A third of teachers ‘struggle with technology’

A third of teachers struggle to use the technology schools are equipped with and want more support and training, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said today.NFER’s first Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey (TVOS), which was completed by about 1,000 teachers, including heads and newly qualified classroom teachers, shows widespread use of information technology in schools: 80% said it had made a difference to the way they teach.

But a “sizeable minority” (33%) felt they lacked the necessary skills to exploit the technology available to them and needed more support and information to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in lessons, NFER found.

A third of the teachers surveyed said lack of resources and poor reliability discouraged them and limited their use of ICT in schools.

But NFER said when compared to research conducted in 2004, the findings suggest that teacher competence in using ICT has improved overall.

Two thirds (67%) said they had the ICT skills to exploit the technology available to them and 62% said ICT helps to raise pupil attainment.

Teachers also said ICT leadership in schools could be improved. Just 27% of respondents felt that the leadership of ICT pedagogy in their school was inspirational and only 44% said that their school is innovative in its use of ICT.

NFER’s Maria Charles said: “The first TVOS survey has given us a valuable insight into the views of teachers. We hope to be able to continue addressing current issues within teaching in further surveys.”

Author: Anthea Lipsett 28th January 2008
EducationGuardian.co.uk

Video games now in gym class

Years ago, gym teachers waged a war with video games, blaming them for turning children into couch potatoes.For hours on end, children were glued to their seats while their fingers ran rampant over controllers. That all changed when physical education teacher Don Prorok’s brother bought a Nintendo Wii over the summer.“I was playing in the garage and I was tired and sore all over,” Prorok said.When the school year began, Prorok and the other gym teachers at Chelsea Intermediate School wrote a grant proposing to buy the Nintendo Wii systems to implement into the physical education curriculum. The interactive video game forces players out of their seats and makes them use their arms and legs, which allows for a cardio workout.

Prorok said that convincing administration wasn’t difficult at all.

“They loved it and they were right on board with it,” he said. “Our administration really supports us in what we do.”

The school bought seven systems with 28 controllers, also purchasing Wii Sports game that comes with tennis, bowling, boxing, baseball and golf. The whole school can use the systems, but the gym classes have priority.

Fellow gym teacher Kay Elam said that they were all excited about the game because it brings technology into the classroom and helps develop positive attributes in the children.

“It’s developing more sportsmanship and comradery among the kids,”she said.

Fourth-grader Hannah Stovall said she received a Nintendo Wii for Christmas and that she enjoys the active games.

“I like that you don’t have to do it with the controller, you can actually use motion,” she said.

Madeline Vaughan enjoyed the Wii system for very different reasons.

“I think its the ability to play video games at school,” Madeline said, laughing

Prorok said that incorporating the video game into the curriculum was his way of trying to be innovative, as well as beating the enemy at his own game.

“They’re going to play video games anyway, we might as well steer them to the right ones,” he said.

John McGinn, also in the fourth grade, said that he enjoyed how active the game was and how fun it was.

Steven Ogbonna said he enjoyed how life-like the game was.

“Its how real life, it’s real actual physical education,” he said.

Prorok said that another reason he brought the Wii system into the school is because of the friendliness of the game.

“That’s why I love Nintendo games, there not like shooting games,” he said. “I mean how can Mario be mean?”

Author: Shenequa A. Golding, Southtown Star 20th January 2008

Parents want tech in schools

However, schools are not using new technology to the best advantage, according to the government’s educational tech agency.

Most parents believe having the latest technology in schools helps their children learn better, but just a fifth of schools are using it to their full advantage, according to a new survey on behalf of the government’s IT in education agency, Becta.

In a poll of 2,000 parents by research firm Populus, 95 per cent said they believed innovative tools, such as interactive whiteboards, help their children at school. Another 77 per cent believe technology helps engage children in difficult subjects, while nearly two-thirds think computers boost exam results.

Stephen Crowne, Becta’s chief executive, said: “As a parent, you want to know that your child is enjoying school; that they’re getting access to the best support; and that if they’re having any problems, you know straight away.”

The survey also showed that 91 per cent of parents believe the use of computers and the internet helps prepare young people for the world of work.

Despite this strong favour, research from Becta – which advises the government and the education sector on how best to use technology in schools – has shown just a fifth of schools are using modern technology to the fullest advantage.

“There is a gap between what parents think about the way schools are using technology and the reality – we need to close that generation gap,” Crowe said. “We want to move technology from the margins to the mainstream in our schools and colleges and make the most of the opportunities and benefits it can provide.”

Becta today launched its Next Generation Learning campaign, to help push for better use of technology in education – following the lead of Bristol Brunel Academy, the first to open under the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Crowe said: “With people increasingly interacting online and creating and using lots of different media to support their entertainment and friendships, learning which does not make the most of the opportunities provided by technology could be increasingly regarded by learners as dull or irrelevant. Businesses also need people with the skills to make the most of this new environment.”

Author: Nicole Kobie 15th January 2008

Through the Portal Into Interactive Learning

To prepare for his role as technology editor for TrainingZone, John Stokdyk embarks on a voyage of discovery into the interactive possibilities of the latest digital tools.

The world of training can play with the preconceptions for anyone more used to frontline operations. Someone anticipating a quieter, less frenetic environment of worthy textbooks, classroom sessions and role-playing exercises is in for a big surprise.

Opening the door into the TrainingZone community, I carried with me an assumption that I had already seen the most interesting and innovative use of mobile devices, business intelligence and online tools in sectors such as manufacturing, distribution, finance and design. I arrived expecting to explore the nuances of learning management systems and programs for recording and assessing personal development activities.

“Interactive tools such as collaborative wiki documentation projects and blogs are making a big impact on how learning materials are being created and delivered.”John Stokdyk, technology editor for the Sift Media portfolio

Instead, I was greeted by trainers talking up Facebook, or inviting me to their synthetic properties in Second Life. Adobe’s Steve Allison explained that accessible design tools made it much more feasible for trainers to create and capture content themselves rather than having to rely on external agencies. This creative portfolio has expanded to include podcasts, video, and the 3D animation technology we’re more used to seeing in computer games.

Who ever said kids should be the only ones to play with this stuff?

In an early scouting mission to identify emerging trends, I visited the recent BETT education technology event in London and found myself thrust on to IT’s cutting edge. Olympia’s Grand Hall was packed with hundreds of stands and I was caught up in a huge tide of educators keen to lay hands on new software and devices. This was one of the busiest and most frenetic trade shows I have visited in more than 20 years.

The buzz at BETT had a lot to do with the government’s agenda to promote ICT skills and creative innovation. In his keynote address, the minister for schools and learners Jim Knight announced a £30 million plan to encourage universal access to the internet for school pupils. Companies including Microsoft, Intel, Nokia and O2 were all there, obviously keen to get their hands on some of that cash.

The event helped me to draw up a rough map of the different technologies applicable to training. Consider this my mission statement as I set off to explore the following territories in more detail over the months to come. As a self-confessed novice in some of the wider aspects of learning theory and training practice I need help and would welcome any pointers you can give me, using the Add comments button below.

Serious gaming

Computer games and training simulations may not be a new idea, but they sit right at the top of the industry’s technology agenda. It’s worth remembering that the first pioneering 3D projects were flight simulators created by Evans & Sutherland for US military training. Microsoft’s ubiquitous Flight Simulator PC program and the joy-stick powered games found at your local arcade continued the tradition. US Navy recruiters, for example, were reported to have frequented suburban arcades during the 1980s, pouring quarters into machines and telling players about even cooler toys they could play with in the military.

Caspian Learning chief operating officer Graeme Duncan recently wrote that gaming is no longer the preserve of adolescent males, but has entered the corporate mainstream. Mavis Beacon programs feature less violence and glitzy graphics than typical shoot-’em-ups, but have helped teach millions to type over the past two decades.

“Interactive gaming enables organisations to provide training that is motivational, learner-centric, personalised, contextualised, gives immediate feedback, and allows users to practice in a safe ‘failure-free’ environment,” Duncan explained.

At the BETT exhibition, for example, I was particularly taken with the Referee’s Assistant created by RSL Media Partners. These CD-ROM-based programs use live video and animations to illustrate the laws of football and other sports. What a perfect, natural medium to put across concepts that can be difficult to interpret in the split-second scenario of a live match. It’s also completely familiar, as many of us watch Gary Lineker and his colleagues doing much the same thing every Saturday night on ‘Match of the Day’.

“The question hovering in the background was the speed and degree to which the assembled technologies would cross over into the professional training market.”

Web 2.0 – Wikis, blogs and social networking

For the past year or two, the big technology buzz has been Web 2.0, which is based on the infiltration of communal web-based exchanges into business processes. Social networking on the web may not be big news to the denizens of TrainingZone, but interactive tools such as collaborative wiki documentation projects – think of small, work-and process-focused versions of Wikipedia – and blogs are making a big impact on how learning materials are being created and delivered.

Second Life is particularly fascinating because it combines online networking with 3D simulation and online role-playing. Karl Kapp, author of the book ‘Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning’, claims that virtual worlds “just might be the future of e-learning”.

Big technology companies such as Cisco Systems and IBM have set up training shops on Second Life. Cisco has created a ‘training island’ virtual campus, while IBM’s Second Life learning workplaces are being used for new employee orientation and mentoring experiments. As Kapp explains: “It is not uncommon to see two virtual people fly overhead discussing business issues as the 3D world passes beneath.”

The Facebook generation

Facebook captured the attention of the latest generation of social networkers when it emerged from its academic roots at Harvard University in September 2006 and opened its arms to the wider world. Facebook is based around friendship and affinity groups and provides tools to share photos, videos and instant feedback about what the members are thinking and doing. By publishing information about how data is transferred in and out of the online environment, Facebook has also made it possible for third party developers to plug their tools into the system. In contrast to straight-laced, closed learning management systems (LMS), Sarah Robbins claimed on her Ubernoggin blog that the new tools available within Facebook make it a “near perfect course management system”.

An outlandish claim, perhaps, but one given serious credence by Mark Aberdour of Epic, one of the UK’s leading interactive training consultancies. “Customer satisfaction with LMS feature-sets is low, and the LMS vendors have largely failed to embrace m-learning with handheld devices despite customers crying out for it,” he blogged.

“But Facebook works just fine on your mobile or PDA… The core ingredients are there: it’s social, it’s mobile, and it’s open.”

M-learning
M-learning refers to mobile learning, the process of delivering content to people via their iPods, smart phones, games consoles or the net. M-learning allows people to develop themselves as and when they choose, for example during the ‘third time’ when they are travelling between work and home. As Aberdour comments, Epic has been pushing the idea that learning can happen anywhere for years, and the dovetailing of m-learning with social networking sites such as Facebook is causing considerable excitement.

Back at BETT, the Finnish mobile phone giant announced a partnership with its compatriot learning software house Sanako to market £295 Nokia N810 handheld internet tablets alongside Sanako’s Study 500 class management application.

UK mobile network provider O2 was at BETT too, announcing that it was collaborating with the Learning Possibilities Group to create LP+, an online learning solutions for schools that pupils can access from their O2 mobiles. Rather than assuming every student will get a PC at home, the mobile giants are positioning lower cost, handheld devices or smart phones as the means to deliver the government’s vision of universal access.

As Sanako’s UK director Ian McDowall, explained, the N810 was “a cool device” that could “catalyse engagement and learning”.

BETT was certainly an eye-opener, but the question hovering in the background was the speed and degree to which the assembled technologies would cross over into the professional training market. Having drawn up my action plan, I’m looking forward to the Learning Technologies event at the end of the month to find some answers to that question.

And just in case you’re thinking that yet another boy-journalist has had his head turned by glitzy but inessential technological toys, I also promise to look into the current state of the art in learning management tools as well.

Author: John Stokdyk TrainingZONE 18 January 2008

John Stokdyk is the technology editor for the Sift Media portfolio.

Parents urged to embrace new tech

The head of the government agency which promotes technology in schools urges parents to see it positively.

It seems that every week a new report is published revealing the negative impact technology such as the internet, computer games and television is having on young people.

Schools have invested heavily in new technology

A Childwise report revealed that a generation of children were living their daily lives in front of a television or computer.

According to the report, British children spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes staring at a screen each day, while reading continues to decline as a regular pastime.

‘Their world’

The conclusion many will draw from this is that our technology-driven world is producing a generation of lonely and unimaginative children, glued to their screens and unable to read, write or communicate properly.

But before parents throw their televisions and computers away in horror they should consider this: it is not technology that is at fault, it is the way technology is being used.

Young people today have grown up with technology. According to research by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, 41% of children aged 8-11 regularly use the internet.

Over 75% of 11-year-olds have their own TV, games console and mobile phone. 56% of children aged 8-11 play computer games, and 7% of 10-year-olds have their own web cam.

Whatever you feel about these statistics, they describe the real world for our children.

Under-used

Technology will never be able to replace books, but neither should we see it as a social evil because our children spend so much time using it. On the contrary, we need to help them use all this technology in as positive a way as possible.

This week technology guru Johnny Ball helped Becta launch its Next Generation Learning campaign to improve the way schools and colleges use technology in their lessons.

Research shows that effective use of technology in schools helps improve achievement, behaviour and results, but currently only 20% of the country’s schools and colleges are using it effectively.

Johnny Ball believes having access to technology in schools is “like having a world library in every classroom” and that “IT makes all teachers better and good teachers absolutely brilliant”.

And he is absolutely right. What’s more, pupils respond to technology in their lessons because they have grown up with it, and it makes learning fun because it feels like an extension of what many of them already do in their free time.

Pupils in schools that are already using technology effectively often admit that they enjoy their lessons because they do not realise they are learning at all.

‘Astounding’

Many schools in the UK are already taking advantage of children’s enthusiasm for technology in their approach to learning.

It is astounding to see how interactive whiteboards, hand-held learning devices, school radio stations, blogging, podcasts, computers in homes schemes, digital photography and video conferencing are being used to by teachers to create stimulating and exciting environments for their students to learn.

But it is not just schools and colleges that need to improve the way technology is used in lessons.

Parents also have a vital role to play in ensuring that technology helps their children to develop and learn at home.

A recent Becta-commissioned Populus survey revealed that 95% of parents think the effective use of technology such as the internet, interactive whiteboards and laptops can help their children to learn.

However, parents also said they were more comfortable giving advice on drugs, bullying and alcohol abuse than advice on computers.

Rather than trying to exclude technology from their lives because we feel uncomfortable with it or have a vague idea that it is “not a good thing”, we need to do what parents and educators have always done – harness their children’s passions and interests and use technology to engage them in learning.

Author: Stephen Crowne, Chief executive of Becta, 18 January 2008

Brain Training vs Brain Gym

Some of the most interesting stuff presented at the recent DiGRA Scotland day was from Derek Robertson from Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). Derek’s blog is the Consolarium, which is regularly updated. The focus is on games-based learning in Scotland, but included updates on studies of much wider interest.

The particular example I was most impressed by on the day was a study on ways of improving childrens arithmetic performance which compared Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training and Brain Gym (a movement exercise program which aims to help stimulate students. The exercise bit seems to work, though the pseudo-science behind it has been criticized, however. See here). A third, control, group was also assessed – making the study reasonably rigorous, although some issues over equivalence are noted in the case study, which you can find here. (Also look out for other GBL projects – one featuring Guitar Hero!)

I was thinking at the time that Brain Training is an interesting example of games-based learning because it clearly demonstrates that success and engagement do not require convincing graphics on a par with the current crop of commercial games. It also features a range of relatively simple exercises which are practiced over and over again – almost rote like, in encouraging an almost automatic response to visual recognition and mental maths problems. Indeed, if it isn’t a perfect example of ‘drill-and-kill’ edutainment, then I clearly haven’t understood the term ‘drill-and-kill’. I note that both ‘drill-and-kill’ exercises and rote learning appear to be pedagogically unpopular currently, e.g.:

what Professor Seymour Papert calls “Shavian reversals”: offspring that inherit the worst characteristics of both parents (in this case, boring games and drill-and-kill learning)

(From ‘Digital Game-Based Learning: It’s Not Just the Digital Natives Who Are Restless‘, Richard Van Eck)

Sorry, off on a tangent there.

Anyway, the Brain Training study showed that the Nintendo game led to the greatest improvement in test results, with a number of other positive outcomes to-boot. Well worth reviewing.

I can’t really criticize the study, but the web-page had a tab ‘Digital Natives’ that I just had to click on…

The question at the top of this tab turns out to be “Are digital natives at ease with games technology?”, which if we take to mean ‘are current school pupils at ease with games technology’ the answer seems to be so immediately obvious I don’t know why the question is being asked at all.

While the ‘digital native’ concept has been arguing that old folks will never ‘get it’, and will never be able to get on with technology the way young folks do, its interesting to note that Nintendo are making heavy use of some relatively mature celebrities in their current Nintendo DS advertising campaigns (Patrick Stewart and Julie Walters amongst them).

Author: Daniel Livingstone 21st December 2007

Are games useful for learning?

We have been hearing about how games will be important for learning for 50 years, with enormous publicity for games in many articles like this. But it has not happened, and I doubt that is will ever happen. The proponents of games argue that students enjoy them, an important issue, but other forms of learning can lead to enjoyable learning.

The principle problem with almost all learning games is that they do not adapt to individuaal student learning needs on a moment by moment basis. Further seldom do they deal with the fundamental issues of learning. For example few games help young children learn to read, in the full sense.

I have been pursuing for many years another learning strategy, adaptive tutorial learing. It can be used with schools or in locations where no schools exist. Each student moves in a unique pace until successful in learning. I have recently been invited to describe this lifelong learning strategy to serveral oganizations in Washington. Games might be used in this approach, partially, but not current games.

I would be happy to send full details of this approach. Please write to me at bork@uci.edu.

Author: Alfred M. Bork (University of California, Irvine)

Nintendo’s Brain Training: smart move in a ‘gaming culture revolution’

The following is a critique I wrote in November 2007 on the social impact of the Brain Training game on the DS (Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: how old is your brain?). The paper gives a brief overview of the game and it’s gameplay and goes on to examine the social and cultural context, highlighting Nintendo’s foresight, emerging market trends and, Nintendo’s strategies and impact.

Introduction

Nintendo have experienced an incredible comeback after reaching an all time low in profits in 2004. Nintendo in 2007, so far, has shown high growth compared to figures in 2006, mainly due to the success of their Wii and DS consoles. Some have argued that Nintendo have highlighted the potential in the so-called ‘non-gamer’ market, even more so with the release of Nintendogs and their Brain Training series for the DS.

‘… “non-gamers” is a huge market that the videogames industry will want to reach, not to mention the combined 11% of medium and light gamers overall who perhaps feel that the industry hasn’t provided enough titles to really hook them in.’
(Pratchett 2005: 25)

The named ‘non-gamers’ include everyone except those traditionally categorised as heavy gamers, young and male. The ‘non-gamer’ market segment has very much been underserved by the games industry as traditional games have taken similar forms to games such as Halo, Half-Life and Counter Strike. Recent research studies have shown that more females are now playing games, as are older people of 30 to 65 years of age. Nintendo seem to have grasped the potential of this recently emerging market segment before the other leading gaming corporations, and are now reaping the benefits.

The aim of this text is to examine Nintendo’s DS game, Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How old is your brain?, and to explore it’s social and cultural influence. This critique will investigate why Nintendo have experienced success with the game and identify the new demographics of the ‘non-gamer’ market. Is there further commercial value in reaching the emergent market of this demographic gaming revolution?

The Game – Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: how old is your brain?

Overview

Nintendo first released Brain Training in December 2004 in Japan entitled ‘DS Training for Adults: Work your Brain’. Translation of the Japanese title directly is quite a mouthful but states the game’s purpose in a nutshell:

‘… “Whip your brain into shape under the supervision of Professor Ryuta Kawashima of Tohoku University’s Advanced Science and Technology Joint Research Center”.’
(Cook 2005)

Professor Ryuta Kawashima is indeed a real person and the game is based roughly on his neurological research. The scientific research is not in the scope of this text; however, more information on this is available on the Tohoku University website.

The game hit big with the Japanese and is still in the top 10 games since its launch. The game’s fans range all ages, especially the elderly, and was soon encouraged in hospitals to patients as a possible means of informal detection, prevention and therapy of dementia.

After its astounding success in Japan it was then released worldwide hitting Europe in the summer of 2006, entitled ‘Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: how old is your brain?’. The game’s positive performance in Japan was then mirrored, reaching sales of more than 500,000 units in the first nine weeks of availability.

Gameplay

The two terms in gaming which cause the most confusion are ‘game mechanics’ and ‘gameplay’. This is due to the fact that gameplay is widely used as the dimension for rating how good a game is.

Game design incorporates both game mechanics and gameplay components. Game mechanics are based on the developers’ concepts of how the game is played and the rules that define this. Gameplay on the other hand involves the overall experience of the player while playing the game and is used when analysing a game’s performance.

Gameplay is a ‘player-centered perspective’ (Fabricatore no date) and in some respects, gameplay defines the intangible. It involves not only how the player interacts with the game but also the overall experience of the player and how they feel when playing it.

From the player’s perspective, Brain Training offers four main options: Brain age check, Training, Graph and Other Options. The latter being Sudoku puzzles, a Daily training schedule which records whether the user has completed their training for each day, and ‘Testing your Brain Age’ which involves stroop test, word memory and matching exercise. The Brain age check calculates the user’s brain age and the graph shows the player’s brain age plotted on a graph over time with some feedback from Kawashima’s virtual head. Training involves different exercises to test areas of cognitive ability which include: Calculation exercises, Reading aloud, Low to High, Head Count, Syllable Count, Triangle Maths, Time Lapse and Voice Calculations.

The player is graded on speed and accuracy of their exercise completion and the grades range from walking to rocket speed. The brain age is calculated from their performance and the lowest and best age is 20.

‘- The professor is a bobbing head that encourages you much like a real world teacher would.
– The DS is held sideways, much like a traditional notebook.
– All the ‘random buttons’ on the DS are ignored and the whole game is played through the touch screen and the microphone.
– There are a number of risk / reward schedules that are skinned to fit the metaphor. Training each day gets you a ‘good job’ stamp. If you do a good job, you are rewarded with additional lessons and exercises much like you would if you were taking a class.’
(Cook 2005)

The intangible gameplay includes theories and ideas of flow, motivation, narrative, immersion and aesthetics. However, this text will not go into detail on these theories, but instead will highlight the key features of the game’s gameplay which have an impact on the gaming society and culture.

The narrative of the game is based on a classroom experience with Kawashima as your teacher, encouraging your efforts. The aesthetics of the game mirror the narrative, as the DS is held open sideways like a book and the stylus is used for input much like a pen. Input by the player/learner is written and vocalised and feedback is provided from the teacher on performance.

The motivation comes from not only the positive affect on mental health, but also the reward of sharpening your brain gaining a younger brain age. The game also has:

‘… a multiplayer mode that lets you get into a calculation battle against up to 15 other players using a single copy of the game.’
(Gerstmann 2006)

This increases motivation with social competition. All of these assist in immersing the player.

‘Brain Training is a compulsive, strangely rewarding experience. As you progress, you unlock more exercises, keeping the experience varied. That said, if you don’t want to do your Daily Training, you can just use it to play that latest national obsession, sudoku.’
(Etherington 2006)

Social and Cultural Context

Nintendo’s Foresight

The traditional gaming market over the past few years has shown evidence of saturation and game corporations are all fighting for the same traditional gamer market. Nintendo has shown foresight, initiative and innovation many times throughout its reign as one of the leading games companies. To some extent this ensures first place in tapping into new markets, however, it has not always been successful.

Satoru Iwata, the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo, gave a presentation at the Tokyo Game Show in September at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan. He commented in his speech:

‘… “For the future of video game business, we have to expand the market. We need to get back to the basics… Those who believe in the past success formula can just go ahead. However, Nintendo does not believe in that direction”.’
(Carless 2005)

Iwata explained the need to innovate to prevent the death of the market. Nintendo’s strategy comprises of three concepts:

‘… “…to re-engage people who have stopped playing, to actually attract new gamers, and to create new products that appeal to everyone.”…’
(Carless 2005)

Nintendo is the market leader on a global scale and certainly know what they are doing, acquiring 41.9% market share (August 7, 2007). They also won six out of fourteen BAFTA awards for Wii Sports at the British Academy Awards this year.

Emerging Market Trends

Recent studies on gamer demographics have produced astonishing results. A demographic revolution has taken hold of the gaming industry introducing more females, older generations and casual gamers.

‘…there are now more female owners of Nintendo’s handheld DS console in the UK than there are male (54% against 46%), says the research agency GameVision.’
(Kurs 2007)

Games Investor Consulting Ltd in 2005 published an article on gamer demographics which stated data from the US across all platforms:

– 43% of gamers are female
– 72% are 18+ and 19% are 50+
– online and on mobiles, married women in their 30s and 40s outnumber hardcore gamers

US figures from the ESA 2007 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data report, show that those 50+ gamers have increased to 24%, and the average gamer age is 33 years old.

‘If the industry fails to broaden the addressable market of console owners, growth rates of games software will not be sustainable, and investment in the industry will dry up. Over the next decade, recognising and exploiting these fundamental changes will become not just a critical success factor but possibly also a survival factor for every games company.’
(Games Investor Consulting Ltd 2005)

UK figures (from the BBC’s Gamers In The UK: Digital play, digital lifestyles report of 2005) show similar trends with 45% of gamers being female, a considerable percentage of gamers over 50 years of age and an average gamer age of 28.

‘• A quarter of UK game players are aged 36-50
• 18% (or 1.7 million gamers) are aged between 51- 65
• The average age of UK gamer is approximately 28
• 45% of all gamers are female
• 52% are ABC1 social grade, 48% are C2De social grade’
(Pratchett 2005) (see also Appendix A)

An interesting fact that stuck out in this report is that 41% of the UK’s population do not play games in any form at all, and are not only the elderly.

Despite evidence of these untapped market segments, they are still poorly served by the industry.

‘Depictions of stylised violence and large-breasted female characters dressed in leather handkerchiefs have, unsurprisingly, earned the industry something of a lad-mag image. But games are growing up. The industry is now worth £4.1 billion in Europe alone. Clearly, games publishers can no longer afford to rely solely on established core audiences.’
(Times Online 2003)

Parks Associates broadband and gaming director, Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, highlights the potential of these emerging markets that companies are missing out on.

‘…“If game companies insist on chasing the mythical hardcore and casual gamer segments, they will miss out on more than half of the market…The market is not black and white anymore…”…’
(Jenkins, David 2006)

In order to engage these new gamers, ‘clear visuals, gentle learning curves, short play times and simple mechanics’ (Edge 2007: 2) seem to be the way to go when considering game design.

The Game’s Impact

Brain Training has experienced extraordinary success with the Japanese, as mentioned previously. In Europe there have been positive reviews, but flaws have been highlighted, mostly in relation to the voice and character recognition.

‘in the stroop test, there is a widespread problem of the game not picking up the word ‘blue’, with many players having to compensate by saying ‘broo’, which is a little silly. The handwriting recognition is better, but again works on picking up specific parts of an inscription (mainly shape), which proved problematic on 3’s in the number games, and some words in Word Memory. These are annoyances that you just have to put up with, which drags the game down a bit, but these problems seem to be widespread with anything that requires vocal recognition or optical character recognition.’
(Keller 2006)

GameSpot UK also pointed out the dodgy voice and character recognition but did give credit for the standard without calibration. Praise was also given to the addictiveness of gameplay. GameSpot’s reviewer, Jeff Gerstmann gives Brain Training a score of 7.2, while the average critic score from the GameSpot website was 7.8 and the user score, 8.1.

A post by Wesley Yin-Poole on the 30^th October this year states Nintendo’s revealed figures:

‘…two thirds (66%) of adult DS users are female. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? has sold over one million units in the UK, indicating one in four DS owners have the title.’
(Yin-Poole 2007)

An article by Edge online entitled The Nintendo Years informs on the pitfalls and rewards experienced by Nintendo. The DS and Brain Training outperformed expectations:

‘… 2005
The DS hits its stride in spectacular form, with Nintendogs and Brain Training… rewriting the rule books and proving that the right software can have a lifespan longer than the few weeks most big releases manage in the charts.
Commercial
Profits rebound sharply ($777 million) thanks to the success of the DS, and Nintendo reveals the fruit of over two decades of survival in a famously volatile business when it announces total sales of over two billion games.’
(Edge 2007: 3)

A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) has been compiled on Nintendo Co. Ltd by market analysis experts, Datamonitor, and was published in October 2007 with some excellent financial figures: revenue increase of 89.8% compared to 2006, operating profit $1,916 million during 2007 compared to $773 million in 2006, and net profit increase of 77.2% since 2006. (Datamonitor 2007)

Serious games, affective games and titles such as Brain Training have changed the way people think about games, meaning gamers are no longer categorised as time-wasters.

‘We’re finally getting close to being a real, transparent and adaptable medium, which runs the entire gamut from worthy to disposable, lavish to functional, fiction to documentary, entertainment to illumination.’
(Edge 2007)

Brain Training sales alone sum up the potential of the, until recently, untapped markets:

‘Over a year since its introduction throughout Japan and with sales passing 2.3 million units in that region alone, stories of Japanese pensioners queuing up around Akihibara to get the latest copy of Brain Training proves one thing, never question Nintendo.’
(Leyton 2006)

Why are so many people, of varied demographics, lapping up the DS and Brain Training? What is unique about the game? Why has it acted as an isotope in the gaming demographic revolution? The following discussion will focus on factors within this context including ageing gamers, serious gaming, hardware and interaction, gameplay and marketing.

One prominent factor is that the traditional gamers have now grown up, with their own families and new lifestyles. Their approach to gaming now is a more mature one, seeking relaxation and illumination. This is a far cry from their previous lives as young hardcore gamers.

‘… “…having a mortgage, kids, marriage — their focus falls on to their family. So, while gaming is still a part of their life, it is not consuming them, and they turn to games to relax and kill time.”…’
(Gaudiosi 2006)

The serious gaming element comes into play, contributing to the game’s success, as the mechanics are base on best selling scientifically founded research. Nintendo take advantage of human nature’s fear of ageing, as it has been scientifically proven that keeping an active mind helps combat dementia and other such brain related conditions. This is a great strategy for pulling in the elder generations of potential players, and those interested in individual wellbeing.

‘We use Brain Age like we might use an exercise video, or a bathroom book of phorisms, or a low-carb cookbook… it makes people feel as though they are improving their long term mental health. It satisfies a mundane need for personal upkeep.’
(Bogost 2007)

Another important point is the hardware and its accompanying interaction, in order to play the game. Use of the DS is very much a parallel to book and pen classroom activity. The DS is held sideways and open like a book, with the main instructions screen on the left and the touch screen on the right for input.

This theme of book and pen is universal and spans across all age groups. Players of all ages feel familiar with the interaction which is mainly through voice, character recognition and touch with the DS stylus. The players do not need to bother learning which of the many buttons does what, as the buttons are not used for this game. The console is also small and portable meaning the player can use it anytime, anywhere, to their heart’s content. Thus the interaction and theme caters for all ages, genders and types of player, and players do not need previous gaming experience.

The game mechanics are simple but affective, with mini quizzes similar to mental maths exercises at primary school. The gameplay further strengthens the school training narrative as the player is graded on their performance and Kawashima’s avatar responds with feedback and encouragement.

The puzzle/IQ test nature of the game creates the basis for intense competition between players and addictiveness, as players want to beat others’ scores. In this way the game creates social interaction and competition between players, may they be friends or family members, varying in demographics.

A clever move by Nintendo was to also incorporate Sudoku in the game which has proved to be one of the most popular puzzle games around. Thus Sudoku fans are kept happy and Brain Training feeds off of the puzzle’s addictiveness and universal appeal.

Nintendo are splashing out with their TV and print advertising, hiring stars to be the new face of their product. Such stars include NicoleKidman, Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters, Phillip Schofield, Fern Britton, Zoe Ball and Johnny Ball. They have been tactful with which stars they hire for their adverts, making sure they cater for the underserved segments.

These stars range widely in age, gender and our public perception of the individuals as game-players. By showing these famous icons playing the game they are encouraging people of similar demographics to play it also. Most of the time, adverts show the product being used by the key type of consumer they have been designed for. Hence, Nintendo have chosen the stars for planned reasons, attracting the right demographics and expanding their market.

Nintendo has once again proved themselves as forward thinking and innovative, stepping out of the mould and reaping the benefits. They demonstrate that:

‘- Targeting an underserved market can extend your selling period
– Real world risk / rewards schedules can supercharge the addictiveness of your game
– Interface is a learned language
– Game can be more than mere entertainment’
(Cook 2005)

‘Nintendo UK marketing director Dawn Paine said that Nintendo wanted to make games that didn’t replace real life, but instead became part of people’s daily lives and routines.’
(Boyes 2007)

Conclusion

Nintendo prevented low financial performance that would inevitably result from the saturation of the traditional gamer market. Their strategy was to widen their customer base by designing their products with universal appeal. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: how old is your brain? is one of these products, demonstrated by its aforementioned chart-topping success.

The game’s simple mechanics and gameplay supports the narrative theme of teacher-student mental training. Short arithmetic problems and cognitive tasks test the player’s mental age, which is recorded over time, and the avatar provides feedback. All of this contributes to key elements of immersion, good aesthetics and addictive gameplay.

They have designed the game to be played on the DS console where interaction is intuitive and player friendly, requiring no previous gaming or console knowledge. The scientific research on which the game is based on has made the game more appealing to non-traditional gamers, as it promotes and contributes to individual wellbeing. Even more appealing is their use of well known Hollywood and TV stars in their advertising.

Nintendo’s strategy, from the mouth of Satoru Iwata, is to re-engage ex-gamers, attract new gamers and appeal to everyone with their products. They seem to be achieving their strategy goals, diversifying the range of game titles and gamer markets, and receiving high growth in revenue and profits in the process.

‘Nintendo’s strategy of pursuing innovation benefits the entire industry.
It brings in new audiences and creates new genres that provide innovative and exciting experiences.’
(Cook 2005)

‘I hope to see many more titles like DS Training for Adults. Designers who pursue the goal of creating useful product will build entirely new fields of game design that expand well beyond the current pool of stagnant genres. I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating. This is an exciting time to be a game designer.’
(Cook 2005)

We are experiencing a massive shift in gaming society and culture, and Nintendo have highlighted the new needs of the market and the potential to be gained from serving these needs. Much can be learned from industry leaders such as Nintendo, and their key concepts discussed here will inform the development of products to come.

Appendix A – NRS UK social grades

References

BAFTA (2007) Games Nominations 2007 [online] Available at: http://www.bafta.org/awards/video-games/nominations/?year=2007 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Bogost, Ian (2007) Persuasive Games: Why We Need More Boring Games [online] Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1417/persuasive_games_why_we.php [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Boyes, Emma (2007) Nintendo UK: We are inclusive, not exclusive [online] Available at: http://uk.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/dstraining2/news.html?sid=6181949 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Carless, Simon (2005) TGS: Iwata On Expanding The Entire Games Market [online] Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=6551 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Cook, Daniel (2005) Game Design Review: DS Training for Adults [online] Available at: http://www.lostgarden.com/2005/10/game-design-review-ds-training-for.html [date accessed: 11^th November 2007]

Cook, Daniel (2005) Nintendo’s Genre Innovation Strategy: Thoughts on the Revolution’s new controller [online] Available at: http://www.lostgarden.com/2005/09/nintendos-genre-innovation-strategy.html [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Datamonitor (2007) Games Consoles: Global Industry Guide Market [online] Available at: http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1544364&SID=99563969-400559806-302987135 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Edge (2007) The Future of Gaming [online] Available at: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5491&Itemid=51&limit=1&limitstart=1 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Edge (2007) The Nintendo Years [online] Available at: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6121&Itemid=51&limit=1&limitstart=2 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

ESA entertainment software association (2007) 2007 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data: Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry [online] Available at: http://www.theesa.com/archives/files/ESA-EF%202007.pdf [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Etherington, Daniel (2006) games: dr kawashima’s brain training, Brain food [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A12505123 [date accessed: 11^th November 2007]

Fabricatore, Carlo (no date) Gameplay and Game Mechanics Design: A Key to Quality in Videogames [online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/17/39414829.pdf [date accessed: 11^th November 2007]

Games Investor Consulting Ltd (2005) Gamer demographics: The times they are a-changing [online] Available at: http://www.gamesinvestor.com/Research/Thinkpieces/Past_Thinkpieces/Demographics/demographics.html [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Gaudiosi, John (2006) Online gaming attracts more women than men: Women playing games [online] Available at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003220685 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Gerstmann, Jeff (2006) Brain Training [online] Available at: http://uk.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/brainagetrainyourbraininminutesaday/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review [date accessed: 11^th November 2007]

Jenkins, David (2006) Report Suggests Diversifying Online Market [online] Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10681 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Keller, Matt (2006) Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training Review: Blue. Blue. BLUE! [online] Available at: http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=4772 [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Kurs, Simon (2007) Girls get on top of the video game [online] Available at: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2690501.ece [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Leyton, Chris (2006) Doctor Kawishima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain Mini Review [online] Available at: http://www.totalvideogames.com/articles/Doctor_Kawishimas_Brain_Training_How_Old_is_Your_Brain_Review_10093_5240_0_0_10_0.htm [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Pratchett, Rhianna (2005) BBC GAMERS IN THE UK Digital play, digital lifestyles [online] Available at: http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/files/bbc_uk_games_research_2005.pdf
[date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Times Online (2003) The games women play [online] Available at; http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article388851.ece [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Tohuko University School of Medicine (no date) Functional Brain Imaging, New Industry Hatchery Center [online] Available at: http://www.med.tohoku.ac.jp/room/831/english.html [date accessed: 11^th November 2007]

Yin-Poole, Wesley (2007) DS tops 4 million sales in the UK [online] Available at: http://www.videogamer.com/news/30-10-2007-6785.html [date accessed: 11^{t h} November 2007]

Welcome to Gaming & Learning

Welcome to the first post of Gaming & Learning. If you are looking for something specific, I hope you find what you are looking for. Otherwise, I hope you find this blog interesting and enlightening. Comments on posts are very welcome and please feel free to email me with any enquiries, requests or opportunities for project collaboration.

This is the homepage of the blog, which you can access from other pages via the ‘Home’ link in the menu at the top. The homepage is where you will find all posts.

The About section, accessible via the ‘About’ link in the menu, will provide more information on the blog, my reasons for publishing it and a little more about myself.

In the Resources section you will find relevant links and books.