Background to games-based learning
What children learn
One of the main problems associated with the perception of games as learning tools is that observers generally do not look past the surface content of the game, the graphics, the animations and the sounds. As a result people fail to see or become aware of the rich learning environments and experiences that game play can offer.
In order to try and identify what learning takes place when children play games Marc Prensky developed his 
PDF file: What kids learn that's positive from games (44kb). The Consolarium interprets his model so that relevance to teaching and learning can be made more explicit and accessible to teachers.
One of the ways the Consolarium is using games in teaching and learning is to ‘retro-fit’ commercial off the shelf (COTS) games to help create motivating contexts that will engage learners. Be it using a narrative driven interactive story such as Hotel Dusk to focus on what is required when writing a mystery thriller, using a sandbox game such as Viva Pinata to explore how living things interact with their environment or by using Rollercoaster Tycoon to model management skills in a dynamic business setting, there are many and varied ways that these COTS can be used.
Much of the recent research and practical application of games-based learning in classrooms identifies a number of benefits game-playing in schools. These include:
- motivating learners to succeed and to continually improve
- fostering self-esteem, self-determination and enhancing self-image
- facilitating collaborative learning
- Implicitly develop learners ability to observe, question, hypothesise and test
- facilitate metacognitive reflection
- develop complex problem-solving skills
- make school an exciting place to be
- offering inroads into other curricular areas.
The sharing practice features show how games have enhanced learning in the classroom.