Game-Based Learning (GBL)

This conference will explore the new trends in Europe on the development of structured learning development of behavioral skills using digital fun games.

The paradigm shift in learning is an opportunity to blow the collaborative work of thematic networks in lifelong learning. And for that, the path should be, to give it priority in our lives and in our daily activities. Joining forces from various sources in a common field of battle by learning interests with eyes on the future.

In order to prepare ourselves to a digital inclusive era in 2020, we must bear in mind how GBL is able to avoid digital exclusion and define what must be considered as a methodology or a learning process and how games might help to achieve educational purposes.  Do you have the same sort of precautions on the subject?

Changes have to occur in training/learning programs to incorporate new learning modules; designers and producers have to work with trainers/teachers/educators and employers must participate in defining their needs.

With intent to receive your testimonials / comments and consider adding value to an European collective effort we take charge on the GREAT Conference  in Lisbon on 15 and 16 September. Join GAMES&TEL with your eyes focused on the E&T 2020 issues.

Guest edited by Dr Yishay Mor, Senior Lecturer at the Open University's Institute of Educational Technology (UK), and Tapio Koskinen, Director of the eLearning Papers Editorial Board, MOOCs and Beyond seeks to both generate debate and present a variety of perspectives about this new popular learning model. 

The emergence of MOOCs poses a set of challenges to the educational community. This new special issue of eLearning Papers aims to shed light on the way these online courses affect both education institutions and learners, and tries to find answers to some of the questions confronted by teachers and researchers.

Among other topics, eLearning Papers 33 explores whether MOOCs may be a viable solution for education in developing countries and analyses the role of these emerging courses in the education system, especially in higher education. Furthermore, valuable examples from the field are presented, such as the quad-blogging concept and a game-based MOOC developed to promote entrepreneurship education.

This issue includes 4 In-Depth articles and 6 From the Field ones:

In-depth articles

• The Impact and Reach of MOOCs: A Developing Countries’ Perspective by Tharindu Liyanagunawardena, Shirley Williams and Andrew Adams
• MOOCs and disruptive innovation: Implications for higher education by Li Yuan and Stephen Powell
• The Next Game Changer: The Historical Antecedents of the MOOC Movement in Education by David T. Boven
• MOOC Design Principles. A Pedagogical Approach from the Learner’s Perspective by Lourdes Guàrdia, Marcelo Maina and Albert Sangrà

From the field articles

• MOOCs are More Social than You Believe by Jan Blom, Himanshu Verma, Nan Li, Afroditi Skevi and Pierre Dillenbourg
• Realising the Potential of Peer-to-Peer Learning: Taming a MOOC with Social Media by Emily Purser, Angela Towndrow and Ary Aranguiz
• Learning from Open Design: Running a Learning Design MOOC by Patrick McAndrew
• Quad-blogging: Promoting Peer-to- Peer Learning in a MOOC by Angela Towndrow, Ary Aranguiz, Emily Purser and Madhura Pradhan
• Game Based Learning MOOC. Promoting Entrepreneurship Education by Margarida Romero
• The AlphaMOOC: Building a Massive Open Online Course One Graduate Student at a Time by Carmen McCallum, Stephen Thomas and Julie C. Libarkin

The effective use of Digital Games for Empowerment & Inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the videogames industry, and an emerging “serious games” industry.

The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The “serious games” industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors.

These actors are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games and products inspired by digital games for a range of non-leisure applications.

Authored by James Stewart and Gianluca Misuraca, from the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), the report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution these actors could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion.

Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.

Most adult learners have had enough of Powerpoint slides, standard eLearning courses and instructor-led training. Gamification sometimes helps create a different work and learning environment by taking game elements (like points, badges, leaderboards, competition, achievements) and applying them to non-game settings. But many such initiatives fail because they don’t properly incorporate ‘fun’ into training programs. Tune into these two webinars to learn how gamification and game-based learning can succeed.