Video games are becoming ever-present in educational settings, with classrooms incorporating both commercial & educational games in curriculum, & educational technologists becoming ever more interested in developing “serious” or educational games. However, there are still many unknowns, such as, what genres of games may best be used for certain kinds of learning, & how we can go about studying how games affect players & learners. This course will prepare students to: understand the history of educational video games, & what shaped the development of certain genres; identify theories of learning & play; & describe how they relate to the educational potential of video games; analyze & evaluate commercial & educational video games; & design educational video games with history, theory, learning outcomes, & learner characteristics in mind.
