Learning by playing : video gaming in education

Description

There is a growing recognition in the learning sciences that video games can no longer be seen as impediments to education, but rather, they can be developed to enhance learning. Educational and developmental psychologists, education researchers, media psychologists, and cognitive psychologists are now joining game designers and developers in seeking out new ways to use video game play in the classroom. In Learning by Playing, a diverse group of contributors provide perspectives on the most current thinking concerning the ramifications of leisure video game play for academic classroom learning. The first section of the text provides foundational understanding of the cognitive skills and content knowledge that children and adolescents acquire and refine during video game play. The second section explores game features that captivate and promote skills development among game players. The subsequent sections discuss children and adolescents' learning in the context of different types of games and the factors that contribute to transfer of learning from video game play to the classroom. These chapters then form the basis for the concluding section of the text: a specification of the most appropriate research agenda to investigate the academic potential of video game play, particularly using those games that child and adolescent players find most compelling. Contributors include researchers in education, learning sciences, and cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as instructional design researchers. Content: Part one. Introduction and overview: Academic Lessons from Video Game Learning -- Part two. Theoretical and cognitive perspectives how should we think about learning in video games?: Virtual to Real Life: Assessing Transfer of Learning from Video Games -- The Perceptual and Cognitive Effects of Action Video Game Experience -- Relations between Video Gaming and Children's Executive Functioning -- Developing Scientific Thinking in the Context of Video Games: Where to Next? -- Do Video Games Provide Motivation to Learn? -- What We Know About How Experts Attain Their Superior Performance: Implications for the Use of Video Games and Game Training in Schools -- Media Effects, Communication, and Complexity Science Insights on Game Learning -- The General Learning Model: Unveiling the Teaching Potential of Video Games -- Part three. Game design perspectives how should we design educational video games?: Toward a Playful and Usable Education -- Educational Video Games Two Tools for Research and Development -- Formative Research for Game Design -- Transfer of Learning from Video Game Play to the Classroom -- Part four. Learning in practice how should we study learning in video games for transfer to academic tasks?: Cross-Platform Learning: How Do Children Learn from Multiple Media? -- Electronic Game Changers for the Obesity Crisis -- Tug-of-War: Seeking Help while Playing an Educational Card Game -- Scientific Inquiry in Digital Games -- Computer Games and Education: A Multi-Dimensional Relationship -- Video Games, Motivation, and Learning -- Video and Computer Games as Grounding Experiences for Learning -- Evaluating the Specificity of Effects of Video-game Training -- Part five. Conclusion: Games in a Digital Age: Supporting a New Ecology of Learning