
Games as Teaching Tools
A panel from MIT's CMS.608 Game Design course, Fall 2010, brings together researchers from the Education Arcade and Learning Games Network, including Philip Tan, Jason Begy, Konstantin Mitgutsch, Dan Roy, and Scot Osterweil, to discuss designing games for learning. The panel covers connecting game mechanics to educational goals, engaging a specific target audience, defining and measuring success in learning outcomes, and the common pitfalls that sink educational games. Segments from Lure of the Labyrinth, a math game built by The Education Arcade, serve as a working example throughout the discussion. Running 83 minutes, the session mixes design critique with practical research findings from people who have actually shipped learning games, rather than abstract theorizing about gamification.