Transcript History of Edutainment

Danyl Grose
Darlene Kowalski
Jason Hoch
INTC 5001 – Summer 2011
Dr. Ackerman
Edutainment
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Entertainment melds with education.
Can include television, radio, music , & video games.
Games focus on learning first, entertainment second.
Edutainment Timelines
Type 19
Flight
Simulator
on analog
computer
1943
1930’s
Educational
software for
Main-frame
computers
Plato TICIT
System 1963
1960
1950’s
Oregon Trail
(no graphics)
1971
1960’s
Apple II
platform for
educational
software
Math Blaster
(drill & practice)
PC
Software
Reader Rabbit
and simulation
games like
SimCity2000
1983
1980’s-1990’s
1990’s
1977
1970’s
1980’s
1990’s
Internet based
educational
games like Nick
Jr., PBS Kids,
Disney, etc.
Today
Today
Skinner
Reasons for behavior are
environmental or extrinsic.
•Operant conditioning—The frequency of a behavior
will increase if it is rewarded.
•Any age-appropriate skill can be taught using five
principles to remedy the problems:
•Give the learner immediate feedback.
Break down the task into small steps.
•Repeat the directions as many times as possible.
Work from the most simple to the most complex
tasks.
•Give positive reinforcement.
Back
Piaget’s Theory of Equilibration:
Go play a video game
you whippersnappers!
People learn through a balance of
assimilation (previous knowledge)
and accommodation (changed behavior to
account for new knowledge).
Mental maps (schemas) help us to
understand our environment.
An effective educational game starts by
introducing familiar schemas (categories of knowledge),
or scenarios and elicits extensive critical thinking and
problem-solving skills through engaging play.
Back
Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction (applied to games…)
Learning skills from a game and building on them either from level to
level or game to game.
Players must know how they are doing or there’s no incentive to continue.
Scores, questions, verbal feedback. Without appropriate feedback,
the players can’t know if they are progressing towards their goal.
Responding to the game, which is the essence of any game.
Learning how to play is accomplished within the game, not by
reading manuals. Hints are sometimes given along the way.
Part of the game that provides encouragement and challenge.
Each level of the game requires players to build on knowledge and skills
acquired in the previous level.
Includes the “back story” and describes how one wins the game.
In games it’s referred to a “attract mode”. It’s when the
game appears to be playing itself.
Back
Back
-Created by Don Rawitsch, a history professor in 1971, it combined
strategy gameplay while giving players an understanding of what early
pioneers had to survive during the long journey. It is based on the
familiar “puzzle/quest” schema (see also Myst).
Back
-Developed by Jan Davidson,
it incorporated drill and
practice with positive and
negative reinforcement.
Click on this lovely chart to learn
more about learning theories!
Back
First developed by Will Wright in the
1980’s, SIM’s simulation products are
the best-selling PC games of all time.
Back
Sources
Becker, K. (Director) (2005, June 15). How are games educational? Learning
theories embodied in games. DiGRA 2005 Conference. Lecture conducted
from Digital Games Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2007). Third generation educational use of computer games.
Journal of Educational Media and Hypermedia, 16(3), 263-81.
Green, M., & Nell-McNeese, M. (2007). Using edutainment software to enhance
online learning. International Journal on E-Learning, 6, 5-16.
Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J. B., & Mizell, A. P. (2003). Teaching and learning with
technology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Rice, J. (2007). Assessing higher order thinking in video games. Journal of
Technology and Teacher Education, 15(1), 87-100.