Here are some key concepts I've noticed while reading some of the literature on gaming and learning (see References). I've
ADAPTIVITY
“Adaptivity means that the games continually adjusts itself to each player’s skills and abilities." (Prensky, p. 60)
AFFINITY GROUPS (COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE)
- Gaming can be social (Johnson, p. 20)
CONNECTIONISM
CONTENT + COROLLARY LEARNING
- Intelligence does not lie in content of game (Johnson, p. 57)
- It's not what the player is thinking about, but the way she is thinking (Johnson, p. 60)
- Curricular learning games - MIT Supercharged!, Revolution; Lucas Games lesson plans; Games2train, America’s Army (Prensky)
- Combining games and content: “The tricky part is putting the two together in ways that capture, rather than lose, the kids’ interest and attention.” (Prensky, p. 15)
GAMING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING AS HYPOTHESIS TESTING
- language is testing hypotheses – so is gaming. ‘”inductive discovery” – acting like a scientist by making observations, formulating hypotheses, and figuring out the rules governing the behavior of a dynamic representation (Prensky, p. 35)
IDENTITIES AS LANGUAGE LEARNER AND GAMER (VIRTUAL, REAL-WORLD, PROJECTIVE)
LEARNING PRINCIPLES
- “[C]ognitive scientists have argued that the most effective learning takes place at the outer edges of a student’s competence: building on knowledge that the student has already acquired, but challenging him with new problems to solve. Make the learning environment too easy, or too hard, and students get bored or frustrated and lose interest. But if the environment tracks along in sync with the students’ growing abilities, they’ll stay focused and engaged.” (Johnson, p. 177)
PATTERNS
- The human brain seeks order (Gee, Johnson)
PLAYABILITY
- Best-selling games are open-ended, no definite endings – can be played forever (Johnson)
- edutainment skill & drill vs. more complex games – “totally different from the many exciting ways (often invisible on the surface) that games can, and do, teach.” (Prensky, p. 11)
PSYCHOSOCIAL MORATORIUM
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