1. The Power of
Perspective:
Games and Simulations
for Transformative
Learning
Lisa Galarneau
Ph.D. Candidate
The University of Waikato, New
Zealand

2. Games can motivate
learning…
People cannot be ‘taught’.
They must be motivated to
learn.
When learners need to
memorize information, making
it fun might be key.
Younger generations are
increasingly bored with linear
content.
…but motivation is not the
only thing games are good
for!
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

3. The sweet spot for
games and simulations…
They are flexible environments
that allow for infinite possibilities
and points-of-view (‘going meta’)
Allow learners to form
connections by experimenting
with knowledge in context
Learners learn by doing,
discovery and through failure
They allow learning designers to
foster authentic learning
experiences
Facilitate transformative learning
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

4. Why learning No longer sufficient to know stuff or
must be do stuff, learning is about
transformative… being/becoming different.
James Paul Gee: ‘Learning is a
change not just in practice but in
identity’
John Seely Brown and Paul DuGuid:
‘Learning to be requires more than
just information It requires the
ability to engage in the practice in
question’ – ‘through practice, we
learn to be’
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

5. Modernism,
Postmodernism and
Identity Play
Miroslaw Filiciak’s ‘Hyperidentities’:
 ‘personality is not quite definite, its final
form is never reached, and it can be
manipulated’; ‘we construct it incessantly’
 ‘digital media enable us to manipulate our
‘selves’ and multiply them indefinitely’
Anthony Giddens: “Narrative of the
Self”
 ‘everyday activities consist in
strengthening and reproducing a set of
expectations’ (from Filiciak)
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

6. Transformation is the
natural by-product of
experience…
With guidance and reflection,
transformations can be positive
(Jack Mezirow)
Without, they can result in
unconscious judgment (Malcolm
Gladwell’s rapid cognition)
Transformative learning may be a
"intuitive, creative, emotional
process" (Grabov)
Transformations are often abrupt
shifts in perspective enabled by
‘disorienting dilemmas’ or ‘fictional
recentering’
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

7. What animal
do you see?
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

8. How is
perspective
shifted?
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

9. What do you
understand
about
terrorism?
-- September 12th
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

10. The human
immune system
from the
perspective of a
virus
– MIT’s Replicate
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

11. Try on a
pioneer
identity…
– The Oregon
Trail
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

12. What if you
could change
history?
What if you
are?
– MIT’s Revolution
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

13. Can ‘replaying
history’ shift
one’s
perspective?
– Civilization 3
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

14. What if you
turned this
simulation around
so the player
plays the student,
not the teacher?
– SimSchool
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

15. What if you were
CEO? Would you
make
environmentally
and socially
responsible
decisions?
– BT’s Better
Business Game
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

16. How does
experience
contribute
to our
empathy
for others?
– Magellan’s
Understanding
Diversity
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

17. How do we
learn to handle
the complexities
of business
relationships?
- Simulearn’s Virtual
Leader
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

18. Enabling
transformations through
games and
simulations….
Consider using games and simulations to allow a
point-of-view that is unexpected.
Allow learners to play at being -- encourage them
to try on different identities.
Remember that simulations are well-suited to
practice that is impossible or impractical in the
physical world. (allow learners to ‘go meta’)
Don’t forget to add fun, challenge and stickiness
with ‘game elements’.
Keep in mind that transformation is the goal, but
transformation only comes with experience.
Design authentic learning experiences, not just
materials or resources.
Don’t forget the importance of guidance and
reflection.
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

19. Identity can be the hook for
freeing people to learn and
think in new ways, including
learning, or at least thinking
about, new values, belief
systems, and world views.’
(James Paul Gee,
GameZone Interview 2004)
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005

20. Questions/Comments?
The Power of Perspective Games * Learning * Society Conference June 23, 2005