Games are problem solving activities where one can learn while making decisions. I find that what we call serious games are a little dull, so I play board games with my students. It's very engaging for them (they even forget to ask for the traditional cigarette pause!). Here is a little video (unfortunately in french; you can see 22 years old students working on a negotiation course):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUwumSbI2Ho&feature=player_embedded
The game is Chinatown.
Board games are easier than video games to use in education (for small groups).
So, are games a good way for learning? I think so, and I experiment it with my students in marketing and management. Unsurprisingly they love fun learning!
When we are in project management course we play Forbidden Island and The Resistance.
Games are also a good way to experiment agile thinking (scrum framework in particular) with lego: http://www.lego4scrum.com
Why games are good for learning?
- here is a PREZI to answer this question: http://prezi.com/u3u4xvlf5u5q/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
- and here a research paper (in english) about this topic: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17107520&ini=aob
- an other here (in french): http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00846779
- finally a PREZI (in french) to explain why games are good to deal with complexity (system thinking):
http://prezi.com/nz7iouhzpels/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
What students think of all of this (in french):
What I would love to experiment is playing All Things Zombie (ATZ) with my students as a collaborative/survivalist simulation... (Ed if you read this I'll take all your insights to play fun ATZ games with serious purposes: how a collaborative management is more efficient to survive in a zombie world...).
