Digital Games and Learning

The popularity of entertainment gaming over the last decades has led to the use of games for non-entertainment purposes in areas such as training and business support. The emergence of the serious games movement has capitalized on this interest in leisure gaming, with an increase in leisure game approaches in schools, colleges, universities and in professional training and continuing professional development. The movement raises many significant issues and challenges for us. How can gaming and simulation technologies be used to engage learners? How can games be used to motivate, deepen and accelerate learning? How can they be used to greatest effect in learning and teaching? The contributors explore these and many other questions that are vital to our understanding of the paradigm shift from conventional learning environments to learning in games and simulations.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments \ Notes on Contributors \ Foreword Henry Jenkins \ Introduction Sara de Freitas and Paul Maharg \ Part I: Theoria - Theoretical Positions \ 1. Digital Games and Learning: Modelling learning experiences in the digital age Paul Maharg and Sara de Freitas \ 2. Four-dimensional Consideration of Feedback in Serious Games Ian Dunwell, Sara de Freitas and Steve Jarvis \ 3. A Complex Systems Framework for Simulating Teaching and Learning David Gibson \ Part II: Cultura - Cultural Perspectives \ 4. Revolution: Experiential learning through virtual role play Russell Francis \ 5. Stealth Learning in Online Games Esther MacCallum-Stewart \ 6. Murder on Grimm Isle: The design of a game-based learning environment Michele Dickey \ 7. Are Games All Child's Play? Scot Osterweil and Eric Klopfer \ Part III: Praxis - Theory into practice \ 8. Constructions of Games, Teachers and Young People in Formal Learning Richard Sandford, Keri Facer and Ben Williamson \ 9. Games and Simulations in Informal Science Education Kurt Squire and Nathan J. Patterson \ 10. From Master to Games-Master: Managing disequilibrium and scaffolding in simulation-based learning Karen Barton and Patricia McKellar \ 11. Designing Serious Games for Cultural Heritage Purposes Francesco Bellotti, Riccardo Berta, Alessandro De Gloria, Giulia Panizza, Matteo Pellegrino and Ludovica Primavera \ Index

About the Author :
Sara de Freitas is Professor of Virtual Environments and Director of Research at the Serious Games Institute, University of Coventry, UK. Paul Maharg is Professor of Legal Education at Northumbria University School of Law, UK.

Review :
‘Digital Games and Learning is a much-needed addition to the burgeoning field of serious gaming. The book's emphasis on issues that matter to a wide range of stakeholders - from practitioners, to researchers, to policy-makers - asks us to look beyond departmental, institutional, and professional silos in order to advance practice, research, and theory.' George Veletsianos, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology, University of Texas at Austin, USA ‘Digital Games and Learning represents a valuable snapshot of the current state of the field, one which builds on more than a decade of research on games-based learning, one which brings together both veterans and newcomers, one which is sure to spark more debates.' Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communications, Journalism and Cinematic Art, University of Southern California, USA This book asks key questions about Games Based Learning (GBL) and offers potential answers from a range of researchers, practitioners and professionals... This book tackles the teoretical, cultural and practical issues in GBL with mostly good insight and relevance. Educational policy-makers and researchers in the area of digital learning and serious gaming will find this a valuable book to read.