Serious Game quest review

Serious games as the name implies are games designed to promote learning instead of entertainment. This is brief review of 3 serious games;

1. ·       Free Rice
2. ·       Americas Army.
3. ·       The McDonald’s game.

Free rice: is a game designed to teach simple concepts in various subject areas including English vocabulary and simple multiplication tables. While doing this, it also attempts to make a difference in hunger through the United Nations Food Program. For every correct answer by a participant. The game is free and does not require any downloads or special equipment. There is currently a banner that informs people of the game being updated. In terms of accessibility and playability, the game is very accessible as long as there is a good internet connection. One does not need any advanced tech skills to attempt the games. Because the game is designed for beginners it is not appropriate for advanced learners in any of the subject areas. 

Free Rice screenshot

 

America’s Army: of the serious games I attempted, America’s Army was the most complicated to play on a desktop. One needs a STEAM account, which is free  to access the game. After the account is created, the American Army game needs to be downloaded. For computers with limited storage spaces and bit places with limited broadband connectivity, this seems to be a bit of a hurdle to access the game. This game however had the best graphics and narrative of the games attempted. It also has a well-kept forum and instructional modules, teachers can easily adapt to their classroom if the game suits their curriculum goals and instructional objectives. This was by far the best developed game.

America's Army

The McDonald’s game: is a also a free game which comes in multiple languages and has a free interface. Unfortunately, the only browser this game seems to work on now is the Microsoft Edge. It did not work on either Mozilla and Chrome due to it being developed with Flash. In terms of playability, the  without reading the instructions, the game is not as intuitive. However, once that is done, the game is geared towards achieving different goals including management of a farm, running a chain and other 21^st century skills. In addition, because of the various language versions, this game can be used across different geographic locations without language impeding its use as an instructional tool.

The McDonald's game

Overall, the review of these 3 serious games shows the varying degrees of sophistication and hurdles faced by serious games. It also highlights that, different games can meet different instructional goals and pedagogical needs.

Serious Games and MMORPGs as effective learning tools

Wu.et.al[1](Wu, Richards, & Saw, 2014) and Lester et.al[2] ((Lester et al., 2013) make a legitimate case for considering games as serious tools for learning in various areas including language and health education. Both articles provide a mix of evidence including quantitative and qualitative data measuring students affect, state and other relevant measures related to learning outcomes of the various disciplines where different games have been used.

All the evidence points to the effectiveness of games as learning tools in certain conditions, as identified in the Wu.et.al study. However, Lester and his compatriots make a strong and compelling case for intelligent game based learning on the results from their study and sample size. This makes for interesting policy decisions for educational thinkers and leaders. Some of the implications include, the amount of investment and time it will take to develop intelligent based games for various subject areas. In addition, will educational systems have the patience and time to wait for these games to be developed and used as instructional tools.

While games were shown to be effective in the Crsytal Island intelligent game study, this is an approach that the authors agree has been under development for seven years. In addition, recent research and the authors own research highlights the limitations of adopting these processes whole sale in all educational environments.

Finally as highlighted by Van Eck[3] ((Van Eck, 2015), and also echoed by Wu.et.al, the most effective aspects of learning games seem to improve are the so called 21^st Century skills which can be classified as noncognitive skills. While these are important skills and increasingly important in today’s world, schools are still held accountable for results on cognition based areas. Of those, it seems AI games which have the ability to adapt to individual learners’ responses but cost considerably more have the most potential to be effective.

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[1]Wu, M. L., Richards, K., & Saw, G. K. (2014). Examining a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game as a Digital Game-Based Learning Platform. Computers in the Schools, 31(1–2), 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2013.878975

[2] Lester, J. C., Ha, E. Y., Lee, S. Y., Mott, B. W., Rowe, J. P., & Sabourin, J. L. (2013). Serious Games Get Smart: Intelligent Game-Based Learning Environments. AI Magazine, 34(4), 31. https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v34i4.2488

[3]Van Eck, R. (2015). Digital Game-Based Learning: Still Restless, After All These Years. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/10/digital-game-based-learning-still-restless-after-all-these-year

Fantasy Football on Yahoo as a DGBL

1.     Game title and platform

Fantasy Football on the Yahoo platform

I have been playing fantasy football on the yahoo platform using their classic game mode with 15 other people.

2.     Playability (Depict your experience during gameplay)

In terms of playability, the game is very simple and leagues can be set up in various formats.  These include:

·       Keeper Leagues

·       Dynasty leagues

·       Auction Draft leagues

·       IDP Leagues

·       A combination of the above

Personally, I believe IDP leagues where individual defensive players must be drafted is the more difficult format to play. Currently, I am playing in an IDP league with 15 other players. Because I missed our draft this year and the system auto-drafted for me,  I am scrambling to catch up in terms of productive players for my team. My team go totally killed this season.

3.     Potential promoted learning outcome by subject area

This game is a great tool and system for teaching research, statistics and sports. In terms of teaching research, it is good way of teaching both quantitative and qualitative skills. For statistics, it is a great way of understanding different numbers and what they mean. In terms of teaching about sports, it is a great way of learning and understanding the business of sports, especially from an American business and cultural perspective.

4.     Compatibility for classroom use

Fantasy Football can easily be incorporated into a classroom which has internet access. Because, the platforms are nominally commercial off the shelf platforms, instructors do not need to create or design the databases from the ground up. The only thing needed is the creation of an open or closed league and the format the league will play in.

5.     Alignment with curriculum or standards

This COTS by itself will not meet any curriculum or standard requirement. However, if adapted and included as a real-life tool, it can help an instructor easily bring real live stats and analysis to their classroom without much effort.

6.      Connections made to the assigned readings

This game is a good example of a COTS being cheap and accessible enough for instructors to use. Also, because of the design, the instructor does not have to necessarily think too hard about game design and how to build it. Finally, it does a good job of letting everybody regardless of income or technical ability participate in class. You do not need to purchase any special software or console.

The issue of access and Digital Game Based Learning-reflecting on Van Eck

Van Eck[1]  does a good job in outlining the potential and limitations of digital game based learning (DGBL) in the educational sphere. In both the original article in 2006 and the follow up in 2015, he does a good job of laying out the ground in terms of design, skills and hurdles impeding the penetration of DGBLs at a critically mass level. However, the one area where he falls short or gives perfunctory treatment to, is the matter of cost and income-levels for students and their families in accessing and effectively utilizing DGBLs as learning tools.

While Van Eck discusses the cost in adopting digital games for schools and educators in both articles, he does not really address that issue as an impediment for students and families. This issue is one of the stronger impediments I believe has prevented DGBLs from reaching a critical mass within education. It is an issue tied directly to the learning of 21^st Century Skills including problem solving, critical thinking , effective communication through DGBLs. 

 A closer look at non-cognitive  research[2]   will reveal that, students most in need of 21^st Century skills development which are mostly, non-cognitive fall on the lower end of the income spectrum and increasingly on the wrong end of the digital divide[3].

For DGBLs to be effective and reach a critical mass, as Van Eckhas identified, there needs to be an awareness of this divide and how to design games to bridge this gap. In addition, there needs to be more games that are designed to show an effectiveness and efficiency in teaching cognitive subject areas and also meet the non-cognitive needs of  a critical mass of the population.  Unless DGBLs meet this threshold in some form, it will be a while before they can reach the mass critical penetration as envisioned by its proponents.

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[1] V Van Eck, R. (2006). Digital Game-Based Learning: It’s not just the Digital Natives Who are Restless. Journal, Vol 41(Issue 2), 16–30. Retrieved from http://edUnequal Classrooms: Online Higher Education and Non-Cognitive Skillsergbl.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/47991237/digital game based learning 2006.pdf

Van Eck, R. (2015). Digital Game-Based Learning: Still Restless, After All These Years. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/10/digital-game-based-learning-still-restless-after-all-these-years

[2] arrington, C. A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T. S., Johnson, D. W., & Beechum, N. O. (2012). Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners: The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance--A Critical Literature Review. Consortium on Chicago School Research. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED542543

Fletcher, J. M., & Wolfe, B. (2016). The importance of family income in the formation and evolution of non-cognitive skills in childhood. Economics of Education Review, 54, 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.07.004

Nagaoka, J., Farrington, C. a, Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Keyes, T. S., Johnson, D. W., & Beechum, N. O. (2013). Readiness for College: The Role of Noncognitive Factors and Context. Voices in Urban Education, (38), 45–52.

[3] Attewell, P. (2001). The First and Second Digital Divides. Sociology of Education, 74(3), 252–259. https://doi.org/http://www.jstor.org/stable/2673277

Dolan, J. E. (2015). Splicing the Divide: A Review of Research on the Evolving Digital Divide among K-12 Students. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 48(1), 16–37. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=%22%22&ff1=subAccess+to+Computers&ff2=dtyIn_2016&id=EJ1091134

Helsper, E. J. (2012). A Corresponding Fields Model for the Links Between Social and Digital Exclusion. Communication Theory, 22, 403–426. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9c660582-cc87-4b0d-a411-9b8c5a5a7823%40sessionmgr4002&vid=2&hid=4111

van Deursen, A. J. a. M., & van Dijk, J. a. G. M. (2015). Internet skill levels increase, but gaps widen: a longitudinal cross-sectional analysis (2010–2013) among the Dutch population. Information, Communication & Society, 18(7), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.994544