Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview

Tyson Chaplin

EdTech 504

Boise State University

07/31/2013
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 2

Abstract

Digital game-based learning is an emerging trend within the field of educational

technology. The evolution of smartphone, tablet, and computer technologies allows

students the ability to immerse themselves in a multitude of disciplines via games. This

introduction to digital game-based learning showcases several unique games and explains

how they benefit learners and how many of them have roots in constructivist educational

theories. This paper also confronts what students and teachers must do in order to have a

successful game learning experience. Gamification and games delivered via a learning

management system are also discussed.

Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 3

Introduction

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is something that has been around for some

time but until recently, has largely been used in a very behavioristic way (Brom, Šisler, &

Slavík, 2010). Newer approaches to digital game-based learning allow students to utilize

advanced mobile platforms as well as computers to learn and experience education in a

way that technology has not allowed for until the past several years. Newer DGBL

experiences allow students to experience a more constructivist educational paradigm in

which they have the ability to shape their learning experiences first-hand and take

ownership of the outcomes of these experiences. The aim of this paper is to examine how

these new DGLB experiences are rooted in constructivist theories and assess their

application in the classroom and to learning in general.

Educational games have existed since computers became small and affordable

enough to be placed in a classroom environment. Many of the first educational games

were centered in the behaviorism theory of education in the sense that students might be

drilled to type faster to achieve a higher score or spell more correct words to win a level;

students were learning through repetition (Brom et al, 2010). This limited educational

scope could be due in part to the technical capabilities of older computers and a limited

comprehension of what the new technology could do in terms of the classroom. As

technology advanced and mobile devices became more mainstream, so did the use of the

computer as an educational tool. Modern computer game graphics rival those seen in

movies. Processors are now smaller and faster than ever before, allowing for more
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 4

advanced mobile computing platforms such as tablets and smartphones. Fifty percent of

all secondary students now own a smartphone (Project Tomorrow & Blackboard K-12,

2012). What this means is that educators have many more digital avenues to push content

to students. It also means that not all digital learning experiences must be anchored to the

classroom. Given the proper content, students can now utilize their smartphones to help

them learn outside of the traditional classroom environment.

Exemplar Games

One example of students being able to utilize smartphones and similar devices to

enhance their learning is a digital game-based learning activity, Frequency 1550

(Huizenga, Admiraal, Akkerman, & Dam, 2009). Frequency 1550 was designed as a way

to immerse students in learning about the history of old Amsterdam by sending them out

of the classroom and into the modern city armed with their smartphones and tablets. By

utilizing the GPS in the smartphone, the software would generate location-based content

as students approached a landmark. This content might come in the form of a puzzle the

students need to solve in order to advance to the next location within the game (Huizenga

et al, 2009).

This method of game play is deeply rooted in constructivist theories of education.

The students are out in the community, choosing where to travel to and what to

experience next. The software is able to track the students and generate content based on

where the student chooses to go. Instead of the lesson dictating what the students must

do, the students choose what to do and the software creates a learning experience to

accommodate them.
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 5

Another example of a DGBL rooted in constructivism is, Europe 2045. Europe

2045 lets students act like the heads of state for the countries within the European Union

in the year 2045. Students must negotiate with each other, vote on pacts, and decide how

to solve problems on a global scale. The game utilizes a blended model where part of the

game takes place in the classroom and the other part takes place online (Brom et al,

2010). The online portion of the game initiates different scenarios and allows players to

communicate secretly with each other, just as real heads of state would do during

negotiations. The classroom is where debate of issues happens and the countries

communicate in a more overt fashion (Brom et al, 2010). This game is also a great

example of how constructivist educational theories are put into practice because the

students are solving the problems and sculpting their own experiences, thus creating their

own learning outcomes.

While the game is completely digital and does not offer a real world component,

Minecraft is a game in which the users enter a randomly generated world and are allowed

to create an array of objects using blocks, similar to playing with Lego (Short, 2012).

Since people can create almost anything they set their mind to, teachers have come up

with many uses for the game by utilizing tools and educational modifications that plug

into the game. Because Minecraft randomly generates ecosystems and terrain for players

to explore, teaching about ecology within a science curriculum is one of the game’s many

educational applications. Short (2012) did this by placing a group of students within a

small enclosed area within the game and having them gather as much wood from the

trees as possible. Once the wood is depleted, students have experienced deforestation and

are then told to plant trees to help bring the ecosystem back to life (Short, 2012). Peer-
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 6

reviewed academic studies on the uses of Minecraft within a classroom are sparse in

number, but as the games usefulness and popularity spreads, this statistic may go up.

Another game that has gotten some attention from the academic community for its

educational qualities is the Simcity franchise (Pahl, 1991; Tanes & Cemalcilar, 2010).

One of the more recent studies examines how Simcity 4 can educate students by allowing

them to create cities of the future (Nilsson & Jakobsson, 2011). The students were

participants in an event in Sweden that required them to use Simcity 4 to construct cities

and make them sustainable in terms of their impact on the virtual environment. Students

were then interviewed as to why they did certain things within the game in order to get an

idea of how much interaction was for the educational experience versus the gaming

experience. Nilsson and Jakobsson (2011) go on to say, “ the results clearly indicate that

computer games, such as Simcity 4, used in meaningful science classroom contexts, may

contribute to create an educational situation where reflections on the embedded scientific

content are facilitated and made explicit” (p. 47). Essentially, when games are used

correctly within a classroom, they can forward the students’ learning experience.

The Students

While the games mentioned above are great examples of how educators can

immerse students in a digital learning experience while ensuring learning is occurring,

not all students react well to digital game-based learning strategies. Sometimes this is

due to the game in which the students are participating, but thought also needs to be

given to the student population’s learning habits prior to teachers instituting games into

their curriculum.
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 7

Tsai, Yu, and Hsiao (2012) discovered that while video games may be an

effective teaching tool, sometimes students become so set on winning the game or

beating other students that they miss the educational aspects of the digital game-based

learning activity. Therefore, it is important for a teacher to weigh the possible distractions

a game may cause with the learning experience it may provide. Commercial games are

meant to be entertaining and sometimes they are so much so that students forget to learn.

Chen and Yang (2012) also mention that in their study between students who took notes

while playing a game in order to learn a foreign language versus those students who did

not take notes, both groups of students performed about the same in testing. They

suggested that the reason for this is that the note-taking students became so immersed in

the game, they forgot about the language learning aspect and stopped taking notes (Chen

& Yang, 2012). Other studies have also mentioned the conundrum between prioritizing

games as a tool for learning rather than a piece of entertainment (de Freitas & de Freitas,

2013).

Another study of interest talks about the importance that students’ mindsets play

in their overall success with digital game-based learning activities (Lee, Heeter, Magerko,

& Medler, 2012). The authors broke down students into two groups based on how they

answered a series of questions. The first group had a growth mindset in that the students

believed that with practice, they could acquire new skills over time. The second group

had a fixed mindset, believing that the skills and abilities they had developed with fairly

static and not going to change over time. What the authors hypothesized and found to be

true was that students with a growth mindset performed better at DGBL activities than

those with a fixed mindset (Lee et al, 2012). For teachers, this means that prior to
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 8

initiating a digital game-based learning activity, they need to ensure that all of their

students believe that the activity will actually help them acquire new skills. In essence,

the students need to have a good attitude toward the activity they are about to embark

upon.

Games And The Classroom

While students may be ready to experience digital game-based learning, teachers

might be another story. Many teachers do not see games as a learning tool, but a reward

for students (Becker, 2007). In order to deploy games in the classroom for the purpose of

learning, teachers need to be on board with the idea as well. Teacher education is the first

step in this process. Becker (2007) states, “Teachers must also be able to locate games by

knowing about online sources that can be trusted for both downloading and visitation, as

well as about places that offer knowledgeable reviews of games and other software” (p.

481). This is not going to happen without professional development in this area. If the

teachers are not confident about their ability to use games as a learning tool, they will not

use games as a learning tool (Becker, 2007). The only way teachers are going to gain the

confidence necessary to start deploying games for student use, is to encourage and allow

them to explore the games they are interested in using in their classroom.

While not completely a digital game-based learning experience, it is relevant to

mention the idea of gamification. De Freitas and de Freitas (2013) explain gamification

as the augmentation of “the traditional classroom experience by infusing it with game-

like elements” (p. 186). Essentially, the teacher motivates and engages the students by

encouraging their tendency to compete with their peers. Software such as Classroom Live

is a means of implementing gamification within a classroom. As students complete

Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 9

school tasks, they gain levels, achievements, and quests within the overlay that

Classroom Live provides. Most students surveyed reported enjoying the experience that

the software had to offer (de Freitas & de Freitas, 2013). While there is no tangible

benefit to playing such a game within a classroom, the idea of gamification is one that

seems to work with students’ natural behaviors and competitive drives. This study was

conducted at the undergraduate level, but the authors suggest a program such as

Classroom Live could work at varying grade levels (de Freitas & de Freitas, 2013). If

teachers are not totally comfortable with the idea of allowing whole games to be used as

learning experiences, the gamification of their classroom may be a compromise. In terms

of educational theories, gamification is a blend of behaviorist and constructivist ideas. On

the behaviorist side, the gaming overlay provides a stimulus to the students and when the

students perform tasks, it rewards them. The constructivist roots shine through when the

software allows the students to control what tasks they want to tackle and when.

Depending on the software, they may also be able to choose how they are rewarded (de

Freitas & de Freitas, 2013). Gamification allows for a certain amount of freedom even

though the students are still performing classroom tasks in a linear fashion.

As mentioned earlier, some hesitance on teachers’ part in terms of deploying

games as learning tools in their classroom may be the fact that they are not confident in

which games are appropriate for the classroom (Becker, 2007). However, Panoutsopoulos

and Sampson (2012) have shown that commercial games can be effective in the

classroom. For their study, the authors selected Sims 2 – Open For Business, a

commercially available game, to see if it could be used as an effective business

simulation for teaching secondary students (Panoutsopoulos & Sampson, 2012). They
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 10

found that students enjoyed the innovative approach to teaching the subject matter and

that those who participated in the game-based learning experience outperformed those

who did not in testing. Curriculum standards were also met during the lesson

(Panoutsopoulos & Sampson, 2012). This is further evidence that if teachers are equipped

with the knowledge to be able to select games appropriate to the classroom, that the

games can be an effective educational tool.

Another aspect to consider when looking at utilizing games within the classroom

is in the realm of e-Learning. E-Learning or online learning is gaining in popularity and

as Torrente, Moreno-Ger, Martínez-Ortiz, and Fernandez-Manjon (2009) put it, “…is

beginning to be considered a mature technology” (p. 360). It is important to consider the

integration of games into online learning. Two of the biggest things that hinder

integrating games into Learning Management Systems (LMS) are how to deliver the

content and how to track student performance within the game experience (Torrente et al,

2009). Compatibility is also an issue since there are many different LMS available to

schools wishing to foster online learning. In their study, Torrente and his colleagues were

able to construct a software platform that allows for the creation and delivery of DGBL

experiences via multiple brands learning management systems (Tottente et al, 2009). This

is important because it means that online learners may potentially be able to access games

via the LMS that their school provides them. This is something that has rarely happened

in online learning until recently (Torrente et al, 2009).

Conclusion

While digital game-based learning shows promise, many studies urge for more

research to be done in the field (e.g.Torrente et al, 2009; Brom et al, 2010;
Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 11

Panoutsopoulos & Sampson, 2012). As new “best practices” in digital game-based

learning become available, there is a continuing need for more research and professional

development for teachers. Educators cannot be expected to implement new technologies

correctly before they have a clear understanding of how that is done. Games such as

Frequency 1550 (Huizenga et al, 2009) have shown that smartphones can be utilized in

such a way that students can play and learn in the real world environments as they

explore them. Europe 2045 (Brom et al, 2010) has shown that the digital and real world

can be combined to create a satisfying and fulfilling learning experience for students.

Those two games are just a glimpse when compared to other games that are currently

playing a meaningful role in the classroom, some of which have been mentioned above.

By utilizing technology and a constructivist educational framework, emerging

digital game-based learning experiences are giving students the ability to create and learn

from experiences of their choosing. Gaming technology is no longer a simple learning

tool; it is a learning facilitator.

Digital Game-Based Learning: An Overview 12

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