I’m not entirely sure that all of the suggested real world ‘lessons’ are serious but it makes for some interesting reading nevertheless.What is more, I think the list does offer some scope for using the games as a catalyst for further investigation into those topics – that is what excellent teachers do already.  These games are great fun – could they be valuable in other ways too?

What do you think?

Can these games be used in isolation and still deliver learning? Or are they educationally useless even in the hands of a skilled facilitator? Could you add to the list?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The main findings in the NFER report were:

• The literature was split on the extent to which video games can impact upon overall academic performance.
• The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on problem solving skills, motivation and engagement. However, it was unclear whether this impact could be sustained over time.
• Despite some promising results, the current literature does not evidence adequately the presumed link between motivation, attitude to learning and learning outcomes. Overall, the strength of the evidence was often affected by the research design or lack of information about the research design.

As you know, I work with many organisations in developing and deploying games to help them engage and communicate with their audiences more effectively.  The usefulness of games is a big deal to me.  As I’ve said before, I am sceptical about the impact of many so-called educational or serious games but I do think games and game mechanics are brilliant for:

• Cosmetics – making the unpleasant or mundane more palatable
• Confidence – offering the chance to practise and fail softly
• Catalyst – as a spring board to further investigation
• Collaboration – as a means of pooling our intellectual and social capital

However, the one aspect that many organisations neglect is that of use context.  Of one thing I am certain: the impact of games (or indeed any educational intervention) depends on the pre- and post-experiences of the learners as much as the ‘play’ itself.   That’s what the most effective teachers do so brilliantly – they prime learners for the game with an air of expectation and intrigue, and then help them think about what it might mean after they’ve finished playing.  Vygotsky called it ‘scaffolding,’ and there’s lots of evidence of its benefits.

There are no real shortcuts to learning but everyone, even the most disaffected, experiences a profound sense of satisfaction when they discover something new, find they can do something better or see something more clearer.  Games, used well, are one way to encourage that delight.

[I work with many groups and organisations to train staff about game-based learning or design and develop games themselves; would you like me to work with you? Drop me a line using my contact form.]

Source: RedTedArt

Here are some recent articles about creativity.

Creativity and children

• Why Are We Raising Robots? | Let Children Play

Compares how adults are trying to improve their own creativity with how the lack of play strips creativity from children. 

• Why children lose their creativity | Stltoday

Looks at how children may be forced out of creativity, finishes with some tips to maintain creative thinking. 

Creativity and self

• What influences your creativity? | Creative Ideas & Inspiration

Looks at three factors that could influence your creativity. 

• A creative life is a healthy life by Amanda Enayati | CNN

Amanda Enayati looks at the value of creativity as well as looking at techniques an adult could employ to become more creative.

Creativity within work

• 16 Ways to Jump-Start your Organization’s Creativity | The Creativity Post

Summarises a few ideas that may help to improve company creativity. 

• Creativity: The Secret Behind the Secret | Forbes

Steven Kotler looks at the factors a boss should look for in order to hire a creative person, as supported by research done by social psychologists. 

Motivations of creativity

• Allowing the Mind to Wander Aids Creativity | Scientific American

Uses research and scientific opinion to look at the purpose and potential benefits of allowing one’s mind to wonder. 

• What motivates creativity? | Think Big

Looks at how creative output is influenced by personal passion.

Practical creativity

• Is Productivity Killing Your Creativity? | Life hacker

Looks at the suggestion that constantly filling time in order to be productive may be stifling creativity and reducing thinking time. 

Comments on creativity

• Collaborative Creativity in the Digital World | KQED QUEST

Creative art as bolstered by technology, see a few examples of digital creativity to the max.

• Waste, Creativity and Godwin’s Corollary for Technology | ribbonfarm

Looks at good/bad waste and how it can inspire creativity, as well as technology. 

Video

• Embracing Limitations to Drive Your Creativity
  

I wonder to what extent any extra effort improves the efficacy of learning rather than any peculiar attributes of these digital resources.  Having said that, I firmly believe certain approaches suit particular learning objectives – indeed, that’s the basis for my business – making sure that organisations use the more appropriate format to achieve their aims.

If you’re not paying for a digital product, you are the digital product.

Conscious of the normalisation of handing over personal data when signing up for something new online, and to coincide with the  Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science, Play with Learning was commissioned by the UK’s Open University to help develop a game that could tackle the issues.  In a first for the OU, we have launched a multiplayer game on Facebook where you can explore the value of information.

Playing a different character and entrusted with various pieces of information in the game, you take turns to share and trade data in an attempt to maximise its value.

The original card game was developed by David Barnard Wills as part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Centre (EPSRC) funded Visualisation and Other Methods of Expression (VOME) project, which was based at Cranfield, Royal Holloway and Salford University. We took the basic mechanics and converted it to a competitive online game.

Playing a game on Facebook that explores privacy is novel and ironic and hopefully will encourage us to think about what we should share and what we should keep private.

You can learn more about the OU’s related studies on OpenLearn.

Source: photos.com

There is a continuous stream of research studies and articles about creativity that catch my eye.  Here are some recent pieces that have caught my attention.  Hope you find them useful.

Creativity and children

Despite less play, children’s use of imagination increases over two decades according to research
Looks into the reality of the idea that modern children suffer creatively based on the work of psychologists.

Play Declines and then Creativity Rises? No Way! | Psychology Today
Discusses the research that suggests despite the decrease in playing, children’s imagination has increased. Looks especially at the role of technology in play. 

Creativity and self

9 Summer Activities to Spark Your Creativity | World of Psychology
Nine activities that should indulge your creative spirit. 

Creativity within work

Kobe Bryant, Kevin Systrom, And The Science of Creativity | Forbes
Looks at how pursuing multiple interests may in fact improve one’s creativity in a specific field. 

How Collaboration Can Kill Creativity | Policy Mic 
Introspective look at whether collaboration and teamwork really allows one to foster a creative mindset or produce creative ideas. 

Motivations within creativity

Why Weird Experiences Boost Creativity | Huffington Post
Using the research of social psychologists, it studies the suggestion that weird experiences allow a person to think more creatively. 

Creativity: Why You Should Seek Out Unusual or Downright Weird Experiences | PsyBlog 
Article looks at how diversifying experiences may help boost a person’s creativity. 

Rejection May Fuel Creativity | LiveScience
With scientific evidence suggests that certain types of people may gain creatively from rejection. 

Social Rejection Can Fuel Creativity | Psychology Today 
Looks at the psychology of rejection provoking creativity within an individual. 

Creativity and compensation

The two links below are in response to this original post.

Great post on the need to pay for creative work | The Trichordist

A letter written in response to the idea that one does not have to pay for their music. The writer believes in paying for music to support and compensate creative artists. 

Paying for Creativity | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine 
Is an opinion on whether creative types deserve compensation for their work, when it is at times available for free. Responds to the two previous blog posts. 

Video

Good Videos On Creativity | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 
Two videos by Jonah Lehrer analysing creativity, its nature, the history, and how to access it. 

The 8 they define are:

1. Scientists – who try new things and apply learnings
2. Politicians – who getting ahead by adapting to people
3. Socialites – who connect to others at all costs
4. Habitualists – who seek repetitive pleasure feedback
5. Strategists – who control the environment to suit their skills
6. Competitors – who focus on gaining respect by beating everyone else
7. Collectivists – who follow social norms with badges
8. Soloists – who seek security and controlled environments

While I’m not entirely sure how the authors have arrived at these definitions but they claim 32% of the UK population are Strategists, 22% are Politicians with Soloists and Habitualists have the lowest sizes at 5% each.

The work follows in the footsteps of previous research including Chris Bateman‘s excellent article on The Nine Basic Players (maybe).

You can read more about NakedPlay and Playnomics study on the iQU site.

Please let me know if you see any others of note that I can add!

Creativity and children

Ten Suggestions for Raising Creative Kids | The Creativity Post
Nine advisory suggestions to help your child’s creativity.

Top 7 Ways To Engage & Encourage Your Toddler’s Creativity | Toddler Times
Seven ways to encourage a toddler’s creative development in a way that needs little direction or intrusion.

Creativity and self

Stuck? The 4 Things Killing Your Creativity | Huffington Post
Four strategies to bolster your creative spirit.

Creativity within work

Why Creativity Blocks Happen (and How to Overcome Them) | Lifehacker
Identifies several creative blocks, proposes some solutions and advises how to implement them in a working environment.

Career Coach: How to avoid killing creativity in meetings | The Washington Post
Looks at how to ensure a meeting maintains a creative focus with special attention paid to managers and presenting projects.

Creativity drivers

The Science of “Chunking,” Working Memory, and How Pattern Recognition Fuels Creativity | Brain Pickings
Explores the idea that pattern recognition (or ‘chunking’) is the source of human creativity.

The Science of Expectation: Using Humor To Understand Creativity | The Creativity Post
Using the science of jokes, looks at the formula for successful creativity.

The Role of Intuition and Imagination in Scientific Discovery and Creativity: A 1957 Guide | Brain Pickings
Takes significant quotes from prolific figures and correlates an idea of how creativity and thinking is formed. 

Practical creativity

The Creativity of Getting Things Done | GTD Times
Looks at ways in which being creative may actually prevent people from getting things done. With a few suggestions to prevent this.

Comments on creativity

British creativity has not gone quiet, it’s just struggling to be heard by Ray Filar | Guardian
Looks at the potential focus on hyper-nostalgia in the UK, as well as looking at the new forms of creative output that the new generation is producing. 

Is there creative life outside London? BJL’s Pete Bastiman considers the possibility | The Drum
Is a written response to the idea that you cannot be creative in advertising outside London and the relative importance of location. 

Twitter 2012: The Freshest Statistics on the King of Microblogging Services by Infographiclabs

“Walk into any preschool and you’ll find toddling superheroes battling imaginary monsters. We take it for granted that young children play and, especially, pretend. Why do they spend so much time in fantasy worlds?

“People have suspected that play helps children learn, but until recently there was little research that showed this or explained why it might be true. In my lab at the University of California at Berkeley, we’ve been trying to explain how very young children can learn so much so quickly, and we’ve developed a new scientific approach to children’s learning.

“Where does pretending come in? It relates to what philosophers call “counterfactual” thinking, like Einstein wondering what would happen if a train went at the speed of light.

“We found children who were better at pretending could reason better about counterfactuals—they were better at thinking about different possibilities. And thinking about possibilities plays a crucial role in the latest understanding about how children learn. The idea is that children at play are like pint-sized scientists testing theories. They imagine ways the world could work and predict the pattern of data that would follow if their theories were true, and then compare that pattern with the pattern they actually see. Even toddlers turn out to be smarter than we would have thought if we ask them the right questions in the right way.

“Play is under pressure right now, as parents and policymakers try to make preschools more like schools. But pretend play is not only important for kids; it’s a crucial part of what makes all humans so smart.”

For me, the article is summed up by the sentiment:

Play is a crucial part of what makes all humans so smart

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Let-the-Children-Play-Its-Good-for-Them.html