Serious Games - A new approach to educational use of computer games Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen CEO Serious Games Interactive 21. Marts 2007, Randers Most of what goes under the name "edutainment" reminds me of George Bernard Shaw's response to a famous beauty who speculated on the marvelous child they could have together: "With your brains and my looks..." He retorted, "But what if the child had my looks and your brains?" (Papert, 1998: 88)

9 appetizers on learning games… Games used for education since 18th century Learning games used profesionally since 1960s Electronic learning games used since 1970s Increased motivation and interest in a given subject Create positive and active learning environments Dynamic presentation of information Most succesful learning game in 2006 had +4 mio. downloads US army use around $4 mia. yearly on simulations/games 60% of all people play computer games sometimes

Agenda 1.Overview: Quick browse through games 2.Edutainment: A buzzword gone bad 3.Serious Games: The new hype 4.Case 2: Global Conflicts-Palestine 5.Working: What’s the evidence

Quick browse through games... Yes, there are many different genres (action, simulation, strategy, adventure, RPG).. On different platforms (pc, consoles, mobiles) With different complexity level:  Singelplayer -> multiplayer  2D graphics -> 3D graphics  Small universe -> large univers  15 minutes -> 50 hours playtime Everybody might play games, although many still don’t and games are played very differently. Latest US survey find average gamer is 33 years...

What is edutainment… Matematik i Måneby (Bitfrost) Pixeline (Krea Medie ) Magnus & Myggen (Ivanoff) MathBlasterI (Knowledge Adventure) Straight shooter (Games2train) Wellknown titles within the eduation sector

This is not about edutainment… Little intrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation through rewards, rather than intrinsic motivation. No integrated learning experience: Lacks integration of the learning experience with playing experience - learning subordinated play experience. Drill-and-practice learning principles: Rely on drill-and-practice rather than understanding – training above learning. No teacher presence: No demands on teachers or parents. Simple gameplay: Built on a simple gameplay from classic titles. Small budgets: Produced on limited budgets with limited technology.

The new hype on serious games... In principal, any game Games with an agenda Educating, enlightening.. Not only entertaining  Edutainment  Advertainment  Business games  Military games  Political games  Satirical games

Same topics - different game... Sales training Fona 1.Quiz show: The player must get all the answers right and compete with other colleagues. 2.Treasure hunt: The player must explore different web- sites and sources in competition with colleagues to answer the most questions. 3.Virtual job: The player explores a virtual universe with different sources, people and methods for making the sale in competition with other colleagues. Edutainment Next-gen (Serious Games)

The large case: Global Conflicts - Palestine

”I learned more history from this game in one day than I have learned from the teaching the last 6 months” Oliver Hansen, Student, 16 years

Target groups Subjects: What is the product Danish 8th graders using the game early Global Conflicts: Palestine target students of years  Primary: Citizensship & History  Secondary: Media, religion, ethics, geography & communication

f Welcome to the reality Material from Global Conflicts: Palestine online learning resource.

Welcome to Global Conflicts: Palestine In-game shots from the game Global Conflicts: Palestine

Checkpoint! Feel and understand the tense atmosphere and problems of the conflict of Palestine

Build trust by understanding and exploring different perspectives to get people’s personal story

Breath-taking engagement with people, you, the journalist, makes your mark on the media coverage

Students explore and learn from detailed and scary environment - they see the inside of the conflict

Freelance journalist Get the best article Find informants Gain their trust Get their story Dig out best quotes Put together article Highest journalist level Gameplay What is Global Conflicts: Palestine You Goal Means Winning

Blended learning experience  Experiential: The games provides a virtual tour to the conflict with concrete experiences that provide a strong starting point for learning about the topic.  Learning styles: Dynamic feedback, interaction that makes a differences, multimodal encoding, mistakes are safe to make & you are present with challnges. What is the product

ddd simple tests In-depth online learning companion w. integrated webshop for digital distribution Background for students: Timeline, documents, encyclopedia & links: Specific themes: Work questions, small tests, links, video & pictures Meet and discuss with other students: Forum & newsletter

Teaching form Teacher talks Play Game Plenum Group discussions  Read textbook  Overview of theme  Explore perspectives  Experience issues  Discuss experiences  Write article  Debriefing  Evaluation What is the product

Different rooms for learning styles Group work Reflective observation Active experimentation GC: Palestine Lecture Abstract concepts Concrete experiences Kolb’s cycle covered with different teaching forms in the course. The teacher is crucial to facilitate a full learning experience. Empirical study

Qualitative feedback “Global Conflicts: Palestine is a fun and different way to receive learning” (Female student, 18 years) “You had a greater desire to learn about the topic from Global Conflicts: Palestine” (Male student, 16 years) ”You learn a lot about how Israelis and Palestinians respectively look at the conflict, because you talk to different persons... I think it is good that the stories derive from reality, providing the stories with a realistic tone.” (Female student, 18 years) Empirical study

Students want more... Empirical study  90% students find it to be an interesting course  88% students find it to be an interesting educational material  59 % students find they learned more  90% students wants to try a similar course again Sample: 51 Danish High school low- middle class students after a one-week course

Other support for effiency  More motivated & engaged  Activity perceived as more challenging  Rention is often better Most research say you learn from games - at least the same as other teaching methods. Below overview of studies that support learning from games YesMaybeNo 2012

Closing  Next generation of game-based learning is in the making.  Research suggest that game-based learning is very effective  Team needed to build next-gen game-based learning more complex  Nordic learning approach gaining ground Contact: Web: