GAMIFICATION & GAME BASED LEARNING

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Triple E Components

Gamification &
Game Based Learning

Gamification vs. GBL

OK... let's explore GBL deeper..

Game-based learning is a relatively new field in education. It can be described as using games in educational contexts to reach educational objectives2.

All forms of games can be used for GBL including traditional board games, however, the term most commonly refers to the use of digital or video-games as a tool for classroom learning, and in this context it is referred to as Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL).

Since this field is still developing, and the terminology is fairly new, GBL is often confused with the term Gamification. However, they are two distinct and very different approaches.

According to Shapiro3, educators are already very well acquainted with gamification – the use of game elements (such as points, badges, prizes, progression to more challenging 'levels' etc.) to motivate and engage students.

Why Game Based Learning?

Many people term modern-day students as "Digital Natives".

Since technology is rapidly evolving, so are our students.

"In order to work with this evolution of 21st-century learners, the approaches of Gamification and Game-Based Learning (GBL) appear to be the learning strategies much needed to engage and motivate the students." (Figueroa-Flores, 2016).

Game Based Learning Umbrella Both Images.png

Esports skills and competencies from a Digital Game-Based Learning (GBL) perspective

Click the image above to download the ebook for gamifying your classroom.

Game-based learning has been fairly well-established in schools across the world for a number of years.

In 2013, 74% of K8 educators across the US said they use video-games in class, and in 2015, 64% of K-12 educators used video games for the purpose of teaching21, and in a 2018 survey, 74% of parents agreed that video games have educational benefits22.

A number of DGBL proponents suggest that one reason games provide such rich learning environments is because they embody all of the principles of a good lesson, but in a beautifully realized, graphically-rich immersive environment.

Games, they suggest, provide similar scaffolds for learning as are found in high quality learning environments including; clear goals, motivation, opportunities for practice, reinforcing expertise, feedback, progress monitoring, engagement, planning, fun failure, choice, agency and problem-based learning23.

Much of the early work of James Paul Gee, aimed at trying to better understand the ways in which games are so effective at creating excellent learning environments in order to influence real-world instructional and educational design in classrooms.

There are many perspectives on what exactly makes Digital Game-Based Learning so successful in developing a whole range of skills and competencies.

One of the many arguments is that game-based learning isn't something that is only happening in schools. It is something that is so deeply embedded in youth culture that critical 21st Century skills and competencies are being developed through children and adolescents' play, leisure and social activities – and participation is completely voluntary; children want to take part.

Researchers suggest that games are engaging because people (of all ages) like to be in control of what’s on the screen, and games offer this control on a continuing basis. In addition, games can give children and adolescents a strong sense of mastery and competence, and these can make an individual feel empowered24.

Small, continual doses of confidence-boosting feelings of mastery are, of course, somewhat addictive. In addition to fostering feelings of control and mastery, other reasons that games are believed to be so engaging are because players are motivated to by a range of factors seamlessly offered by games and their environments, including social interaction, competition, and escapism.

Despite the DGBL becoming a widely established practice in classrooms, fears about the impact of screen time, addictive or violent behavior are still pervasive.

McGonigal (2011), an advocate of play and GBL argues that it is time for us to reconsider the negative connotations that we associate with video games—that they are “escapist” or “time wasters' and instead begin to harness their incredible power.

Research in this field has increased over the last 10 years, with numerous advances from the field of neurology, medicine, psychology and education illustrating the positive impacts (explored more fully in the following sections).

In Figure 16, we address the primary concerns of educators when it comes to using video-games in the classroom, and explore the ways in which educators themselves can play a primary role in transforming the culture of gaming.

Click Image to view it larger.