Educator/Gamer

Twitter:lucasgillispie

www.edurealms.com

Is this what comes to mind when you think,

“gamer?”

“People of all ages play video games. There is no longer a ‘stereotype game player,’ but

instead a game player could be your grandparent, your boss, or

even your professor.”—Jason Allaire, Ph.D., associate professor of

psychology at North Carolina State University and co-director of the Gains Through Gaming Lab

Average age of a gamer:

years old.

Percentage of all gamers who are boys under 18 years old:

Percentage of all gamers who are women over

18 years old:

Video Game Industry Revenues in 2014:

Movie Industry Revenues in 2014:

Today’s games have moved far beyond the

coin-operated experiences that many of us had growing up.

Storytelling in games grew deeper and more

complex.

Challenges became increasingly complex.

Playing with friends has gone from this…

to this…

to even this!

“We’ve come a long way since Pac-Man.”

“Video games are complex systems composed of rules that interact.

Gamers must think like a designer and form hypotheses about how the

rules interact so they can accomplish goals and even bring

about emergent results. Thinking like a designer in order to understand

systems is a core 21st-century skill.”

— Dr. James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State

University

“Games offer immediate feedback, you can see your

progress, you can try something and be frustrated but later learn more that’s why game play is so

engaging to us.”—Barbara Chamberlin, project director at the New Mexico State University Learning Games

Lab

A broad term! Essentially, game play with learning outcomes. (GBL)

A game designed specifically for educational purposes.

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem.

Entertainment is not the primary focus.

A movement that aims to use digital games to promote social change.

The application of game mechanics and/or game-thinking to non-game situations.

“Commercial, off-the-shelf games.” Often used when discussing entertainment games in a learning context.