Games and Learning Design

In my opinion all games have a purpose. Most games are designed to meet affective outcomes and mold your behavior to match the behavioral outcomes necessary to game play. It is rare to find a game which is designed to meet cognitive outcomes. Learning games which meet educational and training outcomes are growing in popularity in the instructional design blog sphere. They are becoming more than interactions without purpose into immersive environments that mimic reality. In the SALT Conference I recently attended, immersive games was a hot topic for training in the military. Unfortunately most of the games they were describing were beyond the scope of most training organizations.

Applying the principles of games to learning does not require fan dangled technology or even multiple players. Rather, good games for learning require careful design. At their core, games have rules that define the space in which you can play. They immerse you in a world of fantasy filled with story, conflict, and character. You receive feedback and are shepherded in your growth in the game. This scaffolding is often provided early in games to help you get up to speed and faded as you get to more difficult levels. Great games establish a culture that continues with you outside of the game (I'm wondering if some people ever leave the game board!).

Recently I came across a game created by Gaming2Learn which I found very interesting. The game does a pretty good job of applying the principles of game design.




Those of you in the academic sector will enjoy watching this video where James Gee an expert from Arizona State University in the field of educational technology and game design shares the relationship between games and learning and where he feels this relationship will go in the future.




If you are really interested in learning about creating games, I recommend reading Rules of Play : Game Design Fundamentals by Salen and Zimmerman.