Read – Into the Future
The future of the educational gaming industry is a wide-open playing field. The increased popularity of DGBL amoungst teachers, policy-makers, parents and students, coupled with more affordable gaming, all but ensures that the industry will continue its rapid growth. As the capacity of our technology increases, it grows closer and closer to matching wits with our creative minds. 
Simultaneously, a second, more savvy generation of gamers are growing up, fully exposed to learning through video games. Young people are not only excited to play games, but they are enthusiastic about creating them. Subsequently, game development tools are finding their way into younger and younger hands. As a result, the next frontier of educational gaming will be created by the very generation who were nurtured by games throughout childhood. The end product of this total synergy between education and digital gaming can not easily be predicted, but one thing is for certain… it will be an entertaining ride!
For further reading on the future of educational gaming, check out Ann Derryberry’s report on Serious Games, which outlines some of the important factors in the future of online educational gaming. Click here to access the document.
Or take a look at this Forbes article on Serious Games and the Future of Education.
Watch – An Interview with Game Developer Jesse Schell
Finally, take some time to watch this interview with game developer, and author of The Art of Game Design Jesse Schell on Gaming Education and the future of Games.
Comment – Your Predictions
Close you eyes for a second and picture education in ten, twenty, fifty years. How will game-based learning have changed? What new gaming innovations are on the horizon that will shape the way we learn? How will educators, policy-makers, parents, and students have embraced digital game-based learning?
In the comments section, post your predictions for the future of digital game-based learning.
Jesse Schell mentions that some amazing new things are just around the corner. When I close my eyes and look 20 years into the future I see education taking place in a holodeck Imagine being able to take your class on a instant field trip, invite famous quests, instant classroom layout changes, etc.. Some of you might think I’m nuts, but just look at the 3D printer, doesn’t that remind you of a Replicator .
I see the future being media-based (not just game). I hope to see environments that are conducive to collaboration (both local and online), and where learning is (as was shared on the introduction page) more tangential. Where students are directing their learning and where teachers are true guides, because the curriculum has been redesigned to support learning and not dictate it. Along with this I think that the physical environments will change. We will see more common areas and collaborative centers (such as libraries) that will become the hubs of schools. I am very hopeful and excited about what the future holds!
Hi Ryan, thanks for the comments and I can attest to the changes starting with the development of more learning commons areas where all aspects of learning can be found. We have found that the commons is a welcome addition to the library, where the library is slowly turning into a digital library with very few stacks. The students enjoy that all academic services are in one area.
Personally I see this being a component, but never fully integrated on a large scale. GBL is something that will and should be a part of any successful learning model. However, that’s it is not something that will ever be the main component. I see makerspaces as being more viable then GBL in the future, as it promotes inquiry based learning, but still offers the same engagement.
Nevertheless, I am writing this from a biased perspective, as I am not really a gamer. I have witnessed it in action, but am still hesitant to see it as a solid market to invest in.
I with jetz about media coming more and more to the forefront of education over time. In workplace environments I can see casual games being offered for some manadatory training situations in conjunction with other forms of media, especially with the focus on edutainment. (A concept I have real problems with – not all learning can be fun and waht expectations does it create when we try to amuse people all the time, instead of encouraging them to develop their own amusement and creativity) In my mind, all things will have to be balanced. .I am a bit of a gamer, but only when I have free time. I certainly don’t spend 7.4 hours a week gaming, unless I have a lot!!!! of free time. Other tools will be offered in conjunction such as readings, or video, to make learning more personal. I see games taking more of a simulation type role, for people to test out their skills i.e. how to handle an unruly customer – rpg game play that intuits responses and reacts as a really bad customer would. Game play will evolve with other tech such as AI and augmented reality. Imagine military training as ramped up laser tag, with computers providing holographic/simulated environments and enemies that soldiers hunt down using weapons like wii console guns, and when they die, everything stops functioning, meanwhile soldiers wear glasses that pick up heat signals, media details, communications from enemies etc. A bit like Start Trek’s holodecks, though not quite as 3D (yet), The problem will be how to balance necessary training, with fun, budget and minimizing time employees spend on actual training. I know corporations constantly ask how much will it cost to develop this type of training.
I would see game based learning being a big part of education in the future. However I could really see virtual reality technology taking a big part. Imagine playing the role of famous people in history and trying to solve some of the big problems, with scaffolding. With new technologies born every day I am sad to say this degree we are doing right now will be obsolete by then but that will be a good thing! I am excited to see what the future holds. Now how do I get my hands on google glass? I want to pioneer that in educational technology!
I do see game based learning growing within the educational realm, however I also feel as though media (social) is growing within the educational realm at an even faster pace. If games are created for the purpose of delivering curriculum or training depending on the level of schooling we are talking about, I can then see gaming going really far within education. However, developing training games and curriculum centered games is costly and requires investors to really think about the implications and whether or not these games will in fact meet all their goals.
Game-based learning is already on its way up! As a trainer and eLearning developer for my business, I try to put information in a context-based format. It keeps things interesting and allows course participants to actively apply what they’ve learned rather than simply asking them to regurgitate information. Since educators are becoming more aware of the need for application of learning, educational gaming developers will make games that have more and more practical value.
I would love to see students talking with the enthusiasm of educational game based experiences like they do entertainment game based experiences. This has to be the ultimate goal of educational game based developers. Students could have access to individualized learning materials that seamlessly connect interests and strengths to digital learning materials.
I’m also interested in looking into fully immersive experiences with futuristic devices such as the oculus. Devices such as these that provide virtual or augmented reality experiences could provide educational game based experiences as well. If more and more people continue to gain access to technology, accessing game based experiences outside of school will likely be a more common as well.
Parents, policy makers and students will be only be convinced if the needs of each group are met through game based learning. Future experiences will have to be engaging and fun, while producing measurable evidence of learning and accountability as well. The learning outcomes must be clear and content must be present. At the same time, if educational content is not embedded seamlessly enough, students may be turned off and avoid engaging with the materials as deeply as they could.
Games will continue to be used in elementary classes and gradually make their way into secondary education once teachers learn about appropriate games and how they can be used to target the development of specific skills. This will require recognition of the need and value of designated educational tech support, both to identify and integrate relevant games into the curriculum.
A potentially more significant and lasting impact that games could have in education would be if educational institutions took on more of the structure of games. There could be different levels of multidisciplinary tasks to be completed and students would work their way through the levels at their own pace, having to complete one before moving on to the next. Associated with each task would be a variety of resources that students could access in order to successfully learn the skills needed to complete the task. So, for example, if the task was to graph and interpret experimental data , students could ‘play’ with apps to:
1) discover the meaning of slope, dependent and independent variables
2) manipulate simulations that would automatically generate graphs
3) generate and interpret graphs from their own experiments
This CBC article mentions several ways video games are currently being used in educational institutes across Canada http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/video-games-becoming-required-coursework-in-schools-1.1321035
I think the team this week did a great job. I think you really connected the value of DGBL with different learning theories to support what a great tool it can be in the classroom. You also really demonstrated what an up and coming market this is with the projected sales in the industry. You have also highlighted a few issues that could happen with game based learning in the classroom, including one I have seen. It becomes something the students want to play everyday rather than have your teacher directed lessons as well. One of the downfalls I think the team has missed is that DGBL does not fit into every curriculum. As a teacher of Grade 12 University level Accounting, I cannot imagine a game that would be relevant. Unless they need to find the error on the bank reconciliation, and at that age most students would see it for what it is, a cheap trick to get them to do work.