Using Digital Games as Assessment and Instruction Tools. Ryan L, Schaaf

      Ryan L. Schaaf is the assistant professor of educational technology at Notre Dame of Maryland University and a faculty associate for the Johns Hopkins University School of Education graduate program—the same program he graduated from with a master of science in instructional technology and technology leadership in schools. With over fifteen years in the education field, Ryan has been a teacher, instructional leader, curriculum designer, and technology integration specialist in Howard County, Maryland. In 2007, he was nominated for Maryland Teacher of the Year.

      Ryan has published numerous research articles related to the use of digital games as an effective instructional strategy in the classroom in New Horizons for Learning and The Canadian Journal of Action Research.

      Ryan is developing and instructing face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses for both Notre Dame of Maryland University and Johns Hopkins. His passion is presenting sessions and keynotes about the potential for gaming in the classroom, the characteristics of 21st century learning, and emerging technologies and trends in education.

      His books include Making School a Game Worth Playing: Digital Games in the Classroom and Reinventing Learning for the Always-On Generation: Strategies and Apps That Work.

      Ryan is happily married to his beautiful wife, Rachel, and has two little boys who are his pride and joy. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, exercising, gardening, and volunteering in local schools. To learn more about Ryan’s work, follow @RyanLSchaaf on Twitter.

      To book Ryan L. Schaaf for professional development, contact [email protected].

Introduction: The Gamer in All of Us

      My seven-year-old son loves to play digital games! Whether on a gaming console or tablet, he enjoys this form of entertainment the most. Although he enjoys reading books, watching movies, and researching using the web, the interactive nature of a video game draws him in. He is proud of his accomplishments during gameplay. My little man boasts about upgrading his characters or unlocking a new tool during gameplay with as much of a sense of pride and accomplishment as he would have for scoring a touchdown in his football game, getting an “A” on his spelling test, or catching a fish. It takes a great deal of work, time, strategy, and commitment to achieve goals during gameplay—perhaps as much as it does to score a touchdown or earn an A on a test. Despite the constant time and mental energy he sacrifices in the pursuit of virtual fame and fortune, my son has fun—deep fun! This book explores what happens when hard work is paired with deep fun; it will help solve the following equation: Hard Work + Deep Fun = ?.

      My son is not alone. Young Cordell Steiner, a third-grade student from Minnesota, makes a passionate plea in a TEDx conference for teachers to use digital games in their classrooms for teaching, learning, and assessment (Steiner, 2014). He speaks of the benefits of individualized learning—learning specifically focused on the particular needs of a student. For instance, if a student must learn or review geometric angles, then he or she plays a game where the concept is explored in a highly immersive and interactive manner with immediate feedback. Cordell also conveys the point that games allow players to fail and try again. In traditional forms of classroom assessment, this type of failure is often rewarded with a low grade. If a player fails in a digital game, then the player clicks the reset button (in the game and on the learning process). Truth be told, digital games have a lot to teach our students and a great deal to teach educators about learning and assessment during the digital age.

      My son and Cordell are growing up surrounded by digital games. The global video game industry is big business. With projected global revenue of over $80 billion a year, the gaming industry is attracting new users every day. As of 2013, more than 1.2 billion people play some form of digital game. Ninety-one percent of U.S. children between the ages of two and seventeen play video games as of 2011 (NPD Group, 2011).

      If the results focus only on teens, then “97% play computer, web, portable, or console games” as indicated by Lenhart et al. (2008) in a Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project survey. Of these teenage video game players, 99 percent of the boys and 94 percent of the girls surveyed said they played some form of video game (Lenhart et al., 2008). Although male players outnumbered female players in 2008, this demographic is quickly changing. When comparing the gender of game players, women over the age of thirty-five outnumber men. This trend in data is quickly changing the preconceived notion that digital games are played only by male teens in isolated, dark basements at all hours of the night. More and more people from all walks of life are picking up a controller, downloading an app, or logging into these imaginative worlds for entertainment.

      The popularity of gaming has not gone unnoticed. Corporate powerhouses such as McDonald’s, Nike, and Starbucks use elements of games to bolster their customer loyalty programs and boost sales (Chou, 2013). Other companies such as Cold Stone Creamery, the Miller Brewing Company, Bank of America, Marriott, Canon, Pfizer, and Cisco Systems use digital games or simulations to train their employees in skills involving human resources, customer service, or professional development (Entertainment Software Association, 2014; Kane & Meyers, 2010; Malhoit, 2012; University of Colorado Denver, 2010). Even the military, which is grounded in decades of tradition and is very particular in how it trains its recruits, uses digital games as recruiting and training tools. Video games have become ubiquitous in today’s digital culture.

      Gaming’s next logical step is to integrate into the field of education. Although in the past digital games were adopted sparsely in small pockets of classrooms, the meteoric rise of gaming’s mainstream popularity and appeal has caused educators to take another serious look at digital games as tools and learning environments for deep, fun, and engaging learning.

From Entertainment to Edutainment to Education

      Playing digital games is a popular form of entertainment—this is a fairly safe assumption to make. Simple real-world observations attest to gaming’s connection to our youth. Go to a restaurant such as Buffalo Wild Wings, and the restaurant passes out tablets for its patrons’ children to use. On each tablet (besides germs and barbeque sauce) are digital games ready to engage children in gameplay, allowing their parents to have a conversation that doesn’t involve children’s television shows like Barney or Teletubbies. This recurring pattern of turning over mobile devices to children is occurring elsewhere. A quick scan at restaurants, in the backseats of cars, or in homes draws a simple, crystal-clear conclusion—our youth love to ingest media: “Seventy-two percent of children age 8 and under have used a mobile device for some type of media activity such as playing games, watching videos, or using apps” (Rideout, 2013). These children, the members of the always-on generation, are growing up with hundreds of ways to consume and produce information using media.

      The members of the digital generation do not believe they live two separate lives, one digital and one real. They exist in both worlds simultaneously—a form of hybrid consciousness. According to Catherine Beavis (2012), “Popular culture and the digital world are an important part of many children’s lives. Computer games, virtual worlds and social networking sites are seamlessly integrated into their everyday work, relationships and play” (p. 17). What the digital generation learns and experiences digitally is just as relevant to these learners as their real-world experiences.

      The adults in charge of the always-on generation must understand that these students learn differently and use different tools and approaches to accomplish their academic growth. In previous generations, there were three ways to communicate with friends—by telephone, via mail, or in person. In today’s world, the digital world, the digital generation has