Types of Games
Deciding on an an educational game: edutainment, repurposing existing games for education, and experiences with specifically designed games.
Moreno-Ger, Burgos, Martinez-Ortiz, Sierra and Fernandez-Manjon (2008)
Educational Games
Examples: Storybook Weaver. Reader Rabbit. Jumpstart.
'Edutainment' involves translating educational content into a game-like environment.
The problem that arises out of this translation is that student motivation and engagement are often lost, when the game design does not balance educational content and entertainment.
These games are more pedagogically focused, and the “game” aspect is added on top of the educational content, creating repetitive activities that seem less like games.
Repurposing Games
Examples: Minecraft. Sim City. Civilization.
Repurposing existing games for education is another way of mixing education and entertainment.
Games such as Minecraft or Simcity were not designed with education in mind, but can be used for educational content. Minecraft combines problem solving, geometry, math and science, while Simcity can be used to focus on economical and practical management of different environments.
The problem with this approach is that as the games are originally made with entertainment in mind, they may not be able to incorporate all the needed educational content.
New Game Creation
Examples: Learn Japanese To Survive, Tyto Ecology
Creation of an educational game which balances education and entertainment! Can this be done? Abolutely! In fact, there are many computer and mobile games available that do just that. Check out the resources page for a list of pc games, ios games, android games, and more.