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Educational approach

What is an educational approach in developing / using games?

I love dictionaries. Sometimes they are as inspiring as a novel, or maybe even more. If you look in a dictionary for “approach” you’ll find definitions like this: “to come near, or nearer to something or someone in space, time, quality, amount”. Think about when we say “to approach a person” - it is about getting close/closer, speaking to that person. But it is also about HOW you do it: in which way you get close(er), how you speak, how right (or wrong) the moment is for that, how long it lasts, etc. It is a combination of elements that, taken together, represent a system.

As for “education” - we believe that the greatest value and purpose of education is “to get people to learn” (and evolve), as we’ll see in this chapter.

So, if we put together “education” and “approach” to focus on “educational approaches”, we could say that “it is about how we come near people in space, time, quality and amount in order to support and facilitate their learning”.

The “K2 Games - learning by playing” educational approach

The educational dimension of the “K2Games – learning by playing” project is firstly defined by its main context and framework: the European Commission’s Erasmus Plus Programme, which has a strong emphasis on the non-formal education/learning methodology/approach. In addition, the educational approach of this project is suggested already by its title: “learning by playing”. Yet, there is much more than that.

But, before we continue with K2Games, let’s look at two “examples” on the topic and contents of “educational approaches”:

• Pick your favorite cookie and, just because you like that cookie, start thinking and elaborating meaningful learning metaphors around it. Think about things that the cookie taught you, about how that cookie played a crucial role in a networking meeting coffee-break, about lessons learnt by eating or missing too much that cookie, about how you have used it in dozens ways, about how you solved or started a conflict with that cookie, and so on. In the unlikely case you don't have real stories about the cookie, you can still invent some.

  Now elaborate, define and refine that idea. Make a consistent conceptual framework and, of course, find a cool name like “The Cookiefication of education”. And you are ready to go ahead with your cookie-mission and start your cookiefication-revolution! Surely you'll get followers. There are cookie lovers out there; if there are many of them, then it will be a mass-revolution. If there are a few - a niche-revolution, because your cookiefication is not for everybody!

  (If you don’t like cookies just choose something else, like stones for the “stonification of education”, or chilies for the “chillification of education”. You get the point.)

• Make two piles of books: one pile with books you have read (maybe even more than once), and one pile of books you have on your shelves, but which you have never read.

  Sit or stand or lie down in front of the two piles of books. First, look at the pile of books you've read and think about what you haven't learned from those books. Then look at the pile of books you've never read and think about what you have realised, learned, with those books, in the few minutes you were looking at them, just by staring at them. Jot down your thoughts. Be ready to share your findings.

  Now, give to this tool a cool name like “The power of unread books”, or “Learning by staring at books (without reading them)”. Define a couple of topics that the tool addresses, like “self-reflection”, or “sparking creativity”. Prepare some questions for the debriefing. You have a tool!

We’ve “invented” these 2 examples in a few minutes, just while writing this part of the guide, but it wouldn’t be so unlikely that you find something similar if you google for some minutes.

The first example might be considered an “approach”, a “methodology”, a “theory” or even a “philosophy”, a…movement, because it is more about a wider system in place, as described above. The second example can be considered as a method, because it is a specific, straightforward way that you need to implement, to put your approach into practice.

We know that in the field of non-formal education/learning, we can take out learning insights, achieve some learning outcomes and create wonderful learning tools from almost anything (situations, party games, objects randomly found lying around, things that are just our interests, passions, etc.). But is it as easy as it looks like in the two examples above? Yes, it is, and of course - it is NOT!

There are quite a few things to properly consider when thinking of an educational approach. To mention just a few:

• What context are you in?
• Who are the learners and who is the guiding team that will be involved in the process?
• What are the learning spaces (offline and online)?
• What is the timeframe of a planned educational activity?
• What style of training/facilitating/teaching do you and the facilitation team have?
• There will be unforeseen events that will arise along the way and you cannot plan in advance. How would you deal with that?

In the same way there are things to properly consider and ponder when choosing or creating the specific methods that bring your educational approach to concrete life - the implementation of that educational approach. But here especially, in an educational project based on games, we would like to underline the most important element never to lose sight of: the ultimate goal of education is “to get people to learn”!

“In the end education is about learning, if there is no learning going on, there is no education going on. And people can spend an awful lot of time discussing education without even discussing learning. The whole point of education is to get people to learn” says Sir Ken Robinson.

And we echo him, because “learning” is what we always had in mind when the comprehensive staff (composed of environmental and health experts, game designers/developers, youth workers, educational trainers, researchers) designed and implemented the K2 Games project.

The role of the trainers was to give and maintain the educational dimension and learning goals when preparing the game development teams. It was challenging, because we know that many people when thinking of games, immediately think of the fun, the wild excitement they will experience, and also about that sneaky dark side of games, as there is many times. To bring educational elements into the games while keeping all the fun, the excitement and especially the “dark side” is not necessarily an easy task. Surely, we tried to develop the games in a way that could allow young people to explore topics around environmental, health and sustainable development issues. What was the intention behind this approach? - To make them think about and question their own attitudes and how these attitudes can change in order to engage more actively in their community. Did we manage? Explore the seven games and tell us.

Here is what some of K2Games’ own pirates and explorers have to share with you about the choice and the impact of a tailored educational approach.

Natalia

Choosing a Topic to Address

What is the last piece of news about environmental problems that you’ve read, watched or heard? What about the last thing that felt wrong to you when you took a walk in the city, in the mountains or even in the countryside?

Climate change? Water pollution? Biodiversity loss? Deforestation? Food waste? People lacking access to food or water? Growing environmental disease burden? Disappearing green spaces in your town or city? You name it. With so many problems around, it can often feel overwhelming to know what to start from. And it is only normal that you may feel so.

Need more reasons why it’s better to feel comfortable with starting small? Watch this short, inspiring video here.

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Tackling big problems, like environmental crises we face today, can be discouraging. In this TED Talk, Doug Snyder talks about how starting small can eventually achieve huge impacts (He touches on his personal experience helping to build a non-profit organization that is tackling air, land, and water pollution in Hanoi, Vietnam)

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“We all have big ideas for big things we’d like to make. When you’re dating, you don’t ask someone to marry you five minutes after meeting them. Marathoners don’t just show up on race day and run 26 miles; they start small.” Here is a business perspective from Justin Jackson on why you should start small.

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Give yourself space to feel the sadness, because the situation is sad indeed. Just try not to linger too much over it. This might cause you to slip into exaggerated fear, exaggerated frustration, despair and feeling of meaninglessness. These are the true enemies that prevent us from action.

Here is what some other K2Games explorers want to share with you.

Natalia

The Choice: Board Game or Simulation Game?

There are many kinds of games. In this guidebook, we focus on what we have experienced and experimented with in the “K2Games - learning by playing” project: board games and simulation games.

So you have decided to use a game. Or even better, you have decided to develop your own game. Up until here, you have clarified the context, the learning objectives and how you want to use the game in your educational approach, and you have managed to jot down the topic/issue that you want to address.

What is a board game?

Board games are tabletop games that typically use pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. They can be competitive, cooperative or a bit of both. There are also very many types and varieties of board games: eurogame type, card game type, etc.“Board games involve counters (or “pieces”) moved or placed on a pre-marked surface (or “board”) according to a set of rules. However, a board game does not necessarily need to be based on a physical board, as it happens with card-driven games, for example. Some games are based on pure strategy, some may contain an element of chance, while some others are driven by chance alone, requiring no skills at all. What they all have in common is the idea of a goal that players aim to achieve.”

Monopoly? - Board game

Chess? - Board game

Poker? - Board / card game

And so are:

K2 Pioneer City

K2 Recycling Party

You know what? Aunt Wikipedia has much more to tell you about this than we would even attempt to :)

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Here you can find the SUSTAIN project white paper

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If you are particularly curious about some technicalities involved in the categorisation process, here is a more geeky youtube video explaining the different types of board games

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Why use a board game?

Board games are generally attractive for those people who like math and strategies more than stories. They can be used as tools when several small groups of participants have to be involved in a daily program convention or when you wish to create a somewhat more entertaining learning event.

Small concepts can become central in board games: if you want to explore a more single aspect, which is not very information-intensive, that's the board game field. Keep in mind that when used for learning purposes, board games have certain constraints in terms of learning objectives. They direct the focus of the learners to a certain aim, with a specific objective.

The success of these games is due to their ability to showcase innovative and unusual activities for engaging participants, as well as to promote learning among them. In fact, an added value of board games contrasting with, for example, video gamers’ “loneliness” is that the former usually involve group sessions, which literature indicates as further improving learning outcomes. SUSTAIN project’s white paper gives a more in-depth insight into why use board games as educational tools.

What is a simulation game?

A simulation is a model, a detail of reality transformed into a certain setting, which allows the arising of a particular dynamic created by the players themselves. Generally, simulation games train the capabilities of the players to take on decisions. In a simulation game individual actors or groups slip into certain roles and interact with each other within a predefined framework. At the initial stage of the simulation game there is a vital problem, usually a problem of taking action or of making decisions.

The settings (scenario) of simulation games usually include a conflict prone relationship between the different actors and groups and/or a topical conflict. Moreover the simulation game is structured in different periods or phases, whilst the mutual reactions between the actions of the participants (actors) and the environment of the simulation game create permanently new situations.

The general principle of all simulation games is to create situations in which the participants are required to not only take decisions on their own but also to face both the implication of their own and other’s decisions.

Why use simulation games?

Simulation games offer possibilities to test communication and organizational skills in a risk-free environment. They make it possible to plan, execute and optimize action strategies. Within the simulation game the players are not hampered in committing errors; rather these procedural errors are used to draw learnings.

Role-playing is a useful exercise in overcoming some of the limits of traditional lecture-based teaching. While lectures presuppose the existence of a knowledgeable professor transmitting information to overall passive students, role-playing requires both the redefinition of the professor ⁄ student relationship and the active and purposeful involvement of students. This paper is an initial attempt to assess a role-play designed to achieve three main results:

• support participants to take a more active role and ownership of their learning process
• develop students’ research, writing and presentation skills
• apply their knowledge to a specific case

Here’s what aunt Wikipedia has to say to help you clarify what simulation games are.

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Read more about the benefits of simulation games in non-formal education in this material prepared by CRISP

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In this TED Talk, John Hunter explains how his World Peace Game engages school kids, and why the complex lessons it teaches - spontaneous, and always surprising - go further than classroom lectures can

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How did we make this choice in “K2Games - learning by playing” project?

In the K2Games project, the participating youth workers made this choice during a dedicated training course on how to develop board games and simulation games. Throughout the training and the game development process, they had the opportunity to ask for support and were guided in the development by experienced trainers, game developers and mentors.

In our game development experience, we realized that:

• Developing a board game is hard if you don’t have previous experience with board game design, an experienced game designer in the team, or at least an experienced game designer having the role of a mentor.
• Developing a simulation game is easier. However, a helping hand from someone with some experience is of great help.
• The tendency is to plunge into developing complex, lengthy games. Better start small.

Here is how some of us, K2Games developers, have made this choice:

Natalia

Designing the Game

Designing a simulation game

Designing a simulation game is an exciting and rewarding experience. Between board games and simulation games, this is the easier option. Easier, but not necessarily easy. Therefore, you need to be prepared for multiple trial-and-error cycles.

Some important aspects to keep in mind before proceeding to the design process is that:

• The main purpose of using simulation is to allow participants to ‘learn and practice’ the desired skills, attitudes and knowledge.
• The problems of the simulation game should correspond to reality and be relevant for the day-to-day reality of the participants, in order to create interest and an emotional reference.
• Players should be given the possibility to exchange knowledge, discuss problems and debate problem-solving-proposals, and thus expand their horizons and perspectives.
• A simulation game should offer the players the freedom to take their own decisions and subsequent actions and take on responsibility for them by handling the consequences.
• It is important not to present any content as fixed. In fact the players must have the freedom to construct knowledge themselves by interpreting, observing, reflecting and generalizing.
• The problems of the simulation game should be embedded in different situations that allow taking different perspectives.
• The setting of the simulation game should include a variety of actors that contribute an additional angle to the problem/conflict AND each single actor should find possible partners for cooperation (other actors) and opponen

Designing a board game

Designing a board game is fun and it brings joy to both those who design it and, ideally, to players that will experience the final result. As a board game designer, you choose the topic, and also other features of the game such as the experience that you want the players to live and feel. Yet, K2Games experience has shown us that it is by far not an easy task. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you:

• Get in touch with a (more) experienced game designer. If you don’t have one in your own community, join us in the K2Games community.
• Play a lot of other board games to “get the hang” of it.
• Start with developing a very simple game.
• Test the game A LOT.

Board game design lays more on method than on pure inspiration, and creativity needs to be driven to concrete results. Unlike in the case of simulation games, the hardest part in the design process of this type of game is bringing an idea to a playable prototype, and then transforming it into “a product “.

Some important aspects to keep in mind before proceeding to the design process are:

• It’s very useful to quickly come up with a prototype, especially in team work. It’s easier to modify something that already exists instead of endlessly brainstorming on ideas.
• Split the tasks and give yourself deadlines. It’s always a good thing to have a timeline to follow.
• In a team, it is always helpful to define roles and assume corresponding tasks, such as design, development/testing, graphics, writing.
• It’s very common in creative works to have diverging ideas, so you’ll need someone or some system to make the (final) decisions / have the final say.
• Don’t fall in love with your game. If published games are in some cases not perfect, prototypes are NEVER perfect, so be ready to trash some features if they’re not working.
• Don’t argue or complain too much against bad feedback from testing.
• Pause. Take breaks. Full time designing usually is not the best option. Take your time to try new games, to relax a little. You’ll be back on the project with renewed energy.
• Have fun. Designing is a game itself and having a great experience makes everything better.

Paul

The Crucial Element: Debriefing

Whether developed by you or by someone else, when playing the game is over… time for debriefing.

Debriefing is according to the Cambridge Dictionary: a meeting that takes place in order to get information about a particular piece of work that has been finished, for example about what was done successfully and what was not. In youth work we see it a bit broader; predominantly as a tool for learning.

Debriefing is a tool for reflection and reflection is an important or even crucial element for learning. Reflection helps:

• to become aware of your learning. By looking back at your learning you become conscious of your learning
• to be in charge of your own learning. Observing and understanding your own learning process allows you to direct your learning in the way you prefer
• to share about your learning with others. Talking about your learning with other people opens a great resource for receiving feedback and it can create new questions for you. Sharing the successes and challenges creates a means of support
• plan further learning. Having an insight into your own learning, as well into the process, allows you to make the next steps in a conscious way

You can reflect by yourself but in the case of debriefing you do it together with the other people that were in the same activity with you. It helps to share impressions and feelings with others, to see different perspectives on the same activity, to find different questions and answers… It helps to learn.

How to debrief?

Many youth workers and trainers find ‘doing a debriefing’ a difficult and complex thing. What are the right questions, what if there is a long silence, how to get everybody in the group talking, should I make conclusions and summaries…..???? Let's first look at some basic conditions before going into debriefing.

A safe environment

If you want people to share their impressions, feelings and insights you need an atmosphere in the group that allows for that. It means that people can express their doubts, their questions and the different feelings they had during the game. That needs a ‘safe’ environment.

Being ready to reflect

After an activity people can be very excited in all kinds of different ways. When people have been taking part in a simulation game they need time to ‘get out of their role’. It might be good before you start the debriefing to give time for ‘calming down’. To first do something completely different before diving into reflection together. That can be a relaxing exercise, just a silly exercise or even just a simple coffee-break. It allows people to take some distance from the strong feelings they got from the game.

Being explicit about why you do debriefing

For you it might be obvious you do debriefing after an activity but for the young people it might be very unclear why they have to sit in a circle and talk about something they just did. Explaining why you think it makes sense to do so helps young people to make it meaningful for them.

How to prepare yourself in having to facilitate the debriefing?

Questions

It’s good to have some questions prepared. For that in the first place it’s essential to go back to the reasons why you wanted to do this activity. What were your intentions? So there might be questions to ask the group to check if your intentions came out.

Then it’s good to have questions which cover 3 dimensions; what happened, what did you feel, what did you learn. It’s important to separate the outcomes of these three dimensions. Doing games can give a lot of emotions. Emotions that need to be expressed during a debriefing. But also emotions can take a person away from making meaningful conclusions. So to separate emotions from ‘what happened’ can help a lot to define what you learnt from the game.

A well known exercise which follows this thinking just uses these three questions:

• What happened? Participants can just describe what factually happened. As soon as people use expressions like ‘that was fun’, ‘I found that difficult’, ‘that was not fair’ etc., you stop them and ask them to describe only the facts
• What did you feel? Here people can freely express their emotions.
• What did you learn? (or What would you do differently if you would play the game again?) Here people can indicate what they concluded for themselves, their own behaviour and insights.

After this exercise you can go more freely to topics that came up so far.

When debriefing after a simulation exercise it’s important to give first space for people to express how they felt about ‘being in a certain role’. For young people it might have been their first experience in acting out a role and they might have a strong need to say something about that. The same kind of question can be asked to people who were not in an acting role but were observers; How did that feel?

Let them all talk

In a group it happens often that only 3 or 4 people talk. They have no problem taking the floor. Others need some more support to share their experiences. You can help them by addressing questions to them. And… don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes people need some time to open their mouths.

Being curious

Maybe the most important element about facilitating a debriefing is also the most simple one; be yourself and curious. You offered a game to a group of young people and you are curious about how they experienced that. As simple as that. Being prepared with a long list of questions can also limit the process because you are too much focussed on asking all these questions which can even take your attention away from what people say. So...listening very attentive to the group is essential and will probably give you other questions. Just because you are curious about what happened.

Listening and not…

It might happen during a debriefing that you as the facilitator have the need to ‘express your opinion’, to say‘ you don’t agree with what participants say’, or ‘wants to explain why the exercise was a good one when participants are criticizing’... Don’t! Now it’s time for participants to express their experiences, impressions and opinions. Your role is asking questions and listening.

Making conclusions/ a summary

When it’s possible it can help a group when you sum up the conversation in the end. But that’s not always easy. Sometimes conversations go all over the place and then it’s not easy to draw conclusions that are meaningful. Conclusions might be very different for individual members or many interesting things have been said but don’t necessarily lead to one conclusion. When this is the case then don’t force yourself in a concluding statement but leave it like it is. You can always ask as a last question to the group; ‘So...what do we conclude from this’. Many different answers might come up but maybe there is simply no conclusion. Don’t worry; an interesting conversation will give insights, ideas and questions that will come back in other situations and will lead to learning.