Let’s cut to commercial: where research, evaluation, and design of learning games should go next

Abstract

This paper is in response to the article titled "Designing and integrating purposeful learning in game play: a systematic review" by Ke (Educ Technol Res Dev 64:219-244, 2016) focusing on research, evaluation, and design. In her article, Ke's synthesized five major themes related to the design of learning games in published academic research. These are then offered as guideposts for future research-based learning game design. However, to be more responsive to the immediate needs of educators, I contend that we should be able to speak to commercial learning games as well. My proposal is that we use Ke's work as a starting point for commercial learning game evaluation, and more broadly, expand our research and design so that we can speak more thoughtfully about commercial games and the variety of ways they could be integrated into learning experiences.

An Overlooked Indicator of Edtech Quality: The Use of Learning Sciences Research

“…Research on the effectiveness of digital resources is often demonstrated in lab settings with tools that were specifically designed for the study, and involve a discussion of the pedagogical principles at play. A comparable examination of commercial products is yet to be rigorously applied (Lee, 2021). The dearth of research on the connection between theoretical framework and learning outcomes in the commercial space leaves unanswered questions about how learning sciences are being applied to these widely available edtech products.…”