Game-based learning can help students practise their skills in communication, oracy, team building and working, creativity and problem solving, and teach them how to cope with failure within a safe environment, in addition to achieving the learning objectives of the task or lesson. Repeated practice through playing games can nurture the skills students need for testing, further education and employment and develop a deep cultural understanding for global citizenship. To some extent, it is this aspect of a game-based approach which fits so well within the school library, because we already may consider our space to provide opportunities for students to explore and develop independent learning and life skills. Playing games in our libraries could enhance the value of our offer.

Game-based learning in practice – some considerations

As we have seen, a game-based learning approach requires careful design matched against the defined learning outcomes if it is to be effective, or at the very least it should underpin the aims of our library development plan. Plass, Homer and Kinzer (2015) point out that when the mechanics and learning objectives of a game are misaligned, it can result in one or more of the following negative outcomes:

• ■ Students feel they are wasting time processing non-essential information.

• ■ Students become overly engaged with collecting points rather than the game generating intrinsic individual interest.

• ■ Students just view the game as a competition for scoring points against their peers and do not achieve an understanding of the intended learning outcomes.

• ■ Students play the game in isolation even if it is a group exercise with no discussion or interaction with team members.

Be careful not to use games as gimmicks to create a sudden ‘wow factor’ but instead to confer long-term retention of concepts or facts, or to develop a set of skills. Games may be very appealing as a teaching method, but we may need to think about whether using them in this way is suitable for all our students. How might a game be adapted to meet this demand?

We know that one advantage of game-based learning is that it allows students to develop self-confidence and that this approach can help with independent learning and transferable skills.