Challenges of Introducting Serious Games and Virtual Worlds in Educational Curriculum

Although the impact that Virtual Worlds and Serious Games can have on learning efficacy and efficiency has been recognized, there is still many open questions related to this issue. Specifically there aren’t guidelines or standards to help practitioners introduce this kind of technologies in a learning environment. In this chapter, the authors describe two experiments involving virtual worlds and serious games in a learning environment. These experiments allowed the authors to understand the real potential of this kind of technology, but also some of the difficulties one can come across. The authors hope that the experiments described in this chapter can serve as a basis for similar experiments done by other practitioners. Finally, some of the pitfalls that should be avoided are described as a set of lessons learnt at the end of the chapter.

3D GameLab

Games and gaming constructs have emerged as a tantalizing and often provocative tool for instructional delivery. Methods and pedagogy for effectively employing games, like quest-based learning, as educational tools are developing. This chapter explores the use of game-based pedagogy for a pre-service teacher education course, as well the development of a quest-based learning management system (3D GameLab) to support the class. The chapter is grounded in design-based research, and discusses four phases of development and theory generation. In each of these phases, the quest-based learning management system, course curriculum, and game-based pedagogy were subject to the same iterative process to test and generate new theory toward game-based/quest-based learning.

Get Your Head in the Game

This chapter discusses the development and implementation of an introductory programming unit within a seventh grade technology education course. The goal of this unit was to introduce the concepts of programming to middle school students in a way that was accessible and unintimidating. Digital games provide an inherent level of engagement not present in other programming activities, and the digital game environment provides a safe platform for experimentation without concern for safety or equipment. The curriculum described in this chapter provides many practical examples of how digital games can be incorporated into a technology education classroom to engage students in the world of programming.

Strategies for Effective Digital Games Development and Implementation

Digital technologies have increased the pace of knowledge creation, sharing, and the way in which learning is being undertaken. This chapter considers how Serious Games (SGs) as a digital technology endeavours to support effective lifelong learning. Three fundamental characteristics of the SG ecosystem, namely, game mechanics, interoperability, and assessment, are considered here as strategic elements that impact upon how SGs are to support learning, how they affect the learning environment, and ultimately, the SG development process. A prospective deconstruction of SGs into its pedagogical elements and its game mechanic nodes is presented to make aware the interoperability modus from which topical (domain) frameworks or architectures can be structured and assessed. To this end, the chapter explores the conceptual underpinnings through a case study on the eAdventure platform and argues that the key elements form the foundation for strategic development and implementation of SGs.

Enhancing Nutritional Learning Outcomes within a Simulation and Pervasive Game-Based Strategy

The chapter outlines the design of a game to raise nutritional awareness within primary school-aged children. The game uses a blend of simulated and pervasive elements using ubiquitous technologies to enhance children’s capacity to make informed choices with regard to their own eating habits. Nute’s Adventures in Nomland is a project currently being undertaken at an Australian university to explore the potential of a casual game can be used to help parents and children understand the different nutritional values of the food they eat. The game contains both pervasive and simulation elements. The pervasive nature of the game is evident in the use of mobile phones to scan nutrition labels as part of a shopping activity. This shopping is then brought into a simulation game that allows learners to explore the effects of their decisions on a virtual pet, Nute, and then identify strategies to address shortfalls in that decision-making.

Evaluating Games in Classrooms

Educational games have gained wide acceptance over the years and have found their way into many classrooms. Numerous evaluations of such games have been published, but mostly evaluations were carried out in controlled environments, with a small sample size or over a short period of time. However, the particular context where playing takes place has been established as a critical factor for game-based learning. Moreover, educational games are often considered as black box, measuring only input and output variables but neglecting the intermediate process. Many researchers have therefore argued that evaluations of educational games have to go beyond testing the learning outcomes only and should also show how and why it works. In this chapter the authors describe the evaluation of the game DOGeometry, which was carried out in a classroom environment over a four month period. They report the development process, the design of the evaluation, results, challenges, and problems faced.

Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Game-Based Learning in Schools

This chapter describes the pre-service teacher’s preparation of teaching consumption education to middle school students when using Farmville, a social network-based game. Consumption education is a complex topic, involving principals such as consumers, producers, governments, etc., as well as related abstract concepts such as resource type, the management and distribution of resources, use of consumer information, consumer decision-making, et cetera. Consumer satisfaction varies based on interaction types between each factor. Because of the abstract nature of this discussion, there are many limits to teaching this topic using only theoretical classes. However, students reported that using Farmville was helpful in learning on consumption and related contents, specifically because of its ability to confirm specific results, including stream of resources management, consumption pattern by decision-making process, etc. through the process of giving and receiving resources with peers who participate in a game. Also, students understood the stream of actual market economy and realized the importance of shared consumption as an environmental factor.

Using Game Design as a Means to Make Computer Science Accessible to Adolescents

In this case, the author discusses using game design and community-building as methods for increasing interest and knowledge of computer science for students from underrepresented populations. Students in a six-week Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) summer program learned game design alongside programming basics, while they spoke to programming industry experts. For four weeks, students focused on the design concepts in different games they had played and with which they were familiar. They recreated these games by programming them using MIT’s Scratch software. In the remaining two weeks, students created their own game using the concepts and skills they had learned. Some students chose to program their games to use the Xbox 360® KinectTM controller as a way for the player to interact with their game using their whole body. Programmers spoke to the students weekly, both online and in person, answering questions about the field and the work that they do. Students shared their work with one another and the instructors in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

“Sell Your Bargains” or Playing a Mixed-Reality Game to Spice-Up Teaching in Higher Education

This case study relates to a mixed-reality game that has been developed and used by the author in the area of Academic Development and specifically within the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) module of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP). The game aims to provide a highly immersive learning experience to the players and opportunities to enhance their teaching in more creative ways as a result of their engagement and participation. The author shares details about this mixed-reality game and the pedagogical rationale on which it is based with other practitioners. The following also explores how this approach could be adapted and used in different learning and teaching contexts to transform learning in Higher Education into a more playful and creative experience which has potentially the power to motivate and connect individuals and teams combining physical and virtual spaces.

Games, Models, and Simulations in the Classroom

Games, models, and simulations have been suggested as an effective classroom activity for the middle school. This chapter describes the use of a teacher created simulation targeted to one unit of the science curriculum. The authors found the key feature in playing games in the classroom is for each student to commit to the effort of playing the game. Given the cultural importance of video games, students understand the underlying requirements of playing games. Once the students commit wholeheartedly to playing the game they are able to engage their imagination and creativity while understanding that “failure” is simply a part of the game. The key to the authors’ success was the use of a whole class scaffolding technique that allowed the teacher and her students an opportunity to play.