Game based learning

"We all learn through play"

A lot of people think that games are evil and they can only teach us bad things. On the other hand, many educators insist that learning with games helps pupils to develop their potentialities to the fullest.

Over recent years there has been growing interest in the idea that computer games can be used to engage, challenge and motivate learners.

I believe that games can have positive learning effect on our students. I have seen great examples of digital games that are successfully implemented in eTwinning projects. Seeing all these examples it would be logical to propose you to dig into the world of games to find out if we can use games to create powerful learning experiences into our projects!

We can use game to reach different learning objectives like knowledge, skills or attitude. Bearing in mind that the most games are collaborative activities we can have great results on this field.

An educational computer game can be defined as an electronic medium with all the characteristics of a gaming environment that have intended educational outcomes targeted at specific groups of learners.

Game based learning can use also different pedagogical approaches. It can be:

a simple drill-and-practice game based on instructivistic ideas;
a very open simulation where a learner has to explore the world (based on a constructivistic approach).

Educational games

What do you think of this statement: Educational games are used since a few years.

	The statement is true!
	The statement is NOT true!

Nine important ingredients

There are 9 important ingredients to design a successful learning game:

1. Theme	Within the game there is a clear theme, a place, an atmosphere etc. Everything in the game has to be related to the theme.
2. Goal	There is a clear goal. A learner knows that he has to find the pot of gold.
3. Challenge	It is a challenging activity. Not too hard, not to easy.
4. Action-domain link	Every action is linked to the domain (e.g. an office situation), breaking out of the domain will disturb the experience.
5. Problem-learner link	The learner feels he is in the middle of the action. He has a problem. He has to solve it.
6. Active	The learner plays an active role. He has to make choices all the time.
7. Direct	Every action and choice needs to be executed directly.
8. Feedback	The feedback has to be integrated. The next situation shows if you are making the right decisions (not a feedback message).
9. Engaging	The learner has to be pulled into the game. He has to forget about time. There is a situation of 'flow'.

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