9-1 Teachers as guides in gaming worlds

Being a game based learning teacher leads to a different way of teaching. You as the teacher are the guide in and around games. This means not only guidance and mentoring while playing, you can also be the one to explain games culture, bring up relevant topics and help your students understand how the industry and the culture work. You are also the expert for game based learning and may be asked by colleagues for assistance for using games and explaining games culture and the relevant aspects for teaching. A team of teachers that can support this development and offer expertise around the use of games in class, can lead the transformation to digital, more experiential and participatory education. Projects that were developed by this team can be used in several classes and be refined this way, to make the best learning in this project possible, to consider appropriate ways for assessment and to demonstrate the potential game based learning can offer for 21st century education.

Games, as important a medium as they are, shape your students' media consumption and production. As part of digital media they transform popular culture to a culture of participation. For the world of work and for education, the skills developed in this context will be of high relevance. It is up to the teachers to help shape the skill set of the learners to be prepared for this world. Therefore, the use of digital media is essential in education. In new teaching contexts like flipped classroom, blended learning or remote learning, interactive media help the learners to stick with the topic and be engaged long and deeply. Games are not often not designed to be used as learning tools for formal education. For all of the aspects mentioned above, you as a teacher play a critical role. Game based learning is a great tool for learning in this digital world. But it is up to the teachers to help integrate these ‘new’ tools for learning into education.

9-2 Teaming up and testing projects

The benefits of a gaming group

A gaming group offers some benefits when it comes to playing games. You have people to play with, you do not find people on the internet for cooperative game play, you are able to play analog games together (from card games to pen and paper role playing games), and you can discuss games, developments in games culture or the games industry. You can find games and recommend them to the others and learn and discuss the aspects of game based learning.

This group is a resource like the channels, websites, guides and literature we recommended. It is especially valuable as you share a similar pedagogical approach to your topic and you share the same situation at your school. This group can be a source for other colleagues, for parents and the students in terms of discussing and reflecting aspects of gaming.

The colleagues in the group can also use the project ideas you have developed in a new context or support you by using time from their lessons for a project that spans several subjects. They will have a different point of view on the game, maybe have played it in a different way and focus on different aspects of the game. If you have a lot of colleagues interested in games, they might be too much for one group, but you need different groups for different games. And the support for your work with games is going to grow with more colleagues understanding and appreciating the potential of games.

A game based learning teacher team

Teachers are specialists in their field. They bring a certain lense to a topic that is considered valuable for education. Teaching in teams, no matter if in the same project at the same time or with the same projects in different settings, is valuable for teachers and students. Especially for game based learning projects, it is recommended to bring as much expertise to the process of developing them and integrating them into education as possible. A GBL project can span several subjects, it can work in different classes and it can even influence and change a whole school by being a permanent offer at the school in question. The use of technology in these projects is a challenge that can be mastered more easily, if you have several people contributing. This is what a team of game based learning teachers is supposed to do. Help each other to understand and learn the ins and outs of game based learning, understand and develop the technological infrastructure at school and contribute actively to and elevate the discourse around games at the school, with all the stakeholders, colleagues, parents and especially with your students.

Below we will present more video material to explain certain aspects of game based learning that we also mentioned in the chapters before. They describe why games are exciting tools for learning and how they will change your classroom. Have a look at them and use the guidebook and the other sources we mentioned to build a strong foundation for game based learning, for you, your colleagues, and your students.

Let’s Play - Presentation of our work/material/videos

Videos Extra Credits:

Gamifying Education: How to make your classroom truly engaging

Games in Education: How Games can Improve our Schools

Education: An End to Fear - Why Students Hate Homework

Education: Responsive Learning - How Games Help Teachers

Education: 21st Century Skills - How Games Prepare You for Life

Education: Agency - How Games Empower Us

How Minecraft Changes the Future of Games - Minecraft Generation

Gaming the Real World Trailer

Achievement - Exercises following the topic

1 Describe a short outline for a project you will bring to your classroom and offer to colleagues for later use.

2 Name a game that would be interesting for your school, but you do not have the equipment for. What could be the steps to still make working with this game in your school possible?