1. By Jennifer Hudspeth

2. Current Curriculum for Secondary
Online Learners
• Lessons composed of text
• Links to videos
• Read pages in online textbook
• Answer questions found in online
textbook
• Quiz/Test
• Yawn…

3. Problems with Current Online
Curriculum
 Not engaging or interesting
 Passive as opposed to interactive
 Allows little flexibility for individualized
lessons
 Does not cater to different learning styles
 Remediation is delayed and teacher-driven

4. Educational Gaming
Online Education Trend
of the Future

5. What Will it Look Like?
 Science lessons will be interactive (Magic
School Bus meets Wii)
 Students will learn interactively within a
virtual world where they can explore and
determine their journey through that world
 Example: Students can journey through the
human body to see organs and organ systems
as a traveler to a foreign land
 Student choice in learning

6. What Will it Look Like?
 Options built into game/lesson to provide
immediate remediation based upon student’s
progress/success within game
 Adjustable difficulty level based upon student
need/ability
 Virtual experiments built into game to allow
for discovery leaning
 Suggestion for real experiments for hands-on
learners

7. Benefits
 Game learning overall showed better
retention than traditional learning
 Students showed greater interest in topics
taught via games or simulations
Randel, J.M., B.A. Morris, C.D. Wetzel, and B.V. Whitehill. “The Effectiveness of Games for Educational Purposes: A
Review of Recent Research.” Simulation and Gaming 1992 (Volume 23):261-276
http://www.hippasus.com/resources/gameseducation.

8. Challenges
 Content area specialists/curriculum designers
will need to work closely with game designers
to develop relevant and content-correct
experiences
 Initial cost of developing lessons will be high
 Must combat public opinion that gaming is
not learning

9. My Predictions
 An increasing number of virtual experiences
will become available.
 Many quality virtual labs are currently
available, but daily lessons need to be
examined for gaming potential
 It will take time to develop a large variety of
lesson in a virtual, simulation, or gaming
format

10. Words from one who knows best…

11. Ten Reasons Why Game Based
Learning Works in Education
1. Familiarity 6. Mission-based
2. Engagement learning
3. Blends printed 7. Flexibility
material with inter- 8. Helps teachers stay
active multimedia current with tech-
4. Cost effective nology
5. Lots of available 9. 21st century work-
content place skills
10. Holds student’s
interest
connectED, http://www.connectededucation.com/2012/02/ten-reasons-why-game-based-learning-works-in-education/

12. Expert’s Opinions: Podcasts
 Game and Learn: An Introduction to
Educational Gaming by Dr. Ruben
Puentedura
 http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/game-learn-
introduction-to/id429426265