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Chapter 6
The Dynamics of Video Gaming: Influences Affecting Game Play and Learning ............................... 78
Sandra Schamroth Abrams, St. John’s University, USA
Section 2
Applying Theory to Game Design
Chapter 7
Exploratory Digital Games for Advanced Skills: Theory and Application .......................................... 92
Juan Carlos Sanchez-Lozano, Concordia University, Canada
Chapter 8
Designing Educational Games: A Pedagogical Approach .................................................................. 108
Stephen Tang, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Martin Hanneghan, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Chapter 9
Moving to the Next Level: Designing Embedded Assessments into
Educational Games ............................................................................................................................. 126
Jody S. Underwood, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
Stacy Kruse, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
Peter Jakl, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
Chapter 10
The Design of a Health Literacy Game: Face the Case ...................................................................... 141
Jennifer McCabe, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 11
The Application of ‘Activity Theory’ in the Design of Educational
Simulation Games ............................................................................................................................... 154
Paul Peachey, University of Glamorgan, UK
Chapter 12
The Learning Toolkit: The Design, Development, Testing and Dissemination of
Evidence-Based Educational Software ............................................................................................... 168
Philip C. Abrami, Concordia University, Canada
Robert S. Savage, McGill University, Canada
Gia Deleveaux, Concordia University, Canada
Anne Wade, Concordia University, Canada
Elizabeth Meyer, Concordia University, Canada
Catherine LeBel, Concordia University, Canada
Section 3
Using Games in Education
Chapter 13
Games and the Development of Students’ Civic Engagement and
Ecological Stewardship....................................................................................................................... 189
Janice L. Anderson, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, USA
Chapter 14
Quests and Achievements in the Classroom ....................................................................................... 206
Matthew Barton, St. Cloud State University, USA
Kevin Moberley, Old Dominion University, USA
Chapter 15
Modifying Popular Board Games to Illustrate Complex Strategic Concepts:
A Comparison with a Professional Computer Simulation .................................................................. 226
Scott Gallagher, James Madison University, USA
David Cavazos, James Madison University, USA
Stephen Harper, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 16
Animated Computer Education Games for Students with ADHD:
Evaluating their Development and Effectiveness as Instructional Tools ............................................ 235
Kim B. Dielmann, University of Central Arkansas, USA
Julie Meaux, University of Central Arkansas, USA
Chapter 17
Adult Learning and Virtual Worlds Simulations ................................................................................. 252
Michele D. Estes, James Madison University, USA
Randell Snow, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 18
Using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Video Games to Facilitate Habits of Mind:
Spore™ in the Seventh Grade Life Science Classroom ..................................................................... 262
Michael A. Evans, Virginia Tech, USA
Chapter 19
“Click, You’re It!” The Role of Games in the K-12 Educational Setting .......................................... 278
Karen Kellison, James Madison University, USA
George Font, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 20
Video Games in Education: Opportunities for Learning Beyond Research Claims and
Advertising Hype ................................................................................................................................ 293
P.G. Schrader, University of Nevada, USA
Kimberly A. Lawless, University of Illinois, USA
Hasan Deniz, University of Nevada, USA
Chapter 21
Benefits of Video and Eye Toy Gaming for Children with Autism .................................................... 315
Nava Silton, Fordham University, USA
Ann Higgins D’Alessandro, Fordham University, USA
Chapter 22
Gaming and Simulation: Training, and the Military ........................................................................... 341
Sheila Seitz, Windwalker Corporation, USA
Courtney Uram, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 23
Design-Researching Gamestar Mechanic: Integrating Sound Learning Theory into a
Game about Game Design .................................................................................................................. 358
Ivan Alex Games, Michigan State University, USA
Chapter 24
Second Life as a Tool for Engaging Students Across the Curriculum ................................................ 378
Kathryn E. Stevens, James Madison University, USA
S.E. Kruck, James Madison University, USA
Jeremy Hawkins, James Madison University, USA
Suzanne C. Baker, James Madison University, USA
Chapter 25
Collaborative Online Roleplay for Adult Learners ............................................................................. 393
Paul Pivec, Deakin University, Australia
Maja Pivec, University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Chapter 26
ExerLearning®: Movement, Fitness, Technology and Learning ........................................................ 409
Judy Shasek, ExerLearning
Chapter 27
Designing Serious Games for People with Dual Diagnosis: Learning Disabilities and
Sensory Impairments .......................................................................................................................... 424
David J. Brown, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Penny Standen, University of Nottingham, UK
Lindsay Evett, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Steven Battersby, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Nick Shopland, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Compilation of References ............................................................................................................... 440
About the Contributors .................................................................................................................... 496
Index ................................................................................................................................................... 507
Detailed Table of Contents
Foreword . ............................................................................................................................................ xx
Preface . ..............................................................................................................................................xxii
Acknowledgment.............................................................................................................................. xxvii
Section 1
Theoretical Considerations
Chapter 1
Games and Simulations in Training: Factors to Consider When Designing for
Adult Learners......................................................................................................................................... 1
Courtney Uram, James Madison University, USA
Diane Wilcox, James Madison University, USA
Jane Thall, James Madison University, USA
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of the research literature on the use of gaming and
simulation in adult and professional education. The chapter will describe the difference between games
and simulation; provide a review of the history of games in adult education; investigate important au-
dience characteristics, including generational differences; examine how games affect motivation; and
discuss the application of learning theories and instructional models to game design. The impact of games
on learning, especially for those born after 1980, is profound. Games and simulations delivered using
a variety of technologies may be an integral part of the educational mix offered by corporate trainers
in the near future.
Chapter 2
Explaining the Educational Power of Games........................................................................................ 17
Timo Lainema, Turku School of Economics, Finland
Eeli Saarinen, Turku School of Economics, Finland
This chapter introduces two views of learning relevant for game-based learning: experiential learning
theory and the constructivist view on learning. We will first discuss, how these views explain learning
from a perspective that is relevant for game-based learning. We will also evaluate, how these views on
learning relate to assessment of learning through gaming. Last, we will concretize the diversity of the
potential learning outcomes of gaming: how, for example, the learner’s previous knowledge, personality,
the team members affect the learning experience and outcome. According to constructivism, learning is
a constructive process in which the learner is building an internal representation of knowledge. This is
something to which game-based education clearly adds value to.
Chapter 3
Educational Simulations: Learning from the Past and Ensuring
Success in the Future ............................................................................................................................ 32
David A. Guralnick, Kaleidoscope Learning, USA
Christine Levy, Kaleidoscope Learning, USA
Learn-by-doing simulations can provide tremendously effective learning. This chapter examines previous
and current work in the area of educational simulations and looks ahead toward several potential futures
in the field. The chapter includes a number of simulation-based success stories and case studies from
past years, along with a discussion of why they worked as well as what could have been done better. It
also describes approaches to ensure that a simulation is educationally effective while still being engag-
ing and even entertaining. In addition, the chapter includes a design and development process that can
be followed in order to maximize the educational value and usability of a simulation
Chapter 4
Models of Politics and Society in Video Games .................................................................................. 47
Tobias Bevc, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany
This essay will deal with the question of which models of social policy and social structures can be
found in video games. This chapter will examine the relationship between these models, the stories
(narrations) provided by the games, and the stories and models created by the players themselves. This
examination will be followed by a discussion of two types of virtual models of social politics and social
structures. In this discussion, light will be shed on the different models of social policy and social struc-
tures that appear in the context of video games. In analyzing these models within games, the question is
not whether video games have an influence. Rather, the question is what may children and adolescents
learn from “off-the-shelf” video games with respect to political education, political socialization and
the forming of political identity?
Chapter 5
A Proposed Framework for Studying Educational Virtual Worlds ....................................................... 65
Ricardo Javier Rademacher Mena, Futur-E-Scape, LLC, USA
There are several theories about entertainment and education. Some, like Caillois’ Play Domains,
categorize broad domains of play. Others, like Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, categorize narrowly
defined types of intelligences. To the author’s knowledge however, there has never been a mix of enter-
tainment and education theories in a single conceptual framework. In this chapter, a framework will be
systematically built called The Education and Entertainment (EE) Grid. This grid will showcase how
entertainment theories from Robert Caillois and Richard Bartle can be applied to educational contexts and
how educational theories from Benjamin Bloom and Howard Gardner can be applied to entertainment
contexts. A wide spectrum of education and entertainment theories will first be reviewed and special
attention will be given to the four theories comprising the EE Grid. Two individual grids, the ENT and
EDU Grids, will then be built as a preliminary step to constructing the first version of the EE Grid. Once
built, a comparison with other similar frameworks in the field of game design will be discussed. Finally,
a few hypothetical examples of how the EE Grid could be used will be presented.
Chapter 6
The Dynamics of Video Gaming: Influences Affecting Game Play and Learning ............................... 78
Sandra Schamroth Abrams, St. John’s University, USA
The idea of bridging literacies has been a topic of much research and theory, and educators continue
to struggle to help students understand how their learning transcends the classroom walls. Contribut-
ing to the discussion, this chapter focuses on factors influencing video game learning, examining the
decisions and game play of eight academically struggling eleventh grade males. Data from two related
qualitative studies reveal that direct and peripheral factors influenced students’ game play. Findings
from these two studies are important to the discussion of educational gaming because they can inform
educators of students’ struggles and successes in learning outside the classroom. Overall, the evaluation
of students’ video gaming can provide educators insight into the affordances of this digital literacy and
issues affecting student learning outside the classroom.
Section 2
Applying Theory to Game Design
Chapter 7
Exploratory Digital Games for Advanced Skills: Theory and Application .......................................... 92
Juan Carlos Sanchez-Lozano, Concordia University, Canada
Based on Cognitive Flexibility Theory, this chapter presents a framework for the conception, design,
and development of a knowledge network that can be used in exploratory instructional digital games.
The instructional structure consists of a set of nodes, each associated with a specific level of conceptual
restructuring and a set of resources, both perceptual and physical, that can help the learner/player achieve
resolution. The resulting conflict field is used to determine the game structure. Distributed and embod-
ied cognition research is used to link instructional objectives with available game resources at the task
level. As a result a better alignment is obtained between the instructional objectives and the game core
mechanics. The application of the framework is then illustrated by using it to outline the design process
of a game to learn computer programming.
Chapter 8
Designing Educational Games: A Pedagogical Approach .................................................................. 108
Stephen Tang, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Martin Hanneghan, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Play has been an informal approach to teach young ones the skills of survival for centuries. With advance-
ments in computing technology, many researchers believe that computer games1 can be used as a viable
teaching and learning tool to enhance a student’s learning. It is important that the educational content
of these games is well designed with meaningful game-play based on pedagogically sound theories to
ensure constructive learning. This chapter features theoretical aspects of game design from a pedagogi-
cal perspective. It serves as a useful guide for educational game designers to design better educational
games for use in game-based learning. The chapter provides a brief overview of educational games and
game-based learning before highlighting theories of learning that are relevant to educational games.
Selected theories of learning are then integrated into conventional game design practices to produce a
set of guidelines for educational games design.
Chapter 9
Moving to the Next Level: Designing Embedded Assessments into
Educational Games ............................................................................................................................. 126
Jody S. Underwood, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
Stacy Kruse, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
Peter Jakl, Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., USA
The educational research community has been experimenting with educational games with a focus on
pedagogy and curriculum, but little effort has been made to assess what students are actually learning
in these environments. Designing embedded assessments into games is one of the critical gateways to
creating learning tools that are maximally engaging for the learner, using sound pedagogical methodol-
ogy as a foundation. We review the research in this area and describe technology that facilitates near
real-time data collection through embedded assessments, visual data mining, inference mechanisms, and
dynamic individualization. We then describe a methodology for creating valid embedded assessments
and identify types of data that can be collected from gaming environments along with approaches for
analysis, all toward the goal of individualized adaptation.
Chapter 10
The Design of a Health Literacy Game: Face the Case ...................................................................... 141
Jennifer McCabe, James Madison University, USA
This chapter describes the design and development of a game that was created to teach undergraduate
students concepts related to health literacy. A brief discussion of the nature of games and how and why
they appeal to college students is followed by a synopsis of some of the literature that influenced the
design of the game in 2005. The chapter goes on to describe the game in detail, including the learning
objectives, gameplay elements, design challenges, and skills included. The chapter will conclude with
a discussion of some evaluations that were done on the game and direction for future development.
Chapter 11
The Application of ‘Activity Theory’ in the Design of Educational
Simulation Games ............................................................................................................................... 154
Paul Peachey, University of Glamorgan, UK
As you read this text you perform an activity. Activity is literally everything we do and yet we are
unaware of most of our operations. In this chapter, I will describe activity through a psychological lens
and explain how this relates to the process of learning. The conceptual instrument used for analysis is
‘activity theory’; a cultural-historical concept that was formulated in Russia during the 1920s. I will offer
suggestions as to how activity theory may be used in the design of computer simulation games directed
at education and highlight its conceptual underpinnings. In the latter part of the chapter, I offer possible
directions for further research in this field.
Chapter 12
The Learning Toolkit: The Design, Development, Testing and Dissemination of
Evidence-Based Educational Software ............................................................................................... 168
Philip C. Abrami, Concordia University, Canada
Robert S. Savage, McGill University, Canada
Gia Deleveaux, Concordia University, Canada
Anne Wade, Concordia University, Canada
Elizabeth Meyer, Concordia University, Canada
Catherine LeBel, Concordia University, Canada
In this chapter we summarize the design, development, testing, and dissemination of the Learning
Toolkit—currently a suite of three highly interactive, multimedia tools for learning. ABRACADABRA
is early literacy software designed to encourage the development of reading and writing skills of emerg-
ing readers, especially students at-risk of school failure. We highlight the important modular design
considerations underlying ABRACADABRA; how it scaffolds and supports both teachers and students;
the evidence on which it based; the results of field experiments done to date; and directions for future
research, development, and applications. We also present ePEARL and explain how it can be used with
ABRACADABRA to promote self-regulation, comprehension and writing. We briefly discuss ISIS-21
the prototype of a tool designed to enhance student inquiry skills and promote information literacy. As
an evidence-based toolkit available without charge to educators, we believe the suite of tools comprising
the Learning Toolkit break new ground in bringing research evidence to practice in ways that promote
wide scale and sustainable changes in teaching and learning using technology.
Section 3
Using Games in Education
Chapter 13
Games and the Development of Students’ Civic Engagement and
Ecological Stewardship....................................................................................................................... 189
Janice L. Anderson, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, USA
In recent years, researchers and classroom teachers have started to explore purposefully designed com-
puter/video games in supporting student learning. This interest in video and computer games has arisen
in part, because preliminary research on educational video and computer games indicates that leveraging
this technology has the potential to improve student motivation, interest, and engagement in learning
through the use of a familiar medium (Gee, 2005; Mayo, 2009; Squire, 2005; Shaffer, 2006). While most
of this early research has focused on the impact of games on academic and social outcomes, relatively
few studies have been conducted exploring the influence of games on civic engagement (Lenhart et al,
2008). This chapter will specifically look at how Quest Atlantis, a game designed for learning, can po-
tentially be utilized to facilitate the development of ecological stewardship among its players/students,
thereby contributing to a more informed democratic citizenry.
Chapter 14
Quests and Achievements in the Classroom ....................................................................................... 206
Matthew Barton, St. Cloud State University, USA
Kevin Moberley, Old Dominion University, USA
This chapter discusses how the quest structure and achievement systems so prevalent in popular vid-
eogames can help teachers and directors reform their pedagogy. The idea is to give teachers new ways
to guide and motivate students, investing them more fully in the course and encouraging them to deeply
explore the subject matter. The chapter provides theoretical support for this model as well as practical
advice on its implementation.
Chapter 15
Modifying Popular Board Games to Illustrate Complex Strategic Concepts:
A Comparison with a Professional Computer Simulation .................................................................. 226
Scott Gallagher, James Madison University, USA
David Cavazos, James Madison University, USA
Stephen Harper, James Madison University, USA
Simulations can be powerful tools in helping students learn about strategic management. This paper
discusses the value of simulations in helping to illustrate the importance of contingency, the impossi-
bility of a perfect strategy, planning ahead, and aligning internal resources to external environments in
strategic management classes. We also discuss the benefits that simulations can offer in going beyond
the book and class, being interesting, and the importance of instrumentality in facilitating student learn-
ing. This paper then compares self-reported student learning results for each of these variables for two
simulations, a professionally packaged simulation and a “home-brewed” one based on a popular board
game. We expected the professional simulation to do better on every variable except instrumentality.
Surprisingly, the “home-brewed” simulation scored better on most of the dimensions. Therefore, we
conclude by encouraging management educators to aggressively explore their instincts for simulation
learning opportunities
Chapter 16
Animated Computer Education Games for Students with ADHD:
Evaluating their Development and Effectiveness as Instructional Tools ............................................ 235
Kim B. Dielmann, University of Central Arkansas, USA
Julie Meaux, University of Central Arkansas, USA
Children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have difficulty main-
taining attention, controlling their activity level, and they typically demonstrate poor interpersonal re-
lationships skills. Because of their challenges, educational performance tends to suffer. Paradoxically,
when seated in front of a videogame or computer program they enjoy, the performance of individuals
with ADHD becomes similar to non-ADHD peers. The purpose of this chapter is to present a concep-
tual framework for understanding the factors that affect the outcome of individuals with ADHD, and
to demonstrate how instructional design models can be used to guide the design and implementation of
animated computer education games as instructional tools for this population. Specifically, the FIDGE
model and Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction are evaluated for their contributions to understanding the
unique technological needs of the ADHD learner.
Chapter 17
Adult Learning and Virtual Worlds Simulations ................................................................................. 252
Michele D. Estes, James Madison University, USA
Randell Snow, James Madison University, USA
This chapter will explore conditions for meaningful adult learning and explain how virtual environ-
ments and in-world simulations enable or discourage the development of intellectual skills in adults.
Adult learners possess particular characteristics that should influence instructional designs. Issues that
affect learning in the real world are also found in the virtual world. Particular problems of cognitive
and cultural dissonance in the virtual environment, finding and creating meaningful simulations, and
protecting the fidelity of authentic simulations in a public space are discussed. Recommendations and
future research directions are provided.
Chapter 18
Using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Video Games to Facilitate Habits of Mind:
Spore™ in the Seventh Grade Life Science Classroom ..................................................................... 262
Michael A. Evans, Virginia Tech, USA
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a theoretically based argument for using commercial-off-the-shelf
(COTS) video games to teach life science topics in the seventh grade science classroom. Specifically,
the game Spore™, a turn-based strategy game, will be examined as a potential tool and environment
for cultivating knowledge building and model-based reasoning. Though the diversity in methods of the
reasoning processes are great and varied, researchers believe that “scientists’ work involves building
and refining models of the world” (Lehrer & Schauble, 2006, p. 371). The argument forwarded is that
Spore™, contextualized by purposeful efforts of instructors and researchers, may facilitate the devel-
opment and refinement of scientific habits of mind and computational thinking. An exploratory case
study derived from an overview of five sections of a seventh grade life science course (n=85), where
a two-week lesson on evolutionary biology was significantly revised, illustrates opportunities for and
challenges to incorporating COTS games into formal middle school science classroom.
Chapter 19
“Click, You’re It!” The Role of Games in the K-12 Educational Setting .......................................... 278
Karen Kellison, James Madison University, USA
George Font, James Madison University, USA
Video games are serious work for today’s students. 93% of the K-12 population plays video games on
a regular basis. Educators are now pressed to determine the appropriate integration of this technology
into the pedagogy of K-12 classrooms. Research indicates that there are positive effects from playing
serious video games, those that aim to teach something. Students are motivated and engaged during
such game play. Some speculate that players are using and developing cognitive brain capabilities that
have been dormant. The question is whether or not these games, if adequately designed, will teach more
than just the skill of playing the game. This chapter takes a look at the evolution of play and games in
K-12 education and then seeks to define serious computer games in terms of positive design elements
and integration techniques for K-12 classrooms. In conclusion, a research agenda that moves educational
gaming forward is explored.
Chapter 20
Video Games in Education: Opportunities for Learning Beyond Research Claims and
Advertising Hype ................................................................................................................................ 293
P.G. Schrader, University of Nevada, USA
Kimberly A. Lawless, University of Illinois, USA
Hasan Deniz, University of Nevada, USA
There has been an abundance of writing about video games1 in education. Characteristic of a young
field, much of this work is theoretical and not necessarily based on data (de Freitas, 2006). Classroom
integration strategies rely on researchers’ arguments, anecdotal evidence, and teachers’ pragmatism.
Unfortunately, video games are often created for profit and to entertain, leaving many additional issues
to consider (i.e., marketing, effectiveness, etc.). Researchers’ arguments combined with video games’
widespread popularity and potentially spurious advertising may leave teachers confused or misinformed.
To exemplify this issue, this chapter contrasts the salient properties of a commercial game (Spore),
an immersive context with game-like features (Quest Atlantis), and a pedagogically based immersive
context (GlobalEd 2). Specifically, we describe the educational and technological affordances of three
contexts, the limitations associated with each, and the necessary yet pragmatic steps involved in their
classroom use
Chapter 21
Benefits of Video and Eye Toy Gaming for Children with Autism .................................................... 315
Nava Silton, Fordham University, USA
Ann Higgins D’Alessandro, Fordham University, USA
The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate that video and eye toy gaming can be used to enhance the
social learning of children with autism directly through video modeling and multimedia social story
interventions and indirectly through engaging typically developing students with educational videos that
increase their sensitivity, knowledge, and behavioral intentions when interacting socially with children
with autism, and perhaps other disorders as well. We suggest that it is important to develop typical
children’s positive attitudes and intentions toward peers with disabilities. Research has shown that this
can be accomplished through video which has the power to influence a person’s perception and subse-
quent behavior in other situations, for instance, in moderating the development and use of stereotypes
regarding race (Givens & Monahan, 2005; Ward, Hansbrough, & Walker, 2005). Thinking creatively
about the power of gaming to enhance development and social interactions among typical and atypical
children, as specifically illustrated here for children with autism, will help bring interventions for atypical
children into the 21st century as well as allow the development of much richer research methodologies for
tracking and understanding important micro-developmental changes in daily and weekly interpersonal
skills development.
Chapter 22
Gaming and Simulation: Training, and the Military ........................................................................... 341
Sheila Seitz, Windwalker Corporation, USA
Courtney Uram, James Madison University, USA
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief summary of the military’s use of gaming and simulation
to accomplish training. Historically, the military has been a forerunner in the exploration of training
techniques that incorporate aspects of games and simulations. Training tools emerge in various gam-
ing formats such as simulations, edutainment, commercial-off-the-shelf games (COTS), and serious
games. To develop training in the form of games or simulations, elements of instructional design must
be considered to include learning objectives, game play, and feedback. Emerging technologies provide
possible solutions to training challenges such as achieving affective learning domain objectives and the
portability of training. The military, as an early adapter of games and simulation, continues to forge the
way by integrating gaming and simulation, instructional design, and emerging technologies to achieve
the ever growing demands of training.
Chapter 23
Design-Researching Gamestar Mechanic: Integrating Sound Learning Theory into a
Game about Game Design .................................................................................................................. 358
Ivan Alex Games, Michigan State University, USA
This paper presents the results of a three-year design research study of Gamestar Mechanic, a multiplayer
online role-playing game designed to teach middle school children to think like designers by exposing
them to key practices behind good computer game production. Using discourse-based ethnographic
methods, it examines the ways in which the multimodal meaning representations of the language of
games (Gee, 2003) provided within Gamestar Mechanic, have helped learners think and communicate
in increasingly sophisticated ways with and about game design. It also examines the implications of
these language and literacy skills for other areas of players’ lives, as well as for the improvement of the
game as a learning environment over time.
Chapter 24
Second Life as a Tool for Engaging Students Across the Curriculum ................................................ 378
Kathryn E. Stevens, James Madison University, USA
S.E. Kruck, James Madison University, USA
Jeremy Hawkins, James Madison University, USA
Suzanne C. Baker, James Madison University, USA
Second Life (SL) is a virtual world that possesses great potential as an innovative teaching tool. SL not
only allows users to meet, interact, and collaborate in a virtual space, but also to create their own learning
environments. This chapter explores how virtual worlds such as Second Life can be used to enhance the
overall educational experience of both traditional and distance education students. We describe applica-
tions of SL to teaching diverse classes in art history and museum studies, business, and psychology, and to
community building across the university. In general, our experiences with using SL have been positive,
and our students report enjoying the creativity and flexibility of SL as well as the opportunity for social
interaction in the virtual world. We provide recommendations to those considering the use of SL.
Chapter 25
Collaborative Online Roleplay for Adult Learners ............................................................................. 393
Paul Pivec, Deakin University, Australia
Maja Pivec, University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Game-based learning has gained popularity in schools and has been proposed for adult education, both at
Universities and in the corporate training sector. Games are becoming a new form of interactive content
and game playing provides an interactive and collaborative platform for learning purposes. Collaborative
learning allows participants to produce new ideas as well as to exchange information, simplify problems,
and resolve the tasks. Context based collaborative learning method is based on constructivist learning
theory and guides the design of the effective learning environments. In this environment the teacher or
trainer becomes the active partner, moderator and advisor of the educational process, not just a repository
of the information importing his or her own knowledge to a passive learner as in traditional education.
Learners bring their prior skills and knowledge to the classroom community. The trainer structures
learning situations in which each learner can interact with other learners to develop new knowledge
and fashion their own needs and capacities. Knowledge is generated from experience with complex
tasks rather than from isolated activities like learning and practicing separately. Skills and knowledge
are best acquired within the context. This helps the learners easily to transfer learning from classroom
to “real life” and back, or information from one subject to another. Therefore this method requires that
the trainer and learners play nontraditional roles such as interaction and collaboration with each other
within the educational process. The classroom drops the physical boundaries and becomes a goal-oriented
platform dedicated to learning. Online role-play scenario platforms offers an environment where train-
ers can define their own role-playing scenarios and provide the opportunity for learners to apply factual
knowledge and to gain experience through the digital world. Trainers can define new games or adopt
and modify sample games without any programming skills. Some platforms provide a variety of com-
munication means within the scenarios; players can communicate with the use of multimedia discussion
forums, text and voice chat modules, as well as through multi-user video conferencing. These platforms
foster participation in problem-solving, effective communication, teamwork, project management, as
well as other soft skills such as responsibility, creativity, micro-entrepreneurship, corporate culture, and
cultural awareness. They are designed for use as a supplement to normal in-class teaching and corporate
training, but it is also possible to be used independently from a class course. The constructivist design
required for successful Game-Based Learning will be discussed and a model is provided to display how
Game-Based Learning occurs in a collaborative online environment. This chapter will present example
scenarios and highlight resources available to interested teachers and trainers.
Chapter 26
ExerLearning®: Movement, Fitness, Technology and Learning ........................................................ 409
Judy Shasek, ExerLearning
ExerLearning provides parents, educators and others with a solid background of the direct connection
between regular, rhythmic aerobic activity, balance, eye-foot coordination and academic success. We
can increase students’ fitness while simultaneously increasing their academic success. Activity breaks
have been shown to improve cognitive performance and promote on-task classroom behavior. Today’s
exergame and related computer technology can seamlessly deliver activity without over-burdening
busy teachers in grades K-12. Activity isn’t optional for humans, and our brain, along with its ability
to learn and function at its best, isn’t a separate “thing” perched in our heads. The wiring, the circula-
tion, the connection between mind and body is very real. The brain is made up of one hundred billion
neurons that chat with one another by way of hundreds of different chemicals. Physical activity can
enhance the availability and delivery of those chemicals. Harnessing technology to that activity is the
ExerLearning solution.
Chapter 27
Designing Serious Games for People with Dual Diagnosis: Learning Disabilities and
Sensory Impairments .......................................................................................................................... 424
David J. Brown, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Penny Standen, University of Nottingham, UK
Lindsay Evett, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Steven Battersby, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
Nick Shopland, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, UK
This chapter is concerned with the potential of serious games as effective and engaging learning re-
sources for people with learning and sensory disabilities. This is considered, followed by detailing of
a suitable design methodology and its application, description of a range of types of games that have
been successfully developed for this target group, and an explication of accessibility guidelines. Future
development in this area is discussed, and it is concluded that there is great potential in the wide range of
possible areas of research into, and development of, serious games for supporting people with learning
and sensory disabilities, which would contribute greatly to their inclusion in society.
