Game-based learning is training that uses game characteristic and principals within the learning activities themselves. Using core learning content, learning becomes fun and interactive. In game-based learning, two types of games that can be used include commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) games and educational games. The type of learning that takes place from these opportunities is experiential learning.
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Games
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) means “commercially ready-made and available for sale, lease or license to the general public.” COTS games are games that are available for the public.
Educational Games
“Educational games are serious games specifically used for education. Serious games … refers to the idea of using games (specifically designed ones as well as entertainment games) for purposes beyond pure entertainment.”
Distinguishing the Two
COTS games and educational games are not mutually exclusive. While COTS games are based on its commercial and purpose for sale, COTS games are defined based on purposes beyond entertainment.
Experiential Learning
In its simplest form, experiential learning means learning from experience or learning by doing. Experiential education first immerses learners in an experience and then encourages reflection about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes, or new ways of thinking.
Opportunity Statement
Engagement is a key concept that facilitates students’ long term learning objectives. It is no surprise that games, especially COTS games, garner the most attention and time from youth because of how interwoven it is into their lives. Making and “finding” educational games from COTS games offer unique learning advantages to students that are not commonly employed in the traditional classroom.
The funding and capital from the gaming sector continuously increases over the years, giving education an opportunity to capitalize on these relatable, accessible and engaging resources for student use.
Resources
Here is a more recent exploration on this topic developed on Spring 2022 which focus on the Hands-on LFor anyone that has been a committed Wordle player these last few months: Wordle’s success is based on learning from the past | Letters | The Guardian
The use of video games in science curriculum: MU researchers use a video game to teach science lessons to middle schoolers, speech recognition software to improve literacy outcomes for 2nd graders.
MU earns $12 million in grants to boost scien | EurekAlert!
A teacher is using the game Civilization to teach history: A US teacher is using ‘Civilization’ to teach history (nme.com)
Video games in university: The future of learning: How video games can be used in university | The Charlatan, Carleton’s independent newspaper
References
Backlund, P., & Hendrix, M. (2013, September). Educational games-are they worth the effort? A literature survey of the effectiveness of serious games. In 2013 5th international conference on games and virtual worlds for serious applications (VS-GAMES) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Lewis, L. H., & Williams, C. J. (1994). Experiential learning: Past and present. New directions for adult and continuing education, 1994(62), 5-16.