Emerging practice with games-based learning - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 77

learning, digital-games-based learning engages the cognitive, affective and behav-
ioural domains. Games can be a form of cooperative, experience-based learning,
which are highly motivating to young people. Games designers can take any con-
tent (maths, money management, climate change) and can create focus (develop
engaging learning) through generating a balance between skill, strategy, hope, com-
petition and fun (Hromek and Roffey 2009).
Pedagogical framing of gaming activities
The teacher's role as facilitator of learning from games is a complex and skilled proc-
ess. While games are very motivational, the learning effect will be minimal if there
is no thorough debriefing by teachers. The findings from Struppert (2010) are that
learning for example through simulations requires guidance and support from a
teacher to ensure accurate and relevant educational outcomes: '. . . the transfer of
knowledge and skills from the playing world to the real world does not happen auto-
matically, but requires support from the teacher and follow-up communication, such
as debriefings' (Struppert 2010: 366).
The process of facilitating debriefings is important if conceptual thinking is to be
progressed to meaningful conclusions. Hence, 'learning review' is a vital stage, which
needs to be planned into the design of the lesson and not left to chance; this involves
the learner in reflection, challenge and discussion following a game.
Spring-Keller (2010) goes on to argue that commercial games (COTs) cannot be
used for self-regulated learning unless they are modified for specific learning needs.
The quality and use of games in schools depends on the teachers, their preferred
teaching style, ecology of practice (Stronach et al. 2002) and their knowledge of
games (Sandford et al. 2006). Just as we can't understand technology by only focusing
on the machines and ignoring the role of the teacher and social environment, so it is
the same for games. We need to analyse the activities outside the game, since learning
happens through interaction not only between the game and the player or players,
but through forums, peers and teachers. In this way knowledge is distributed among
learners, characters in the game and players outside the game (Shaffer et al. 2005).
If learning is a holistic experience, then we need to appreciate all the aspects of
the classroom and pedagogical framing. Spring-Keller (2010) has identified a research
gap when stating that hardly anything is known about the impact of the social envi-
ronment on gaming, specifically the wider gaming community, peers and teachers.
Challenges for implementation: understanding the barriers to embedding DGBL
From the research digital games can be powerful in supporting learning (Miller and
Robertson 2010; Rylands 2010). However, there are a number of barriers facing a
broader integration of DGBL, which need to be examined. Although there are pock-
ets of innovation (MoLeNET 2010), the widespread adoption of DGBL is hindered
by teachers' perceptions of inappropriate content, additional costs, time and techni-
cal training required. This is compounded by the fact that, currently, games are not
designed to cover UK national curriculum content.