learnability matters

Do you think games help in enhancing the learning experience? Yes, they definitely work. Games have a high presence in non-formal and informal segments of learning. Unfortunately, in formal education, games are seldom considered a serious activity. The big challenge is to make your learning objective integral to game play. Games can be used to motivate students to learn outside the classroom, make learning fun and simpler and living up your classroom.

Why should we use games to teach?

Games bridge the digital generation by dividing and engaging people across all age groups. They also help us learn from mistakes.

What are the objectives of game based learning (GBL)?

Objectives of game-based learning (GBL):

• GBL uses competitive exercises, by making students challenge each other to motivate them for better learning.
• Games are always woven in the form of stories which have fantasy element and engage players in the learning activity.
• For creating a truly educational game, the instructor needs to ensure that learning is equally essential to scoring and winning.

There are a number of game categories which can be adopted for learning. They are:

Digital game-based learning

Let us understand more about digital game-based learning (DGBL).

DGBL is emerging as the future of e-learning. Digital game based learning is a means through learning is enhanced with the help of digital media.

For example The Age of Empires games is a real strategic game in which you can know the history and culture of various civilizations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires

Organizations adopt this approach as they engross and engage learning, provide a safe environment in which to fail, and give real challenge to learners and control over their progress.

What makes games powerful platform for standard training?
Games are structured to ensure effective learning.
Take Monopoly or Business for example - Monopoly is played for fun, but it can also be used to teach economics, accounting, or property management. The learning that happens in games is purely informal. The players hardly think about acquiring knowledge or skills - they are engrossed in the game and simply react to the situation at hand.

What makes DGBL great for learning?

Good games are designed by keeping adult learning and digital game based learning is no exception.

Reasons are always attached to adult learning. Their motivations are based on practical and personal basis. The learning should always relate to adult learners personally and they should know before hand as to what they will benefit out of it. Adults need to have a sense of independence and choice over learning and they not only need help and support but they  also need to feel respected and valued.

DGBL attends to adult learner needs in several important ways:

The interactive nature of games enables the player to actively engage with the subject matter. Only 5% of information is absorbed by people in passive listening(no active involvement of the players). Games help in active involvement and increase knowledge retention significantly.

Practical examples are situated in a realistic setting

Setting the game in a realistic situation- a workplace - enables the players to use practical and meaningful subject matter examples to which the player can relate.

Practice environments sustain the building of new knowledge

New knowledge has to be built on existing knowledge and experience. Just like a small child needs support until he can stand on his own, learners too need support of  understanding  the subject matter.

DGBL provides new challenges

As we acquire new skills, we crave for new challenges. Once we’ve learned to break the code of a game, it is no longer interests us. So games should be designed in such a way as to offer new challenges to build on prior experience and retain interest in the players.
Control over learning and learners

Adult learners should have freedom to choose . They should be able to play the game irrespective of the time and place and should be able to access information in different ways. Games should be designed carefully so that the outcome will lead to a meaningful learning. This also ensures that the players’ learning experience is customized to their learning needs.

Games make learning more fun

People play games because they have a fun element and this is the key motivating factor for learners. Adding spice to game with humour, touch of suspense and drama makes the game come to life.

Games provide a safe environment for learning

DGBL surpasses e-learning because the learner need not fear to fail. This fear factor may be intimidating for many adult learners.

Do users really learn what they are intended to?

Users can constantly evaluate their progress through a practice environment. The feedback in these games tells them if they are on the right track or need to improve. By using pedagogy and making the game content accessible and relevant, DGBL parallels what we learn with how we learn.

I can still vividly remember the way our teacher used to help us learn different subjects with the help of games. She was actually involving us with the subject at an emotional level.

Check this link to know more about games.

Darfur is Dying is a browser game about the crisis in Darfur, western Sudan.
The game begins with the player choosing a member of a Darfuri family that has been displaced by the conflict. The first of the two modes of the game begins with the player controlling the family member, in follow mode, from the camp to a well and back, while dodging patrols of the janjaweed militia. If captured, the player is informed what has happened to their selected character and asked to select another member of the family and try again. If the water is successfully carried back to the camp, the game switches into its second mode - a top down management view of the camp, where the character must use the water for crops and to build huts. When the water runs out the player must return to the water fetching level to progress. The goal is to keep the camp running for seven days.

The game has been the focus of debate on its nature and impact. Academics interviewed by the BBC on the game varied between those stating that anything that may spark debate on Darfur and issues surrounding it is a clear gain for the advocates, to those who thought that the game oversimplified a complex situation and thus failed to address the actual issues of the conflict.

http://www.darfurisdying.com/

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