Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
events with an iterative progression of events. There are many ways to scaffold con-
tent in a game to achieve a balance between pace and the complexity of the content
but the iterative game play process allows the player to engage with some content
repeatedly although in new and different ways. For example, in RPGs, a character's
set of skills may remain the same, yet the situations in which the skills are used
vary and become increasingly difficult as the player successfully progresses. This
provides an opportunity for the player to demonstrate an entry-level understanding
of the skills as well as to develop an expert-level understanding of how the skills
work together in different situations.
First, a notable difference between e-learning and video games is the differ-
ence in type of content. Generally speaking, game content is self-referential and
self-contained. Although there are examples of external modes of information that
enhance or are essential to game play, a majority of game design assumes that con-
tent necessary for success is contained within the game. In addition to this, it is also
assumed that in-game content is not a requirement for any other external (out-of-
game) experience. Therefore, external transference of content is not an objective
of game designers whereas in e-learning transference of content to external cir-
cumstances is expected and measured. Does this difference mean that game design
methods for organizing content are not applicable to e-learning?
In e-learning, segmenting content to align with learning objectives achieves a
clear connection between the learner's task and the successful acquisition of the
learning objective. However, oversegmentation of content may result in two defects;
the oversimplification of the meaning of the content by removal from contextual
experience and the experience of nondiegetic acts which remove the learner from
the environment. Both result in reduced immersive qualities of the learning expe-
rience. To increase learner engagement in e-learning, one strategy may be to adopt
the methods of integrating content into a virtual experience. Reconsider how con-
tent in e-learning is represented (graphics, audio, types of interaction, text, scoring,
etc.), how these representations work together, and the distribution of the content.
Through the lens of game design, consider the learning objectives as the defining
parameters of the virtual space; everything created is for learner's success in demon-
strating completion of the learning objectives. Rather than focusing on a sequence
of pages, the designer could incorporate experiences or interactions each of which
represent a learning objective, until all learning objectives are represented in a cohe-
sive environment. The designer adjusts the design of the experiences so they are all
interrelated and designs levels of difficulty for each experience. This includes, at
the end, combinations of experiences that incorporate aspects of all the learning
objectives in one experience.
Consider the example of role-play scenarios; reading a role-play scenario for
learning is not the same experience as acting out a role-play scenario and the
methodologies for designing these two experiences are very different. The first is the
documentation
of a progression of events and creating available choices; the second
is a
representation
of events and creating available choices. Looking more closely
at this example consider how the content for each role is represented in the reading
and acting out a role-play scenario in a simple two-dimensional (2D) environment.
