Researcher Ferran Adell from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya developed a method for determining the educational potential of commercial video games. His dissertation focuses on the use of games for learning and the problem of choosing the right game for an educational context. Adell developed a method based on five feature filters that games must meet before they are selected for classroom use: difficulty level, fluid mechanics, creative freedom, community strength, and immersiveness. Using video games in the classroom can make learning more fun and solve some of the problems education faces today, such as lack of student interest and attention, Adell says.
mine craft, for example, is one of the most used educational games and has over 35 million licenses for educational use. According to Microsoft, more than 175 million people play the game every month. Minecraft is an open-world building or sandbox game that provides endless possibilities for creativity and play.
The idea of using video games in an educational context is not new. However, their popularity has increased over the past decade due to their educational potential, high student acceptance rates, and an increase in the number of teachers who are also video game enthusiasts. However, the use of games in the classroom still comes with many challenges, mainly in choosing the right game for educational purposes and context.
The Adell method consists of five characteristic filters that games must pass in order to be selected for use in a class. The first filter concerns the difficulty level of the game; games with very steep learning curves or extremely difficult ones are unlikely to be useful in the classroom. The second filter concerns fluid game mechanics, i.e. the number of changes that can be made to the game based on what the developer proposes. The third filter concerns the freedom of creativity, i.e. the number of things that can be developed in the game. The fourth filter is about the strength of the community, which is the number of people who play and create tools in the game. Finally, the fifth filter concerns immersiveness, that is, the game’s ability to make players feel detached from the real world and involved in the character’s story.
Using video games in the classroom can make learning more fun and solve some of the problems education faces today, such as lack of student interest and attention, Adell says.
Source: Tutto Mercato Web
