Brain Based Learning

Goals – Activities – Mechanics – Environment
Activities
Define learning activities (things you would do in the classroom with students) that support the learning goals. Map these to game activities that can be used to create gameplay that will support the learning goals.
Gameplay is the core of the player’s experience when interacting with an educational game (Kiili, 2005a) and is what keeps players motivated and engaged throughout the game (Costkyan, 2002). Educational games have often failed because quality gameplay took a back seat to educational aspects of the game (Kiili, 2005a). However, …

Goals – Activities – Mechanics – Environment
Goals
This step of the GAME design process focuses on the instructional design aspect of educational game design. The first stage of any instructional design analysis should be to identify the learning goals for the project and to write up a list of specific instructional objectives. There are 4 steps to this process, represented by the acronym DATA:

Determine instructional needs – why do we need to create this game? What should players be able to do that currently are not?
Analyze learners – who will …

There is a general agreement among researchers that games, when used properly, can be a useful educational tool, providing important narrative context for learning. However, there is no accepted design framework that successfully combines instructional design theory and game design. Most research to date has focused on efficacy, rather than prescribing implementation.

I know, I know, I can hear the groans – “Not another top 10 list for the end of the year, there are already too many to read!” No problem! I’m here to help – what follows – in no particular order – is the list of the only top 10 lists an EdTechie (yes, that can be a word now!) should bother reading for the end-of-year list-fest for Dec 2011.
NOTE: Yes, I also noticed these aren’t strictly all top 10 lists – top 3, top 5, and many other …

Lee Sheldon has published a book describing how teachers can set up their classrooms to mimic a game environment. This consists of (among other things) turning “assignments” into “quests,” allowing students to choose the quests they’re interested in, and using XP (experience points) earned by completing quests for grading purposes. The idea is to create a risk-free environment where students can be more creative than in a traditional class and even become mentors as they help other students get through their own quests.
Sheldon and others who have tried this method …

Listen to Doug, Lisi, and John discuss different learning theories that can be found in educational gaming. Got a question or comment? Reply to @edtechtoday on Twitter with the hashtag #bbl-gbl

http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/dougbushong/597/EdutainmentTonight.mp3

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