Utilizing Digital Educational Games to Enhance Adult Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 933-958
Author(s):  
Leslie Cordie ◽  
Xi Lin ◽  
Nicola Whitton
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Asynchronous Learning Environments

As adult educators, we strive to facilitate learning using a variety of teaching strategies that engage learners. Learning by doing is a powerful method that combines both application and practice to address the needs and motivations of adult learners. Digital educational games provide one type of an engaging instructional strategy for adult learners that can be delivered in both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments. Digital educational games are not something new, however, as they were developed soon after the first computer games (Wolfe & Crookall, 1998). Additionally, game-based educating has been used in many adult learning contexts, including the corporate environment to train staff in financial and economic skills, and in the military system for combat and strategy training (Whitton & Hollins, 2008). Despite these successful applications, there is a lack of recognition of digital educational games as a significant instructional method for the adult learner (Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Gros, 2007). In this chapter, we review the research literature on adult learning via games in terms of learner motivation and engagement, specifically focusing on adult learning in the online environment. We will define key terms and essential characteristics of educational games, share best practices for developing and designing engaging educational games as an instructional strategy, and discuss the types of learning outcomes that can be achieved through the use of effective educational games, concentrating on adult learners in the online environment.

Utilizing Digital Educational Games to Enhance Adult Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 171-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Cordie ◽  
Xi Lin ◽  
Nicola Whitton
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Asynchronous Learning Environments

As adult educators, we strive to facilitate learning using a variety of teaching strategies that engage learners. Learning by doing is a powerful method that combines both application and practice to address the needs and motivations of adult learners. Digital educational games provide one type of an engaging instructional strategy for adult learners that can be delivered in both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments. Digital educational games are not something new, however, as they were developed soon after the first computer games (Wolfe & Crookall, 1998). Additionally, game-based educating has been used in many adult learning contexts, including the corporate environment to train staff in financial and economic skills, and in the military system for combat and strategy training (Whitton & Hollins, 2008). Despite these successful applications, there is a lack of recognition of digital educational games as a significant instructional method for the adult learner (Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Gros, 2007). In this chapter, we review the research literature on adult learning via games in terms of learner motivation and engagement, specifically focusing on adult learning in the online environment. We will define key terms and essential characteristics of educational games, share best practices for developing and designing engaging educational games as an instructional strategy, and discuss the types of learning outcomes that can be achieved through the use of effective educational games, concentrating on adult learners in the online environment.

Article Review: The Impact of Fun and Enjoyment on Adult Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Laily Yahya
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Programme ◽  
Continuous Quality ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Affective Experiences ◽  
The Impact

The article review of ‘The Impact of Fun and Enjoyment on Adult Learning’ (Lucardie, 2014) opens doors to the kaleidoscope of fun and enjoyment amongst adult learners. The essence of this review is an informative snapshot on the critical issues of how fun and joy have impacted adult learning through a qualitative research drawing upon traditions of phenomenology. It aims to explore the affective experiences of fun and enjoyment. This article review attempts to highlight an insightful assessment of the ideas and the arguments that are being discussed by the author. The different interpretation of this concept draws out contrasting elements between learners and teachers’ beliefs. A twist to this review is a reflective stance procured to address central issues emerging in the article related to the Malaysian context. It is through the lens of the reader, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI):4R is proposed. This refers to the process of continuously improving the quality of teaching and learning of an educational programme. This review concludes with the framing of CQI:4R to illustrate reflect, revisit, realign and reconstruct processes that could possibly navigate the architectural landscape of the Malaysian Teacher Education.

scholarly journals How Do the Timing and Duration of Courses Affect Participation in Adult Learning and Education? A Panel Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 074171362110190
Author(s):  
Fabian Rüter ◽  
Andreas Martin
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Education Participation ◽  
The Impact

Participation in adult learning and education requires the availability of, and accessibility to, learning opportunities provided by educational institutions. One fundamental element is time. Adult learning and education participation can only be realized by successfully matching individual time-availabilities with the temporal organization of provided courses. To address this required matching process, this study contributes to research literature as one of the first studies that investigates the impact of timing and course duration on participation counts (longitudinally). For this, we use organizational data from public adult education centers ( Volkshochschulen—VHS; the main adult education providers in Germany) from 2007 to 2017. Methodologically, random- and fixed-effects models are applied. We find significant positive effects on participation counts between increasing program breadth in terms of temporal formats and increasing average course duration.

Revisiting competences of adult learning facilitators: Perspectives from the Mongolian context

2021 ◽  
pp. 147797142110031
Author(s):  
Togtokhmaa Zagir ◽  
Helga Dorner
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Teaching Role ◽  
Core Competences ◽  
Key Stakeholders

Competent adult learning facilitators play a vital role in improving the quality of adult learning programmes. This article thus explores common and core competences of adult learning facilitators from the perspective of key stakeholders, such as facilitators, adult learners and administrators. By synthesising previous international studies, we developed a survey and collected data in Mongolia ( n = 227). We identified adult learning facilitators’ common and core competences focusing on their teaching role. As found, areas of adult learners’ needs assessment, communication and motivation should be integrated in professional development programmes in order to aim for a better completion rate and higher participation of target audiences in adult learning programmes.

scholarly journals Are adult learners in Europe happier than non-learners? Statistical evidence from the European Social Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110146
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Relationship

This paper borrows insights from the literature on European welfare regimes to analyse the relationship between happiness and participation in adult education. The academic literature and policy discourses on adult education tend to claim that participation in learning is correlated with happiness despite the lack of strong European comparative empirical evidence on this topic. This paper uses data from the latest Wave of the European Social Survey to analyse the happiness perceptions of nearly 20,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64 who live in 16 European countries (15 European Union countries and the United Kingdom). Results indicate that while adult learners on average tend to be happier than non-learners, this correlation weakens when controlling for determinants of participation and happiness and for the countries in which these adults live. Confirming the importance of welfare regimes, this study found that adults in Finland tend to be happier than those in other countries, regardless of their participation in adult education. Happiness scores were lowest in Bulgaria and Hungary, countries with low participation rates in adult education and with the biggest differences in happiness scores between learners and non-learners. It is argued that the presence of well-structured adult learning provision might be an important characteristic of welfare regimes but that happiness is determined by much more than being an adult learner.

Cybersecurity educational games: a theoretical framework

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark I Hwang ◽  
Susan Helser
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
User Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Context Learning ◽  
Game Context ◽  
Design And Testing

Purpose Computer games that teach cybersecurity concepts have been developed to help both individuals and organizations shore up their defence against cybercrimes. Evidence of the effectiveness of these games has been rather weak, however. This paper aims to guide the design and testing of more effective cybersecurity educational games by developing a theoretical framework. Design/methodology/approach A review of the literature is conducted to explore the dependent variable of this research stream, learning outcomes and its relationship with four independent variables, game characteristics, game context, learning theory and user characteristics. Findings The dependent variable can be measured by five learning outcomes: information, content, strategic knowledge, eagerness to learn/time spent and behavioral change. Game characteristics refer to features that contribute to a game’s usefulness, interactivity, playfulness or attractiveness. Game context pertains to factors that determine how a game is used, including the target audience, the skill involved and the story. Learning theory explains how learning takes place and can be classified as behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism, social learning or constructivism. User characteristics including gender, age, computer experience, knowledge and perception, are attributes that can impact users’ susceptibility to cybercrimes and hence learning outcomes. Originality/value The framework facilitates taking stock of past research and guiding future research. The use of the framework is illustrated in a critique of two research streams. Multiple research directions are discussed for continued research into the design and testing of next-generation cybersecurity computer games.

Adult learning in traditional music

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Cope
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Traditional Music ◽  
Technical Advice

This study is based on interviews carried out with 13 adult learners of traditional fiddle playing. The average age of the learners was 56 and they had been learning to play for between 2 and 20 years. All of the interviewees had taken music at school but none of them had been stimulated to participate further in any significant sense. The aspiration to learn to play the fiddle had various sources. Learning usually took place through traditional workshops and through the medium of the tune rather than through scales and exercises. Only one of the participants took regular conventional individualised lessons. They tended to take a pragmatic stance with regard to technique, looking for technical advice when they came up against barriers to progress. The music they played was within an aural culture and most of them learned by ear although they tended to regard notation as a useful supplement. All of them played in some sort of social context and all of them described an immense sense of pleasure and achievement from their playing. It is suggested that this kind of informal learning may have implications for learning to play instruments at school.

scholarly journals A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT THE STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES OF HIGHER EDUCATION CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES IN TRADITIONAL AND ALN COURSES

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred P. Rovai
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Classroom Community ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Learning Effectiveness ◽  
Graduate Courses ◽  
Asynchronous Learning Network ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Media ◽  
Classroom Communities

This preliminary study again provides evidence that it is the method and not the media that matters the most in learning effectiveness. The present work examines classroom community in order to determine how sense of community differs between students enrolled in traditional face-to-face and those enrolled in asynchronous learning network (ALN) courses. Subjects consist of 326 adult learners who were enrolled in a mix of 14 undergraduate and graduate courses at two urban universities. As operationalized by the Sense of Classroom Community Index (SCCI), there appears no significant difference in classroom community between the two groups of subjects. However, a discriminant analysis shows a significant overall difference in community structure between the two groups. Variations between groups on feelings of similarity of needs, recognition, importance of learning, connectedness, friendship, thinking critically, safety, acceptance, group identity, and absence of confusion are the characteristics contributing mostly to this difference in learning effectiveness.

scholarly journals Serious Games and Board Games Versus Cultural Changes

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-270
Author(s):  
Jakub Lickiewicz ◽  
Patricia Paulsen Hughes ◽  
Marta Makara-Studzińska
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Human Functioning ◽  
The Impact

The impact of computer games on human functioning has become the sub­ject of many studies and scientific reports. With the development of technol­ogy, games have transcended boards and become part of the video entertain­ment industry. However, technology did not end traditional games. It was only a matter of time before games were extended to other areas of life. Because games were so popular, educators found that students engage quickly with educational games. The article explains the aspects of serious games (SG), which are defined as digital games used for purposes other than entertain­ment. It describes the areas in which games can be used in the educational process, their effectiveness, and controversies regarding their use.

scholarly journals Challenges of the adult learning sector in context of COVID-19 in Latvia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Jekabsone ◽  
◽  
Ina Gudele ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Remote Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way people work and learn in unprecedented ways. Also, the pandemic has moved more business activity online, increasing the need for training and prompting them to build more online trainings. In this time of crisis, a suitable response requires novel ways to enable interaction between adult learners, adult learners and teachers, adult learners and content using online tools so that no one is left behind. In the context of regional development, online adult learning provides economic active inhabitants with wide opportunities since employees are able to attend high-quality trainings regardless the place of residence. In context of COVID-19, during the emergency situation Latvia has fully moved to remote learning, including adult learning. Educational institutions as well as enterprises that organise trainings for adults have to implement remote learning using several online tools. The aim of the paper is to analyse the main challenges of the adult learning sector in Latvia in context of COVID-19 taking into consideration the regional development issues. In order to achieve the aim, following research methods have been used: scientific literature studies, statistical data analysis, interviews. Main results of the survey: in case of Latvia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Latvia has launched several initiatives towards enabling the shift to online learning, providing recommendations, digital tools as well as good practice sharing. At the same time, there is no methodology and detailed step-by-step recommendations, how to develop the online education learning for educational institutions in Latvia. However, there are incentives to develop online adult learning via project funding.

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