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

past, students consulted encyclopedias to search for information. Today, this generation uses Siri, Wikipedia, and Google to find facts and resources for its research. Previous generations of children were free to play outside from dawn until dusk with little to no adult supervision. Nowadays, the fear of predators has forced more and more children into their homes. They are not allowed to loiter at shopping malls or after school, so they connect digitally. The digital generation plays video games, watches and records YouTube videos, and shares its life experiences using social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

      In addition, these generations of children are far from being the first to flock to media at such a young age. After fifty triumphant years of entertaining children, Saturday morning cartoons are no more. Children simply don’t want to settle for a single morning a week of media programmed especially for them. Interactive media forms (such as digital games) are like brain candy to the digital generation and provide colorful, high-quality, highly expressive, and realistic graphics for them to ingest at their convenience. Although media like television, books, pictures, and music have an important role in communicating information, to some extent, interaction with these media can be a one-way street. Now this is not an assault on television, books, pictures, and music. They are still powerful forms of communication. However, in most cases viewers cannot alter a story line, change music lyrics, or change a static image. In digital games, the player controls the story line, characters, and outcomes in the game—giving young gamers a sense of ownership for the first time in their lives.

      Using digital games to teach students is not a new endeavor. Edutainment is the process of educating through the use of popular forms of entertainment. In the 1980s, students were introduced to the first desktop computers. The Apple IIc introduced students to The Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Despite the fun and excitement of these early learning games, many students failed to make the connection to what each game or tool was trying to convey to them. The main reason for this: teachers didn’t know how to implement these tools for deep, immersive learning. First, they lacked extensive training. The computers and games looked intriguing. Students would practice basic mathematics facts or explore geography and history, but once the game was over, where did it fit into the classroom? Many teachers let students play in isolation to keep students occupied during non-instructional filler time. Next, classrooms lacked enough computer workstations to attempt a widespread integration effort. Computers were very expensive and were purchased by schools over an extended period of time. Finally, there was a lack of game inventory to choose from—learning video games were still in their infancy, so there were slim pickings for teachers. These reasons relegated these early video games to the role of edutainment or fun digital centers to visit after students’ “real” work was completed.

      As computer hardware and digital technologies evolved, digital learning games became more relevant to students, teachers, and parents. Many factors added to this newfound relevance involving gaming and learning. First, the prices for computers and mobile devices have decreased tremendously. Schools and parents now have the capability to buy desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Next, there is a wider range and variety of digital learning games to choose from. Every age level, every content area, and every technological platform now has an extensive catalog of games for purchase or download. Finally, other forms of nontraditional educational media such as video, social media, and web-based tools are more widely adopted and used at home and in schools. Parents would much rather have their kids play and learn on PBS KIDS online than another website they deem noneducational. In schools, educators are adopting new tools to teach with every day. Years ago, showing a YouTube video to a class would have been considered taboo. Nowadays, many educators are seeing the value of using video content to enrich their daily lessons. The times and tools in today’s classroom have changed.

      Traditional educational theorists such as Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Fröebel indicate the power of play in childhood development and learning (Huang & Plass, 2009). As we fast-forward to the age of computers and the creation of the new digital landscape, the forms of play have evolved and multiplied extensively (although the old ways still work). The members of the digital generation play video games for fun and experience powerful learning in the virtual worlds they are immersed in. In these digital spaces, students are provided opportunities to learn through failure, take control of their actions, collaborate, and achieve goals with constant praise and reward. In many of these games and virtual worlds, there are opportunities to learn new content and explore new concepts.

      Mathematician, computer scientist, and educator Seymour Papert helps link the educational theories of the past to the practices educators are using in today’s classrooms. He was perhaps the first “concerned with digital tools and children. His awareness that children effectively think differently than adults, and that their cognitive evolution requires designing rich toolkits and environments rather than force-feeding knowledge, has set the tone for decades of research” (Blikstein, 2013). Many digital games provide these rich toolkits and environments Papert refers to.

      More and more teachers are using digital games in the classroom (Takeuchi & Vaala, 2014). The Cooney Center survey, which interviewed almost seven hundred K–8 teachers, focuses on understanding the ways teachers are using digital games in the classroom. Over 75 percent of teachers surveyed report using digital games in their classrooms. That is an increase of over 25 percent since 2012. “Teachers say they want to use digital games to deliver standards-based content and assess student knowledge and skills,” says Cooney Center’s senior director and research scientist (and survey designer) Lori Takeuchi. “But they’re mixed on how effective games have been in doing these things” (Korbey, 2014).

      Alas, this struggle is a popular one when integrating digital games into classrooms. Teachers are under the preconceived notion that teaching has to be standard in a standards-based curriculum. Nothing is further from the truth. Although academic standards dictate what knowledge or skills educators must help engrain into their students, the strategies and methods at the educators’ disposal are not mandated. Using a fun, immersive, and engaging medium such as digital gaming invigorates lessons while still addressing Common Core State Standards or state, district, or local content standards.

      This text helps educators integrate digital games into K–12 lessons. In chapter 1, readers uncover potential video games by exploring the numerous outlets and platforms they can search through. By chapter 2, readers first learn how to evaluate digital games for potential use then gain numerous instructional strategies to use with students. Next, chapter 3 introduces the idea of using digital games as summative and formative assessment tools for valuable insights into student performance. Finally, this text offers readers numerous takeaways for educators that are indoctrinated into using digital games for teaching and assessment. Using Digital Games as Assessment and Instruction Tools provides an easy-to-use resource for locating games to incorporate into lessons based on the content of the game. Dozens of assessment and instructional strategies are introduced and summarized for easy replication in classrooms of all grade levels. Readers will be able to participate in curating effective digital games for other educators to use in their classrooms.

Teachers Versus Facilitators

      Throughout this text, the term teacher is used less and less. It will be replaced with the term facilitator. This isn’t an insult to teachers or their time-honored profession—it is just a term that better describes what role an educator assumes when utilizing digital game–based learning (DGBL). In traditional classroom settings, the teacher is the ultimate source of information. However, using games as instructional tools takes the focus off of teachers to provide information to students. In this learning approach, students use digital games as tools and virtual environments to explore new concepts and learn new information. In DGBL, students become the star and center of their own learning.

      Game-based learning promotes a student-centered approach to instruction. Digital games allow teachers to step out of the spotlight during instruction and become guides in the classroom, rather than the source of all