Bite-sized Lessons in PBL Gaming

In continuing to pursue my interests in the crossovers between project-based learning and games for learning, I found a reading titled “Mobile Media Learning.” Coincidentally it also happened to be on my professor’s recommendations list. Scanning through it, I found a section titled “Launching Investigations with Bite-Sized Learning” that is relevant to my area of teaching and my recent interest of augmented reality gaming.

The reading addressed the design and learning outcomes for a set of small, bite-sized learning experiences based on elementary science and social studies standards. These experiences involved using GPS coordinates (I’m a geocacher so this was another personal interest that was piqued mid-read) in community spaces to create meaningful and immersive learning environments. The GPS tools contributed to individual and collective learning by increasing engagement which allows for the natural use of content language with partners, critical thinking, connection making between the physical environment and the virtual environment in game, and the application of in game skills to out of game scenarios. In these examples, there was an elevation of status for the games due to their actual physical connections with their surroundings. Students were familiar with the sites at which the games were connected which added a fluidity between game and reality - thus augmentation. Spanning multiple settings in this way enhances all of the previously mentioned traits of good learning/gaming while also increasing the importance of the content to the students.

Despite the urge to want to dive into creating full units of augmented reality learning after reading the successful accounts of others. The author makes an important note about the learning that takes place during these experiences is not always the direction you had hoped it would go as an educator. It is important to not just design but also playtest the created experiences to streamline the game and keep the learning focused so that students will find meaning in the educational portions that the teacher intended. The author also makes sure that it is apparent that not all gaming experiences can be everything for everyone, and they shouldn’t be. The emphasis in this chapter is keeping things “bite-sized” to be a solid hook for content while not trying to encapsulate every standard to be covered by a unit or curriculum. Again, keeping the amount of content exposure small allows for a deeper focus for students. Deeper focus allows for deeper learning which can then be cultivated throughout other learning experiences related to the gaming ones. Good teaching isn’t always about making everything into a game. It’s about supporting good teaching with gaming components when they are necessary and other good practices when those are necessary.