Games foster a sense of engagement through immersion. The depersonalized and abstract prose of textbooks locks students out of the worlds those books describe. In the compelling microworlds constructed by games, however, kids can move about and have some stake in the events that unfold there. They can manipulate variables and see the consequences of their choices. Of course, game simulations cannot mirror every aspect of the phenomenon they represent, but the same can be said for the maps, charts, and graphs commonly found in textbooks.
Games sequence tasks to allow early success. They maintain a threshold at which players feel challenged but not overwhelmed. The aesthetics of current game design first emerged when games were coin-operated arcade attractions. The prevailing wisdom was that the game should allow you to score an initial victory and then present you with a slightly bigger challenge that would motivate you to keep putting in quarters because you always felt on the verge of success. As it happens, this sense of always being challenged and on the verge of succeeding is also a powerful motivation for learning.
Games link learning to goals and roles. When we approach designing educational games, the first question we ask the content experts is, "hat does the information allow you to do??Most textbooks never address this question. Games motivate learning by setting clear goals or allowing players to set their own goals. Games not only provide a rationale for learning but also create a context in which players immediately use what they learn to solve a compelling problem that has real consequences within the virtual world of the game.
Games create a social context that connects learners to other who share their interests. Game scholars use the term etagaming?to refer to the discussions that occur as players share evaluations, experiences, tips, and knowledge with one another. Metagaming parallels what educators tell us about peer-to-peer teaching: The act of sharing what we know solidifies our own understanding and also provides a sense of empowerment and expertise.
Games are multimodal. Because different learners respond better to different ways of depicting the world and because conceptual understanding gets solidified as we process information in many different forms, learning experiences are more powerful when they incorporate multiple modes of representation ---- including text, photographs, graphics, or moving images (Kress, 2003). Most games offer multiple perspectives and often ask the player to assume multiple roles in the course of the game play.
Games support early steps into a new domain. Games not only provide a virtual environment for rehearsing skills and mastering knowledge but also provide a framework that motivates additional research and learning. Players seek out additional information that helps them flesh out the microworld. Even if the game doesn's provide an opportunity to deploy that information through play, this knowledge makes the game play a more immersive experience.
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