Games & Learning
Games and gamification are powerful ways to enhance engagement, adding elements of story, challenge, motivation, and other gaming principles to improve learning outcomes.
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Getting Started in e-Learning: Simulations and Games
A recent research study by the U.S. Department of Defense showed that students who used learning games scored significantly higher than those who did not. Discover the differences between games and simulations, and find out which tools work best for different situations. Learn how to integrate games and simulations in your e-Learning and start producing “stickier,” more engaging e-Learning.
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Dispatch from the Digital Frontier: Can Games Save Journalism?
Journalism and education have much in common, besides the fact that both are in dire straits. Journalism intends to inform us about the world, and education aims to help us succeed in that same world. Could games be the nexus between these two pursuits that are so vital to democracy?
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Book Review: The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games by Clark Aldrich
“I wish that the ‘e-Learning’ business had started with this book … before online training as an industry managed to replicate the very worst elements of the traditional classroom experience. I wish this book as a starter gift: a new person starting with this would not accept flying lines of text supported by word-for-word narration as anything resembling a learning experience.”
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Book Review: Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction by Clark Aldrich
Clark Aldrich has produced a great guide to the selection, justification, and development of Highly Interactive Virtual Environments. Readers will find it useful, whether they are new to design of such applications or highly experienced.
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ARGs Leverage Intelligence: Improving Performance Through Collaborative Play
Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) facilitate e-Learning while maintaining motivation. They are excellent tools to encourage collective intelligence, collaborative play, and distributed storytelling in an educational environment. ARGs also help to increase communication, and raise awareness about products and causes. Read this case study, assemble your design team, and create a successful game!
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Virtual Worlds: Barriers to Their Business Value and Operability
For several years, early adopters have been excited about using virtual worlds for e-Learning, but organizations have been slow to share that enthusiasm. In this week’s article, the author looks at the reasons for this reluctance, and at what must happen before virtual worlds become part of every instructional designer’s arsenal.