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I spent today at the International eLearning Futures Conference (follow #ielfc11 on twitter) at Unitec in Auckland. I had a slot after lunch speaking about future trends in eLearning, which provided a good follow-on from Steve Wheeler's opening address.
In my talk I spoke of several things that are shaping the expectations learners have of our educational institutions and the courses we provide – from mobile devices, to visualisation tools, to open content – and gamefication.
So it was with interest I came across the e-book above when I arrived home this evening. Titled The GameIT Handbook, the book has been funded by the European Commision, and provides a framework for games-based pedagogy.
For those unfamiliar with games-based learning, this provides a pretty useful introduction, particularly the early chapters. For those who are more familiar with the concept, the book provides some useful case studies that unpack the ideas more and illustrate a range of contexts in which games-based learning approaches might be used.
5 replies on “Game-based learning handbook”
Although 'gamification' sounds like some sort of disease, Derek – a bit like desperate arguments for critical thinking – there is nothing new about it. Thanks for the link to the e-Pub. It confirms my focus on simulation games when teaching at, you know where.
Part of the operation of de Bono Thinking, for teachers and students, is to use the various thinking tools and frameworks in practical situations. Simulation games provide that opportunity. And, these games need not be short. I designed two, one taking four hours to complete, the other twenty. I add, students of every ability 'played' these games, and they became a part of my operations at BHS from 1980.
The Innosight Institute, the promoters of 'disruptive education' – God bless their souls – produced a paper last year about what American students (and by extension, Kiwi and Lithuanian students) find lacking at school. First, they call for more 'fun', for more opportunities to interact with classmates (games, teamwork…) and for more immediate feedback on learning. You have a copy of that paper, Derek.
Gaming is not an invitation to classroom chaos. Nor does the design of games cause blood to be sweated. Games are a prime opportunity for students to apply principles, habits and ideas in close to 'real world' settings. The Gameit Handbook continues something some us regard as, to quote a well-known American chopper maker, 'Old School'.
Thanks for sharing this idea. I'm always looking for ideas to engage and motivate students in active learning and The Gameit Handbook might be an excellent resource. This idea reminds me of the Fun Theory. Here's a link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw > or you can also see this at http://www.FunTheory.com
HI Graeme – agree with all you're saying here – and thanks for the reminder about the innosight paper. I guess it's a case of the "10 year memory" – each generation is destined to forget and then recapture the things that have been important or 'discovered' in the past. I find I'm dealing with a generation of 'new' teachers who don't have the benefit of knowing about the things that have been done in the past that you refer to, but do come into teaching with experience as online gamers etc. and are keen to find how these principles can apply to what they do in classrooms. I guess it's the role of people like you and I to help stictch the bigger picture together, and to use our experience of the past to inform the present in the hope of building a better future. 😉
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