Our society is ever-changing and becoming more dependent on technology. Students are now coming to school with a variety of experiences engaging with technology and less experiences engaging with paper books. The majority of learning at school, requires textbooks and working with materials in person which is not as familiar to students as using technology. Finding a way to bridge the gap between their home lives and their lives in school is key to student success. "Today's children grow up with digital technologies and digital games are one of the top activities in their life" (Baek & Whitton 2013). Teachers and educational developers are trying to use games as a way to reach students in the classroom.

Studies have found that the usage of games, animations and other multimedia elements are valuable methods to motivate students positively and to open new ways of offering learning support (Baek & Whitton 2013).

If technology developers can figure out how to use the structure from traditional video games to teach different skills and concepts they have a chance of engaging students in a more meaningful way.

According to a 2008 survey conducted by the Washington, D.C.- based Pew Research Center, 97% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 play computer, Web, portable, or console games (Hoffmann 2009).

If teachers are able to present students with a similar video game experience with educational topics they may be able to engage a larger percentage of their students. Getting students to want to learn and explore more are the goals of most teachers, games may be the tool to hook students into wanting more learning.

One word that has been created as more and more games are introduced into education, is gamification. The Oxford dictionary defines gamification as "the application of typical elements of game playing to other areas of activity" (Walker 2014). Using games to motivate and entice students to learn seems very appealing to educators. According to James Gee, a professor at Arizona State University, "games are goal-directed learning spaces" (Hoffmann 2009). When the end is in sight or there is a clear purpose to their work students may be more motivated to complete it. Gee also believes, "games give children the tools they need to explore complex systems and experiment with different possible outcomes. Rather than simply memorizing figures and statistics, children learn to constructively use facts to solve problems" (Hoffmann 2009). Getting students to apply their learning and truly understand it is the goal that most teachers hope to achieve. Games are a platform that can have "a positive effect on youngsters by stimulating their imaginations, sparking their curiosity, and promoting the exploration of difficult issues and concepts" (Hoffmann 2009).

Judging games for their educational utility depends on certain factors:

Games can be evaluated in two different ways: (1) evaluation of pedagogical components and (2) game design components. Whereas the evaluation of pedagogical components concentrates on issues such as how well the game supports learners in their learning process, the evaluation of game design components focuses on issues such as if the game is understandable for the learners. However, a poor game design can negatively influence the learning curve and therefore it is advisable to evaluate the usability, playability, and difficulty of the game before evaluating the pedagogical effectiveness. (Baek & Whitton 2013)

When a teacher is considering using a game with students they need to make sure they are evaluating the content it is teaching and how the students are going to interact with it. Students are coming with prior experience with games, but the directions and progression of the game needs to be appropriate for the level of the students. If the content is unclear or if it is too difficult to understand, students will not be motivated to continue play. The goal of using games in education is to help students learn and be motivated to learn. If the game does not address one of these goals then, it is not effective.

When evaluating new types of technology it's good to keep in mind the seven affordance framework of Dr. Mary Kalantzis and Dr. William Cope. The seven affordances for new learning are a way to make sure that the new technology is adding to the learning experience.

1. Ubiquitous Learning- learning anywhere, anytime. Gaming can done anywhere. Learners can access them on phones, tablets, or computers. Games can be accessed through the internet or applications loaded onto the device.
2. Active Knowledge Making- the learner is not just receiving information, but creating it. When gaming, the user is constantly creating their own journey. Choices need to be made, and played out for learning to take place.
3. Multimodal Meaning- learning through different modalities, not just text. Learners who are engaged with gaming are constantly using different types of information. In games, pictures, text, videos, and interactive pages are all part of normal use.
4. Recursive Feedback- providing the learner with constant assessment. Gamers are continuously getting feedback from their choices. The user may have to make a choice of the correct answer or solving some sort of puzzle, and the game will tell them if they are correct. After a user makes a choice, they are giving the next step based on their previous choice.
5. Collaborative Intelligence- the environment allows for peer-to-peer interactions and collaborative knowledge productions. Users can collaborate with other users to reach a common goal or compete against each other. Games can serve as a digital meeting space for users to work together in.
6. Metacognition- thinking about thinking. Game users can reflect on game play and discuss their strategies with other gamers. Through these discussions, gamers are given the chance to think about and analyze their game choices.
7. Differentiated Learning- learning meets the needs and interests of the learner. Through games learners can choose a game that is interesting to them. Gamers can learn through trial and error and be given more practice with a topic through repeated play.

There are many games out there for teachers to use to help teach or enhance the learning that is going on in their classrooms. Games can help students practice or experience the content that they are learning about in school in a new way. One example that helps support instruction is DOGeometry.

DOGeometry is an educational game which teaches the basic concept of geometric transformations- namely, translation, rotation, and reflection- and concepts about object hierarchy. It is intended for children between eight and ten years old and was designed to engage the children with geometry rather than to replace the traditional teaching. The game is split into two main parts: problem-solving tasks (puzzles) and content creation. (Baek & Whitton 2013)

In this game students are presented with a challenge of creating a shape using translations, rotations, and reflections. They are awarded more points based on how closely their replication matches the original picture. Students are challenged to make sure that the pieces are manipulated just right. Another challenge they are presented with is getting the dog to different places that he needs to go. Students need to manipulate pieces of the path to allow for the dog to walk to his location.

Object Editor-http://dogeometry.autoteles.org/index.php?page=media

Path Puzzle-http://dogeometry.autoteles.org/index.php?page=media

This game allowed for teachers to provide the students with an application for their knowledge of geometry and works with traditional lessons. It allows students who have a better understanding of the subject to contcontinuehigher levels. For students who are still working through the concepts, they will get more practice as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_IV

Another example of games in education is Civilization. "In Civilization IV, a player assumes the leadership of a civilization and develops cities and infainfrastructureade and economic policy, government, technology and various other elements" (Baek & Whitton 2013). This game can be used with a social studies class to help students learn what it takes to build a society and how their choices can effect it.

When using it in the classroom the teacher would need to play it themselves before introducing it to students. Through the teacher trial, notes can be made as to what needs to be taught to students for them to understand game play. The teacher needs to decide what their learning objectives are as well. After the objectives are decided, the teacher can construct a plan of how students will achieve their goal. The teacher needs to make sure students have a clear understanding of the purpose and protocol of the game before any learning can take place. Once the ground rules have been explained, the teacher would need to model some lessons on the Civilization IV basics and explain the students end goal.

http://www.swotti.com/videogames/sid-meiers-civilization-iv_27240.htm

The teacher can allow students to work independently or with a partner to reach their goal. As they are playing students can have discussions or write about their experiences. Through the discussions students can share their errors and successes. Students can learn from each other and share strategies. Students can also be encouraged to use the Civilopedia to enhance their experience. "The Civilopedia feature provides background and historical information, as well as the game enhancements associated with each particular element of the game" (Baek & Whitton 2013). When students are relfecting oreflectingy, they can use what they learned from the Civilopedia to support their strategy.

Here is a video of Civilization IV game play.

Games are an important tool that can be used to teach or reinforce concepts. With that being said, there are definitely some areas that educators need to be careful of when using them with their students. When using games for learning with students it is important to make sure the focus is on learning. Depending on how the game is set up, there may be badges or different rewards built-in to represent success. John Spencer, a teacher who has explored gamification, brought up a good point, "As educators, we may be conceding that learning isn't inherently meaningful, we're not going to embrace the fun, the creativity, the challenge, or the critical thinking. We're just going to give you a badge" (Walker 2014). When selecting a game it is important to make sure that it is fostering the love of learning and deep thinking and not solely powered by the next checkpoint. Students need to have motivation to keep going, but also be able to recognize the reward of learning as well.

On the positive side, there are ways to incorporate the game structure to help encourage learning and curiosity. Another teacher Matthew Farber has decided "What's missing is a narrative structure that places the student on a 'journey' similar to what the best games do. The journey is to build mastery, the better way to gamify is to put students in an inquiry-based or project-based learning experience. Or give them a task in a narrative frame" (Walker 2014). Setting up students to explore and discover knowledge through a game will help foster the best results. Students need the challenge to move on, but also to learn from their mistakes along the way. Gaming allows students to work collaboratively with others, whether it's working together or competing against each other. Through games, students are able to learn through a variety of modalities as well. Games can contain text, videos, pictures, and interactive features that help students learn in different ways. As teachers are choosing games, they need to keep these points in mind to find quality resources.

Using games with students takes a critical eye. Teachers need to have the end result in mind and make sure that the game helps students to get to that point. There are a variety of games on the market promising to help enhance score or develop certain skills, but they still need to be evaluated. Keeping in mind how the students will interact with them, and to make sure that they will get the most out of the experience. The game that students are playing should enhance their learning and not just be a digital form of a worksheet or something that could easily be done without technology. Some things to look for include, personalized learning or some aspect of challenging the student after they have mastered a level. There's a delicate balance between something being educational and engaging to students. As the teacher we need to find the middle ground between them to make sure that students are motivated to learn and complete the task.

Baek, Y., & Whitton, N. (2013). Cases on Digital Game-Based Learning: Methods, Models, and Strategies. IGI Global.

Chmiel, M. (2012). Learning about the game: designing science games for a generation of gamers. Cultural Studies Of Science Education, 7(4), 807-812.

Hoffmann, L. (2009). Learning Through Games. Communications Of The ACM, 52(8), 21-22.

Walker, T. (2014, July 1). Is Your Classroom a Game? NEA Today, 48-50.