Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning: A Brief Report

Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning: A Brief Report

On 14th September 2018 at New Delhi, UNESCO MGIEP organized a Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning where Chris Crowell, critically acclaimed game designer, shared his philosophy of creating enjoyable and immersive experiences for learners. Chris is a veteran of the video games industry, having over 20 years of experience working with globally known brands such as NASCAR, Tiger Woods, The Sims, and Kung Fu Panda.

This meet was an opportunity for young bloggers to come together for the discussion on how the digital learning space is enriched with the digital games. Games allow a learner to proceed at their own pace, thereby placing the student at the centre of the learning journey. Experts believe that games are an excellent pedagogical tool as they fundamentally encourage project-based learning and decision-making for young learners. With massive growth predicted in education technology, it is time that digital games be taken seriously for the interactive and immersive experience they provide a player.

In his insightful lecture, Chris Crowell argued that digital games always have to be fun. It is possible to make digital games for learning fun as well. He further discussed why Digital Games for Learning are important for the societies in the 21st Century. He also elaborated on how Digital Games for Learning are being developed and deployed globally.

Why

• "Games help you develop critical thinking. It teaches you to get up, go at it and get better at it."
  
• "Games help you take action, determine your success or failure. With this agency, you inculcate the life skill of responsibility".
  
• "Gaming helps you apply the learnings of the virtual world in the real world."
  
• "Gaming is a sure shot way of igniting your grey cells".
  
• "These days our devices give us access to the digital world. In that sense, games have the power to impact education."
  

How

• "My goal when designing a game is to understand how it will benefit educators in a practical way", while discussing his 'To Do' list while designing games.
  
• "Games analyse the happenings of the real world and incorporate it in their mode. We designers often take inspirations from the real world."
  
• "Games are not a joke. They can be implemented as a serious tool for learning but in a fun way."
  
• "Bloggers have the potential to spread their ideas virally in this digital world."
  

The lecture attracted intriguing questions and comments from the learned audience. Some of the pertinent questions asked include: "What kind of thought processes are put in action when creating a game from scratch?", "How to wage the gap between virtual reality and the real world for games?", and "Can traffic violence be reduced through gaming?".

UNESCO MGIEP is organizing the TECH-2018 Conference on theme "From Transmissive to Transformative Pedagogies: Digital Technologies for Fostering 21st Century Competencies" in Visakhapatnam on 15–17 November 2018, where "Digital Games for Learning" will be discussed in great details. 

Inputs & Photos from UNESCO MGIEP Twitter hashtags #GamesforLearning #Tech2018.