Reading Reflection W6

---

It is critical to have a thorough understanding of the historical evolution of educational games. The assigned reading provides relevant information in terms of technology, design, and theory that define the boundaries of educational games and provide insight into their future. Huizing discussed the idea that knowing and playing have evolved as two interconnected fields in 1955. Learning as experience is perceived as an educational model to integrate games into learning. A play that is perceived as significant in developing thinking is an essential component of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky's learning theories. Sports or children's early learning experiences are examples of such applications of play in the educational environment. The concept of developing computer games began in the early 1970s in terms of using a computer to assist instruction, which led to experimental work that began in the e1960s. There was no specific pedagogical theory in that area, but there was a perception that computers could be a useful, motivating medium for learning. The number of educational games has grown dramatically since the introduction of video game consoles, although the majority of these games were designed using the drill-and-practice methods that were popular at the time. The idea of linking game rewards with player action inside the game's environment has been used in these instructional games. The defining features of games that encourage players to play them continually received increased attention. The Bowman (1982) foundational study was one of the attempts in this area; it affirmed the idea of well-designed games in terms of balancing difficulties, goals, and feedback allowing players to achieve a state of flow. Following that, Malone highlighted four ideas in 1980 to explain why games inspire players: a) challenges that align with personal goals; b) the availability of multiple ways to achieve goals and the provision of feedback; c) the level of difficulty set by the player and the game system; and d) the fantasy environment containing useful learning skills.

In accordance with the aforementioned study, Flynn, Baco, and Dastbaz have talked about the crucial subject of the influence of learning paradigms in game design. The three primary paradigms—behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism—have been highlighted. These hypotheses were also connected to Bloom's taxonomy and are thought to take a hierarchical structure. Additionally, through delving into the game's history, attention has been drawn to the similarities and differences between learning theories and game development. The authors have emphasized the significance of incorporating obstacles into the design game and specifying the parameters of the evaluation inside the game environment. Additionally, they stated that highly successful educational games had to be able to evaluate players at various Bloom's taxonomy levels.

Wu (2018) examined the relationship between instructional digital games in terms of their historical evolution and current learning theories. It has been noted that educational digital games come in four varieties: serious games, commercial games, massively multiplayer online role-playing games, and edutainment and educational game apps. Its purpose was to assist teachers in comprehending the proper pedagogical procedures and overcoming the challenges associated with implementing DGBL. To help instructors understand how to include DGBL in an educational setting, this article gave detailed principles relating to these four genres of educational digital games. The first sort of edutainment is defined as computer and video games created to engage students with entertainment and gameplay while teaching specific content. The four types of educational digital games were proposed in this article based on the game's structure and content, the flexibility of the content, and the learning opportunities in relation to learning theories. The article provided a typology of educational digital games and the corresponding learning theories. Additionally, it has been claimed that teachers should base their decisions on a number of factors, including student age, appropriate content, proper pedagogical considerations of the game's subject, learning objectives, individual and group characteristics, and the availability of resources and infrastructure.

References

Flynn, R., Bacon, E., & Dastbaz, M. (2010, May). Impact of learning paradigms in games design: How the theory of learning has influenced the design of video games. In Global Learn (pp. 1550-1556). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

Games, I. A. Searching for the fun in learning: A historical perspective on the evolution of educational video games. To Appear in. Learning, Technology and Media.

Wu, M. L. (2018). Making Sense of Digital Game-Based Learning: A Learning Theory-Based Typology Useful for Teachers. Journal of Studies in Education, 8(4), 1.

doi:10.5296/jse.v8i4.13022