"The changing student body in American higher education demands a new approach to teaching, one that moves toward inclusive, hyperpersonalized learning environments that have much in common with games and social media. Kevin Bell's Game Educators presents dynamic case studies of gamer educators and game-derived techniques to help instructors creatively formulate their own teaching strategies. Breaking gamefully designed classes into their component parts, Bell analyzes what these classes are actually doing and explains why they work. He offers faculty a rubric to assess their own courses for their propensity to engage students, particularly those from low socioeconomic and high-risk populations. Bell explores how game design, pedagogy, and intrinsic motivators can level the playing field to produce rigorous learning environments that are as addictive to all participants as the latest apps and social media systems. He also discusses best practices, lays out the broader context of computer-mediated teaching and learning, and considers the challenges and opportunities that gamification presents. Instructors would do well to consider the key tenets of successful games if they are to engage and graduate the coming generations of learners. Bell's careful analysis of the theories behind gamification, cognitive science, and instructional design will help them to do just that"-- Provided by publisher.

"Following on the enormous growth and reach of computer gaming, most recently on mobile devices, and because of faculty members' desire to connect with millennials, online games have made their way into college classrooms. As part of our Tech. EDU series, this book focuses on how games are being used in college and what that might say for higher education today. Kevin Bell has assembled a book made up of a series of case studies, wherein faculty pilot games and game-derived techniques in college and university classes. He uses these examples to ground a practical discussion of gaming and gamification best practices, prefaced by a wide-ranging introduction to the topic in the broader context of computer-mediated teaching and learning"-- Provided by publisher.