Danyl Grose

Jason Hoch

Darlene Kowalski

INTC 5001 – Summer 2011Dr. Ackerman

Entertainment melds with education. Can include television, radio, music , & video

games. Games focus on learning first, entertainment

second.

EdutainmentEdutainment

1943 Plato TICIT 1971 1977 1983 1980’s-1990’s 1990’s Today System 1963 1960

Type 19 Flight Simulator on analog computer

Educational software for Main-frame computers

Oregon Trail (no graphics)

Apple II platform for educational software

Math Blaster (drill & practice)

PC Software

Reader Rabbit and simulation games like SimCity2000

Internet based educational games like Nick Jr., PBS Kids, Disney, etc.

Edutainment TimelinesEdutainment Timelines

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SkinnerSkinnerReasons for behavior are environmental or extrinsic.

•Operant conditioning—The frequency of a behavior will increase if it is rewarded.

•Any age-appropriate skill can be taught using five principles to remedy the problems:

•Give the learner immediate feedback. Break down the task into small steps.

•Repeat the directions as many times as possible. Work from the most simple to the most complex tasks.

•Give positive reinforcement.

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Go play a video game you whippersnappers!

Piaget’s Theory of Equilibration:People learn through a balance of assimilation (previous knowledge) and accommodation (changed behavior to account for new knowledge). Mental maps (schemas) help us to understand our environment.

An effective educational game starts by introducing familiar schemas (categories of knowledge),

or scenarios and elicits extensive critical thinking and problem-solving skills through engaging play.

In games it’s referred to a “attract mode”. It’s when the game appears to be playing itself.

Learning skills from a game and building on them either from level to level or game to game.

Players must know how they are doing or there’s no incentive to continue.

Scores, questions, verbal feedback. Without appropriate feedback, the players can’t know if they are progressing towards their goal.

Responding to the game, which is the essence of any game.Learning how to play is accomplished within the game, not by reading manuals. Hints are sometimes given along the way.

Includes the “back story” and describes how one wins the game.

Each level of the game requires players to build on knowledge and skills acquired in the previous level.

Part of the game that provides encouragement and challenge.

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Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction (applied to games…)

-Created by Don Rawitsch, a history professor in 1971, it combined strategy gameplay while giving players an understanding of what early pioneers had to survive during the long journey. It is based on the familiar “puzzle/quest” schema (see also Myst).Back

-Developed by Jan Davidson, it incorporated drill and practice with positive and negative reinforcement.

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Click on this lovely chart to learn more about learning theories!

First developed by Will Wright in the 1980’s, SIM’s simulation products are the best-selling PC games of all time.

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Becker, K. (Director) (2005, June 15). How are games educational? Learning theories embodied in games. DiGRA 2005 Conference. Lecture conducted from Digital Games Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2007). Third generation educational use of computer games. Journal of Educational Media and Hypermedia, 16(3), 263-81.

Green, M., & Nell-McNeese, M. (2007). Using edutainment software to enhance

online learning. International Journal on E-Learning, 6, 5-16.

Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J. B., & Mizell, A. P. (2003). Teaching and learning with technology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Rice, J. (2007). Assessing higher order thinking in video games. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15(1), 87-100.

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