Playing games in Higher Education Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Module, Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice,

MEL SIG 3 Feb 12 University of Salford

http://www.flickr.com/photos/almarams/3902611177/

Life must be lived

as play. You can

discover more about a person

in an hour of play than in a

year of conversation.

Chrissi Nerantzi Kirsty Pope Neil Currie

What is this all about?

• What are universities for?

• Playing games in HE?

• A mixed-reality game within the PGCAP

• You and games for learning

What does the university

embody for you?

Prof. Anne Boddington Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton (UK) defined universities as a place and a space to

• sustain conversations

• shape the future of human life

• stimulate innovation

• shape new structures of and for learning

• shape new pedagogies

Learning through play at University? Have you experienced it before?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jan/02/25-predictions-25-years

Horizon Report 2011

“Proponents of game-based learning in higher education point to its role in supporting collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, the 21st century competencies needed by American students outlined by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in late 2010 in the National Education Technology Plan. Advocates also underscore the productive role of play, which allows for experimentation, the exploration of identities, and even failure. Gaming also contributes to the development of a particular disposition well-suited to an information-based culture and rapid change.” Horizon Report 2011, Game-Based Learning (Adoption 2-3 years)

Horizon Report 2011

“One area in which there is currently a great deal of development is social games, especially those that can be taken along and played anywhere at all using a mobile device. With social games, players are never far from a game environment, whether it be a mobile in a pocket, a desktop or laptop computer, or a networked gaming console. With this kind of ubiquity, games are becoming a pervasive part of everyday life, and our notions of what constitutes a game are changing as fast as the games themselves.” Horizon Report 2011, Game-Based Learning (Adoption 2-3 years)

“Sell your bargains” game

• a mixed reality game to spice up teaching and learning

• immerse in out-of the box thinking based on authentic problem scenarios from practice

• engage in multidisciplinary conversations and collaborative learning

• being resourceful and utilising what we have, can get and what we can do with it

• using available technologies for teaching and learning

mixed-reality game ‘sell your bargains’ to spice up teaching and learning in HE direct link http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrissinerantzi/6315009414/

mixed reality games in Higher Education

Dr. Nicola Whitton Research Fellow, Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University

Blog: http://playthinklearn.net/ Twitter: @nicwhitton

“The rationale behind the use of alternative reality games is that the use of problem-based, experiential and collaborative activities in alternative reality games makes them ideally suited to teaching in higher education; particularly as they enable players to become involved in both playing and shaping the narrative as it emerges.” (Whitton, 2010, 87)

“human appetite for making things”

(Gauntlett, 2011, p. 61)

David Gauntlett Professor of Media and Communications at the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) University of Westminster http://www.makingisconnecting.org/

the social meaning of creativity

Who is who

• Postgraduate

Certificate in Academic Practice

• Multi-disciplinary programme

• Teaching qualification and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy

www.salford.ac.uk

Fabrizio

Kirsty Neil Deaglan

Frances

John

Fiona

Where we are

Stage 1: Select… Identify a topic you feel students struggle

to grasp in your subject area…

Stage 2: Invest… In pairs, what prop could

you purchase to explain

this…

1 hour to pick, purchase

and present…

Stage 3: Surprise… Digital story: Blog, share,

reflect and demonstrate

your ideas and rationale

to your students and

peers…

What were the surprises?

“It was so much fun I think I forgot I was learning, but then maybe that was the point!”

“Ho vinto, ho vinto! (I won : )”

data wordle

It was fun. Working with others from other disciplines but finding a lot of common

ground. It was beneficial to get different perspectives of a difficult problem.

Then coming together to see what others had done & their rationale was also really

useful.

I found it highly beneficial. I never thought I could exploit our natural curiosity to explore and play as a medium to learn; through my active

engagement as a player/learner in the game I realised that I could design this element in my academic modules.

I have also realised that this is a good way to foster deep rather than

superficial learning.

Furthermore the game was pleasurable and enjoyable, and although it had a title and quite a rigid structure, it didn't have any extrinsic goals, i.e.

there was no prescribed learning that ought to have occurred.

Thanks to this freedom, or “gaps” (as said in yesterday’s session), learning occurred creatively. Specifically my learning was enhanced by moving

about in a physical space (which could be recreated with a board game in class through an element of make-believe). I felt that this way of learning caters for different kinds of learners and is easily adaptable to how you

are feeling at that moment in time when learning occurs.

Finally it really gave me a boost in experimenting with digital interactive tools for learning and teaching.

I really enjoyed the element of having to think 'on your feet' and develop the ideas as you went along. It was really interesting working with others from a different discipline to myself as this helped me to

see the different perspectives that people can have on the same topic. I enjoyed the element of taking

photos/videos and using these to help to tell our story at the end.

• fun and enjoyable experience • learning through play (not experienced before) • playing with colleagues from other disciplines • partnering • using different learning spaces • freedom despite structure • thinking outside-the-box • experimenting with digital tools • ideas to use with own students

benefits

• One game organiser

• Technologies

• Number of players (7 out of 32)

• Complexity of Stage 3

• Digital stories

• Challenging all players

• Public voting (16)

challenges possible solutions

• More facilitators (1 per 10 players)

• Support (initial staff development, ongoing)

• Mainstream offer (game for all) + students

• Scaffolding Stage 3 (case study template)

• Further dissemination (institutional repository, CPD session, publication)

• Build-in extension activities

• More votes (channels to promote, prize)

ripple effect

“I think I could use it with small groups of students as part of their pbl process to make it more interesting for them. I think it would encourage them to demonstrate their learning in a more interesting and challenging way.”

“I don't think I would chose to use this experience with my students. I feel some of the more traditional techniques would offer a better learning experience such as Problem Based Learning.”

How can we convince more academics that

learning through games can really work?

A BIG thank you to Kirsty, Fiona, Frances, Neil, Fabrizio, Deaglan and John from the University of Salford

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejonesphoto/2932001534/

References • Barrows, H. S. and Tamblyn, R. M. 1980. Problem-based Learning. An Approach to Medical Education. New

York: Springer. • Boud, D, Cohen, R, Sampson, J (2001) Peer Learning in Higher Education: Learning from and with each

other, London: Kogan. • Burnard, Pamela; Craft, Anna; Cremin, Teresa; Duffy, Bernadette; Hanson, Ruth; Keene, Jean; Haynes,

Lindsay and Burns, Dawn (2006). Documenting ‘possibility thinking’: a journey of collaborative enquiry. International Journal of Early Years Education, 14(3), pp. 243–262., available at http://oro.open.ac.uk/6546/1/6546.pdf

• Glynis, C (online) Threshold Concepts: Undergraduate Teaching, Postgraduate Training and Professional Development, A short introduction and bibliography, available at http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html

• Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium, available at http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2011/

• Meyer, J.H.F. and Land, R. (2003) Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: linkages to ways of thinking and practising, In: Rust, C. (ed.), Improving Student Learning - Theory and Practice Ten Years On. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD), pp 412-424.

• Mezirow, J. Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. • Rogers, C. R. (1983). Freedom to Learn for the 80's. Columbus: Merrill. • Schön D (1983) The reflective practitioner. Basic Books: New York. • Whitton, N (2010) Learning with Digital Games. A Practical Guide to Engaging Students in Higher

Education, open and flexible learning series, Oxon: Routledge. • Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report.

Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Twitter @pgcap

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Learning in Higher Education through play Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Module, Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice

http://www.flickr.com/photos/almarams/3902611177/

PGCAP programme site at http://www.adu.salford.ac.uk/

html/pgcert/intro.html

contact Chrissi Nerantzi, the game organiser at

c.nerantzi@salford.ac.uk