Games, Simulations, & Virtual Worlds for Learning

Reflect on your experiences this semester as they relate to the following:

• Game design and its connection to learning theories and instructional design;
• The relationship between immersive learning and your professional/academic goals/research interests;
• Where you think gamified and immersive learning is headed in the future; and
• Lessons learned to support your academic progress as a learning technologist.

I came into this class hoping to learn how to be a game developer. Much like the rest of the classes in the LTEC program, the focus was more on the administrative side and less on the technical side. However, I had an open mind about it all.

Gamification of learning is a buzz word that has grasped the education industry. Being able to connect education to gaming will change the fabric of what we think about education in the future. However, we have to be careful that what we are teaching is based on principals that have been fleshed out and stood the test of time. Putting together the GDD has afforded me the opportunity to experience the process in a very detailed and thoughtful manner. When designing an educational game, it would be easy to forget the educational aspects and just make a game. However, keeping the end-goal in mind while fleshing out the idea is a necessary feat that the GDD helps us accomplish.

I have strong interests in working with immersive learning environments to allow students to be more effective learners while doing it on their terms. Because no two humans are alike, learning can and should be individualized. Doing so will allow students to be catered to their needs without compromising the pre-defined learning objectives for the class/course. I hope to research technology that will aid teachers in determining what works and what does not work for each student in their class. The insights will lead to greater understanding and empathy, allowing the teacher to individualize the attention needs of a student.

I personally believe that gamified and immersive learning will move towards VR and AR. VR is the most epitome of immersive. Likewise, AR will allow blended immersion into the real world. The fact is, mixed reality is already here. It is going to get easier for front-line workers and students learn, troubleshoot, and experience real-world issues while never being near a troubled situation. Imagine a mechanical engineering student being able to fix a broken jet engine over and over and over again until they get it right; without costing the school or institution any money on engine parts.

Overall, I learned that there is a lot of benefit in planning out a project. When I made the initial design of my Scratch game, I thought it was really good. However, after thinking through the GDD, I realized that there were a lot of fundamental pieces missing from the puzzle.