23.6: Getting Started

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At this time, games for learning (other than management simulations) are being tested in many interesting examples, but it isn’t clear how widely they are being used. Often educators and trainers face obstacles to using computer-based games, including:

lack of experience and long learning curves;
time and costs required for custom game development and implementation;
poor technology support for classroom-based game use; and
institutional constraints (learning objective mismatches, standardized fact-based testing, class time constraints, lack of peer acceptance, etc.).

Prensky (2006) notes that curriculum requirements, especially when mandated through legislation, can pose a major obstacle, although “curricular” games are starting to be produced commercially. To overcome this and other obstacles, he suggests the following approaches to beginning to use games in class that ease games into your learning situation without major course restructuring:

Bring games played outside class into the classroom through questions, discussions, etc. This can encourage students to reflect on how a game is relevant to a topic and what they are learning from the game. Make game play an assignment for individuals or small groups.
Use the principles behind good, complex games to make some or all of your teaching more game-like, and therefore more interesting and engaging to students. One of Prensky’s suggestions for keeping students engaged is to have them vote each time you ask a question.
Play a game specifically designed for education in class, such as one of the examples cited above. To do this, you need to become quite familiar with the game in order to handle questions and technical problems.
Play a commercial, off-the-shelf game not specifically designed for education, in class, either as a whole class (projected in the front) or as individual students playing separately. Have a student present the game, play the game yourself in front of the class as a springboard to discussion, or divide the students into small groups.