nottingham trent symposium on games and gamification

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Game-Based Learning and Gamification in Higher Education Professor Nicola Whitton Manchester Metropolitan University

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Game-Based Learning and Gamification in Higher Education

Professor Nicola WhittonManchester Metropolitan University

What is a game?

“the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles”

(Suits, 1978)

Why games and learning?

Games are motivating ...

... and digital natives want to learn with games …

… so that learning is so much fun…

… they don’t even know they’re learning!

(This is not a good argument for games and learning)

A better argument

Engagement

PlayAction

Game mechanics are engaging

Challenge

Visible progression

CompletionCommunity

Suspension of disbelief

Creativity

Games create flow

(Schell, 2008, based on Csikszentmihalyi, 1992)

Active Learning Environments

Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger)

Experiential Learning (Kolb)

Affinity Groups (Gee)

Situated cognition(Brown, Collins, Duguid)

Problem-based Learning (Boud; Savery & Duffy)

Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)

Social constructivism

Authentic learning

Problem-based

learning

Playful learning: the magic circle

Freedom to…

… make mistakes

… make believe

… make choices

… make things

What is gamification?

Game mechanics

So what’s the problem?

Gaming the game

The Spirit of Play

• Creativity• Storytelling• Mystery• Exploration• Puzzle-solving• Fun

Thank you for listening