Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

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Computer games for learning have been in classrooms since the 1970’s.  The Oregon Trail computer game was introduced to classrooms for children in the 1970’s to explore American Geography and history during the 1800’s (Papadakis, 2018). Games have evolved over the last forty years in the learning community and home community for students.  Papadakis (2018) report that a wide range of names for games include electronic game, computer game, video game, and digital game.

According to Huizenga et al. (2017) a digital game has the following commonalities: a goal, game activity, game rules, outcomes, and conflict or competition. Additionally, Byun and Joung (2018) broadly described digital games as using games within classrooms or instructional context where the goal is to learn rather than only have leisure fun. Lastly, Papadakis (2018) report that games in the educational setting may include three categories: educational games, educational leisure games, and leisure games. Educational games facilitate the teaching process by providing a clear learning objective (Papadakis, 2018). Educational leisure games are games that have been produced for commercial use but are sometimes used to enhance learning in the classroom (Papadakis, 2018).  Leisure games are not designed with a specific objective for the student but may enhance the learning process for the student (Papadakis, 2018).

References

Byun, J., & Joung, E. (2018). Digital game-based learning for K-12 mathematics education: A meta-analysis. School Science and Mathematics, 118(3-4), 113–126. doi: 10.1111/ssm.12271

Huizenga, J. C., ten Dam, G. T. M., Voogt, J. M., & Admiraal, W. F. (2017). Teacher perceptions of the value of game-based learning in secondary education. Computers and Education, 110, 105-115

Papadakis, S. (2018). The use of computer games in classroom environment. International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 9(1), 1. doi: 10.1504/ijtcs.2018.10011113