for Learning I’m a big fan of the constructive use of games in education. After all, games are engaging and, potentially, connected to rich, authentic activities. Traditional schooling is often neither. Digital games can capture the process of learning. Traditional assessment is typically about the outcome of learning. Gaming promotes productive failure (or at least players persevere and fail productively in the games they play). That promise for digital games to transform learning has been with us for a while. Meeting the recurring promise of digital games requires thoughtful and intentional integration into the curriculum. So what can we do to make games more effective for learning. Keep the gap between the game skills and the real world (including the real world of school) skills small. The promise of games I heard back in 1983 remains. Author's disclosure: I worked on Sushi Monster and MATH 180 at Scholastic
Forget Storytelling, Try Storydoing Marc Andreessen famously said, "A company without a story is a company without a strategy." I couldn't agree more. Having a clear and distinctive story is critical in building a brand today. However, there's a distinction to be made between broadcasting your story--storytelling--and living your story, or storydoing. Understanding the difference between the two and making that shift toward the latter is fundamental to building a business. We are living in a world turned upside down. This abundance and fragmentation has put a real strain on probably the two most important resources of all: time and money. None of this has proven good for brands. The statistics are alarming, but perhaps more alarming is this: In this world of pervasive and systematic commoditization, most CEOs are unaware of the reality. From Storytelling to Storydoing So, if broadcasting your story is not enough, how do you effectively get the story of your brand and product into the world?
A New Project – World of Warcraft In School For over nine years now, I’ve been playing MMORPG’s. It was a student who introduced me to Everquest back in 2000. Since then, I’ve played primarily with students, former students, and folks from around the world in a guild that I lead called Harbingers of Light. We’ve progressed through Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, and World of Warcraft. It didn’t take long before I was convinced that these sorts of virtual environments must have some sort of place in education. How many times have I thought, “If I could just use this feature or that, I could easily teach concept X?” As a gamer and a teacher I had a connecting point with many of my students. Why couldn’t we use a game like this in a school setting? Then I thought, “surely we’re not alone.” So, what sort of lessons could you learn from World of Warcraft? In Math – Damager Per Second (DPS) Analysis: Acquire two different weapons in world used by your character’s class. So, how would all of this be implemented? -Lucas
World of Warcraft Finds Its Way Into Class World of Warcraft Students’ passions can be a powerful driver for deeper and more creative learning. With this knowledge, some educators are using popular commercial games like World of Warcraft (WoW) to create curriculum around the game. And they say they’re seeing success, especially with learners who have had trouble in traditional classrooms. World of Warcraft is a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplay (MMOR) game, where players take on the identity of characters in a narrative-rich plot, working together to overcome challenges. “In my estimation, a well-designed video game is pure, scaffolded, constructivist learning at its best,” said Peggy Sheehy, one of the designers of WoW in Schools, an elective English Language Arts curriculum built around the game. “Game designers get that failure is anticipated and celebrated. Sheehy designs “quests” with particular learning objectives in mind that the students or — “heroes” as they’re called in class — must complete. Related
World of Warcraft: An Educational Tool | Sociological Imagination: Situating Oneself in Both Time and Place This is my second post in the blog series that will examine different facets of World of Warcraft, particularly my experience with the game and the role of addiction in our personal and professional lives. My last post focused on addiction from a psychological perspective, and today I will be discussing World of Warcraft from an educational perspective. A study conducted at North Carolina State University showed that playing World of Warcraft can actually increase cognitive function in older adults. Because of the addictive properties of the game, World of Warcraft can break down human inhibition in a unique way that creates cognitive and attention biases that increase their functionality, measured by test scores. Further cognitive studies of World of Warcraft have shown that the game is a very unique learning environment that is very difficult to duplicate. Independently of learning strategies and effective teamwork, World of Warcraft promotes innovative thinking.
Gamification, vous avez dit gamification La gamification consiste à utiliser des mécaniques de jeux pour changer des comportements et susciter la motivation. Cette pratique connaît actuellement un grand succès dans les domaines : – du marketing et de la communication où des marques l’utilisent notamment pour faire connaître leurs produits et fidéliser leurs clients, – des ressources humaines et du management pour motiver, par exemple, des collaborateurs, – de la formation pour améliorer la compréhension de contenus délivrés lors de formations présentielles ou à distance. Dans cet article, et en toute logique, nous nous intéresserons plutôt à la formation. Alors comment mettre en place des expériences ludiques dans une formation grâce à la gamification ? De quelles mécaniques de jeux parle-t-on ? On dénombre 4 types de mécaniques, chacune correspondant à un profil de joueur. – Les jeux de rôle servent à vérifier de manière concrète que les apprenants maîtrisent et savent appliquer des connaissances. Comment bien gamifier ?
Using Games for Learning: Practical Steps to Get Started Joan Ganz Cooney Center Part 19 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning By now, you’ve probably read enough to be convinced that it’s worth trying games in your classroom. There are so many great reasons to include digital games among classroom activities. Though every educator can find her own way, here are ideas for the first four steps to getting started with digital games in the classroom. Step 1: Assess Your Resources What platforms do you have available in your class? Hardware is one of the biggest determining factors, and it will have a significant impact on the way you use games in the classroom. Tablets work great for lots of different reasons. Laptops also have their virtues. If you’re using Mac or Windows, Spore is a popular game that introduces students to the basics of biological adaptation. There are hybrid devices, too, of which the Microsoft Surface is the best example. Step 2: Find Games One option is to read blogs that regularly review learning games. Step 3: Play Games
Gamification in Education: Top 10 Gamification Case Studies that will Change our Future New to Gamification? Check out my post What is Gamification & my Gamification Framework: Octalysis Education Gamification in Action. There’s a lot of potential in the field of Education Gamification. I believe that humans have an innate Desire to learn. If you ask children, “What is work?” Clearly there should be a way to help kids learn from what they do best – play. No longer viewed as a mundane process for presenting information while testing for retention and understanding, the modern educational challenge involves tasks of engaging students, stimulating their interests, retaining their attention, and maintaining a positive attitude in a nurturing environment. Key to these goals is the effort to maintain a rich communications environment that encourages feedback and reinforcement, not only between the instructor/teacher and students, but also between the students themselves. Education Gamification Example #1 – DuoLingo:Learn a language while translating the Web What about you?
Forum Solitude(s) :: Sujet : La ludification : guide pour procrastinateur (1/1) Sachant bien que ce site est un repère de procrastinateur, je vous propose ici un billet sur une nouvelle méthode qui vous fera accomplir des tonnes de trucs sans y faire attention : La ludification L’observation à la base de la ludification est justement liée à l’obstination des joueurs. Ils sont capables de retenter un passage difficile dans un jeu des centaines de fois par gout du défi. La clé est là : la motivation. En transposant des éléments vidéoludiques dans d’autres contextes, comme le marketing, l’éducation ou la politique, les ludificateurs espèrent créer une motivation similaire dans la vie réelle.La ludification est donc la stratégie qui consiste à appliquer les méthodes développées dans les jeux vidéo dans un autre contexte pour guider le comportement des utilisateurs. Je vais essayer ici de brosser un tableau des différentes dynamiques observées dans les jeux vidéo, les mécanismes associés et un exemple d’utilisation. Rappelez-vous que le point central est la motivation.
Games in the Classroom: Overcoming the Obstacles Brad Flickinger/Flickr Part #20 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning Series Even for educators who are excited about using games in the classroom, questions inevitably come up around the very real obstacles to implementation, and strategies for overcoming them. A recent survey from the Games and Learning Publishing Council asked 700 teachers to identify and rank the major barriers to using games in the classroom. Here are the top 10 obstacles they list and ideas about how to overcome each one. 1. Forty-five percent of teachers surveyed reported that insufficient time is a barrier to implementing game-based teaching strategies. 2. Forty-four percent of teachers surveyed reported that cost is prohibitive. 3. Thirty-five percent of teachers surveyed reported that they lack the technology resources to introduce game-based teaching strategies. 4. Thirty-four percent of teachers surveyed reported that it’s hard to find games that fit the current curriculum. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Related
Apprendre en s’amusant ou Utiliser les jeux vidéos dans un projet pédagogique La création d'un jeu vidéo est une approche pédagogique tout aussi pertinente que leur utilisation, d'autant plus qu'elle permet de travailler généralement plusieurs compétences et connaissances à la fois. Des outils de création de jeux pour publier sur une grande variété de plates-formes, y compris iOS, Android, HTML5 et Mac Desktop. Exemples pédagogiques : A l'école, les compétences travaillées avec Scratch, résolution de problèmes, les nombres, la géométrie, les mesures et les sciences. Le site Web : Au collège, La conception d’un jeu vidéo/dessin animé est un « sport » complet : art musical, pictural (dessins), programmation (et donc mathématique), lecture et écriture… C’est aussi une oeuvre collaborative : les jeunes apprennent à travailler ensemble pour réaliser une création commune. Le site Web : GameSalad Le site Web : Stencyl Le site Web :