End Game

Abstract

This book examines what games are, how they work, and how to use them in educational settings. It has shown how to create lessons, units, and entire courses, and has provided a wide variety of practical ideas for how to use them in our classrooms, along with some examples. It is silly to imply that this is all you need do to ensure the games you choose are going to be perfect for you needs, or that using these templates will ensure that all of your students meet all of the required learning objectives and love you besides. Try as we might we still have no sure fire formulas for writing a guaranteed best-seller, or creating a blockbuster movie, or creating a perfect lesson but the tools and techniques introduced in this book will certainly set you along the right path. After reading this book, you will be able to examine a potential game in a structured way and you’ll be able to articulate why it’s good for your purposes, or why it isn’t. After reading this, you’ll be able to take a game and identify where it will need more teacher input and also where students will need more help in the lessons that use it. By using the templates, a teacher should be able to create lessons that include the use of games as a deliberate and integral part of your lesson, rather than an afterthought or add-on.

It’s misleading to suppose there’s any basic difference between education & entertainment. This distinction merely relieves people of the responsibility of looking into the matter.

Marshall McLuhan, from “Classroom without Walls,” Explorations Vol. 7, 1957