Big Game, Little Game

Speakers: David Williamson Shaffer

Track: SGS: Learning & Instructional Theory

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: All

Description: A game is always something more than what comes in a box. A game is all of the things we do with, in, and around a game: the roles we play, the norms we follow, the rules we obey, the goals we set. Big Game, little Game looks at how designing a serious games also means designing the frameworks in which players make sense of what happens in the games: the serious learning systems in which serious games are played. Through vivid case studies based on a decade of research and controlled studies, Big Game, Little Game shows how to design and use games to help players learn the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a complex world.

Idea Takeaway: Big Game, Little Game gives game designers, game players, parents, teachers, and researchers a framework for understanding and evaluating the power of video and computer games as tools for learning in the digital age. It shows how thinking seriously about games for learning means thinking about the learning systems in which serious games are used.

Intended Audience: This session is intended for both creators and users of serious games--including game designers and educators. It describes an approach to game design, implementation, and evaluation with proven results that provides a new way of thinking about learning in and from video and computer games. There are no prerequisites for the talk.