This special issue expands our understanding of teaching and learning through video game play, with specific attention to culture. The issue gives insight into the ways educators, researchers, and developers should be discussing and designing for impactful learner-centered game-based learning experiences. The issue features forward-thinking…

This article aims at clarifying and conceptualizing game-based learning (GBL) in order to pinpoint directions for practices and research. The authors maintain that GBL should be conceptualized toward the transformation of a textbook-learning culture. The authors emphasize the importance of a paradigm shift in learning and a reorientation in…

This article explores the critical need to articulate computing as a creative discipline and the potential for gender and ethnic diversity that such efforts enable. By embracing a culture shift within the discipline and using games as a medium of discourse, we can engage students and faculty in a broader definition of computing. The transformative…

This article explores the design processes in creating a pro-social mobile game, "Litter Leader." Following the Egyptian Revolution, "Litter Leader," a game designed for Android devices, was created to foster community change among Egyptian youth. By tracing the meaning-making that occurred with 20 Egyptian youth who playtested…

In this article, the CLICK ("C"omputer Games and "L"iteracy "I"ntegrated with "C"ontent "K"nowledge) design model for high school education is proposed and developed as an instructional response to concerns about content coverage versus deeper content knowledge, learners' inability to grasp the meanings embedded in complex text, and disregard for…

What makes games effective for learning? The authors argue that games provide vicarious experiences for players, which then amplify the effects of future, formal learning. However, not every game succeeds in doing so! Understanding why some games succeed and others fail at this task means investigating both a given game's design and the…

Everything old is new again. In a recent "Point of View" editorial commentary in "Educational Technology," Richard E. Clark revisits the now-famous media-effects debate with a focus on serious games. Clark argues that serious games have little to offer that improves upon traditional methods. This article responds to those claims. While Clark's…

A new type of instructional games that attempt to retain the strengths of the lecture format while replacing its passive nature is described. (Author/RAO)

Surveys the purposes, effectiveness, selection, and design of simulations and provides some criteria by which faculty may judge the suitability of the play element for meeting classroom needs. Lists of resources for simulation selection and directories of games are appended. (Author/MER)

Introduces epistemic game theory as a framework for thinking about the design of "constructivist" learning environments, and offers examples and suggestions for epistemic games in classrooms. Discusses epistemic complexity, epistemic game theory, the development of epistemic fluency, and the role of technology in the development of…

A description of the flap board, a programed game in which students learn to think efficiently through the desire to win the game. (HB)

Examines advantages of using videogame format for training, including practicality, relatively inexpensive hardware, ability to use multi-purpose software modules, motivational advantages of increased student interest and instructional effectiveness, and instructional features such as the adaptive interactive nature of videogames. An example of a…