Caroline Pelletier
Institute of Education, University College London
In this presentation, I will outline the key debates in the field of game-based learning and draw on my empirical research to illustrate the issues. I will clarify the distinction, central to media education, between studying games as a means to improve curriculum-based learning and studying games as an end to improve understanding of games as an important contemporary cultural form. I will also explore the difficulties of maintaining this distinction in light of new educational technologies. In addition, I will examine the difference between game-based learning as a design practice and a theoretical field, to highlight the value of concepts from Game Studies to make sense of existing educational practices that might not be thought of as games. Illustrative examples will be drawn primarily from two studies: one concerned with young people making games in schools; and a second concerned with the use of simulation in hospital-based education centres. I will argue that educators who use games in education benefit from engagement with research on gaming culture and that game scholars and designers can learn from how games are used in educational settings.
(Presented in the conference : 2017 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum : Culture of Leisure – Balance of Life, 7-8 August 2017, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand)