Emerging practice with games-based learning - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 63

affective domains of a learner, in terms of excitement, enjoyment and fun. Engag-
ing the affective domains results in a positive affect on behaviour, as the learners are
focused on the activity rather than off task, and this lessens the probability of dis-
ruption in the classroom. With respect to behavioural domains, positive effects have
also been found on learners' levels of cooperation and collaboration, which in turn
enhances team working and group communication skills (Douch et al. 2010).
The challenge: engaging disengaged learners
Through engaging all three domains of heart, mind and body, digital games-based
learning has been shown to captivate disengaged learners. Proponents of digital
games-based learning assert that games can engage learners in ways that other tools
and approaches cannot. However, we have to understand how and why this is the
case, and, arguably, it is through engaging all domains (cognitive, affective and
behavioural - staying on task) that digital games have been shown to enthral hitherto
disengaged learners effectively.
Ghergulescu and Muntean (2010: 71) believe that 'keeping pupils motivated
for the entire learning session still represents a challenging task' and consequently,
assessment and measurement of learners' motivation is a key area of research in the
field of gaming and e-learning. Reaching disengaged contemporary learners requires
obviating a learning process that may be considered to be boring and forced. Games,
however, have the potential to provide an instantly interactive environment, which
is often experienced as more engaging, motivating and fun (affective) than tradi-
tional, didactic classroom teaching.
Games that build on learners' interests and genre preferences provide oppor-
tunities for competitive gaming and can be an engaging learning tool. As Douch
et al. (2010: 2) argue, digital games encourage a rich and broad range of skill devel-
opment: problem-solving, reflection, communication, teamwork, learning rules and
mental manipulation of images. Digital games mimic effective-learning strategies,
such as active participation, scaffolding, gaining feedback and assessing progress.
Significantly there is 'motivational impact', because the goals are meaningful and
attainable, through feedback that aids responses to reaching the goals (De Freitas and
Jameson 2006). Also, because games are designed with different skill levels, players
can find their appropriate level and challenge.
The most important feature is the way games are designed to imitate effective
learning processes, which include an effective match between ability and challenge,
use of feedback, which is immediate, and aids in attaining goals that are meaningful.
Here we can see how gaming mimics the pedagogy of experiential learning based on
constructivist theories of learning - through discovery and curiosity players are moti-
vated to explore and learn .
Benefits - what makes digital games effective for learning and teaching?
The increasing awareness about digital games-based learning in schools is doubly timely
given the social kudos of gaming among learners and the level of disenchantment by