Games and Learning

Design games set out to help players to go beyond following the rules and gameplay presented by game designers. Most games can offer some level of design gaming in terms of making it easy to adjust or adapt the basic format of a game, e.g. minor changes...

Games, and RPGs in particular, are, rather obviously, about having fun. Consequently, discussions about topics like design gaming and possible links between learning skills, psychological processes and psychological constructs, (such as enjoyment), can...

Whether we like it or not, gaming now takes up a large slice of many kid's spare time. In the UK an Ofcom report from 2008 found 87% of 8-11s and 88% of 12-15s playing games on a games console at home. The effects of so many kids spending a lot of time...

Here's our first selection of the kind of 'future learning' that we would like to see built into games used for fun and learning inside and outside the home. We're going to highlight some of what we see as 'key skills' and present examples of existing...

The following future learning opportunities are readily available in a range of games and game formats: Games offer a 'testing ground', where different skills, approaches and risks can be evaluated to build an awareness of consequences , without experiencing...

The fourth and final part of our series on gaming and future learning covers a few skills that show exactly why games have a lot to offer in schools and homes: Teachers and lecturers who don't adapt to the alternative 'curriculum' presented through...

The obvious value of many games and simulations lies in the enjoyment we get from playing them. Much of the fun in playing games comes from the rewards or satisfaction our brains get from learning and using in-game and game-related skills. For instance,...

The links below cover a selection of the background material used to prepare posts. Most articles are freely available for download but a few require an academic journals account. The links are not presented in a particular order. Annotations and further...