Using Games to Enhance Learning and Teaching : A Beginner's Guide

Using Games to Enhance Learning and Teaching provides educators with easy and practical ways of using games to support student engagement and learning. Despite growing interest in digital game-based learning and teaching, until now most teachers have lacked the resources or technical knowledge to create games that meet their needs. The only realistic option for many has been to use existing games which too often are out of step with curriculum goals, difficult to integrate, and require high-end technology.

Using Games to Enhance Learning and Teaching offers a comprehensive solution, presenting five principles for games that can be embedded into traditional or online learning environments to enhance student engagement and interactivity. Extensive case studies explore specific academic perspectives, and featured insights from professional game designers show how educational games can be designed using readily accessible, low-end technologies, providing an explicit link between theory and practice. Practical in nature, the book has a sound theoretical base that draws from a range of international literature and research.

Nicola Whitton is a Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University. She holds a doctorate in the use of educational games for learning and has recently led projects in the use of alternate reality games for student induction and gaming for older adults. More broadly, her research interests encompass learning and teaching innovation and the use of rich media and technology for learning.

Alex Moseley is an Educational Designer and University Teaching Fellow at the University of Leicester, where he has had long experience as both practitioner and researcher of course design and development for higher education. He has particular interests in online and distance education, games-based learning, museum education, student engagement, and provision of effective research skills. He designed a successful games-based approach to teaching Historical research skills, and was also part of the team behind the first charity ARG, Operation: Sleeper Cell.