Current+Use



With the interest in technologically developed teaching strategies and learner-centered pedagogy, there has been immense interest in the study, development and use of games in learning. Although, the use of games as teaching tools is not an entirely recent phenomenon, a more current trend is the use of digital games in education. The power of games in engaging the player's attention has specially been the reason of the idea to use games i learning. J. P. Gee (2003) has emphasizes that games "build their designs and encourage good principles of learning, principles that are better than those in many of our skill-and-drill, back-to-basics, test-them-until-they-drop schools" (p. 205).

The major driving factor in playing games is motivation, and many of the same principle operate in learning. Because of such correlations, current research on gamification is focusing on the principles of cognitive science studied through laboratory research, studies of brain, and evaluation of learning sites like classrooms. Many researchers (Lave & Wenger 1991; Bruer 1993; Lave 1996; New London Group 1996; Clark, 1997) have agreed that the cognitive science principles are incorporated in all good games. Gee also claimed, “Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science” (2003, 2004). Gee has identified [|36 learning principles] as essential components of perfect learning games. These principles include interaction, production, risk-taking, problem-solving, Tom Chatfield, a British technology theorist, claimed seven benefits of digital games for brain and one of them is the fact that in games "everything can be measured, which means that rewards can constantly be calibrated to keep players engaged."

There is a massive research in building and applying digital games in teaching specially after the beginning of the new millennium. Major contemporary researchers and game developers in the field of gamification of learning are [|Kurt Squire], [|James Paul Gee],[| Marc Prensky], [|Eric Zimmerman], [|Katie Salen], [|D. W. Shaffer], Pamela Kato,[| Ken Perlin], [|Constance Steinkhuler], [|Jane McGonigal], [|Jesper Juul], Sasha Barab, [|Janet Murray] and [|Espen Aarseth].



The GLS (Games, learning and Society) Academic Conference is an annual gathering of gamification researchers, digital game developers, and industry leaders to discuss the implication of games in learning and their significance in society. The stated mission of the conference is to “foster substantive discussion and collaboration among academics, designers, and educators interested in how videogames - commercial games and others—can enhance learning, culture, and education.” It is conducted by University of Wisconsin in Madison that sponsors the event with cooperation of the [|Gates Foundation], [|Filament Games], [|Pearson PLC], [|MacArthur Foundation], [|Morgridge Institute of Research] and [|SCE]. An interesting figure states the prominent names with their major area of research and

The use of games is being adopted widely by educational institutions around the world. Universities are establishing programs with specialization of the use of games in enhancing education and learning. The Atlantic writes that along with the ever accepted fondness of games with kids, higher education is on the way to adopt every type of game in different types of situations. For examples [|Perdue University's Serious Games Center]. A fairly recent research conducted on the ratio of the use of games in school education has shown that gamification technique is used by elementary school teachers more than others. Figure 1.2