Games Based Learning review

There was a real buzz about the Game Based Learning Conference this year, as a diverse line-up of speakers and delegates got together, all with the same long-term goal – to make the best possible games for learners.

Among the good news, there was...

Good news for our health – we heard of the healthcare professionals in the West Midlands using simulation games to become proficient in procedures before ever going near patients.

Good news for our teens – we heard of successful games, such as 1066 (www.channel4.com/1066) and smokescreen (www.smokescreengame.com), based on rigorous research on the UK youth scene (see uktribes.com).

Good news for students – we heard of the universities playing alternate reality games for education, such as the business game involving a make-believe consultancy, local council (see www.porthamptoncc.org.uk) and even a local newspaper (http://porthamptonbugle.co.uk/).

And there is good news for some of our pockets, as only a few days before the conference the Chancellor announced the introduction of tax relief for game developers in the final budget before the general election.

There was one bit of bad news though...

Bad news for the UK’s enemies – Epic’s Director of Learning, Dr Naomi Norman and Head of Learning, Imogen Casebourne spoke of the winning games Epic has built for the British Army to make new soldier recruits more numerate, and to support engineers in maintaining their vehicles. See their presentation here: http://www.epic.co.uk/assets/files/Army_Nintendo_Handheld_Learning_sg.ppt

With more time dedicated to the research strand of the conference too, and much talk of focus groups and evaluation, we look forward to putting all that we learnt into practice in Epic’s learning designs involving games in the coming year.