Well, 10 years later, games have not gone away, in fact, they’ve solidified their place in our
industry as clients and learners continue to ask for and expect modern
learning experiences. At Kineo, we hear more and more from our clients a requirement for gamification, games for learning, serious games — and all the many ways
that need is expressed.
So, if gaming is on your dance card these days and you’re looking for some tips on how to get started and what to do, be sure to add this book to your required reading list!
Karl Kapp and Sharon
Boller
ATD Press, 2017
Why I like it:
- Easy to read!
- Great balance of
theory with a focus on practical how-tos - Informative and practical — with roadmaps to help you with defining game goals and instructional goals, learner personas, learning objectives; creating prototypes; play-testing; development considerations; deployment and more.
- Great table mapping bloom’s taxonomy to different types of games
- Examples, examples, examples
My favorite chapter (Chapter 3) has some great tidbits and insights. Consider these teasers for the rest of the book…
Learning games need to be “fun enough”:
“Learning games need to
be what we call “fun enough.” A mistake made by many new learning-game developers is to
try to design an entertaining game. Unfortunately, that often makes learning harder
rather than easier. Remember, you are not creating the next great commercial game to
entertain your learners; you are creating a learning game whose success will be measured by
the achievement of learning outcomes.” (page 23)
Remember the bigger system and design a game that’s part of something larger:
“Commercial games such
as Angry Birds, Assassin’s Creed, or Monopoly are usually played without context: A
group of friends simply start playing a game, either online or in person. However, for a
learning game to be the most effective, it needs to be part of a larger
instructional plan and include
instructional support elements. You can’t simply create a game and expect the players to
learn from it without providing any context or guidance. For learning games to work, they
need to be an integral part of a larger learning design.”
Don’t make it so hard that people lose heart. Keep the emphasis on learning:
“The second principle
is that both a losing state and a winning state need to lead to
learning. You need to
design the game play to encourage learning throughout the game, and consider what happens
when a player is not successful.” (p. 24)
Check out the Table of
Contents to see why this book is a must-read for learning designers.
Table of Contents:
Preface…
Section 1. Playing
Games to Learn About
Games….The
Basics….
Playing Entertainment
Games…
Exploring Learning
Games…
Section 2. Making Game
Design Choices That Support Learning ….Setting the Right
Foundation for Your Learning
Game…
Linking Learning With
Game
Design…
Two Game Design Case
Studies….
Matching Scoring to
Learning
Goals…
Section 3. Putting
Game Design Knowledge to Work….Creating the First
Prototype….
Play-Testing…
Section 4. Development
and Implementation…Development
Considerations…
Deploying Your
Game..
Final
Thoughts….
The Final Word
This is an easy to read, accessible book, chock full of practical ideas and tips for helping you make the leap from learning designer to learning game designer.
