MAKING HISTORY GAMES WHY MAKE GAMES WHY MAKE

MAKING HISTORY GAMES

WHY MAKE GAMES?

WHY MAKE GAMES? • too much school is too serious for kids • good first step – ‘playing around’ • to create engagement • students are willing to take risks in games • students more willing to accept negative feedback in a game situation • motivation – students are more likely to learn something in order to win a game than because some curriculum document said they had do

WHY MAKE GAMES? • a specific reason that will improve learning • develop 21 st century skills, specifically: • creative thinking • critical thinking / problem solving • collaboration • not just to make things fun • not because they’re easy to make • not because of ‘stealth learning’

GAMES? GAMIFICATION? SIMULATION?

GAMES • feedback • give the player information about their performance • rules • challenge • • gets harder chunking sequencing scaffolding

GAMES • fantasy • games don’t have to be realistic • safe testing of new skill or knowledge • episodic memory – you remember better because its part of a fun and engaging activity • challenge • curiosity • fuelled by fantasy • because the game isn’t real

GAMIFICATION • Using game-based mechanics to promote learning • structural gamification • e. g. getting points for watching videos like the Khan Academy • content gamification • e. g. adding story elements to content (e. g. my learning adventures) • story, challenge, curiosity, character, interactivity, feedback, freedom to fail • stop cheating by playtesting • “It’s impossible to cheat in this game!”

SIMULATION • realistic • controlled risk • a chance to practice behaviours • experience the results of decisions • best for applying learning

PRINCIPLES OF GAME MAKING

TYPES OF GAME ACTIVITIES • Testing game vs. teaching game • To use a testing game to teach, add lots of repetition • E. g. duolingo • Matching – e. g. trivia, hangman • Collecting / capturing games e. g. pacman, go fish • Allocating resources e. g. Sim. City • Strategising (allocating resources, but against others) e. g. chess, Risk

TYPES OF GAME ACTIVITIES • Building – e. g. Jenga, Mine. Craft • Puzzle solving – e. g. Cluedo • Exploring (looking for items of value) – e. g. Myst, Riven • Helping e. g. Lemmings • Roleplaying e. g. Dungeons and Dragons

LEARNING TAXONOMIES AND GAMES Bloom’s level Possible type of game Create Building Evaluate Strategy Analyse Allocating resources Apply Role playing Understand Puzzle solving, exploring Remember Matching, collecting

Jesse schell – the art of game designing • Theme • Repetition • Player’s mind • Story • World • Characters • Aesthetics • Team • Documents

GENERATING IDEAS

GENERATING IDEAS • Play games! • • Board games Video games Mobile games but study them as you play them • Simple question games • One lesson mini-games • Change an existing game

GENERATING IDEAS So if you want to… Teach new content Motive students to work through a curriculum independently Try a… Content gamification Structural gamification Teach learners to remember content knowledge Teach students to construct meaning from sources Game: matching / collecting Game: puzzle solving / exploring

MAKING LEARNING CENTRAL

MAKING LEARNING CENTRAL • Pre and post test students to see that the game is helping students to learn • E. g. using Google Docs and ‘flubaroo’ script that automatically marks them

EXAMPLES

PUBLISHED GAMES • Timeline: historical events • Axis and Allies (WWI, WWII) • Civilisation PC game • Stone Age

My inventions • History. Smash: Greece • History Guess Who? • Geography games • • Imperium Mining Wars Mega. Boss Population game • Economics game • ASX 20 Sharemarket game • Simulations: • Earth. Craft • Planetology • Greenville

RESOURCES

RESOURCES • The gamification of learning and instruction fieldbook – K. Kapp, L. Blair, R. Mesch • The art of game design (a book of lenses) – J. Schell • And the free app “The Art of Game Design: A Deck of Lenses” • Play – Stuart Brown • This presentation: http: //lawlesslearning. com/makinghistorygames/ • With documents for the other games referred to • Links to pages about history games • My email: benlawless 8@gmail. com