Games and Collaboration

COLLABORATION
Participation - equal among groups.
Interaction - group members actively respond to one another
Synthesis - the product is a synthesis of ideas and input from all members of group

In true collaboration you can't see evidence of any one person's contribution. The product comes from the whole.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Online Collaboration


GAMES
Participants need to feel challenged to stay engaged.

David Merrill of Utah State University said of motivation:

Much is said about the importance of motivation. Often glitz, animation, multimedia, and games are justified as motivational elements of an instructional product. However, for the most part, these aspects have a temporary effect on motivation. The real motivation for learners is learning. When learners are able to demonstrate improvement in skill, they are motivated to perform even better. It is the ability to show a new skill or an improvement in a skill that provides motivation. Learning is facilitated when learners can demonstrate a skill (2001, p. 8).

It seems that games provide a catalyst for the motivation. First the game engages because of the "game". Perhaps the teacher then takes on the role to help take that motivation to a higher level by helping the student see what they have learned or better to have them demonstrate, outside the game, what they have learned. Then as Merrill teaches the students can see they have improved, and that then will help them be motivated to learn for the sake of learning?