Serious Games
‘Serious games’ are not new in educational processes. The term dates back to late 60’s and first appears in Clark Abt’s book (1968) entitled ‘Serious Games’. Abt (1970, p.9 cited in Ulicsak and Wright, 2010) describes serious games as having ‘an explicit and carefully thought- out educational purpose and are not intended to be played primarily for amusement; this does not mean that serious games are not, or should not be entertaining’. In his book, Abt (1970, p9 cited in Ulicsak and Wright, 2010) was referred to simulations for training managers, teachers, and students as well as to military games that simulated dramatic scenarios.
Should be entertaining?
The very first definition did not clearly state whether serious games should be entertaining. Recent definitions do not also illuminate the aspect of ‘entertainment’. Literature shows that researchers and practitioners in the area of serious games have not come to agreement regarding the entertainment or amusement aspect within serious games (Ulicsak and Wright, 2010). Zyda (2005, p.25) considers the ‘entertainment’ aspect a prerequisite and describes a serious game as a ‘mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with specific rules that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication objectives’. Stone (2008, p.9) in his definition of serious games had weakened the aspect of entertainment stressing the fact that serious games ‘move beyond entertainment per se to deliver engaging interactive media to support learning in its broadest sense’.
The aspect of entertainment is absent in Sorensen and Meyer’s (2007, p.559) definition, where serious games are described as ‘digital games and equipment with an agenda of educational design and beyond entertainment’. According to other definitions aspects of leisure games and game technologies are imported to serious games; for instance, Felicia (2009, p.6) describes serious games as using ‘new gaming technologies for educational or training purposes’ stressing also the fact that serious have the potential to trigger ‘educational, therapeutic, and social’ mechanisms.
Another definition is introduced by the ITSEC competition for serious games. In order to be able to decide whether an application is eligible to enter the competition, the organizers provided a definition a serious game is:
...entries will be considered a serious game if they have gaming attributes, involve an assigned challenge, and employ some form of positive and/or negative reward system’ (definition for entry to The Fifth Annual I/ITSEC Games Showcase).
The research community does not agree in a single definition of the term ‘serious games’ (Ulicsak and Wright, 2010). There is a tendency to describe serious games as ‘having a learning objective, being an engaging interactive media, and having some game element’ (Ulicsak and Wright, 2010, p. 20). In addition, serious game are related to the need for ‘internal or external assessment’ (Ulicsak and Wright, 2010, p.36). The assessment can be integrated in the game through an award system, it can occur through a comparison process to experts’ responses or decision making strategy, or it can take place in the class or follow a blended assessment feedback mechanisms. In the second and third case, the role of the teacher is of great importance and the debriefing process embeds high levels of challenge. As Mayer and Bekebrede (2006, p.150) state the game itself has the potential to trigger mechanisms towards learning but it cannot stand alone; the pedagogical design, the embedded pedagogy and, the role of the teacher are crucial factors towards learning outcomes.
‘we often falsely assume that the game itself will be powerful enough to cause change or learning […]. this is seldom the case’ (Mayer & Bekebrede 2006, p.150)
Application spectrum
All the above mentioned games ‘enculturate’ the user in a community of practice or realistic environment that is rich in authentic content and resources. In the next section, serious games in the area of language skill development are brought into focus.
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