PRE2017 3 Groep9 - State of the Art

State of the Art

Before starting a project it is important to know what has been done before. Therefore this section will talk about previous research into learning through games as well as physicality in learning.

Learning concepts in games

Games have been using teaching methods to teach their players about the game, that only recently have been thought of in the realm of education. The most prominent of these have been listed by, among others, James Paul Gee in his paper Learning and games. According to this paper the biggest difference between the learning methods used in education and those used in games is the general approach to teaching. Schools often focus on the content to be learned, whereas games focus on the meaning and uses of this content. That is to say that schools let their students learn the facts, while games focus on the use of those facts. Another big difference is the role of failure in learning. In games the costs of failure are relatively low and the failure itself if mostly seen as a learning opportunity. Multiple papers also talk about the role of competition. Competition is a big part of games and provides motivation to get better and learn more.

Skills developed through game based learning

Games can be used to develop a plethora of skills. Research has shown that games can teach different kind of leadership skills. Other research has shown that virtual worlds can be used to have engaging and effective social conferences, allowing for a good environment for discussions. Another skill taught by games is that of colaboration.

Creating a virtual World

The book "Understanding learning in virtual worlds" is a combination of multiple papers, which each provide a view on the creation of a virtual world fit for learning. One of the ideas mentioned is that of conception, that is to say that the conception of reality is just as important as the actual perception of it. This means that the meaning and context of the things perceived is just as important as the perception. That is to say that if we want to design a good virtual environment for education, it is not enough to just copy physical objects to the virtual world. Instead the focus should be on the possibility of conception. This conception can be gained through physical and social interaction, which can both be provided by a virtual environment.