We live in a time of educational transformations towards more 21st century pedagogies and learning. In the digital age children and young people need to learn critical thinking, creativity and innovation and the ability to solve complex problems and challenges. Traditional pedagogies are in crisis and many pupils experience school as both boring and irrelevant. As a response educators and researchers need to engage in transforming education through the invention of new designs in and for learning. This book explores how games can provide new ideas and new designs for future education. Computer games have become hugely popular and engaging, but as is apparent in this book, games are not magical solutions to making education more engaging, fun and relevant. Games and Education explores new designs in and for learning and offer inspiration to teachers, technologists and researchers interested in changing educational practices. Based on contributions from Scandinavian researchers, the book highlights participatory approaches to research and practice by providing more realistic experiences and models of how games can facilitate learning in school.

Technology has increasingly become utilized in classroom settings in order to allow students to enhance their experiences and understanding. Among such technologies that are being implemented into course work are game-based learning programs. Introducing game-based learning into the classroom can help to improve students’ communication and teamwork skills and build more meaningful connections to the subject matter. While this growing field has numerous benefits for education at all levels, it is important to understand and acknowledge the current best practices of gamification and game-based learning and better learn how they are correctly implemented in all areas of education. The Research Anthology on Developments in Gamification and Game-Based Learning is a comprehensive reference source that considers all aspects of gamification and game-based learning in an educational context including the benefits, difficulties, opportunities, and future directions. Covering a wide range of topics including game concepts, mobile learning, educational games, and learning processes, it is an ideal resource for academicians, researchers, curricula developers, instructional designers, technologists, IT specialists, education professionals, administrators, software designers, students, and stakeholders in all levels of education.

"This book presents a framework for understanding games for educational purposes while providing a broader sense of current related research. This creative and advanced title is a must-have for those interested in expanding their knowledge of this exciting field of electronic gaming"--Provided by publisher.

This book represents a four-year research and development project. It presents a phenomenological examination and explanation of a functional design framework for games in education. It furnishes a rich description of the experiences and perceptions of performing interdisciplinary collaborative design among experts of very diverse fields, such as learning systems design, architectural design, assessment design, mathematics education, and scientific computing.

This book presents an in-depth overview of the uses of digital games in education, from K-12 up through post-secondary. Beginning with a look at the history of games in education and the context for digital games, this book guides readers through various methods of serious game implementation, including the Magic Bullet Model, which focuses on the player's point of view of the game experience. The book also includes methods of measuring the effects of games in education and guidance on creating digital game-based learning lesson plans.

Cognitive Development in a Digital Age James Paul Gee begins his classic book with "I want to talk about video games–yes, even violent video games–and say some positive things about them." With this simple but explosive statement, one of America's most well-respected educators looks seriously at the good that can come from playing video games. This revised edition expands beyond mere gaming, introducing readers to fresh perspectives based on games like World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2. It delves deeper into cognitive development, discussing how video games can shape our understanding of the world. An undisputed must-read for those interested in the intersection of education, technology, and pop culture, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy challenges traditional norms, examines the educational potential of video games, and opens up a discussion on the far-reaching impacts of this ubiquitous aspect of modern life.

At a time when digital games are becoming much more commonly used in classrooms, Game-Based Learning: Theory, Strategies, and Performance Outcomes provides a much-needed guide to different forms and applications of digital game-based learning. This book brings together researchers and practitioners from around the world who share their theories, strategies, findings of case studies, and practical approaches to support better performance and learning outcomes when learning with digital games. This book is intended to provide readers with three main parts of information. One is a clear and practical understanding of theory and research-based principles of game-based learning. This first section of the book includes fresh perspectives and an overview of existing and emerging theories in game-based learning, which are also presented in the form of case study findings and implications. The second section of this book gives readers the "how to" information needed to turn the understanding of intellectual grounding into effective practices of digital games for classroom use. The third part of this book also includes some practical approaches for evaluating different aspects of learning within the game-based learning context. This information about practical approaches is presented through chapters on achievements and performance outcomes. Game-Based Learning: Theory, Strategies, and Performance Outcomes synthesizes arguments, practices, and research findings on the effectiveness of different designs and approaches within game-based learning practices. But, a major message of this book is that the joint influence of implementation, context, and learner characteristics interacting with digital games is what determines learning and achievement outcomes. This book is intended for researchers, practitioners, designers, policy makers, and current and future teachers. The teacher/-educator will benefit from topics such as practical strategies to improve student performance, while researchers can use the findings from the case studies presented in this book as a foundation for future explorations and research studies.