Engaged, Motivated, Gameful Learning

You don’t know, what you don’t know, until you know it!   Learning sometimes makes us feel like a fish out of water, which is exactly how I felt early in the semester, working in unfamiliar territory with Google docs, switching between two classes in Hypothes.is, and struggling with a lack of in classroom experience to draw on, I often felt like I really had no idea what to contribute discussions, and on top of it all no exposure to good game design.  A fish, out of water!

 

But slowly, over the course of the semester I learned to swim.  I wouldn’t say I’ve reached an Olympic level, but the gaming realm is a world I understand, a world I can completely engage in, and a world I see as having tremendous value in any setting or age group.  Yes, it’s a relatively new and rising trend, however despite it’s limited use in public education, and the even more limited scope within adult learning, I believe there is untapped power here.  It may not be the end all, get all, be all, for all, but there is definitely a type of learner, myself included, who can connect more effectively with content, pull knowledge from games, and most importantly, more easily retain it.  So no longer feeling completely like a fish out of water I’m excited about forging ahead, finding ways to use this new found knowledge, combining games with digital stories, design theory, and with the tech that is out there, and simply change to make a difference, someway, somehow, somewhere.

So how did I get here anyway?  If you have ever gotten home after having driven in an intense snowstorm, up a mountain pass, or after a really long drive when you’re so exhausted you can’t see straight and you think, just how did I get here?  You’re where I now find myself!  I know it was intense, there were weeks I thought I’ll never get it all done, and times I just wanted to go home after a long day’s work, pour a glass of wine and do something other than hit the books.  But I didn’t.  I dug in, I read, I listened to podcasts, I threw YouTube videos on the TV while making dinner, I pressed in, and was completely engaged the entire time.  Looking back it was the fastest, most intense, action packed semester in all my years, and I loved it.   The combination of the Games and Digital Stories classes was a magical mix of discovery that led down a learning path I will not soon forget as I look for ways to apply ‘all things learned’ to my world and my life.

My world lands somewhere amidst the middle and high school students I teach music lessons and theory to, and the adult world I dwell in at CU Boulder, with flashbacks to corporate America where I spent a majority of my career.  It was from this foundation that I launched into the Teacher Pioneers Conclusion (Kalir, 2017) at the beginning of the semester and read that we should change our approach to education and transform schooling, a concept deeply ingrained in the INTE program.  However, the introduction of the current school system, which revolves around a puzzle structure where there is only one right answer, evolving to a more fluid structure, that encourages meeting students where they are and incorporating new tech to reinforce concepts in a way engages and challenges, was new and intriguing.  Class discussions brought up themes we would see throughout the semester, for example Amanda’s comment “Am I the only one who is instantly overwhelmed thinking about trying to do this on top of all my other duties? This is one of those things I would absolutely love to do, but time is a rare thing for me.”  In response I suggested having an Instructional Design support group that educators could tap into for help with ideas and creation of games and learning material.  The concept is not new, however if it is going to take hold it will take time and intentional effort, or a call for it from educators in need of a support system!

This brings up another discussion theme, support of innovative teachers working to bring about change.  Resonant Games (Klopfer, Hass, Osterweil, & Rosenheck, 2018) references overworked teachers, overly constrained by well meaning bureaucrats who have drained schools and teachers of the power to control and teach creatively.  I posted an annotation reflecting on how frustrating it must be to be passionate about something, but not able to pursue it in a way that engages you as a teacher, and how I could see it being difficult to transfer excitement to the learner as well.  Then, I waited to see what the consensus of my classmates might be.  The replies reflected frustration with the lack of leadership and support:

So True. That is why a leadership team is so important to bring the best of its teaching staff – Lin Mohr

Also interesting… aren’t most of the leaders in school those who have held teaching positions… – Jen Sheldon

Yes! I have a co-worker who often says that every admin should have to go back to the classroom every 7 years as a reminder of what it’s really like. … – Jodi Garner

I see this as a call for support from instructors who are already overwhelmed, yet still looking for the best way to deliver the best learning to their students.  I spoke to this frustration in my second reading reflection, referencing both Kalir’s opinion on how educators need to feel free to pursue innovative change (Kalir, 2017) and Level-Up Learning’s (Takeuchi & Vaala, 2014) highlight of the need for a “survey of principals, technology administrators, superintendents, and other district-level employees…”  as a way of determining their view of digital game based teaching as well as bringing the support issue to the surface.  I agree that it’s time for administrator’s to understand engagement, motivation, and innovation so they can effectively support their staff.

 

Teacher Pioneers (Kalir, 2017) challenges designers and educators to create and use interactive, engaging games to “level-up” learning by stepping out of a textbook.  Their reference to the medium as the message, points to games as a medium where the message runs deeper by letting learners explore and challenge themselves to move into and through game elements.  Multiple times we read evidence pointing to games as having the power to motivate, reinforce learning, assist with transfer to long-term memory, and pull in real world concepts.

Educators are tasked with preparing students for the real world, yet the real world is not a puzzle with a single answer.  As we prepare students for the challenges of adult life and the working world it would seem appropriate to teach in a manner that encourages choice, adjustment, experiential learning as students work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC7xzavzEKYthrough challenges and reinforce conceptual learning, and collaboration.  I’m a more solitary thinker and learner but it didn’t take me long to find value in reaching out to others when needed.  This was definitely reinforced through my first play journal experience when I tackled a jail cell escape room with a group of friends.  Without collaboration we wouldn’t have broken out!

I also found the focus on family game play and tying in educational games another interesting and surprising concept, one I referenced it in three of my four reading reviews.  I agree wholeheartedly that learning should flow between school and home, that parental engagement is key, and that support from both realms fosters the best learning.  In-Game, In-Room, In-World: Reconnecting Video Game Play to the Rest of Kids’ Lives (Stevens, Satwicz, & McCarthy, 2008) brought forth some lively discussions surrounding the entertainment type games kids play at home and what they have to offer from a learning perspective.

As part of discussions for the reading Faustino posed the question as to how we might know if a successful leader of a clan in WoW would carry those skills to the real world?  He referred to this as the age old chicken vs the egg concept and which came first?  Was the leadership there all along and first had the opportunity to shine in Wow, or did their experience in Wow build the leadership skills?  Reflecting on my son, a WoW clan leader for many years, recently turned Assistant Marketing Director of an online company at 26 years old, I have to agree that this is a tough call.  However I would suggest that regardless of a natural or developed ability to lead, playing the game provides an opportunity to practice leadership skills, either way the value is still there.

This need to connect real world concepts with games is another idea that bleeds throughout things I have read, in class and out, in podcasts, and on video’s watched, and is also another principle in Resonant Games (Kopfer et al., 2017)!  If we could connect learning content to the real world in addition to fostering real world skills like collaboration and critical thinking through play in an engaging way, we’d have a home run!

The question is why has it taken learning games so long to catch on, why is it still a struggle, why are tools just beginning surface that make it easy for instructors and designers create gameful learning?  Is it my ignorance, was it the need for the Web 2.0 to push us forward, is it lack of funding and support, or is it just resistance to change?  Change is an everyday part of life in most places, I was amazed to learn that education has hidden in the shadows, avoiding innovative, disruptive change of any scale for a very long time.  Some of the biggest lessons in life are in adapting to change, thinking critically, collaboration, and learning to learn.  As we are exposed to change on a regular basis in most of the working world adapting to change may be one of the most significant skills we can help students develop as we prepare them for the future.

 

Instructors like Mike Wesh show us that games can have a powerful impact on learning.  The gameful instruction used in Marshmallow Wars and The Ward Game prove that it can be done, when teachers are given the liberty to engage their students.  We’re haven’t hit our stride where engaging, resonant games are encouraged and the norm, but there are teachers out there walking the walk, and making it happen.  Books like Lee Sheldon’s Multiplayer Classroom, and Matthew Faber’s Gamify Your Classroom, have been written to help guide teachers down the path of discovery of creative game design.   However I believe that to design you must also be a player to a certain extent.

I remember both actively playing with my kids, then acting as assistant map keeper when joysticks were born, then fading into just conversation, curiosity, and a mentor role as they got older, the same type of parental engagement referenced in Families at Play (Siyahhan & Gee, 2018) and In-Game, In-Room, In-World: Reconnecting Video Game Play to the Rest of Kid’s Lives (Stevens et al., 2008).  It was with no shame that I used our game history to launch much of what I dove into this semester and with each game I tried to find the engaging elements.  We played Words with Friends together when they were in high school, play journal 2.

My reflections included a focus on Steve Bocska’s (Professor Game Podcast, #068) five C’s of game design: Competition, Collaboration, Collection, Customization, & Completion, not to mention the social aspect since you play against someone else.

Not too long ago I was running around Colorado collecting Pokemon with Alex which brought me to Pocket Monsters In Your Backyard, play journal #3, with a focus on collaboration, communication, strategy, critical thinking, and a social connection.

Thinking back to some of my favorite memories with them I purchased a switch, braved the joystick, and ventured into the Legend of Zelda’s, Breath of the Wild, play journal 4, where I got to dive into an experience, immersion in a very real looking world, the freedom of choice, and freedom to fail while seeking answers to questions on my own to solve problems to move forward in the game.

Lastly play journal #5, Runescape, where I felt like I was “running & escaping” from some crazy person who was out to get me most of the time.  Here again there was immersion in an experience, collaboration to figure out how to get somewhere or do something, followed by a sense of accomplishment, and in both Link and Runescape that very powerful concept of a freedom to fail.  It was interesting that what I found engaging in each one tied to a principle in Resonant Games, while also overlapping with things mentioned in our readings.

I chose to read Resonant Games (Klopfer et al., 2017) and after the opening quote and leading annotations on the first two chapters I knew I was in the right place.  A game’s ability to engage is what drew me into this program through a quest for a way to take a dry subject like music theory and make it sing.  The opening quote, which clearly points to the fact that we need to think about learning and games from a different angle, one of engaging passion in the learner and incorporating the principles they use in game design, sets the stage and mindset creating a ‘resonant game’.  However a game that “could come to be your life in school and home– artifacts that could rouse your curiosity and determination, that might even seep into your dreams and imaginations” (Klopfer et al., p. 2) is my favorite quote and will serve as my design focus.

I was glad to see peer comments matched where I feel like I am.  They referenced my reflection on looking for a way to create, iterate and engage

learners through games, Brianna Graves, honoring the whole learner and connecting content to the game and the real world, Brandi Casey, and building a resonating game that bridges school/learning with home and life beyond, Stacey Adams.  I’ve come a long way, but there’s always more to learn, I found another new avenue for consideration when reading Tom Caliento’s review & reflection on the underlying effect that worlds used in games have on the learner and engagement.  Brandi’s book review introduced me to a new look at literacy and the recognition that I need to explore that area more fully.  In his book Teaching, Learning, Literacy in our High-Risk High-Tech  World: A Framework for Becoming Human Gee’s argument for ‘engaged learning through doing’, was confirmation that my quest to design a resonant game was worthwhile.  I feel like this book, and this class, have given me the design considerations, principles, and power to begin to walk down that road.

The game I have in my mind’s eye finds the student traveling back in time to explore different time periods as they learn about composers and musical concepts, practice them, then relate them back to their own music.  I see this as an MMORPG where there is freedom to explore, an opportunity to practice concepts learned, collaboration between classmates is possible, and there is a desire to return to the challenge until they complete it.  But for that I need programmers who far surpass me with their programming knowledge.  I guess in this case I’d be the SME looking to collaborate with the person who can make it come to life, visually!

So for my final project I had to dumb it down a bit.  Drawing primarily from readings like Design for How People Think (Dirksen, 2016) and Resonant Games (Klopfer et al., 2017) I chose to incorporate the following principles:

• curricular connection
• systems of exploration
• multiple pathways and freedom of effort
• authentic problems
• freedom to explore and fail
• preparing for future learning

I embarked on a quest to practice game design and began working with a gamified approach, using Metaverse, a mobile experience, creating an experience to introduce the instruments in an orchestra to young theory students through the symphony Peter and the Wolf.  The result is an experience that could be included in the larger game outlined above.  My goal was to create a more engaging way to introduce the instruments students will need to know both for their exam and orchestral concepts they will expand on in subsequent years, as well as test the value using a game to engage.  Here’s a quick look at how I incorporated the focus points above.

• Accessibility via a game that could be played anywhere on a mobile device.
  • I used Metaverse, it’s a free App for smart phones.
• Learner engagement.
  • Asking for the learner’s name and referring to it during the learning experience.
  • A virtual experience to immerse the learner in Peter’s world and Peter into theirs.
  • Learner choice; they get to decide how much to engage, whether to review the initial story, and how often to try again during the review to ensure they are prepared for the quiz.
• Curricular Connection.
  • Knowledge of instruments that will be used when learning the C clef and during transposition of orchestral instruments in the third year of theory.
• Repetition of concepts in multiple ways to facilitate shelving of information and transfer to long-term memory.
  • Peter narrating his story.
  • A conductor narrating the story as the symphony.
  • Review through listening and selecting the instrument.
  • Students name the instrument for the quiz.
• Motivation through reward.
  • Collect the four instruments in a quartet.
  • Points collected for a grade via a quiz at the end.

Although I have yet to fine tune the points and leader board I was recently able to make Peter come to life!   With tools like Metaverse creating content is becoming easier, however it still requires a time investment. My hope is that there comes a day when instructors will have funding, support, and a reasonable place to turn to where they can collaborate with a designer to launch resonant games for their learning environments.