LITERATURE REVIEW AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography:

Gaming in Social Studies

Cole Anderson

Gordon Chiu

Stephanie Ives

Janelle Therien

Mary Sikkes

ETEC 532, Section 66A

University of British Columbia

Dr. Alexander De Cosson

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Gaming in Social Studies

Introduction and Background

Todays world demands more of our students than traditional education methods can

provide. No longer are factory workers required, but a new iteration of workers we have not

produced consistently in the past. This demographic needs to be equipped with the universal

competencies of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, collaboration,

communication, character, culture and ethical citizenship, and proficiency in computer and

digital technologies (Shifting Minds, 2012). Jenkins (2009) posits that this shift in the workforce

and its requirements puts media literacy at the forefront of importance and necessity. Core

media literacies include: play, ability to manipulate surroundings to create learning; simulation,

ability to learn through models of real-world processes; performance, ability to adopt identities

for discovery learning; appropriation, ability to sample and remix existing media; multitasking,

ability to scan environment(s) for important details; distributed cognition, ability to interact with

tools that expand cognition; collective intelligence, ability to pool knowledge towards a common

goal; judgement, ability to evaluate various sources; transmedia navigation, ability to follow

stories and information across mediums; networking, to develop social/cultural skills; and

negotiation, ability to function in new environments/ cultures. The question becomes: how can

we hone all of these skills in the classroom?

Learners today experience the world differently. This should be reflected in the ways we

teach social sciences. Education needs to address the needs of a generation whose primary

form of entertainment is video games (Zichermann, 2011) and who may be digitally native, but

not necessarily digitally literate (Resnick, 2013). How do you get through to those students

who would rather be playing video games? Bring immersive worlds into the classroom and

watch their creativity and learning take off (Tromba, 2013, p. 20). The engaging, immersive,

and interactive nature of video games is increasingly being explored for its implications in the

classroom (Ronimus, Kujala, et al., 2014; Sherry, 2013). This is not surprising, considering the

time and effort children willingly invest into the hard learning of video games. According to the
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2014 Horizon Report (as cited in Hill, 2015, p.369), gaming and gamification has been identified

as an important trend within schools. It is time to leverage the use of games in acquiring 21st

century skills and media literacies.

Benefits to Gaming in the Classroom

While it may be difficult to overcome preconceived negative perceptions related to

gaming, there are an increasing and significant number of benefits that are associated with

gaming and the implementation of gaming into an educational setting. The idea of including a

virtual world within the classroom is not new; however, the actual implementation of digital

games has been a slow process despite the many benefits. While educators may feel there is a

decrease in the attention and motivation of students in todays classrooms, Gabe Zichermann

(2011) argues that perhaps the world is simply too slow for our children today. When we

consider how best to target students, many educators are beginning, or have already begun, to

use video games and simulations as a way to meet student needs and leverage their interests

for increased student learning (Tromba, 2013, p. 20). Ronimus, Kujala et al. (2014) discuss a

growing body of research showing increasing understanding and acceptance that computer-

based learning tasks appear to engage students more effectively than traditional school tasks,

leading to increased concentration.

Zichermann (2011) references Andrea Kuszewskis findings that increasing fluid

intelligence, the intelligence used in problem solving, is based on five principles: seeking

novelty, challenging oneself, thinking creatively, doing things the hard way, and networking.

Zichermann in turn likens these five points to the basic pattern of a video game and points out

that gaming provides children with a continuous process of learning that is constantly evolving

and moving forward. When children are involved in gaming, they target multiple skills that are

essential in todays world. For example, children develop multitasking skills; they chat using

both voice and text, develop the ability to operate a character in short and long term objectives,

and manage interruptions (Zichermann, 2011). In addition to this, gaming increases motivation,
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develops autonomy and adaptability, and provides children with new and interesting

environments (Saleh, Prakash, & Manton, 2014). From an educators perspective, gaming can

provide tools for projects and an opportunity for collaboration (Saleh, Prakash, & Manton, 2014;

Tromba, 2013), can ...simulate just about any phenomenon a teacher might want students to

understand (Sherry & Pacheco, 2006, as referenced by Sherry, 2013, p.12), as well as

targeting cognitive skill development, such as deduction, pattern recognition, and decision

making (Cuenca Lpez, J. M., & Martn Cceres, M. J., 2010). Not only can gaming develop

students minds in regards to a virtual or imaginative world, but the collaborative and multiplayer

nature of games allows them to be customized to fit the needs of various contexts (Young et al.,

2012). When gaming, students can travel to different times and places, bringing history to life

(Young et al., 2012), as they construct environments and form knowledge in collaboration with

others (Tromba, 2013).

Drawbacks to Gaming in the Classroom

Despite the findings of researchers regarding the potential or observed benefits of game-

based learning in the classroom, researchers also raise questions regarding the effectiveness

and potential consequences of such an approach. Drawbacks of game-based learning can be

from the perspective of the students, the teacher, the overarching system, or any combination of

the aforementioned. Saleh, Prakah, and Manton (2014) describe the four primary barriers to

effective implementation of games in the classroom as being time and effort, preparation,

dissemination, and assessment or tracking. These four factors can significantly affect a

teachers ability or willingness to work towards integrating a game-based approach within his or

her practice. These practical factors can be compounded by disadvantages inherent in

edutainment, namely the lack of a specific curriculum associated with a program, the difficulty of

balancing content, the level of technical expertise required to operate a program, or the

monetary cost to schools and school divisions (Saleh, Prakah, and Manton, 2014).
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The perspectives and skill levels of the teacher are important considerations when

examining the potential of game-based learning. Tromba (2013) explains that Video games are

commonly understood in only a pejorative sense among many career educators, especially

those furthest from the student population (p.21). If teachers do not have a positive

perspective regarding the use of games in the classroom, they may be less likely to persevere

at implementation or to even attempt to begin the experimentation process of testing out the

approach. Additionally, Tromba further reports that some teachers see game-based strategies

as having a negative impact on student achievement. If student achievement is not improved

by the game, is the time and effort required to implement it valuable? If games are seen as the

enemy to classroom learning, they will not likely enter the scope of instructional strategies. As

Saleh, Prakah, and Manton suggested, there is a time commitment required on the part of

teachers, as they need to sufficiently understand the game content and test the skills required to

ensure that a game fits their desired outcomes and the levels of their students. A teacher

without an adequate comfort level in coding or gaming, or a teacher with many other demands

on their time may find this process overwhelming and minimally productive when compared with

other uses of their working time.

The nature of the games themselves can also be a significant challenge within the

school context. J.L. Sherry (2013) asserts that Often, as is the case with educational games,

EE [Entertainment Education] messages compete for attention with a number of other media

messages, many of which are produced with large budgets solely for entertainment (Sherry,

2002). In general, children believe that educational games pale in comparison to the production

quality of commercial games (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) (p. 13). When students are

consistently immersed in a world of flashy images, quick snippets, and high-quality graphics,

how can we capture and maintain their interest in programs and media that they perceive as

being somehow less than? While some commercial games, such as Minecraft, have been

adapted into educational versions, questions can be raised regarding the effectiveness of the

condensed versions of game programs. The need to account for time constraints is important,
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as instructional hours are limited, but is value lost when streamlining? Many educational

games have assimilated game features into the constraints of the school day, becoming 20-

minute activities with associated worksheets that lack a multiplayer continuity and the extended

engagement characteristic of games played for purely entertainment value. Such adaptations

may mask the potential learning benefits of video games (Young et al., 2012, p.80). What may

be required to mitigate these challenges is an investment of educational stakeholders in the

development of more targeted and advanced programs that support both students and

teachers, thereby increasing the potential return on the investment of time, energy, and

resources. Students must also be comfortable using the technologies required to engage in

learning, or be willing to work towards strengthening of such skills. Students should find value

and personal relevance in their learning, and programs they cannot identify or connect with will

not accomplish this aim.

The social dynamics of technologically based learning can present challenges for

students that can detract from the intended purpose or benefit of a learning activity. Young

adult librarians have discovered that teens enjoy building and collaborating in virtual spaces but

often need monitoring to be sure they are not bullying or griefing others. The term griefing

means intentionally destroying others virtual goods or bothering someone in a virtual game

space (Hill, 2015, p.370). It is important that educators work to mitigate the challenges of the

social network online and in digital learning spaces in order to ensure that all students have a

positive learning experience. Sometimes, however, this can be a significant task to add to the

other responsibilities of gaming in the classroom.

Reflecting on the challenges they perceive in making game-based learning a feasible

option, Young et al. recommend that the primary challenges to be addressed initially include

account[ing] for the individualized nature of game play, acknowledging the impossibility of the

same game being played exactly the same way twice and establishing that game play may

need to be investigated as situated learning (Young et al., 2012, p. 62). Approaches to the
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drawbacks of game-based learning will be closely linked to the implementation considerations

and techniques employed by teachers, schools, and school divisions.

Implementation Techniques

When an educator examines implementing games into the classroom, there are many

obstacles to overcome in order to gain professional acceptance (Cuenca Lpez, J. M., & Martn

Cceres, M. J., 2010). Barriers can be overcome by: determining the social science objectives,

a thorough evaluation of the game for development and problem solving, and finally, knowing

how to detect any and all obstacles as well as the benefits of using any game. When students

enjoy games, learning can be achieved. It should be noted that games used in an educational

setting are most successful when the user interface is not overly complex and can easily be

grasped by all students in the class.

In online digital games such as Civic Mirror students learn the Canadian Parliamentary

system along with the judicial branch and elections in their personally created digital online

country. This is achieved through students creating their own government along with their own

House of Commons where their political parties reside. Each student, because of their secret

agenda, behaves differently within the democracy of the country. As a result, students become

their own advocates for different kinds of social justice. This is in conjunction with being very

active in influencing the government for their own agendas. This creates a fascinating dynamic

within the classroom and it is a dynamic that will take the classroom into many different

directions that were not thought of before. There is importance in the architecture of the game,

with an enjoyable narrative and believable characters being central to that architecture. That is

the beauty and power of including games in the classroom because it takes the course content

and brings it to life for the students. It engages all learners because students already have a

digital life outside in the real world. Teenagers are social beings and games that have a

storytelling element which has voice, teenage language and factual accuracy makes games

appealing.
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According to the eighth grade curriculum (USA), games such as Minecraft can be

aligned to suit curriculum standards and assessment practices (Tromba, 2013). In addition,

games are designed to be modified by whoever is playing the game. In this way, games can

immediately achieve an academic connection to the existing game world (Tromba, 2013).

Minecraft shows how in the educational system, as well as in society, there has been a gradual

trend to move away from the lecture-based class learning environment and instead towards

constructivist and student centred models of learning that focus more on student self-motivation.

Choice is an important motivator for learners; ...young learners should have opportunities for

making choices about instructionally irrelevant aspects of the activity, such as types and names

of characters and fantasy elements. Providing choice within a digital game potentially enhances

the players perception of autonomy, which in turn has been shown to increase intrinsic

motivation (Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006) (as referenced by Ronimus, Kujala, Tolvanen, &

Lyytinen, 2014).

Gaming as an alternative way of learning requires alternative ways of teaching

(Bekebrede, Warmelink, & Mayer, 2011). If educators want their students to be engaged with

educational games, they need to consider what motivates a student to play a game in a

traditional school (Sherry, 2013). Rather, educational games need to be designed and

researched with careful attention to contemporary learning theories, including customization of

task difficulty to the learner's capabilities, metacognitive reflection on the learning taking place,

and consideration of the rich situated interaction among learner, game environment and

classroom environment (Young et al., 2012, p.68) However, educators need to understand that

their student gamers have a tendency to skip or ignore important information that they would

deem as non-essential to completing the tasks of the game. It should be noted that educators

who develop historical games would be wise to create an information delivery system that is

more integral to the game experience and create additional game elements that require

reflection on the historical context presented (Young et al., 2012).

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Ultimately what makes a game appealing is how visually appealing and enticing the

overall design is. Scratch is a visually compelling platform for teaching computer science

concepts through creating simple games (Gruenbaum, 2014). Lesson plans can be created

using Scratch by almost any teacher with a minimal level of training or prior experience.

Students can easily collaborate on coding projects or even modify existing projects from other

students within the program. When students learn to code, it enables them to learn many other

things and essentially code to learn (Resnick, 2013). The power of collaborative learning is an

area that would make gaming appealing to students.

Experience and Impact

Video games quickly immerse users in an engaging environment that motivates players

though extrinsic reward systems. Even though popular games like the massive multiplayer

online role-playing game World of Warcraft can develop useful skills for an employer, violence

does not sit well with most education systems (Brown et al., 2006). This zero tolerance towards

violence, according to Chellman (2010), is one of the main reasons why boys have been turned

off from school. But some educators still see the value in non-violent game-based learning and

posit that playing a game with the purpose of learning will result in greater educational effects

than playing the same game for fun (Sherry, 2013, p. 13).

Civics can be a topic that both students and teachers dread. A host of influential people

formed a panel hosted by the CBC and bemoaned the declining involvement in citizens

participating in Canadas democracy. The panel of experts proposed that engaging youth was

the answer to this problem. Other scholars affirm the problem solving benefits for various types

of social science games (Cuenca Lpez, J. M., & Martn Cceres, M. J., 2010). As in the case

of Alleston (2013), this Ontario Catholic District School Board teacher attempted to engage

students with the implementation of a social science game called Civic Mirror. Through this non-

violent simulation game, students were found to be more excited about the subject-matter; the
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situational nature of the game connected and engaged students in an authentic way (Alleston,

2013, p.4).

Olson (2010) reviewed the literature on game play motivations and categorized them

into three groups: 1) social motivations, 2) emotional motivations, and 3) intellectual/expressive

motivations. Social motivations encompass a variety of purposes, including competing with

others, hanging out with friends, making friends, and opportunities for leadership or for teaching

others. Emotional motivations include playing games to manage mood (e.g. arousal/excitement)

and the opportunity to experience an intrinsically rewarding, highly focused state (see

Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Sherry, 2004). Olson found a variety of intellectual motivations,

including playing for the challenge, experiencing creativity, experimenting with different

identities, and curiosity/discovery. (Sherry, 2013, p. 14). One study by Hill (2015), used

Minecraft to teach digital citizenship to a group of grade five students. These students were

instructed to work together and create a quest-type game within a Minecraft world to be tested

on other Junior School students. Hill (2015, p.380) utilized a threefold triangulated methodology

of observation, interviews and mixed reality video and found the students exemplified learning

as prosumers in digital culture because they contributed content themselves as well as

consumed content, illustrating constructivist theory applied to information literacy concepts. The

students collaborated well and naturally took on roles that played to their strengths or area of

interest; the boys acclimated to leadership or technical roles and the girls preferred script writing

and creative roles. Many students in the group worked on the game in their spare time. Only

one student was unmotivated by the activity and started distracting the other students. After an

intervention by the teacher, the student became a productive contributor to the project. All

students that tested the game gave positive feedback and many commented on learning

concepts that they never knew before. It is evident that many of the motivations mentioned by

Olsen were present in this small scale descriptive study by Hill. According to Bekebrede &

Warmelink (2011), students are on average positive about working together and using
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technology; however, they warn that it would be overly simplistic to concluded that all students

prefer active, collaborative and technology-rich learning.

Conclusion

In a Social Studies context, games can be deployed in making sociocultural history

appealing through abstraction, exploration and manipulation of multiple variables, collaboration,

and interaction (Cuenca Lpez, J. M., & Martn Cceres, M. J., 2010). Various classes of games

help to support the development of the aforementioned critical skills. These include conflict

games to encourage decision making, systemic thinking, and new solutions to old problems;

territorial management games to give a sense of city issues; democracy and citizenship games

to encourage consideration of immigration, tolerance, and sectarianism; and economy and trade

games to immerse players in simulations of real-world systems (Cuenca Lpez and Martn

Cceres, 2010). Our project will examine the possible implementations, challenges, and means

of assessment for three social science games: for primary school (ages 7-12), Where in the

World is Carmen Sandiego; for middle school (ages 13-15), Minecraft; and for high school (ages

16-18), Civic Mirror. In addition, in response to the need to be digitally literate through media

production (Gruenbaum, 2014; Hill, 2015; Jenkins, 2009; Resnick, 2013; Tromba, 2013), we will

explore one option for artifact creation, appropriate for use at all ages, Scratch.
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Annotated Bibliography

Alleston, Jessica. (2013). From the front lines: Civics - own it. Journal of the Ontario History &

Social Science Teachers Association, 36(1). Retrieved 14 July, 2016, from: http://

civicmirror.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/58803-ohassta-rapport-PROOFNOV08.pdf.

In this article from the Ontario History & Social Science Teachers Association Jessica

Alleston wrote an article that summarized a panel of experts who had been interviewed

by the CBC. This panel had offered a solution to the ongoing declining of citizen

engagement in the past 15 years of Canadian Federal Elections. The solution was to get

the youth involved in the democratic experience but how? The author of the article

introduces a program to her students called Civic Mirror as the answer to that question.

In the simulation students have their own ideology secrete agendas, a digital fictional

family to provide for in a virtual country. The strength of Civic Mirror originates from solid

pedagogy that transforms a classroom into a digital country.

Bekebrede, G., Warmelink, H., & Mayer, I. (2011). Reviewing the need for gaming in education

to accommodate the net generation. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1521-1529. doi:

10.1016/j.compedu.2011.02.010.

This study originates from the Dutch education system, examining the relationship

between the net generation and the use of gaming as an educational approach. While

the study was conducted in the context of higher education, the outcomes of the works

can be extrapolated to determine connected themes in the Canadian K-12 education

system. One of the key findings was that while their quantitative results did not show

statistically significant differences between attitudes of net generation students and non-
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net generation students, there was an overall positive student perspective towards

gaming in the classroom.

Brown, E., Hobbes, M., & Gordon, M. (2006). Using a virtual world for transferable skills in

gaming. Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Skills, 5(3),

1-13.

In this study that was commissioned by Angila Ruskin University the objective was to

create a research group to study to find links from the real world to the digital world

through a constructivist pedagogical perspective. The idea of this study originated from

the industry trends of employers who are interested in hiring students who have useful

digital skills. Skills that can be transformed into lifelong skills. The desire was to

encourage an environment that is not restricted by social academic impressions despite

the issues of using technology. One of the biggest concern in using any digital

technology is are there enough measureable benefits of unilaterally adopting any digital

environment for student engagement?

Chellman, Ali Carr. (2010, October). Gaming to re-engage boys in learning [TED Talk].

Retrieved 14 July, 2016, from: https://www.ted.com/talks/

ali_carr_chellman_gaming_to_re_engage_boys_in_learning.

In this TED Talk by Ali Carr Chellman explains why the traditional model of the current

school system is not working for the average American boy. She explains that there are

three reasons for why boys lose interest in school and instead become interested in

video games or sports. The reasons why are: a zero tolerance towards violence, few

male teachers and the overall academic level even at kindergarten is getting harder. As

a public system she explains why the system needs to invest the same level of money
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as private companies do to create rich and layered academic games for all to enjoy.

Games such as World of Warcraft has a massive research and development budget and

team and this is what draws boys to these games. If that same level would be applied to

a game for school boys would once again become engaged in their learning and not

have 4x higher rate in diagnosed ADHD cases.

Cuenca Lpez, J. M., & Martn Cceres, M. J. (2010). Virtual games in social science education.

Computers & Education, 55(3), 1336-1345. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.028

Games make sociocultural history appealing through abstraction, multiple variables, and

collaboration/ interaction. They build cognitive skills such as deduction, pattern

recognition, and decision making. There are five categories of social sciences games;

economic, social, geographical, artistic, and historic. Gameplay also affects the thinking

and skills supported. Conflict games encourage decision making, systemic thinking, and

new solutions to old problems; territorial management games give a sense of city issues;

democracy and citizenship games encourage consideration of immigration, tolerance,

and sectarianism; and economy and trade games immerse players in simulations of real-

world systems. When selecting a game for use, consider the social sciences objectives,

the ability of the game to develop problem solving skills, and obstacles and benefits of

the game.

Gruenbaum, P. (2014). Undergraduates teach game programming using Scratch. IEEE

Computer, 47(2), 82-84.

In this article, computer science students from the University of Washington Bothell were

trained to conduct instructional classes on Scratch to Middle School Students in

Redmond, WA. The students from UWB utilized an activity based exercise using a
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simple game template in which the Redmond students could modify aspects and add

new code to the game. Overall, the implementation was successful as Redmond

students were quite creative with the exercise, positive in the exit survey, and interested

in having additional sessions.

Hill, V. (2015). Digital citizenship through game design in Minecraft. New Library World,

116(7/8), 369-382.

In many implementations of Minecraft.edu, teachers simply use the application to teach

content using Minecrafts 3D environment to aid in visualization of structures and

physical concepts. The notable difference in this small-scale descriptive study is that a

group of eight Grade 5 students were given control over the Minecraft environment and

given the challenge to create an adventure game to teach information literacy skills. This

constructivist approach to learning proved to be highly engaging throughout all stages of

the project and the students naturally took on roles that played to their strengths or area

of interest.

Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the

21st century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Learning is no longer an individual endeavor, but a collaborative meaning making.

There are eleven core media literacies; play, ability to manipulate surroundings to create

learning; simulation, ability to learn through models of real-world processes;

performance, ability to adopt identities for discovery learning; appropriation, ability to

sample and remix existing media; multitasking, ability to scan environment(s) for

important details; distributed cognition, ability to interact with tools that expand cognition;

collective intelligence, ability to pool knowledge towards a common goal; judgement,

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ability to evaluate various sources; transmedia navigation, ability to follow stories and

information across mediums; networking, to develop social/cultural skills; and

negotiation, ability to function in new environments/ cultures.

Resnick, M. (2013, Jan 29). Mitch Resnick: Lets teach kids to code [TED Talk]. Retrieved 14

July, 2016, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok6LbV6bqaE.

Mitch Resinick is Professor of Learning Research and head of the Lifelong Kindergarten

group at the MIT Media Lab. His team was responsible for the creation of Scratch, a

visual programming language with underlying computer code. In this video, Mitch

introduces Scratch to a TED Talk audience and describes how anyone can learn how to

code using Scratch. He identifies that even though students are digitally native, they

may not be digitally literate and have the ability create digital content. His hope is that

students also code to learn and develop the ability to do greater things because of

Scratch.

Ronimus, M., Kujala, J., Tolvanen, A., & Lyytinen, H. (2014). Childrens engagement during

digital game-based learning of reading: The effects of time, rewards, and challenge.

Computers & Education, 71, 237-246. Retrieved 17 July, 2016, from: http://

www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/science/article/pii/S0360131513002935.

This eight-week study is based on GraphoGame, a web-based reading game developed

in response to a longitudinal study of Dyslexia at the University of Jyvskyl, Finland, to

help children overcome difficulties learning connections between sounds and letters,

spoken and written syllables, and spoken and written words. The study focuses on first

grade students requiring support in reading acquisition and is conducted in home

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environments under parental supervision. Researchers found children used the game

less than expected, the positive impact of the reward system disappeared relatively

quickly, and despite an adaptable level of challenge, no significant effect was found on

engagement.

Saleh, N., Prakash, E., & Manton, R. (2014). Factors affecting the acceptance of game-based

learning.International Journal of Computer Applications, 92(13) doi:10.5120/16066-5201

While implementation of gaming in the classroom faces barriers such as time/ effort to

implement, dissemination systems, assessment/ tracking, lack of specific curriculum/

content, technical expertise and cost, there are still many benefits. Theses include an

increase in student motivation and autonomy, provision of tools for creative products,

opportunities for collaboration, and adaptability to student needs. Gamings acceptance

in schools is influenced by various factors including the usability (learnability and

interface appearance); ease of use (flexibility, feedback, interaction); usefulness

(meaningful experience, connection to the world); architecture (design of the game and

characters); cognitive artifact (ability to evolve thinking); enjoyment; storytelling aspects;

and interactivity.

Sherry, J. L. (2013). The challenge of audience reception: A developmental model for

educational game engagement. In F. C. Blumberg & S. M. Fisch (Eds.), Digital Games:

A Context for Cognitive Development. New Directions for Children and Adolescent

Development, 139, 11-20. Retrieved 18 July, 2016, from: http://

onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/10.1002/cad.20027/epdf.
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This paper focuses on childrens and adolescents reception of educational and

recreational games. Games require significant player time and attention, adapt to

players ability levels, and allow for individual study. From an educators perspective,

games can support curricular content and provide unique learning opportunities. Game

motivations are identified as social, emotional and intellectual/expressive, and vary with

age and development. Because parents have greater influence on younger children,

they can successfully encourage children to use educational rather than recreational

games. With cognitive development, comes a shift in genre preference and educational

games no longer hold the appeal of recreational games.

Shifting minds: A 21st century vision of public education for Canada. (2012). Retrieved 8 July,

2016, from: http://c21canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Shifting-Minds-

Revised.pdf.

Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation (C21) is a non-profit organization

composed of representatives from business and education with a focus on advocating

21st century models of education in Canada. This policy document focuses on the

primary competencies they identify as being necessary in the contemporary and future

world. Each competency is rationalized as to how it improves student engagement and

achievement. Additionally, the suggested ideal roles and responsibilities of various

stakeholders (students, educators, policy makers) are outlined to emphasize the

integrated nature of 21st century teaching and learning. This document provides a

contextual framework for our exploration of gaming as an educational tool or technique.

Tromba, P. (2013). Build engagement and knowledge one block at a time with Minecraft.

Learning and Leading with Technology, 40(8), 20-23. Retrieved 17 July, 2016, from:

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1015174.pdf.
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Peter Trombas article explores the educational potential of the well-known game,

Minecraft. A Minecraft pilot class was created for eighth grade students at Munroe

Middle School in Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. where Tromba was principal. Students

developed creativity, as well as skills in innovation, communication, collaboration, critical

thinking, problem solving, and decision making as they completed teacher-assigned and

self-created projects based on historical and modern architecture, such as pyramids,

medieval castles, and even the town in The Outsiders. Many improvements, including

an increase in consistent attendance and confidence were noted over the course of the

study.

Young, M. F., Slota, S., Cutter, A. B., Jalette, G., Mullin, G., Lai, B., . . . Yukhymenko, M. (2012,

March). Our princess is in another castle: A review of trends in serious gaming for

education. Review of Educational Research, 82(1), 61-89. doi:

10.3102/0034654312436980.

Originating from the University of Connecticut, this paper examines educational gaming

through a critical lens, identifying challenges with the approach. They highlight science

and mathematics as disciplines of particular concern, and break their overall findings into

the disciplines of mathematics, science, language learning, physical education, and

history. The critical perspective is an important component of determining the potential

role and value of educational gaming, as the challenges are important to address in

ensuring that students receive the most effective education. The authors do not view

gaming as an impossibility in the classroom, but rather identify improvements that could

bring gaming to a point where it would enhance and improve learning, rather than simply

occupy time, provide an alternative means to accomplish the same outcome, or miss

outcomes entirely.
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Zichermann, G. (2011, June). Gabe Zichermann: How games make kids smarter [Video file].

Retrieved 14 July, 2016, from:

https://www.ted.com/talks/gabe_zichermann_how_games_make_kids_smarter

In his Ted Talk, Gabe Zimmermann discusses how Generation Gs primary form of

entertainment is video games. This will continue to reshape our worlds industries

through gamification; where more innovations will have elements of gaming embedded.

Unless our generation accepts this new immersive and collaborative ideology, we will

soon be out of touch. But all is not lost! Gaming comes with benefits such as the ability

to multitask, increase brain neuroplasticity, improve fluid intelligence (self-challenge,

creative thinking, hard learning, networking), encourage continuous and lifelong learning,

promoting intrinsic motivation through the dopamine loop, and making learning

collaborative and fun!