GAME BASED LEARNING

A structured gaming activity purposefully designed with learning intentions. There should be balance between subject matter and game play, as well as a focus on retaining and applying learning within the real world.*

*Adapted from @Mr_van_W & Wikipedia

Game based learning is not my area of expertise. The main area where it crosses over with my interests is in the area of role playing and when you gamify your entire classroom into a single unified game. In order to share as much as possible I have reached out to other experts and am sharing the wonderful things they are doing in and with their classrooms. Some of these examples are also examples of gamification in my opinion.

Examples of Game Based Learning

@Bec_West is an Assistant Principal of a public primary school in NSW. She is an innovative educator who uses a range of strategies with her students. She also creates wonderful How-to videos for teachers. This video contains step by step instructions on using the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game to encourage students to write.

Lee Hewes is a Year 5 primary school teacher working in a NSW public school. His passion is game based learning using Minecraft. His current project is working on virtual reality experiences using Minecraft.

He has a great blog with lots of information on projects he and his students have worked on. The article I have linked to here is an older one, and offers an in depth look at Minecraft from when he first started thinking about and using it.

This game was created by the Australian National Maritime Museum and is directly connected to the Australian History syllabus. It is a wonderful example of how games can be designed as learning objects and also be engaging games. Clicking on the image will take you to the game which is freely available.

Isn't the cat cute! It's also a link to their website.

@Mr_van_W and @jfcatto are high school science teachers and the kind of teachers I think we all aspire to be! They are constantly innovating and trying new things in their teaching practice but they also find time to produce a podcast, Teachers Talking Teaching. Read more about their gaming journey in Pete Whiting's article, located in the Reading List section.

I have included them in the game based learning section because when you turn whole units of work into a giant role playing game about terraforming Mars I think you sit in both gamification and game based learning.

@imagineinquiry is a primary school teacher in the UK who wrote a book called Mantle of the Expert about using a dramatic-inquiry approach to teaching and learning. Like role playing but with less dice and more imagination he uses story to create engaging units of work that ask students to inhabit the world, time or space they are learning about. I haven't read his book but I have reviewed the units of work available on the website I've linked here. I find them to be quality resources.

I first learned about Tim through @Capitan_Typo and would recommend listening to the episode of the Teachers Education Review podcast where he interviewed Tim about his work.

@jpedrech is a Canadian English and History teacher who creates wonderful games to use in his teaching. He is an international speaker and a Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow (2016). Most important his games, linked through the image, are super cool.

You can read his blog, which he uses with his students here.

This article in particular will give you details on how to make some flash based games yourself or in collaboration with your students. (CONNECT2013: Game Design)

@WiseDad_Games is a Primary educator from New Jersey USA. He has created a wonderful game available on STEAM that can used used to teach literacy, problem solving and critical thinking.

I have not played the game but I have seen it on STEAM.

Click on the image to check out the webpage about the game and read some theory behind using digital games in education.

Templates for basic games

My contribution to game based learning are some educational game templates that I created for a Google Summit in 2017. The idea was that I was showing participants ways to use Google Slides for gamification, but what I ended up doing was creating (and sharing) some templates for teachers to adapt with their own content. I used example from both Primary and Secondary teaching, most of them are my own work but the Choose Your Own Adventure templates were created by a talented primary teacher @Mr_B_Teacher.

Templates for creating educational games

Reading List

Resources

More examples of games you could use

Warning - I have not used all of these in my own practice - I am not recommending any of them in particular unless I specifically say.

  • Kerbal Space Program - I haven't used it but I've heard good things (I have played the game, it's super fun and hard!) This version of the game has been edited for teachers, if anyone has used it I'd love some reviews.
  • Civilization (Many different versions, the older ones are cheap and still great). I have not taught with this game but because most of my students had played one version or another I often used it to explain concepts related to History or Commerce because it is such a detailed simulation. This Educade review includes suggestions for using in education.
  • Simcity - (The old game is better if you can get it). This game teaches problem solving and the need for balance in managing complex systems. On the Teaching with Simcity website an American professor shares resources for teaching about the US government which could be adapted for other contexts.
  • Tyto Online - This is a virtual gaming world developed for educational purposes. I haven't played it but I am very excited by these kinds of games and gaming experiences. I think in the next 10 years we will see more and more of these available.
  • Game On: Increasing Learning Through Online Games - This website was created by some uni students as part of their degree. It is a bit old now but has some great resources, especially for teachers wanting to make their own games.
  • Language board games such as Scattergories, Pictionary, Scrabble and Balderdash are a great way to engage students in using language. You could also adapt these for foreign language teaching activities.
  • Strategy board games such Settlers of Catan, Roborally and Pandemic offer students the opportunity to play competitively or cooperatively, teaching computational thinking, planning multiple steps ahead and to balance the acquisition of resources with expansion.
  • Science Boardgames - I have not used these one but did use Totally Gross as a fun extension activity, there are plenty more available than just those linked here.