Edited by Nancy Courtney
Year: 2007
This book focuses on various Web 2.0 technologies in libraries, but here I will only focus on the chapter that deals specifically with games.
Chapter 9 on learning from video games by David Ward
This had some great stuff in the section on “Games as an Education Tool.” I think most library educators agree that straight-out lectures don’t work anymore, you have to get them active. Video games involve learning; the players have to learn to solve problems and will spend hours doing so. We should use off-the-shelf games or make our own that get students simulating the research process to give them practical albeit virtual experience. The definition of a “video game” is:
- visual digital information to 1+ players
- takes input from players
- processes the input according to programmed game rules
- alters digital information based on input
He writes that you don’t need to use actual video games, just characteristics of the games, where players learn by doing and discovering… a.k.a. “active learning.” You must keep telling to a minimum, to allow for discoveries. Allow them to get feedback from environment to inform them for their next action.
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