Learning to Play

Over the past two decades, much attention has been given to the new media culture of video games, due to their unique features and pervasive nature among young people. This book critically examines the role of video games in education, arguing that they encourage strategic thinking, planning, communicating, negotiation skills, multi-tasking and group decision-making. It is also observed that video games promote higher levels of attention and concentration among players. The book contains multiple perspectives and presents thought-provoking ideas, innovative approaches, systemic exploration, exemplary and promising efforts, and future-oriented scenarios. The book draws together distinguished researchers, educational and curriculum planners, game creators, educational and social psychologists, and instructional designers to explore how video games can transform the future of education.

Contents: Myint Swe Khine: Let the Game Begin - Richard Halverson/Christopher Blakesley/Regina Figueiredo-Brown: Video Game Design as Model for Professional Learning - Jan-Paul van Staalduinen/Sara de Freitas: A Game-Based Learning Framework: Linking Game Design and Learning Outcomes - Atsusi Hirumi/Rick Hall: Presenting Content Information and Facilitating Instruction: Design Techniques for Advancing Game Flow - Mary E. Green/Mary Nell McNeese: Using Digital Games and Virtual Environments to Enhance Learning - Janna Jackson: Game Changer: How Principles of Video Games Can Transform Teaching - Christopher A. Egert/Andrew M. Phelps: Motivating Science Education through Games - Roger Travis/Michel Young: Operation KTHMA - Reign of the Demiurge: Game Worlds, Greek History, and Situated Learning - David Squire: «All I Know I Learned from Zelda» - Immersive Gaming and Learning and Why the Legend of Zelda Is a Perfect Learning Game - Aroutis Foster/Punya Mishra/Matthew Koehler: Digital Game Analysis: Using the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework to Determine the Affordances of a Game for Learning.