robert torres - transforming education with gamification: the past, present and future

gamification summit 2013Robert Torres, phd

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation @robjtorres

Thursday, May 2, 13

...winding up in games

Thursday, May 2, 13

...landscapeSay going to college (8th grade), 95%

Graduate HS, 70%

Graduate HS Ready to Succeed

in College, 20% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

US Low Income Students

Thursday, May 2, 13

7,000  kids  drop  out  of  school  daily

Thursday, May 2, 13

Black and Latino youth between ages 11 -18 spend on average 13 hours daily engaged with media (Kaiser Family Foundation 2010)

57% of youth are Internet “content creators” (Lenhardt & Madden (2005). Pew/Internet and American Life project.

97% of youth are playing video games (Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A. R., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2008). Pew/Internet & American Life Project)

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what it is about games?

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what it is about games?

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what it is about games?

•  Games  enable  learning  to  be  vs.  learning  about

•  Games  are  spaces  to  experiment,  fail,  try  again

•  Games  are  immersive,  designed  systems

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what it is about games?

•  Games  enable  learning  to  be  vs.  learning  about

•  Games  are  spaces  to  experiment,  fail,  try  again

•  Games  are  immersive,  designed  systems

principles of good games =

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what it is about games?

•  Games  enable  learning  to  be  vs.  learning  about

•  Games  are  spaces  to  experiment,  fail,  try  again

•  Games  are  immersive,  designed  systems

principles of good games =principles of good learning

Thursday, May 2, 13

...a quick word about systems

Thursday, May 2, 13

goalsrules

componentscore mechanics

space3 types:

technological, social, natural

Thursday, May 2, 13

sense  of  place embodied  ac/on

social  interplay

emo/ons sense  of  relevance

social learning system

Thursday, May 2, 13

sense  of  place embodied  ac/on

social  interplay

emo/ons sense  of  relevance

social learning system

Thursday, May 2, 13

Thursday, May 2, 13

...a field quickly evolving

1980s >> 2000s >> now

Thursday, May 2, 13

focus on assessment

....imagine a day when the game is the test

Thursday, May 2, 13

5 design requirements

Thursday, May 2, 13

assess application of

Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards

Thursday, May 2, 13

assess complex skills

tenacitycritical thinking

collaboration

communication

problem solving

synt

hesiz

esystems thinking

com

mun

icatio

n

systems thinking

desig

n th

inki

ng

desig

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inki

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Thursday, May 2, 13

engagement

Thursday, May 2, 13

immediate feedback

Thursday, May 2, 13

Performance Data

data analytics

Thursday, May 2, 13

masteryhig

h  cognitive  dema

ndhigh  engagement

Thursday, May 2, 13

Tenacity

Thursday, May 2, 13

players  solve  the  protein  structure  that  could  help  the  design  of  new  AIDS  drugs

players  decode  AIDS  protein  that  stumped  researchers  for  15  Years  in  

just  3  Weeks

Thursday, May 2, 13

Thursday, May 2, 13

Thursday, May 2, 13

groundbreaking collaboration

Pearson(Center(for(Digital(Data,(Analytics,(and(Adaptive(Learning(

Transforms learning and assessment through digital games

Thursday, May 2, 13

Thursday, May 2, 13

...what are we learning?

Thursday, May 2, 13

•several of the games we have funded are showing significant gains in learning when compared to traditional teaching methods

•a meta-analysis that started with over 61,000 studies, showed that “digital games are associated with significantly better cognitive competency outcomes among students, relative to other instruction comparison conditions”

early findings

Thursday, May 2, 13

Thursday, May 2, 13

thank  you

Thursday, May 2, 13

gamification summit 2013Robert Torres, phd

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation @robjtorres

Thursday, May 2, 13