Emerging practice with games-based learning - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 58

Theory and research base

This chapter draws on recent research into games-based learning and acknowledges
the origins of this field in earlier educational research on experiential learning and
gaming (non-digital) from the 1960s. However, digital gaming is gaining traction in
education and more research is needed on the impact of games on learning (De Freitas
and Jameson 2006; Byron 2008; Spring-Keller 2010).

Defining computer games: commercial and educational

There has been an expansion in the diversity of computer games and gaming plat-
forms this past decade of which the most significant has been the evolution of hand-
held mobile devices (Douch et al. 2010). Added to this is the increasing interest in
digital games for learning (Miller and Robertson 2010). Johnson et al. (2011) point
out the wide diversity of games available to educators from simple pencil-and-paper
games to complex, massive, multiplayer, online (MMO) role-playing games. Because
of this diversity, for the purposes of this chapter, it is necessary to start with a clear
definition of what is meant by computer games. Prensky (2001) defines six essential
elements to computer games:

1. Rules

2. Goals and objectives

3. Outcomes and feedback

4. Conlict, competition, challenge and opposition

5. Interaction

6. Representation or story.

Additionally, Prensky (2006) argues there are essentially two types of computer
games: namely, ' mini' and ' complex' games. The latter require more time to master,
greater skill set, more problem-solving, difficult decisions, and are consequently more
intensely effective in engaging the player. However, complex digital games are not
specifically designed for educational purposes. So, there is a distinction to be made
between games specifically written for educational purposes and commercial off-
the-shelf computer games, known as COTS. There has been a growing interest in the
potential of COTS in the classroom (Johnson et al. 2011; Kirriemuir and McFarlane
2004; Miller and Robertson 2009, 2010).
With respect to COTs, it is worth briefly outlining the variety of complex compu-
ter games in order to understand how these may be appropriated for educational pur-
poses. There are immersive fantasy games, simulations, massively multiplayer online
(MMOs) games, augmented reality games (ARGs), serious games and game 'modding'.
Immersive fantasy games, like Myst and Riven , require players to solve puzzles in vir-
tual environments; augmented reality games also require players to find clues and
problem solve, but the boundary between game and real life is more blurred. Simula-
tions, like Sim City , are role-playing games, which require the adoption of different