White paper
Games and e-learning
Learning points from the Gamer Nation
Violent, mindless exercises for solitary (usually male) geeks,
devoid of educational content and promoting an anti-social,
culturally insensitive view of the world - this is a commonly-held
view of computer games among sections of the learning community.
But is it a true picture? Is the 'twitch generation' really
composed entirely of slack-brained, uncaring demons?
It cannot really be said that games have absolutely no instructional
value. Self-evidently, they must be good learning experiences
- otherwise, who would invest the considerable time and effort
required in learning how to play and complete them?
Granted, they may lack explicit learning content; but surely
there are valuable lessons to be learned here - at the very
least - in the techniques of engaging and sustaining the attention
of learners.
Neither is it the case that computer games are all violent
shoot-em-ups. A wide range of sub-genres exist, including
Sims-style 'God games', driving games, adventure games like
Tomb Raider, puzzles… and even historical strategy games such
as the best-selling Age of Empires.
In fact, looked at in the historical context, games are an
integral part of our heritage and culture. Tracing play and
games back through the history of our species in Homo Ludens
(1938), Dutch historian Johan Huizinga found this type of
activity to be a fundamental feature of almost all cultures.
Surely we cannot afford to ignore so omnipresent a human
activity in the context of learning?
In his ground-breaking new white paper, Donald Clark,
CEO of Epic Group plc, strips away the myths and misconceptions
surrounding computer games and shows how we can use lessons learned
from the self-styled 'Gamer Nation' to produce more effective, engaging
online learning experiences.
White Paper: Games and e-learning
To order your free copy, contact: marketing@epic.co.uk
Summary of contents:
- Learning from the games' industry
- Violence
- Solitary games
- Are games mindless?
- Can games inhibit learning?
- Learning is not always 'fun'
- Games and girls
- Games can distract from true learning
- Poor games can disappoint
- Games are expensive
- Harness the power of games
- How can games enhance learning?
- No teacher intervention
- Game skills
- Games and instructional design
- Games and learning
- Conclusion
- Other Epic e-learning white papers
- Epic thinking
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