Games in Education and Gamification in Leadership (Week 15)

Homework:
Watch as many of the documentary as you can: BBC Horizon - Are Video Games Really that Bad (2015).

Thoughts from the video:

Play is fundamental to who we are and we're now [just] doing it through technology, but some video games stands for making people violent or causing addiction (which they are not). Putting that aside, it appears that there is growing evidence that suggests that video games may help in keeping the brain sharp. It could revolutionise how mental decline can be prevented as we age.

This video answered many questions around issues of addiction, etc., but has now been removed from YouTube and is no longer accessible. An 'alternate video': Gaming can make the world a better place.

Homework reflection:
Bad/good depends on the game

Identify ways in which games have had a positive impact on you:
Social skills and able to 'fail' in a safe place
Good negotiations, sometimes there are family bans in place - not playing certain games together
Work together, problem solve

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - Games in Education

"The link between games and learning is not a contemporary phenomenon, nor a digital one. ... Froebel's invention of kindergarten in 1840 was premised in large part on the integration of learning through games and play." Salen, K. (ed). The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press

Conclusion: Good games challenge and engage, and help people to succeed with the challenge

Tasks:

• What type of player are you? Decide if you are a killer, achiever, socialite or explorer...

Pair activity: Play a mobile or online game your pair recommends to you.

I found the game I played to be not engaging at all, but I couldn't see any good/bad in it. Found that it could be considered as hard - you only get a certain amount of 'lives' and if they're up you have to start again, or buy more. Very repetitive. Mindless game.

Choosing games with an Educational aspect

Check out the game 'free rice' where rice is being donated through the World Food Programme for every right answer.

Serious games have been used to gamify serious issues. For example the Sparx game to tackle depression from the University of Auckland, and then move through to the Quest2Teach viurtal world games for teacher training. 

Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science. 

At a deeper level, however, challenge and learning are a large part of what makes good video games motivating and entertaining. Humans actually enjoy learning, though sometimes in school you wouldn’t know that.

Which one should we be?

'Johan Huizamen' recon we should be Homo Ludens. It is important to focus on playful learning.

Gamification? 

- Concept, which is not exclusive of education

- Some researchers generically defined it as "the use of game design elements and game mechanics in non-game contexts"
- Broad definition has been further refined to reflect the most common objective of gamification: increase user experience and engagement with a system
[Source: Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R. & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. In Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference (pp. 9-15)]

In 2014 Gamification was one of CORE Education's 10 trends. Gamification is everywhere...

Group activity:

• Design a game narrative with an educational purpose

Remember: Intrinsic motivation - Flow Theory

James Paul Gee discuss Games & Gamification in Education,what games are about and the theory behind them. 

Leadership in Digital & Collaborative Learning (LDC) - Gamification in Leadership

TED Talk - Building a game layer over the world. Consider one of the four game dynamics he introduced and think about how you would design an educational activity to incorporate this specific aspect of games.

1. Appointment dynamic ('Happy hour '- drink until he's cute, Farmville,) 
2. Influence and status dynamic (social issue to solve)
3. Progression dynamic (linkedin, world of warcraft)
4. Communal discovery (Digg - use society to solve problems) 

The next decade is the decade of games.

Fun theory: Put an element of fun in it and people will do it.

Group activity: Design a school (photo), resources on Quest to learn

• 
  

Tip: Use games to engage boys in learning.

Summary:
- Games connect with learning many ways
- Game design elements can be found from variety of practices
- Students can even design their own games

Reflection: 
- What skills would be addressed by getting students to create games? 
- Do even just playing (strategic multiplayer) games give an opportunity to develop most of the Key Competencies and even Leadership Skills?

~ "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." 

- Albert Einstein ~