Tools and approaches for simplifying serious games development in educational settings

Serious Games can benefit from the commercial video games industry by taking advantage of current development tools. However, the economics and requirements of serious games and commercial games are very different. In this paper, we describe the factors that impact the total cost of ownership of serious games used in educational settings, review the specific requirements of games used as learning material, and analyze the different development tools available in the industry highlighting their advantages and disadvantages that must be taken into account when using them to develop a serious game.

[1]  S. Freitas Learning in immersive worlds: A review of game-based learning , 2006 .

[2]  Richard N. Van Eck Digital Game-Based Learning: It's Not Just the Digital Natives Who Are Restless. , 2006 .

[3]  Eric Rosenbaum,et al.  Scratch: programming for all , 2009, Commun. ACM.

[4]  Michele D. Dickey Engaging by design: How engagement strategies in popular computer and video games can inform instructional design , 2005 .

[5]  Hakan Tüzün,et al.  The effects of computer games on primary school students' achievement and motivation in geography learning , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[6]  Ina Blau,et al.  Scaffolding game-based learning: Impact on learning achievements, perceived learning, and game experiences , 2014, Comput. Educ..

[7]  Veronika Jašková,et al.  Duolingo as a new language-learning website and its contribution to e-learning education , 2014 .

[8]  Sara de Freitas,et al.  Evaluation of an Immersive Learning Programme to Support Triage Training , 2009, 2009 Conference in Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications.

[9]  James Minogue,et al.  Investigating the impact of video games on high school students' engagement and learning about genetics , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[10]  Jenova Chen,et al.  Flow in games (and everything else) , 2007, CACM.

[11]  Sandra L. Calvert,et al.  Tipping the balance: use of advergames to promote consumption of nutritious foods and beverages by low-income African American children. , 2009, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[12]  Adrien Treuille,et al.  Predicting protein structures with a multiplayer online game , 2010, Nature.

[13]  Iván Martínez-Ortiz,et al.  Educational game design for online education , 2008, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[14]  Gwo-Jen Hwang,et al.  Advancements and trends in digital game-based learning research: a review of publications in selected journals from 2001 to 2010 , 2012, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[15]  S. Wilson What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy , 2006 .

[16]  Jonathan Blow,et al.  Game Development: Harder Than You Think , 2004, ACM Queue.

[17]  Kurt F. Lauckner,et al.  Teaching using off-the shelf on-line materials , 2001, SIGCSE '01.

[18]  Chris Dede,et al.  Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning , 2009, Science.

[19]  Ellen Brox,et al.  Healthy Gaming – Video Game Design to promote Health , 2011, Applied Clinical Informatics.

[20]  James M. Boyle,et al.  A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[21]  David R. Michael,et al.  Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform , 2005 .

[22]  Meng-Tzu Cheng,et al.  An educational game for learning human immunology: What do students learn and how do they perceive? , 2014, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[23]  Elie A Akl,et al.  Educational games for health professionals. , 2013, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[24]  Robert A. Muenchen,et al.  The Popularity of Data Analysis Software , 2013 .

[25]  Clayton Stanley Predicting Tags for StackOverflow Posts , 2013 .

[26]  Marina Papastergiou,et al.  Exploring the potential of computer and video games for health and physical education: A literature review , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[27]  M. Mayo Video Games: A Route to Large-Scale STEM Education? , 2009, Science.

[28]  D. Gentile,et al.  The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century. , 2007, Archives of surgery.

[29]  John Kirriemuir,et al.  Literature Review in Games and Learning , 2004 .