Game-Based Learning Across the Lifespan: Cross-Generational and Age-Oriented Topics

157 Pages·2017·1.11 MB·English

by  Margarida Romero

Advances in Game-Based Learning
Margarida Romero
Kimberly Sawchuk
Josep Blat
Sergio Sayago
Hubert Ouellet Editors
Game-Based
Learning Across
the Lifespan
Cross-Generational and Age-Oriented
Topics
Advances in Game-Based Learning
Series Editors
Dirk Ifenthaler
Scott Joseph Warren
Deniz Eseryel
More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/13094
Margarida Romero (cid:129) Kimberly Sawchuk
Josep Blat (cid:129) Sergio Sayago (cid:129) Hubert Ouellet
Editors
Game-Based Learning
Across the Lifespan
Cross-Generational and Age-Oriented Topics
Editors
Margarida Romero Kimberly Sawchuk
Université Laval Concordia University
Québec , Canada Montréal , Canada
Josep Blat Sergio Sayago
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Universitat de Lleida
Barcelona , Spain Lleida , Spain
Hubert Ouellet
Université Laval
Québec , Canada
Advances in Game-Based Learning
ISBN 978-3-319-41795-0 ISBN 978-3-319-41797-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41797-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016951847
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
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Fore word
I n 2015, I published Players and their Pets: Gaming communities from beta to sun-
set , which I co-wrote with Jason Begy. In the book, we recounted our experiences
studying the players of a short-lived casual MMO (massively multiplayer online)
game called F aunasphere . The game was launched in 2009 by Big Fish Games,
known mainly for its single player hidden object games—but they were trying
something new. Players entered the world as “Caretakers” of fauna, where small
creatures could be cross-bred, hatched, raised, and played with by players around
the world, throughout the changing world of Faunasphere. The game didn’t last
long—the core group of players engaged with the game loved it, but the company
decided to shut it down for largely unexplained reasons in 2011. You can read more
about the game itself and the players in our book. But the reason I bring up the game
and its players is because of their uniqueness as well as their very commonness.
Faunasphere’s core player base was composed of women—and in particular
adult women over the age of 40. Older women—and retired women especially—
made up a key element of the game’s audience. When we conducted surveys and
requested interviews of players, it was normal to have the vast majority of respon-
dents be women, and not those who could be considered “young.” Yet in another
way, the players of Faunasphere were not at all unique. Many of them loved play-
ing the game and played the game a lot. Despite it being a free to play game, lots of
the women we surveyed told us they spent money (sometimes hundreds of dollars)
on the game. And they considered it money well spent. When the game was
announced as slated for closure, some of them also suggested doubling subscription
costs for premium accounts—they were ready and willing to pay more to continue
playing the game they enjoyed so much. And after the game did close, some of
them went on to try other games together (a group migrated to G litch, which fl our-
ished and then died a couple of years later) and others gathered on Facebook where
they could swap stories and lament the game’s loss. Some still post there, 5 years
after the game’s closure. Such accounts would not sound out of place in discussing
almost any other game, and any other group of players—some are fi ercely commit-
ted, some spend lots of money, and some get very upset if a game they adore ceases
to exist.
v
vi Foreword
What does this say about players, and older players in particular? To me it says
that we need to think about them as players fi rst, and as “older” second, if at all. The
players I talked with for that research were a varied group—some of them admitted
to playing games for hours at a time, every day of the week. Some had long histories
of gameplay and loved to try lots of different games. For others, F aunasphere was
their fi rst foray into an MMO, but they were excited about the experience and deter-
mined to fi gure the game out. Some people talked about getting new computers so
they could play the game without lag, and others were much more casual about the
experience and didn’t commit much to it beyond a surface interest.
Experiences like those demonstrate just how important it is to keep in mind older
adults when designing games. Whether for serious games or entertainment-f ocused
games, older players are a diverse and enthusiastic group of individuals. As the
contributors in this volume demonstrate, they are not interested in a “narrative of
decline” related to their age; instead, they want game experiences that are engaging
and enjoyable and that will differ more than they will be the same. That means
exploring design principles and techniques such as those presented in this volume.
Game-Based Learning Across the Lifespan is useful for both what it does and what
it doesn’t do. It does give us thoughtful and tested techniques and principles for
creating games that will appeal to a wide range of players. And it doesn’t reduce
older players to a stereotype or design f or them without talking and testing game
designs w ith them. In those ways, it is an extremely useful and inspiring volume to
help all of us think about making games for everyone, in well-considered, well-
researched ways.
Mia Consalvo
Contents
Expanding the Game Design Play and Experience Framework
for Game-Based Lifelong Learning (GD-LLL-PE) ..................................... 1
Margarida Romero , Hubert Ouellet , and Kimberly Sawchuk
Miami Six-O: Lessons Learned From an Intergenerational
Game Design Workshop ................................................................................. 13
Bob De Schutter , Amy Restorick Roberts , and Kelley Franks
Online Educational Games: Guidelines for Intergenerational Use ............ 29
Louise Sauvé
Blurring the Lines of Age: Intergenerational Collaboration
in Alternate Reality Games ............................................................................ 47
Simone Hausknecht , Carman Neustaedter , and David Kaufman
Implementing Maker Spaces to Promote Cross-Generational
Sharing and Learning ..................................................................................... 65
Sylvie Barma , Margarida Romero , and R ollande Deslandes
Promoting Intergenerational Participation Through Game
Creation Activities ........................................................................................... 79
Hubert Ouellet , Margarida Romero , and Kimberly Sawchuk
Designing Enhanced Learning Environments in Physics:
An Interdisciplinary Collaborative Approach Producing
an Instrument for School Success .................................................................. 91
Sylvie Barma and Sylvie Daniel
Learning in Later Life While Engaging in Cross-Generational
Digital Content Creation and Playful Educational Activities ..................... 115
Susan M. Ferreira , Sergio Sayago , and Josep Blat
vii
viii Contents
Digital Games as a Means of Raising Awareness About Ageism
and Gender Discrimination: Three Principles for Teachers
and Game Developers ..................................................................................... 131
Andreas Schuch
Index ................................................................................................................. 151
Contributors
Sylvie Barma Université Laval , Quebec City , QC , Canada
Josep Blat Universitat Pompeu Fabra , Barcelona , Spain
Sylvie Daniel Université Laval , Quebec City , QC , Canada
Rollande Deslandes Quebec University at Trois-Rivière , Trois-Rivière , QC , Canada
Susan M. Ferreira Télé-Université du Québec , Montreal , Canada
Kelley Franks Family Studies and Social Work , Miami University , Ohio , USA
Simone Hausknecht Sessional Instructor, Simon Fraser University , British
Columbia , Canada
David Kaufman Professor, Simon Fraser University , British Columbia , Canada
Carman Neustaedter A ssociate Professor, Simon Fraser University, B ritish
Columbia , Canada
Hubert Ouellet Université Laval , Québec , Canada
Amy Restorick Roberts Assistant Professor, Family Studies and Social Work,
Miami University , Ohio , USA
Margarida Romero Université Laval , Québec , Canada
Louise Sauvé Professor in Educational Technology, Education Department , Télé-
université , Quebec City , QC , Canada
Kimberly Sawchuk Concordia University , Montréal , Canada
Sergio Sayago Universitat de Lleida , Lleida , Spain
Andreas Schuch Department of English Studies , University of Graz , Graz , Austria
Bob D e Schutter Professor, Miami University , Ohio , USA
ix
Expanding the Game Design Play
and Experience Framework for Game-Based
Lifelong Learning (GD-LLL-PE)
Margarida Romero , Hubert Ouellet , and Kimberly Sawchuk
Abstract D igital games open new opportunities for engaging people from differ-
ent ages and backgrounds in ludic activities. Sometimes, digital games are just
played with players as the sole objective. In other cases, the game experience is
combined with some other intentional purposes such as lifelong learning. We desig-
nate the use of digital games for Lifelong Learning (LLL) under the term Digital
Game-Based Lifelong Learning (DGBLLL). In this chapter we introduce the Game
Design for Lifelong Learning Playful Experience (GD-LLL-PE) including four per-
spectives (learning, storytelling, gameplay and user experience) and fi ve phases
(context and learner analysis, game design, pedagogical integration, play and expe-
rience) to study the pedagogical use of digital games across the lifespan.
Keywords Digital games • Game based learning • Lifelong learning • Game
design • Gameplay • Game experience
Introduction
D igital games open new opportunities for engaging people from different ages and
backgrounds in ludic activities. Sometimes, digital games are just played with play-
ers as the sole objective (Brown and De Schutter 2 016 ). In other cases, the game
experience is combined with some other intentional purposes such as lifelong learn-
ing. This book articulates two ideas, exploring their interconnection and their poten-
tial: the idea of lifelong learning (LLL) within the game-based learning (GBL)
studies. For this reason, we designate the use of digital games for this purpose as an
approach that we call Digital Game-Based Lifelong Learning (DGBLLL) (Romero
2 015a , b ). The goal of this collection of essays is to provide an overview of current
M. Romero (*) • H. Ouellet
Université Laval , 2320 rue des Bibliothèques , Québec , Canada
e-mail: [e-mail]
K. Sawchuk
Concordia University , 7141 Sherbrooke W., H4b 1R6 , Montréal , Canada
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 1
M. Romero et al. (eds.), Game-Based Learning Across the Lifespan,
Advances in Game-Based Learning, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41797-4_1