Digital Game Based Learning DGBL

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Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL)

• By Danielle Ponti

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Three Factors that led to a recent interest in
DGBL

• Ongoing research by proponents of DGBL have
  published many articles and books.
• 2. Children have become disengaged with
  traditional instruction.
• 3. Increased popularity of games.

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What Is DGBL

• Creating the proper context for learners plays a
  central role in all successful games.
• Digital game designers must create a common
  context that all players will find motivating and
  engaging.
• The stigma that games are play and not work
  has been largely overcome.
• A majority of people feel that games can be
  engaging, effective and have a place in learning.
  

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Piaget Beliefs Gaming Effectiveness

• Piaget believed that intellectual maturation over
  the lifespan of an individual depends on the
  cycle of assimilation and accommodation.
• Cognitive Disequilibrium is the key to this
  process.
• Games embody Cognitive Disequilibrium and good
  games constantly require input from the learner
  and provide feedback.
• Games thrive as teaching tools when they create a
  continuous cycle of cognitive disequilibrium and
  resolution while allowing the player to be
  successful.

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Games Effectiveness Continued

• Anchored instruction
• Feedback
• Behaviorism
• Constructivism
• Narrative Psychology
• And More.

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Why Games Work

• Games are engaging, entertaining and fun
• Motivate participation and persistence
• Interactive and utilize active learning
  techniques
• Use multiple modalities of learning
• Provide immediate feedback
• Can provide a safe and inexpensive means of
  simulating and practicing real world experiences
• In contrast to exams, games are seen as stress
  reducers rather than stress inducers
• Help to regulate comprehension, ie teachers see
  strengths and weaknesses and adjust lesson
  accordingly
• Games capitalize on the virtues of play.

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Implementing DGBL

• There are three approaches
• 1. Have students build games from scratch.
• 2. Have educators and/or developers build
  educational games from scratch to teach students.
  
• 3. Integrate commercial off-the-shelf games into
  the classroom.

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Current societal contextual characteristics to be
considered when designing a game

• Speed
• Parallel vs. Linear Processing
• Active vs. Passive Engagement
• Quick adaptation and Problem Solving
• Immediate Reward
• The Importance of Fantasy.

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Learning Occurs

• If the game is motivating and engaging
• When the learner repeats a desired emotional or
  cognitive behavior based on the interaction and
  feedback they get from the game.
• The learner constructs knowledge through doing,
  reflecting, understanding, and applying.
• The key moment occurs during the debriefing
  process.

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Positive Aspects of Games

• Stimulation games that would expand students
  common knowledge, provide real life experiences
  they may never encounter, and have the potential
  to enhance logical-thinking skills.
• The students vocabulary could also expand
  because many games introduce new words that must
  be understood in order to play the game.
• Mental agility would improve.

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Positive Aspects of Games Continued

• Studies consistently found that games promote
  learning and/or reduce instructional time across
  multiple disciplines and ages.
• Games Embody well-established principles and
  models of learning.
• What must be learned is directly related to the
  environment in which you learn and demonstrate
  it.
• Games make use of the play principle.

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What Needs to Be Done Now

• Research explaining why DGBL is engaging and
  effective.
• Practical guidance for how games can be
  integrated into the learning process to maximize
  their learning potential.
• A balance between the needs of the curriculum and
  structure of the game must be achieved.

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My Opinion

• Todays students are technologically advanced and
  do not know how to live without the technology
  that is available to them. Teachers are almost
  forced to compete with this while engaging the
  learner. By utilizing DGBL in the classroom the
  students are actively engaged in the learning
  process and are learning the necessary skills and
  subject matter while simultaneously having fun.
  I believe that DGBL should be used in the
  classroom.

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Resources

• Garcia, G . (2005). Digital game learning. In  B.
  Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational
  Technology. Retrieved December 3, 2006, from
  http//coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/digitalgamlearn/s
  tart.htm
• Van Eck, Richard. Digital Game-Based Learning.
  Educase. Apr. 2006