Digital Games for Learning

Many students in todays society are more likely to be inside playing video games than
outside using their imagination and having a good time with homemade toys. Two of
every three households play video games, and 25% of those game players were 18
years old and younger (Maloy, 2014). According to Marc Prensky, one of the things
about education that is really missing and that they get from video games in spades is
this idea of making decisions and getting feedback (PBS, 2009). Video games have
given students a way to learn how to solve problems and make decisions for a variety of
different circumstances. Students have learned to accept a certain amount of failure
when playing these games. If students use games to help their students learn, then
students will be more willing to continue to try to get through that part of the game and
learn from their mistake. According to Dr. Robert Appleman, if you go into trial and
error learning, the methodology is: give me something to play with Ill try it, Ill die, Ill
fail, Ill do all kinds of things that are what used to be considered negative in education,
but Im going to learn and Im going to understand. Actually Im going to have a broader
knowledge by failing and by trying out what works (Indiana University, 2015). Because
students are more likely to continue trying after they fail playing a video game, it makes
games an ideal choice to use to engage students in learning. As educators, we need to
design games that are good for learning so that our students are engaged and enjoy
the learning experience. (Indiana University, 2015).
There are three categories of digital games:

ENTERTAINMENT: These games are mainly played for fun and usually do not have
a learning or educational goal to them. These games include Call of Duty, Halo,
Soul Caliber, chance, and probability games.
EDUTAINMENT: These games are usually used to capture the interest of the
player and blend fun game play with academic content. These games have
problem solving and inquiry. One example of this type of game would be Clue.
EDUCATIONAL : These games are activities that are specifically made to meet a
certain academic goal. These games focus on higher level problem solving and
inquiry learning.

Arne Duncan states that we should always be trying to find ways to make kids love
learning and gaming is part of them; so why not incorporate gaming into instruction
(PBS, 2009).

References:

Indiana University. (2015, January 1). Gaming in education. Retrieved

from
http://www.iub.edu/videos/Gaming-in-Education.shtml (Links to an external
site.)
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014).
Transforming learning with new technologies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
PBS (2010). Learning how to educate children for the digital age. Retrieved
from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/games-that
teach/ (Links to an external site.)
Student Resources of Online Games
1. Name of Website: FunBrain
Description of Site: This website has games for every subject. The
games range in difficulty and students have many options to choose from.
Grade Range: Most games would fit in a grade range of K-8.
Game Type(s): The games on this site are used to Edutain because the
purpose is to attract students while using some academic content.
2. Name of Website: Edheads
Description of Site: This site offers many different types of games all
focusing on science. Students can choose from investigating a crash
scene, brain simulations, designing a cell phone, trauma, weather, and
many more. These games are interactive and allow students to
investigate and see how some of these science topics work in the real
world.
Grade Range: These games would fit in the K-8 grade range due to the
fluctuation in difficulty.
Game Type(s): These games fit in the educational category because
there are clear academic goals that he students are trying to meet.
3. Name of Website: Knowledge Adventure
Description of Site: This site has many different kinds of games. Students
can play a variety of games that may or may not have an educational
aspect to them.
Grade Range: The grade range for these games is K-6 because the
difficulties of the games vary.

 Game Type(s): These games are would fit under the entertainment and
edutainment categories. Many of them are not directly connect with an
academic goal, but they work on problem solving and inquiry.
4. Name of Website: Arcademic Skill Builders
Description of Site: This site has a variety of different games that are for
all different subjects. Some of the games include games about the states
and capitols, addition, multiplication, spelling, subject verb agreement, an
many more.
Grade Range: The grade range for this site is K-6 because of the
difference in difficulty.
Game Type(s): The games on this site fit under the educational category
because these games have a specific academic goal that the student is
trying to meet.

The Evaluation of an Online Game

Game: Simple Machines
Grade Range: This game would best suite students in grades K-6. The game is
interactive and allows the students a couple of chances to get the correct answer. This
game also gives descriptions of the simple machines as the child identifies them.
Game Description: Students visit different rooms throughout t he robots house and
identifies the simple machines within each room. After identifying that something is a
simple machine, the student tells what the object does and identifies the type of simple
machine that the object is.
Student Learning: Students will learn that simple machines are used everywhere in
everyday life. They will be better able to identify these simple machines and the type of
simple machine it is as well as what that simple machine does.
Evaluation:
Organization and Design
Layout and Design: 5/5
Navigation: 5/5
Instructional Design and Delivery
Objectives: 5/5
Different Learning Styles: 4/5

Higher Level Learning: 3/5

Game-Based Learning
Rules: 5/5
Goals: 4/5
Feedback: 5/5
Interaction: 5/5
Subject: 5/5

Total Score: 46/50

Exemplary

5 Criteria Were Rated Exemplary

3 Criteria Were Rated Effective
2 Criteria Were Rated Baseline