Computer Games in Education Project

What aspects of games may contribute to education?

Aspects of computer games
Game play can be competitive, co-operative or individualistic. The content and contexts
embodied in games tend to reflect the interests, fantasies and aspirations of their majority
user group, who are young and male. So, for example, many games involve various aspects
of action adventure in which a variety of more or less humanoid opponents can be violently
overcome. Others are to do with excelling in sport, completing dangerous missions to
retrieve or collect things, or taking on the persona of a warrior or hero and employing a
strategy to win. Games use technology to represent reality or to embody fantasy. They
provide an environment in which action can be practised or rehearsed with, ultimately, little
consequence. Games are played to win or to achieve a goal. It is the playing of the game that
is entertaining, with the end result satisfying the majority of players only if challenges have
been encountered and difficulties conquered. Table 1 identifies several features of games that
can contribute to the players’ engagement with the software.

Table 1: Aspects of games

Technological Narrative Personal
Graphics Novelty Logic
Sound Story line Memory
Interactivity Curiosity Reflexes
Complexity Mathematical skills
Fantasy Challenge
Problem solving
Visualisation

Some of these aspects might be usefully incorporated into educational software: visualisation,
for example, is a key cognitive strategy, and problem solving skills are critical for the
development of independent and resourceful young people.

What is captivating for players about games tends to be their structure rather than their
content. Structure involves dynamic visuals, interaction, and the presence of a goal and rules
that govern play. The key to motivation is winning while remaining challenged. Game
playing can be thought of as intrinsically motivating; it is engaged in for its own sake and not
to receive external rewards such as money – although the levels gained in game play may
contribute to status within a group of players. Intrinsic motivations for playing are the
challenge, fantasy, curiosity and control that games afford. An important aspect of the
‘control’ offered by games is that, while the computer initiates some actions, the user initiates
others. It is this adaptive interactivity that makes games attractive.

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Computer Games in Education Project web site:
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Advantages of games software
A striking feature of games software is its power to motivate. Motivation, or the will to
continue to use the software, is the end product of a mixture of psychological effects.
However, the action is not simply to carry on with the game because it has novelty value or
through interest in operating a highly sophisticated machine. The software induces
conditions within the player which encourage them to continue their involvement with their
role as game player. Such conditions include satisfaction, desire, anger, absorption, interest,
excitement, enjoyment, pride in achievement, and the (dis)approbation of peers and of
others. It is in provoking and harnessing some of these emotions and their consequences that
games software might benefit education. Put another way, people like games which are fun
to play. Different people define ‘fun’ in a range of ways, so for now it seems most useful to
consider fun and motivation as part of the same effect. For many games players the ultimate
motivation is mastery – the promise that with enough energy and concentration you might
‘master the machine’, or at least the software. Table 2 highlights features that contribute to
motivation.

Table 2: Motivation
What indicates motivation? • independent work
• self-directed problem posing
• persistence
• pleasure in learning
What generates motivation? • active participation
• intrinsic and prompt feedback
• challenging but achievable goals
• a mix of uncertainty and open-endedness
What can motivation usefully • collaborative interaction
support? • peer scaffolding of learning
• creative competition or co-operation
• equal opportunities
What does sustained motivation • a version of reality
rely on? • relevance to the user
• recognisable and desirable roles for players
What are problems with • motivation may lead to obsession
motivation? • motivation may cause transfer of fantasy into
reality
• motivation may induce egotism

A clear advantage of games is the ‘play’ environment created. Play during childhood has an
important role in psychological, social and intellectual development, and computer games
may offer opportunities that complement ‘real’ play. For example, games have rules which
permit the player to choose what to do within limits. With no limits, or with limits which are
too severe, there is no game. Playing computer games with their defined rules can help
learners to understand why rules are necessary and what rules are sensible. However, the
prevalence of information about ‘cheats’ for games within the community of games players
suggests that there is a belief that rules are to be side-stepped or are only for other people,
especially novices. There is, however, a danger in interpreting the word ‘cheat’ in its
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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
traditional sense of ‘breaking rules’. The meaning used in the computer context is quite
different, perhaps more akin to ‘inside knowledge’ that an expert may possess. It seems that
knowing how to find and use cheats is embedded in the culture of the games player,
therefore collecting information about cheats is actually part of the game – another
challenge.

Games allow the player to act in role. In this safe environment, where action ultimately has
no consequence, role play can increase the comprehension of what it is that a specific role
actually entails. Role play may also increase the ability to judge the effectiveness of action
taken and provide an indication of its likely outcomes.

A final characteristic of effective games software is that it is often very good in terms of the
sophistication of the user interface and/or content. This is expected by games players – they
will not, as a rule, tolerate games which are ‘second rate’. This has an important implication,
as the best software tends to be expensive to produce. The high cost can only be justified
commercially when the likely returns on investment are also high – ie, if many copies will be
sold. So, to attain quality in educational (or any other) software to match that of the best-
selling games, it may be important to ensure a wide appeal and the potential of selling many
copies. Perhaps only then will developers be able to involve the range of talent for the
required amount of time to produce ‘blockbuster educational software’.

Games require the use of logic, memory, problem solving and critical thinking skills,
visualisation and discovery. Their use requires that players manipulate objects using electronic
tools and develop an understanding of the game as a complex system. Collaborative game
playing necessitates the development of social skills, for example in order to decide on, define
and agree goals. All of these features could be usefully incorporated into educational
software.

Disadvantages of games software

It is often difficult to pitch games at the right level of interest and challenge for the user.
Games may be too easy or too difficult to play, with a decrease in motivation in either case.
Games developed for the home market can often take a long time to work through, which
could be a problem in schools with their time constraints and set curriculum. Games are not
universally well designed and are subject to the generic software problems of a confusing
interface, insufficient feedback for the user and illogical rules or constraints within the game.
As mentioned earlier, motivation can be a positive force, but very motivating games can be
addictive in ways that ultimately do not benefit the player.

Because more males than females play games as a leisure activity, much games software is
gender specific. Males and females seem to prefer different styles of games. Some games
software is successfully marketed for girls. However from the players’ point of view it seems
that, while ‘female’ software is for girls only, male software is for everyone. From an
educator’s point of view, this topic can generate productive discussion based on the opinions
and ideas of young people who do and do not play computer games. Educational settings
until recently have commonly required teacher intervention to provide an environment for

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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
females to use computers. However, the current generation of girls raised with computers as
ambient may not consider computers, and games, to be naturally the province of boys.

A related problem is that games environments are peopled with violent and stereotyped
characters, and the roles game players adopt may require or satisfy the need for aggression
and extreme control seeking. Because there is no opportunity for reflection on this
‘behaviour’ during or after the game, aggression and violence are implicitly condoned and
indeed seem essential. In a games environment this is not a problem: it is in the transfer of
attitudes or beliefs about acceptable behaviour to reality that the difficulty lies. Fortunately,
most games players do not transfer their game skills in shooting, physical violence and vicious
destruction to their everyday lives. In education, it may be critical to acknowledge the place
of games and to discuss these difficult issues without trying to transgress too far into the
privacy of the games culture.

A further disadvantage is that computers are designed for single users and that collaboration
may be entirely superficial. Players may collaborate by taking turns, or by giving one another
advice, but this collaboration is not educationally effective. Productive collaboration involves
the learners with each other’s thoughts in the process known as interthinking. Interthinking
allows people to combine their mental resources so that they can jointly solve problems, or
plan and carry out actions together. The most useful medium for interthinking is talk, because
of the way it allows rapid reflection and response. Those fluent with keyboards can also carry
out interthinking by using electronic networks, but speaking and listening is the young
learner’s primary access to the minds of other people. The ability to engage in interthinking
may be of crucial importance to the child’s development as an independent learner. If games
software can be annexed to support interthinking, it will be invaluable. At present, this is not
the focus of computer games. Generally, conflict and disagreement with others in a group
playing the game makes as little difference as co-operation.

Computer games and education: some research findings

The following points are taken from a range of research dealing with computers in education.
It may be useful to consider these and see how well they fit with personal experience.

• Adventure formats may best support the development of resources for teaching and
learning.
• When children are taught how to work together using software, there can be positive
results in both academic achievement and interpersonal relations.
• Whether learning is enhanced by work at the computer depends on the whole learning
context: the curriculum, the activities of teachers and learners, their perceptions of the
learning goals, and their social interaction. Simply putting children into groups does not
generate co-operative learning.
• Teachers play a significant role in ensuring effective learning. Significant teacher support
is necessary if ‘games in classrooms’ is going to be viable – in the areas of using the game
paradigm, and in using and managing the technology.

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Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
• The task or activity in a co-operative game should be designed so that there is both
individual accountability and positive interdependence.

What needs to be investigated?

This section identifies some areas for consideration – issues that we do not know enough
about.

• Games for more than one player: multi-user interfaces and shared spaces to
facilitate collaboration, either synchronous (interactive) or asynchronous.
• The development and use of the facility for asynchronous play of games (such as e-
mail chess).
• The anonymity of players, and its advantages and disadvantages over networks.
• The ability to maintain a permanent record of the game interaction for later analysis
and reflection: connected to this, an investigation of different turn-taking systems
such as giving/taking, opportunistic control, a serialised token-passing mechanism
in which only the player with the token can play and must then pass this on to a
designated other player.
• The relationship between people’s cognitive, practical and social skills and their
ability to play games.
• The effects of stereotyping and violence on the user.
• Motivating disengaged pupils.
• The effects of, or reasons for, game playing.
• Developing language or mathematical skills.
• An analysis of what learners perceive as goals and how they go about achieving
them.
• Gender factors in computer games play.

The electronic games culture

In order to understand and develop educational applications of games software, it is
important to identify and acknowledge some aspects of the culture in which computer games
are played.

Positive aspects
There are some strongly positive aspects. Individual gaming can promote thinking, reflecting
and creativity. Playing is also a social activity. Players working together are involved in
conversation about games and while playing games. As with all communities, those who
belong can be part of a group with similar concerns, interests and goals. They can expect the
support and understanding of this group. They can expect to exchange information and
ideas with others who have access to the common and distinctive terminology of the genre,
and to be able to relate to others with whom they share specialist knowledge. They can
progress from newcomer to expert. There is much value in belonging to a social organisation.
Those who play computer games can take upon themselves some of the mystique, glitziness
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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
and power which rub off on those linked with high-specification technology. The community
of computer games players can be characterised largely as young, male, at least fairly well-off,
imaginative, vibrant, technologically minded and bright.

Negative aspects
There are also negative aspects. Computer games can be addictive or be considered addictive
even if not actually acting so. Addiction is identified by compulsive involvement with games
play, lack of interest in other activities, association mainly with other addicts and diminished
achievement in school. This problem affects only a minority, but even that is too many, and
strategies for avoiding the problem should be considered seriously. At worst, the community
of games players can be stereotyped as young males who revel in violent fantasy, cannot
relate well to reality, are isolated, likely to have social problems which may become severe,
are unhealthily constantly at play, and who relate better to machines than other people.

If games are to become part of educational settings, it is crucial to question these stereotypes
and to ensure that the culture of games players in education conforms to neither. It is
stereotypes that resist change and not people; therefore, by interrogating conceptions of
these stereotypes it is possible to avoid falling into the error of believing them to be exclusive
descriptors of games players.

Guidelines for the design of educational games

In a way, the guidelines for the design of computer games for use in educational settings
should be no different from those for any educational software. Software should incorporate
or embody a sound educational philosophy, and should have clearly stated educational
objectives and content. Design teams should include teachers, with feedback from child
evaluators incorporated during development. Software should be designed to be inclusive of
a wide range of aptitudes and abilities, providing support for the learner and some guidance
for teachers planning to use the software. Software should acknowledge the role of the
teacher. If collaboration is an aim, the software should provide support and prompts to
ensure that effective discussion takes place.

For example, games software can offer teaching and learning environments such as a story
format, using fantasy to provoke curiosity, allowing the learner choice and control, and
providing opportunities for creativity. Working within this environment, the learner should be
provided with opportunities for reflection and evaluation. There should be access to feedback
on performance. The route through the software should be clear, with constant access to
information to aid navigation and some way to record progress if required. Interactivity
should be purposeful, to do with achieving learning objectives or providing the learner with
opportunities for understanding through collaboration, investigation or experience. There
should be the chance to correct and to learn from errors in order to improve performance
and achieve goals. Positive feedback should be used to help learners to understand their own
progress, and for groups to evaluate their choices and decisions. The tasks set by the software
should be designed to encourage both individual accountability and productive
interdependence.

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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
Summary
A study of computer games for entertainment provides information about aspects of games
which might usefully be incorporated into software for schools. For example, motivation is
one aspect of games which is often cited as a reason for use of ICT to help learners to achieve
their aims. The features of games software which encourage motivation can be identified and
can become part of the design of software for schools. Games for entertainment may provide
environments in which learners develop key skills such as strategic planning, visualisation and
memorisation.

Links and further information

Web Links
1. http://www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/seminar/index.html
Inclusion design guides

2. http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/evalsheet.pdf
What teachers look for in software for teaching and learning

3. http://meno.open.ac.uk/default.html
The Multimedia Education and Narrative Organisation project

4. http://www.knowledge.hut.fi/projects/games/gamelinks.html
Comprehensive links to articles and papers - Games in Education

Magazines
1. http://www.whsmith.co.uk/whs/Go.asp?bic=MC
WH Smiths Magazine section for Computer Graphic Imaging: PC Gamer: PSM2
(Playstation Games) amongst others.

Bibliography
1. Ager, R (1998) Information and Communications Technology in Primary Schools:
Children or Computers in Control?, London, David Fulton Publishers

2. Beavis, C (1998) Computer Games, culture and curriculum, in Snyder, I (ed) (1998)
Page to Screen: Taking Literature into the Electronic Era, London: Routledge

3. Cavallari, B, Hepberg, J and Harper, B (1992) ‘Adventure games in education: A

Review’, Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 8(2), pp 172–184

4. Cesarone, B (1994) Video Games and Children, ERIC digest,

www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed365477.html

5. Cesarone, B (1998) Video Games: Research, Ratings, Recommendations, ERIC digest,

www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed424038.html

6. Hancock, C and Osterwell, S (1996) Zoombinis and the Art of Mathematical Play,
Cambridge, MA: TERC, www.terc.edu

7. Hoyles, C and Noss, R (199?) Playing with (and without) words, Institute of
Education, University of London

8. Inkpen, K, Booth, K, Gribble, S and Klawe, M (1995) Give and Take: Children
Collaborating on One Computer, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, E-GEMS
project, http://taz.cs.ubc.ca/egems/home.html.

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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
9. Inkpen, K, Upitis, R, Klawe, M, Lawry, J, Anderson, A, Ndunda, M, Sedighian, K,
Leroux, S, Hsu, D (1994) “We Have Never-Forgetful Flowers in Our Garden”: Girls’
Response to Electronic Games, Journal of Computing in Mathematics and Science
Education, 13(4), pp 383–403

10. Klawe, M (1998) Designing Game-based Interactive Multimedia Mathematics

Learning Activities, University of British Columbia, Vancouver: E-GEMS project,
http://taz.cs.ubc.ca/egems/home.html

11. Klawe, M and Phillips, E (1995) A Classroom Study: Electronic Games Engage
Children As Researchers, University of British Columbia, Vancouver: E-GEMS project,
http://taz.cs.ubc.ca/egems/home.html

12. Livingstone, S and Bovill, M (Young People and Media)

13. Murray, M, Mokros, J and Rubin, A (1998), Where’s the Math in Computer Games?,
Cambridge, MA: TERC, www.terc.edu

14. Papert, S (1998) Does Easy Do It? Children, Games and Learning, Game Developer,
June, p 88

15. Sanger, J (1997) Young Children, Videos and Computer Games: Issues for Teachers and
Parents, London: The Falmer Press

16. Sedighian, K and Sedighian, A (1996) Can Educational Computer Games Help
Educators Learn about the Psychology of Learning Mathematics in Children?
University of British Columbia, Vancouver: E-GEMS project,
http://taz.cs.ubc.ca/egems/home.html

17. Whitebread, D (1997) Developing children’s problem-solving: The educational uses

of adventure games, in McFarlane, A (ed) (1997) Information Technology and
Authentic Learning, London: Routledge

HCI
1. http://home.fireplug.net/~rshand/streams/science/box2.html
James Gibson (who invented the word ‘affordance’)

2. http://www/ibm.com.ibm/hci/guidelines/design/realthings/ch3s9.html
IBM information about HCI

3. http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve
Steve Draper, Glasgow University: Interface styles

4. Norman, D A (1990) The design of everyday things. New York: Doublday

5. Thimbleby, H, O’Connaill, B and Thomas P (Eds) People and Computers XII:

Proceedings of HCI ‘97. London: Springer-Verlag

6. Bodker, S (1991) Through the Interface: A Human Approach to User Interface Design.
New Jersey: Lawrence Erlaum Associates Inc

7. Raskin, J (2000) The Human Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive
Systems. Harlow: Addison Wesley

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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html
Other information about games in education
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/edit-play/index.html
How children use edutainment software to tell stories
This report describes a small-scale action research project which observed primary
schoolchildren’s uses of ‘edutainment’ software for telling or making stories. It was
commissioned by the British Film Institute as a pilot study, and could lead to more extended
studies of children’s creative work with moving images.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/edit-play/index.html
Video games: research, ratings, recommendations
Video games have remained popular since their introduction in the United States in the
1970s. A trend toward increased violence and realism in electronic games in the 1980s and
1990s has prompted concern from parents and educators. This digest reviews research on the
demographics and effects of video game playing, discusses game rating systems, and offers
recommendations for parents. For the purpose of the digest, video games, or electronic
games, include computer games, games on console systems, games in arcades,
‘edutainment’ games, and virtual reality games.

http://www.kidsdomain.com/review/features/index.html
Games review site with information for education

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© Becta, August 2001
Computer Games in Education Project web site:
http://www.becta.org.uk/technology/software/curriculum/computergames/index.html