Resources

NOTE: This page is under construction. It will be reorganized and probably split up as time allows. Your patience is appreciated.

This page is a sort of pathfinder for game based learning. What's a pathfinder?

Pathfinder

A guide designed to assist the user in researching a particular discipline or topic. A pathfinder identifies key subject headings related to the topic, important reference books, periodical indexes, journals and other resources available at the local library. Sources on the World Wide Web are usually also included. Pathfinders can be printed or available online. Pathfinder_%28library_science%29

This is a pathfinder about Choosing & Using Digital Games in the Classroom. It is primarily focused on the use of games in formal teaching & training contexts. (i.e. it is NOT about non-digital games, business sims, board & card games, or other forms of serious games).

Note that this is a work in progress - a lack of entries does not imply that there is nothing to include - it simply means I haven't had time to fill it in yet.

• Review Game Zone http://reviewgamezone.com/
  • Looks to be a quiz / worksheet type skinner. You can choose from several “games” and then inject your M/C questions

The resources listed here are places that provide lists of games that have potential for use in education along with reviews and information on where they might be used.

• 30 of the Best Educational iPad Games: Kid’s Edition http://gettingsmart.com/2012/11/30-of-the-best-educational-ipad-games-kids-edition/
  • Note: Most of these aren't actually games.

• The Best Online Learning Games Of 2013 — So Far http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/06/20/the-best-online-learning-games-of-2013-so-far/
  • These do look to be games, but, as usual, there is little or no indication of the actual learning goals of the games, what grades they might be good for OR how they line up with the curriculum.

• Serious Game Classification http://serious.gameclassification.com

• Education | Serious Games Directory BETA

• Survey: Teachers, Games and Assessing Students

• Common Sense Media http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
  • We'll give you the scoop on the latest entertainment and tech so YOU can decide what's right for YOUR kid. As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, we're here for you.

• Games and Impact.org: http://gamesandimpact.org/games/
  • This area of our site features the Center for Games & Impact’s collection of impactful games. We’ve provided resources to help you understand a game’s impact as we understand it (for example, try downloading a game’s Impact Guide to complement your play experience with one of the games listed here).

• Impact with Games http://gameimpact.net/
  • We’re excited to share a new project to get at the big picture, recognizing the growing breadth of games, and seeking new coherence in describing their impact. Better guidelines are needed to evaluate which games deserve funding, how to measure and define success, and how to integrate game design with research.

• Learning Works for Kids http://learningworksforkids.com/playbooks/ .
  • Our focus is on evaluating games for their usefulness as teaching tools for the development of executive functioning and academic skills, so that the most important part of the site for parents and educators is on the “play together and make it work” tabs.

• Playforce.org http://beta.playforce.org/ (Institute of Play http://www.instituteofplay.org/)
  • A community built for and by players, parents, and educators to discover and share learning experiences in games.

• Playful Learning http://playfullearning.com/
  • The Playful Learning platform aims to ignite the use of quality games for learning in the classroom. As part of this growing movement, we’re creating an online portal where you can discover games and key information on how to use them. The platform presents both educational and commercial games with easily navigable searches and filters.

• Teach with Portals http://www.teachwithportals.com/
  • Includes a wiki and forum for discussion and sharing of resources as well as a separate space where teachers can submit lesson plans. All of the content is publicly available, allowing teachers to access the resources at their convenience.

• The Learning Designer http://learningdesigner.org
  • The Learning Designer suite of tools enables teachers to share their good teaching ideas. It is intended to help a subject teacher see how a particular pedagogic approach can be migrated successfully across different topics. There are sample patterns to browse and edit, or you can design your own from scratch.
• Thompson Rivers University Bachelor of Education Lesson & Unit Planning Information Lesson Plan Templates http://www.tru.ca/hse/education/bed/practica/plans.html
• List of Free Storyboard Templates for eLearning

• Glossary of Instructional Strategies (comprehensive) http://www.beesburg.com/edtools/glossary.html
• http://farr-integratingit.net/Trainings/Differentiate/strategies.htm
• Carnegie-Mellon's Identifying Appropriate Instructional Strategies http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/
• Education Alberta's Instructional strategies (PDF) https://education.alberta.ca/media/352984/is.pdf
• Very brief summary from Deming Intermediate School: http://dms.demingps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_939760/File/documents/School%20Information/Instructional%20Strategies%20List.pdf
• Collaborative Learning Structures and Techniques http://www.gdrc.org/kmgmt/c-learn/methods.html
• Stanford Teaching and Learning Resources https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources-0
• AdLit.org Teaching Strategy Library http://www.adlit.org/strategy_library/
• Instructional Design Vocabulary (including many strategies) https://sites.google.com/site/instructionaldesignandtraining/instructional-design/id-vocabulary
• Pathways to School Improvement Site (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

• Sasha Barab
• Katrin Becker
• Simon Egenfeldt-Neilsen
• Elisa Gopin
• James Paul Gee
• Jacob Habgood
• Yasmin Kafai
• Eric Klopfer
• Felix Arnulf Kronenberg
• Ravi Purushotma
• Katie Salen
• Kurt Squire
• Richard Van Eck

• Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Salen, K. (2008). The ecology of games: connecting youth, games, and learning. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Squire, K., Gee, J. P., & Jenkins, H. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age: Teachers College Press.
• Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S., Heide Smith, J., & Tosca, S. P. (2013). Understanding video games : the essential introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

• Games and Learning
  • a news and information service aimed at increasing the amount of information available for those interested in developing and funding new educational games for children and young adults. The site is operated by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and is a project of the Games and Learning Publishing Council. The Council and the Site are made possible by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Game Based Learning » Brain Based Learning
  • Where research and technology come together in support of education