Summit on Educational Games - Federation of American Scientists

“I do think you need to find the
incentives. Change is brought
about by incentives. That’s what
public policy is all about,
incentives that get people to do
things they normally wouldn’t do,
and to reward them when they do
things the way you want them to.
Well, what are the incentives you
offer in terms of performance for
faculty, students, and systems?”
Eugene Hickok, Advisor,
DutkoWorldwide, former Deputy
Secretary of Education
➣ Schools should give students greater access to computers while in
school to take advantage of the learning opportunities afforded by
educational games.
➣ Schools and other education venues such as community centers
should explore the use of video game consoles — high-powered,
durable, low cost, low maintenance computing devices — for learning
applications. This includes game consoles discarded because they
have been replaced by a new generation of technology.
Outcome data from large-scale evaluations of educational games are needed to
demonstrate that these technologies are equal to or better than more
conventional instruction methods. These data are needed to encourage schools
to adopt educational games, especially K-12 schools that are focused on meeting
education standards. A stronger market for educational games would, in turn,
encourage private sector investment in the development and commercialization
of games for learning.
Recommendations:
48 SUMMIT ON EDUCATIONAL GAMES
➣ Of R&D dollars available for investment in educational technologies,
some should be used to fund field studies to test whether or not
learning game innovations improve educational outcomes.
➣ Given the emphasis on test scores associated with state standards of
learning and the No Child Left Behind Act, researchers and
educational game developers should focus on proving they can
positively affect test scores across a spectrum of subject matter.
Universities should participate with school districts in these studies to
ensure: studies are well designed, appropriate data collected and
analyzed, and results presented credibly so other districts and
schools can use these studies to justify adopting innovations in their
own systems. Researchers should convey information about their
findings in the language and concepts of those they must convince —
teachers, education administrators, and policy-makers.
➣ Evaluations should consider how instructional practices, teacher
preparation, school environment, and other factors have affected
outcomes. In addition, when superior implementation practices are
identified, those should be linked more formally to the technology
intervention. Evaluations should also focus on why innovations failed,
identifying lessons learned from the ways in which the failed
innovations were implemented, any mismatches between products
and the school system, and the effects of the school culture.