There is an unending stream to commentators praising or damning the educational potential of games in equal measure but hard, empirical evidence is still hard to find. I thought I’d write a quick summary of papers for either camp. Those in favour claim that games are “ideal learning environments” and players demonstrate an “innate ability […]
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RSS feed for this sectionExploring Interactive Narrative – Non-linear
As an alternative to the different routes between common events offered by parallel paths, non-linear narratives offer the user the chance to control the order of the stages between the beginning and the end of the experience. Again all the content is predefined but the user can sequence the material in a manner of their […]
Exploring Interactive Narrative – Traditional storytelling
In an increasingly multiplatform, multiformat world, the way we combine activity with storytelling fascinates me. Although usually associated with video games, I think the principle of ‘interactive narrative’ applies to all the domains where we punctuate presentation with participation. [To clarify, I’m using the following definitions: ‘story’ describes characters, events and plot; ‘narrative’ describes how […]
Learning with Auntie
This week the BBC launched its new strategy for learning. Despite the unalloyed successes of the revision service Bitesize, the foolishly shelved creative offering for teenagers Blast and the sterling work of Adult Learning, the BBC has been frustratingly timid about its Charter-proclaimed educational remit for the last few years. The reason for the half-heartedness was, no doubt, […]
Free iPhone
While I was in Leeds this week, I came across a fascinating research project that is having a major impact on undergraduate studies. Following an earlier collaboration between health schools across the north of England called ALPS (Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings) which explored the value of mobile computing for medical students, Leeds Medical […]
Failure, Friends and Finding your Feet
I love being a dad. I find it the most astonishing, life-affirming, challenging wonder-filled experience I have ever known and my children keep surprising me and teaching me new lessons. My little boy, Jacob, is 17 months old. He’s been tentatively and briefly on his feet for the last few weeks but mostly he’s been […]
Clever Fools
Now, here’s a clever science game. A game that actually generates valuable scientific outputs. Foldit is a game from Seth Cooper and his colleagues at the University of Washington where players score points by squeezing as many proteins as possible into a chemically stable configuration. Understanding how proteins can fold together is essential to establishing […]
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
I get quite cross when some says “I’m no good at that” or “I can’t do that” or worse “You’re stupid.” I’m especially conscious of it as a dad of two small children. I believe talk like that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy: if it is said often enough about someone, they’ll live up to […]
Google Brain
I recently saw this on Facebook: Written by Matthew, an 11 year old boy. He’s not being ironic. It’s an attitude that is permeating society, particularly among the young. In a sense I think Matthew is right. We’ve never had access to such large amounts of information before so the majority of school activity suddenly […]
The Game Continuum
I spend a lot of my time discussing the efficacy of games for learning. I think all games offer us something for the real world but the crucial aspect for transferability is representation of the game world. I believe that we can map games on a scale ranging from reality to abstraction; I call this […]