1. GBL
[Game Based Learning]
Martin Sillaots

2. What is GBL?
Digital
Game Based Learning Serious
Games Edutainment Gamification
Game Based Learning

3. Serious Games
• Games for serious purpose
• Not only for entertainment
• E.g.: education, defense, health care, scientific
exploration, emergency management, city
planning, engineering, religion, politics, …

4. Other Definitions
• Game-Based Learning (GBL) – branch of
serious games that deals with applications
that have defined learning outcomes
• Digital Game-Based Learning
• Edutainment – entertainment + education –
form of entertainment designed to educate as
well as to amuse
• Gamification – application of game elements
in non-gaming situations

5. Challenges
Why GBL is not widespread?

6. Challenges
• Mentality - gaming is not learning
• Availability - where to find educational
games?
• Implementation - how to use games in
learning?

7. Mentality
• Learning is serious - Games are fun
• Game development is a game industry
business
• Teachers, parents and decision makers say:
playing game is a waste of time
• Students say: it's quality time
• What you say?

8. A: Jump, B: Shoot
What more could you need
Very Demotivational.com

9. How to Change the Mentality?
• Edutainment - learning goals are hidden
behind the entertainment
• Develop serious games - games with learning
goals
• Show that games can increase interest in
learning
• Simulations can be cheaper then real
experiments

10. Who Says
Videogames don’t pay off in real life?
Motifake.com

11. Availability
Where to find educational games?

12. e.g. Math games www.mathplayground.com

13. Implementation
How to integrate game and learning?

14. Implementation
• Make connection between game and learning
goals
• Use commercial games for educational goals
e.g. Harry Potter game in literature
• Design new games based on educational goals
e.g. Time Mesh in history

15. Harry Potter Game
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Play the game at home
Select one character
Write essay
Have you played Harry
Potter kind of games?
• Have you seen
educational value in it?

16. Time Mesh History Game
Game for teaching history of Europe
www.timemesh.eu

17. Goals of the History Curriculum
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Rise the interest
Understand main terminology of history
Acquire chronological framework
Know the map
Understand the connections between present and past
See the connections between different historical events
Understand that one event can be interpreted differently
Develop skills needed for justifying personal opinion
Put learners in the position of people lived in the past

18. Important Processes that Shaped
Europe During Last 600 Years
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Reformation
French revolution
Industrial revolution
The born of nation based countries
Maritime History and Colonial countries
I World war
II World war
Cold war
European Union
Collapse of the Soviet Union

19. Goal of the Time Mesh Game
• The present time in the game is different from
the reality e.g. kids are not in schools but working
• Some important events have not taking place
• Player has to go back in time and fix the history
– to influence important historical actors
– to ensure that historical events will take place
• At the same time they learn important issues
from that period

20. Time Mesh - Industrial Revolution - Scene 1

21. Strategies
How to integrate playing activities
with the learning activities?

22. Strategies
• Introduction to the courser – e.g. Gazzilionaire
• Bonus material in the end of the course
• One topic from the curriculum as a game based
lesson
• Entire curriculum based on game or simulation –
e.g. Titan
• Game activity as home work
• Game based recreation
• Students designing educational games – e.g. iTEC

23. Gazzilionaire as Intro or Bonus
• http://www.lavamind.com/gaz.html
• Game goal: fly in space, trade, make gazillion
kubars, win the game
• Business education goals: buy low, sell high,
earn profit

24. Gazzilionaire

25. Titan as Lesson or Course
• http://newtitan.ja.org
• Business education goals (supported by Titan):
– Demand and supply and market balance
– Productivity
– Marketing
– Research and development
– Budgeting

26. Titan

27. Students Designing Games
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Project based learning
iTEC project - itec.eun.org
Learning scenarios - itec.aalto.fi/scenarios
Students Developing Educational Games

28. Students Developing Educational Games
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Introduction of educational games
Defining evaluation criteria for games
Selection of the curriculum topic
Game design
Develop e.g. with <eAdventure>
Involve experts
Publish games
Evaluate games
Younger students test games

29. Games Introduced by Students
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Estonia board game
Listen CD dame for learning words
Domino board game
Professor Layton adventure http://professorlayton.nintendo.com
L.A Noire detective http://www.rockstargames.com/lanoire
Sims 3 http://www.thesims3.com
Little Big Planet puzzle http://www.littlebigplanet.com
NBA 2k12 sports http://www.2ksports.com/games/nba2k12
FIFA11 sports http://www.ea.com/soccer/fifa
Portal 2 puzzle http://www.thinkwithportals.com

30. Game Designs Created by Students
• Escape from the Zoo
• Angry Dog
• Dog board game

31. e-adventure.e-ucm.es

32. Obstacles
When educational games are available
and they are meaningful to use why
they are rarely implemented?

33. Obstacles
• Time - teachers don't have time to learn and
test the game
• Money - commercial games
• Technical - internet speed, different hardware
and software platforms
• Organizational – is the computer lab free? Is
the software installed?
• More?

34. Our Job in Two Words …
Demotivational.com

35. … Not!
• Gaming is part of reality
• Students like to play
• Let’s use students weapons against them

36. More Information
summerschool.tlu.ee/design-of-serious-games
www.facebook.com/groups/segan
seriousgamesnet.eu

37. Game Over
Demotivational.com