Currently, I have surveyed over 60 different sources of information relating to digital games which has accounted for 243 (207 + Gee's 36) claims made about games relating to psychological or physiological effects. The attached poster was presented at the FuturePlay 2006 in London, Canada (yes there is a city called London in Canada) documents the categories of the claims and points to areas for future research. I will be adding the claims over the coming weeks. I also welcome additional claims that you have found and wish to contribute to this growing database for all those interested in contributing to research in game-based learning studies. Email me for more information.

The Claims of Games

1. Seizure activation may result from non-visual factors such as cognitive and decision making factors...” (Ricci & Vigevano, 1999) pp.31.
2. Playing videogames is comparable to mild intensity exercise, with normal use, playing neither improves nor harm physical fitness. (Emes, 1997).
3. “Playing video games is associated with a variety of physical effects including increased metabolic and heart rate, seizures, and tendinitis. Aggressive behavior may result from playing video games, especially among younger children. There is no direct relationship between psychopathology or academic performance and playing video games.” pp.409 (Emes, 1997).
4. There is no clear causal relationship between gaming and academic performance (Emes, 1997).
5. “Game users are no more likely than non-game users to be involved in risk-taking behavior.” (Bosworth, 1994).
6. Increasing proficiency at game may afford players a temporary sense of mastery, control, and achievement” that previously found lacking.(Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.8.
7. “Artificial raising of self-esteem may lead to interactions with gamers becoming a substitute for social relationships.” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.8.
8. Gaming in general is associated with introversion, lower empathic concern and low feminine identity. (Griffiths & Davies, 2002)pp.379.
9. The “effects of violent video games appears to be cognitive in nature,” short term playing affects priming of aggressive thoughts.(Anderson & Dill, 2000; Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004).
10. The amount of time spent playing video games has a negative correlation with academic performance (Anderson & Dill, 2000).
11. Even non-violent games can increase aggressive affect perhaps by producing high levels of frustration (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).
12. Violent video games increase aggressive cognition, physiological arousal, and aggressive behavior and affect and decrease prosocial behavior (Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Carnagey & Anderson, 2004).
13. Playing violent games leads to increased physiological arousal, increased aggressive thoughts, increased aggressive feelings, increased aggressive behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping behaviors (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).
14. Violent video games could be beneficial in an educational context, for example violent computer games can provide an outlet for frustration (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004, pp.11).
15. the effects of newer more increasingly realistic simulated worlds causes significantly more introverted, less feminine, less androgynous and show less empathic concerns than controls (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004).
16. Multiuser online games or simulations “might blur young people’s perception of the difference between real life and virtual reality,” to “the extent they may become desensitized to aggression, violence and killing in those worlds.” (Subrahmanyan, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001, pp22).
17. “playing recreational computer games may influence children’s performance on subsequent computer-based educational tasks. However, the extent of this influence depended on how closely the recreational computer game types matched the design of the tasks in the educational software (Pillay, 2002,pp.336).
18. “Exposure to recreational games facilitate the development of different schemas” (Pillay, 2002, pp.348).
19. Frequent gaming orients one to a computer society (Greenfield et al., 1994).
20. “Arcade and platform games can be instrumental in psychomotor development and spatial orientation”(De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003, pp.11).
21. “sports and dynamic games can facilitate better psychomotor co-ordination and relieve stress” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003, pp.11).
22. strategy and role games can help to stimulate internal motivation and reflection on the values of the games themselves” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003) pp.11.
23. “puzzle and question games can help to develop the ability to reason and think logically” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003) pp.11.
24. simulator games can help in the development of all intellectual abilities and a mind for machines” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003) pp.11.
25. “video games are considered very useful in acquiring practical skills, as well as increasing perception and stimulation and developing skills in problem-solving, strategy assessment, media and tools organization and obtaining intelligent answers” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003).
26. Games “provides knowledge of other worlds and cultures, develops fantasy and the ability to solve problems and encourages the growth of spatial and logical skills, such as visualizing objects and relating them in space, organizing several factors with an end in mind (thinking strategically), and so on” (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003).
27. Video games help in thinking about how to solve problems by proposing strategies, organizing elements in anticipation of objectives, and so on. (De Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003)pp.12
28. Games are seductive, “they use technology to represent reality or embody fantasy.” (BECTA, 2006)
29. Games can be effective tools for enhancing learning and understanding of complex subject matter (Cordova & Lepper, 1996)
30. “games seem to be effective in enhancing motivation and increasing student interest in subject matter, yet the extent to which this translates into more effective learning is less clear” (Garris, Ahlers, & Driskell, 2002)pp.444
31. “Games for entertainment may provide environments in which learners develop key skills such as strategic planning, visualisation and memorisation.” (BECTA, 2006)
32. “Games are played to win or achieve a goal; motivation is winning while remaining challenged” (BECTA, 2006)
33. “Games encourage learners who may lack interest or confidence and enhancing their self-esteem.” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.19
34. Video games “can lead to the development of unexploited skills,” due to the absence of “negative consequences which allows explorations of situations that would otherwise be considered risky”(Fabricatore, 2000) pp.4
35. Games allow players to learn by developing insight, gathering information, making decisions, and taking action. (Fabricatore, 2000)
36. Games allow players to develop “analytical skills,” “strategic thinking, insight, and logical reasoning,” “psychomotor skills” and “enrichment of the players knowledge base.”(Fabricatore, 2000) pp.12
37. “Computer games motivate young people”(Facer, 2003)
38. “Games, it seems hold the potential to both motivate and encourage diverse ways on engaging with learning” (Facer, 2003)pp.2
39. “Games are seen to generate motivation through rule-based, goal oriented challenging play” that generate ‘fun’ or ‘hard fun.’(Facer, 2003)pp.3
40. Videogame playing empower players in a way that translates into real world activism (civic activism). (Williams, 2004)
41. Games are ideal for learning because of activity participating in a created world.(Malone, 1981b)
42. Games are ideal for learning because they challenge, present fantasy and generate curiosity when players play.(Malone, 1981a)
43. “The commercial games have created a form of learning that young people are very familiar with. It’s a very powerful form of learning, and the principles behind that learning are reflected in the best research we have in cognitive science” (Foreman, 2004)pp.58-59
44. What game-players are getting is fluency in language and motion. If they immerse themselves for long periods of time in a content area, they become familiar with all of the visual cues that are it real meaning.(Foreman, 2004)pp.58
45. Electronic games are the state-of-the-art for developing engaging learning environments. (Games-To Teach Research Project, 2006)
46. Games provide challenges adjusted to the player's ability, provide the player with clear and immediate feedback, and give players choice and control over actions. (Games-To Teach Research Project, 2006)
47. Games also tap into player's fantasies and curiosity. (Games-To Teach Research Project, 2006)
48. Games also provide players with opportunities to collaborate, compete, or socialize with peers. (Games-To Teach Research Project, 2006)
49. Games allow players to control complex systems. (Games-To Teach Research Project, 2006)
50. video games elicit powerful emotional reactions in their players, such as fear, power, aggression, wonder, or joy (Squire, 2003)
51. Games and simulations can be incredibly effective when employed using constructivist principles. In this regard, they are especially good for: (Galarneau, 2005)
    1. Offering a unique opportunity to engage learners who have may have struggled in traditional education/training environments, i.e. lower literacy or kinaesthetically-oriented students.
    2. Facilitating social learning by fostering ongoing collaboration and relationships between learners.
    3. Providing for a customised environment that takes a learner's skills and context into account.
    4. Supporting active participation through group play, reinforcing important practical skills like group communication, project management, conflict resolution, and group brainstorming.
    5. Accessing the higher order skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy (evaluation, synthesis, analysis, application
    6. Practicing decision-making, leadership and other performance skills that are achieved through experience
    7. Shifting perspectives by allowing learners to experience situations from varying points-of-view
    8. Allowing learners to access experiences that are difficult or impossible in the real world.
52. “good games already possess the major components necessary to meet the needs for sound instruction as outlined by both Gagné and Gardner.” (Becker, 2005)pp.2
53. “good games can be shown to fit into multiple widely-known and well-accepted instructional approaches” (Becker, 2005)pp.2
54. The instant feedback and risk-free environment invite exploration and experimentation, stimulating curiosity, discovery learning and perseverance(Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004)
55. “Computer and video games can let students learn using the techniques of communities of innovation – ways of learning that stress immersion in a practice, supported by structures that lead to expertise, professional-like skills and innovative thinking.” (p11) (Shaffer & Gee, submitted)
56. “Virtual worlds of games are powerful because playing games means developing a set of effective social practices.” (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee, 2005)(p.106)
57. Games help children build “islands of expertise” by including technical language, skills, and knowledge early in their life and prepare them for lifelong learning. (Shaffer & Gee, submitted) (p.6).
58. computer games allow manipulation of objects, supporting development towards levels of proficiency (Shaffer et al., 2005)
59. Virtual worlds of games are powerful because they make it possible for situated learning. Learners can understand complex concepts without losing the connection between abstract ideas and the real world problems. (Shaffer et al., 2005) pp.106
60. Games help to “engage students in ways of talking, thinking, and working that are technical, specialized and academic” (Shaffer & Gee, submitted) (pg.7).
61. Games engage and motivate (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004)
62. “Ambience information creates an immersive experience,sustaining interest in the game” (Prensky, 2001a)pp.128
63. “What games allow you to do that leactures don’t is to explore the solution space and ask, what if I did this?” (Foreman, 2004) pp.54
64. Participation in simulation games “can change learners relationship to information by encouraging, experimentation and creativity” in finding new ways to tackle activity. (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.20
65. Good games require learners to think, act and value their role in order to succeed in games ultimate task (Gee, 2005b)
66. video games, serious-games advocates say, also possess a persuasive element that is missing from books or movies: They let the player become a different person (at least for an hour or two), and see the world from a new perspective.” (Thompson, 2006)
67. “games are a force in society for making people personally become experience about issues that demands their attention.” (Thompson, 2006)
68. “Games greatest potential is that they’re worlds in a box. They allow you to create a world that somebody can be in and take on an identity. People learn most deeply when they take on a new identity that they really want.” (Foreman, 2004) pp.54
69. “Virtual worlds of games are rich contexts for learning because they make it possible for players to experiment with new and powerful identities” (Shaffer et al., 2005) (p.106)
70. Video games are important because they make people appreciate new worlds (Shaffer et al., 2005)
71. Games are multi-representational and non-linear. (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004)
72. Complex computer games provide a complete, interactive virtual playing environment. (Prensky, 2001a)
73. Digital “games” generation requires new type of learning. 10 cognitive style changes have been observed . 1. twitch speed versus conventional speed, 2. parallel processing versus linear processing, 3. graphics first versus text first, 4. random access versus step by step, 5. connected versus standalone, 6. active versus passive, 7. play versus work, 8. payoff versus patience, 9. fantasy versus reality and 10. technology-as-friend versus technology-as-foe (Prensky, 2001a) (p. 51–52)
74. “simulation games are flexible and complex enough to cater for different learning styles” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.20
75. Games are devised for language learning, for adult education, and even in organizations (Prensky, 2001a)
76. “Games form a part of the educational strategies used by teachers at most levels of the school and university system.” (Gros, 2003)
77. “games contribute to the development of a wide variety of strategies that are extremely important for learning: Problem-solving, sequence learning, deductive reasoning, memorizing. In addition, group strategies such as cooperative work and task-based learning can be introduced easily in the setting of a game.” (Gros, 2003)
78. “Video games are useful instruments for learning specific strategies and for acquiring knowledge; they also develop the learning that is characteristic of the culture of the information society, and this learning is likely to have long-term consequences.” (Gros, 2003)
79. “Games can be used to learn a particular content, but they may leave an impression (Salomon’s "cognitive residue") on the learners as well.” (Gros, 2003)
80. “Computer games, have design features that shift the balance of required information-processing, from verbal to visual. The very popular action games, which are spatial, iconic, and dynamic, have things going on at different locations.” (Gros, 2003)
81. “Another skill embodied in computer games is iconic or the ability to read images, such as pictures and diagrams.” (Gros, 2003)
82. “Computer games reliably improved spatial performance.” (Gros, 2003)
83. “Another skill incorporated in playing computer and video games is divided visual attention, the skill of keeping track of a lot of different things at the same time.” (Gros, 2003)
84. Computer games are were rarely accompanied by instructions. When instructions are present they are usually ignored. Players tended to discover game rules by induction, hence they reasoned that “playing such games should improve inductive reasoning”. (Greenfield et al., 1994)
85. Game playing increased use of iconic modes in which scientific and technical information is displayed using schematic animated computer graphics. (Greenfield et al., 1994)
86. “Heavy use of computer games is associated with negative rather than positive outcomes in terms of academic achievement, self-esteem and sociability” (Roe & Muijs, 1998)pp.1
87. “There is evidence for positive transfer from activities required by games and simulations to real world task performance. This transfer appears to depend much more on similarities between cognitive and attention processes than on physical similarities.” (Fletcher & Tobias, 2006) pp.1
88. Video games put the learners in the role of decision-maker, pushing them through ever harder challenges, engaging the player in experimenting with different ways of learning and thinking (Gee, 2003)
89. Computer games can provide instant feedback. (Prensky, 2001a)
90. Imaginative, well produced simulations games encourage visualization, experimentation and creativity in finding new ways to tackle the game (Gee, 2003)
91. “Computer games and simulators enhance learning through visualization, experimentation, and creativity of play. Increased learning occurs by problem solving in a complex interactive multidisciplinary environment and by "seeing" causal relationships between individual actions and whole systems.” (Betz, 1996)
92. Games “accommodate different leaning styles” through the combinations of “video, audio, and text, thereby promoting confidence and encouraging multimodal literacy”(Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.58
93. “Games enable engagement in activities otherwise too costly to resource or too dangerous, difficult or impractical to implement in the classroom as well as those that are hard to accomplish by other means”(Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.58
94. “Simulation games affords a realistic framework to use technologies as a means to an end and so can prepare learners for the world of work.” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.58
95. Games enable exploration of interpersonal relationships, thereby encouraging cooperative and competitive behavior within a strategic context and can support meaningful post-game discussion. (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.59
96. “Outstanding video game–playing children frequently display the characteristics of experts as they are displayed in other domains. Differences in levels of expertise also appear to be present along a continuum from novice to expert.” (VanDeventer & White, 2002) pp.28
97. “Outstanding gaming expertise is linked to “expert” behaviors such as self-montoring, pattern recognition, problem solving, principled decision making, qualitative thinking and superior short-term and long-term memory” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.59
98. “Playing an adventure game is much more than just playing. It is experiencing a role in a (close to) real life setting, it is experiencing a world and it is experiencing an ultimate role in a world of choice. The player in an AG can play the role that suits the story and purpose of the game. A player can assume the role of a knight, a thief, a king or even that of a God of the Universe.” Learners can learn domain-specific knowledge. (Khan, 2002) pp.134
99. In adventure games environment, “the player can experience a role or roles in a near real-life setting and at the same time learn about the setting itself, developing intuitive skills at coping in that environment.” (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004) pp.59
100. “games can distract from learning as players concentrate on completing, scoring and winning, and games require suspension of disbelief – it may be difficult to retain learning acquired in that state.” . (Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004)pp.59
101. “Games play can support valuable skill development such as strategic thinking, planning, communications, applications of numbers, negotiating skills, group-decision-making, and data-handling.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004)
102. “The experience of game play seems to be affecting learners’ expectations of learning activities.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.1
103. “Games take up large periods of time, which could be spent on more worthy activities, such as education and learning.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004)pp.5
104. “Games promote levels of attention and concentration that teachers, parents and policy makers wished children applied to learn.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.5
105. “Games can support the development of logical thinking and problem solving skills. (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.14
106. Children’s use of computers games may play a significant role in developing effective use of computer-mediated information resources. (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.14
107. “Children’s early interactions with computer games encourage them to develop a playful approach to computers.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.14
108. Games are often a facilitator to social, communication and peer activities.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.15
109. “One of the more interesting relationships between computer games and learning is not simply the interaction between the player and the game; rather, through processes of discussion, collaboration and reflection on games embedded in peer group cultures, children are learning how to play and perhaps in collaboration with others.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004)pp.16
110. Through informal games play, children learn to participate in and develop understanding of semiotic domains (Gee, 2003)
111. Games allow students to develop systemic thinking via thinking about and critiquing games as systems and designed spaces rather than simply by moment-by-moment playable environments. (Gee, 2003)
112. “Playing computer games is encouraging young people to learn in different ways from those valued in the school setting” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.17
113. “Games allow children to take on the role of teachers, providing advice, support, hints, tips and models of learning to other children.” (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) pp.19
114. “games and simulations provide practice that is tailored to the users needs, interests and intentions.” pp.8
115. “Games can provide realism while reducing risk.” pp.9
116. “games can provide learning that goes beyond mechanics to include interpersonal skills such as how to work as member of a tem, how to assess stress or how manage risk.” pp.9
117. “games are a versatile pedagogical medium.” pp.9
118. “Games have many attributes of effective learning environments. For example, games include elements of urgency, complexity, learning by trial-and-error and scoring points. They also support active learning, experiential learning and problem-based learning. Games make it possible to use information in context and are inherently learner-centered and provide immediate feedback.” (Oblinger, 2004)Pp.13
119. “Games also offer advantages in terms of motivation. Oftentimes students are motivated to learn material (e.g., mythology or math) when it is required for successful game play—that same material might otherwise be considered tedious” (Oblinger, 2004)pp. 13
120. “Games inspire players to seek out data and information in order to be successful rather than starting with facts and figures and then figuring out how they may be relevant” (Oblinger, 2004)pp.13
121. Games provide competition. A sense of competition and one’s status in the game-playing community encourages students to work hard. The recognition and respect that comes from successful gameplay “fuels participation and invests the player in the experience because it transforms knowledge into social capital. Not only do players ‘own’ their learning (because they participated in the construction), but ownership is worth something in a social context where one’s status derives from peer acknowledgement (an incentive that is often more powerful than grade point average or teacher approval)”(Herz, 2001)
122. “Perhaps most significantly, games re p resent a performance-based environment.” (Foreman, 2003)
123. “The game world resembles a well-designed academic course, one that (1) builds and integrates knowledge in a structured continuum that leads from the beginning of the semester to its end; and (2) requires that a student actively and continuously engage with subject matter and learning goals” (Foreman, 2003)
124. Virtual games can play a vital role in encouraging critical thinking and creativity by helping students understand and practice problem-solving skills. (Slator & Associates, 2006)
125. “Computer games can transform learning because virtual worlds can takes us places, like the interior of a biological cell or the rolling plains of a long-forgotten history. This is where learning and experience await.” (Slator & Associates, 2006) pp.143
126. Video game can catch and gain the attention of teenagers to focus of critical information and get them involve in civic activities. (Richtel, 2005)
127. “violent games activate the anger center of the teenage brain while dampening the brain’s “conscience.” (Walsh, Gentile, Gieske, Walsh, & Chasco, 2004)pp.2
128. “The U.S. Army now uses video games as recruiting tools because the games capture the interest of teens, shape their attitudes and influence their behavior. Evidence grows that games teach skills and affect behavior. The important thing to remember, therefore, is that video and computer games are powerful—for good and for bad.” (Walsh et al., 2004)pp.2
129. “The conclusion we draw from the accumulated research is that the question of whether video games are “good” or “bad” for children is oversimplified. Playing a violent game for hours every day could decrease school performance, increase aggressive behaviors, and improve visual attention skills.” (Walsh et al., 2004) pp.8
130. “Video game playing introduces children to computer technology.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
131. “Games can give practice in following directions.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
132. “Some games provide practice in problem solving and logic.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
133. “Games can provide practice in use of fine motor and spatial skills.”(National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
134. “Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression and gender bias.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
135. “More often games do not offer action that requires independent thought or creativity.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
136. “Games can confuse reality and fantasy.” (National Institude on Media and the Family, 2005)
137. Good games empower learners, engages learners in problem solving and promote understanding. (Gee, 2005a)
138. Games “provide a representational trace of both individual and collective activity and how it changes over time, enabling the researcher to unpack the bidirectional influence of self and society - society—how a given sociocultural context shapes and influences individual activity and meaning making through socialization and enculturation and how the individual shapes and influences the culture in which he or she participates in return.” (Steinkuehler, 2006) pp.98
139. “As both designed object and emergent culture, g/Games
     1. consist of overlapping well-defined problems enveloped in ill-defined problems that render their solutions meaningful;
     2. function as naturally occurring, self-sustaining, indigenous versions of online learning communities; and
     3. simultaneously function as both culture and cultural object—as microcosms for studying the emergence, maintenance, transformation, and even collapse of online affinity groups and as talk about-able objects that function as tokens in public conversations of broader societal issues within contemporary offline society.” (Steinkuehler, 2006).pp.98
140. Simulation and games “…accommodated more complex and diverse approaches to learning processes and outcomes; allowed for interactivity; promoted collaboration and peer learning; allowed for addressing cognitive as well as affective learning issues; and, perhaps most important, fostered active learning.(Ruben, 1999) pp.501
141. “Playing video games augments skills in reading visual images as representations of three-dimensional space (representational competence).” (Prensky, 2001a)Pp.45
142. “Skill in computer games enhances and is a causal factor in other thinking skills such as the skill of mental paper folding (i.e. picturing the results of various origami-like folds in your mind without actually doing them).” (Prensky, 2001a) pp.45
143. “Because no one tells you the rules in advance, video games enhance the skills of “rule discovery” through observation, trial and error and hypothesis testing” – inductive discovery.(Prensky, 2001a) pp.45
144. “Videogame skills transfer to and lead to greater comprehension of scientific simulations, due to increased ability to decode the iconic representations f computer graphics.” (Prensky, 2001a) pp.45
145. Playing video games enhances players’ skills at divided attention tasks such as monitoring multiple locations simultaneously, by helping them appropriately adjust their strategies of attentional deployment. Players get faster at responding to both expected and unexpected stimuli. (Prensky, 2001a) pp.45
146. “Games and simulations can spark interest for learning and make a boring topic fun, and are well suited for learning content that requires practice”.(Ahdell & Andresen, 2001) pp.vi
147. “Games and simulations engage users” (Ahdell & Andresen, 2001) pp.vi
148. “computer simulations offers people the chance to participate, make mistakes, to take chances, to challenge themselves and to learn.” (Ahdell & Andresen, 2001) pp.39
149. Games can be used to learn different types of “content” including facts, skills, judgment, behavior, theories, reasoning, process, procedures, creativity, language, systems, communications, and observation. (Prensky, 2001b)
150. “Games give players the opportunity to get their fingers into a system, muck about with it, and see the results. So when you make educational games, let the games be games.” (Fortugno & Zimmerman, 2005)
151. “games offer a model learning experience and suggests teachers can learn useful lessons by looking at how games draw players in and motivate them to concentrate and tackle complex problems” (McClellan, 2005)
152. “The best educational games are procedural representations of systems” (McClellan, 2005)
153. “simulations and games provide a larger "experience", creating context based immersive learning.” (Stacey, 2003)
154. “Computer games are designed ‘to be learned’ and therefore provide models of good learning practices.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.2
155. “By playing games young people are developing practical competencies and social practices that are equipping them for the 21st century workplaces, communication and social lives.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.2
156. “One characteristic of games that supports learning is that they challenge and support players to approach, explore and overcome increasingly complex and thereby learn better how to tackle those problems in similar contexts in future.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp. 3 (Transfer)
157. “Games offer the capacity for players to try out alternative courses of action in specific contexts and then experience consequences – in other words to understand how manipulating systems causes particular effects.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.2 (Cause-effect)
158. “Games can immerse players in the discourses associated with particular contexts, so that identifying with the identity of an in-game character might move understanding specific vocabulary items such as technical terms and reading items of data in distinct formats such as maps and graphs.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.4
159. “Games are seen to offer increasing levels of challenge, the gradual revelation by the learner of systems and rules governing individual interactions, and the experience of exploring and developing different identities and the tools and practices that support these.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.4
160. “Unlike reading a book, playing a game demands interpretive competence with images, sound, and actions as well as written words.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.5 (Multimodal skills)
161. “Playing games bring students into contact with the kinds of complexities required in 21st century workplaces.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.6 (Prepare for Future)
162. “Young people playing games are learning how to deal efficiently with dynamic information sources in multiple modes and media.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.6 (Digital, Information literate, tech-savvy)
163. “Recent studies suggest that when young people are playing computer and video games they are engaged in learning activities that are more complex and challenging than most of their formal school tasks.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.3
164. Games provide superficial information – not enough to satisfy young people’s educational needs, but enough for them to grasp on it – and that in more overtly educational settings the role of teachers, peers, and other supporting materials will be necessary to build on these superficial understandings. (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2005)
165. Computer games provide learners with a rich concrete experience from which they can build understandings. (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2005)
166. Relevant and engaging games can invite investment from players, but not necessarily from students; in other words participants in the study enjoyed the game, but did not make links with education, between play and study. (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2005)
167. Video games allow “social and collaborative practices to emerge” among players. (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.6 (social skills)
168. MMORPG offer players “apprenticeship into doing.” Experience players often mentor less experienced ‘apprentice’ players. (Steinkuehler, 2004)
169. “The relationship between games and learning in out-of-school contexts is that we have thousands of young people across the world engaged in complex multimodal information-handling tasks that are at the edge of their competencies” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.8 (Challenge & Adaptable)
170. “Games allows students to explore and hypothesize about systems and rules and receive feedback and how ell they are manipulating those systems.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.8
171. “games allows students to mobilize distinct literacy skills in particular social contexts” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.8
172. “Computer online games allow students to use the internet to support each other informally, despite potential geographical and generational dispersal” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.8
173. “Playing on computers lead to obesity, aggressive behavior, or grroming by predatory adults.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005)pp.8
174. “Computer games are responsible for eroding young people’s social lives, or that they are even dangerous” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.8
175. Playing games does not allow students to engage in the process of reflection, that is after engaging in an activity abstract from it to explain what is learned. (Sandford & Williamson, 2005)
176. “Good games engage players in multiple ways and the interplay between these different forms create dynamic learning opportunities.” (Squire, 2004)
177. “Playing a good game can immerse players in a state of “flow,” the condition in which they are completely absorbed in an activity that closely matches and stretches their abilities” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Immersion)
178. “By interacting in a game system and its rules, players experience what it is like to exercise alternative forms of control and authority, and to experience what it is like to exercise the consequences of particular courses of action” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Taking risks)
179. “Games provide immediate feedback on players’ performance, offering scores, visual and audio cues and notification when individual goals have been accomplished.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Immediate feedback)
180. “Games prepare players to deal with complex electronic environments, to negotiate and handle data in multiple formats simultaneously, to interact with images, counds an actions, and to interact with others through electronic channels.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Literacies)
181. “games allow players to experience what it is like to inhabit particular alternative identities such as military medics, warrior trolls, city planners, sportspeople or pregnant mothers; they experience and practice the actions peculiar to each.” (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Identity)
182. “Games situate players in particular literacy practices associated with the identities being played, immersing them in peculiar vocabularies and social customs.”(Sandford & Williamson, 2005) pp.14 (Literacies)
183. In games players are often in reviewing and rethinking their performance developing reflective practices. (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) (reflective thinking)
184. “Playing video games can be beneficial for improving many cognitive and motor skills.” (Klopfer, 2005) pp.10
185. “Good games are enjoyable because each individual player is continuously challenged without becoming frustrated.” (Klopfer, 2005) pp.11
186. “Players develop strategies and mastery, see concrete improvements, and gain confidence and skills to face even more sophisticated challenges.” (Klopfer, 2005) pp.11
187. “Many games by drawing heavily upon important 21st century helps students with problem-solving, collaboration, communication and planning.” (Klopfer, 2005) pp.10
188. “Games require players to develop spatial memory, systems understanding and planning skills.” (Klopfer, 2005) pp.10
189. In computer games for learning, there is “undeniable power to motivate.” (Daniel, 2005)Pp.1
190. “Games are capable of fostering the development of valuable skills in areas such as strategic thinking communication and collaboration, group decision-making and negotiation, literacy and numeracy.” (Daniel, 2005)Pp.1
191. Gaming “wastes valuable time, irrelevant to set curricula, and incapable of helping students to achieve mandated high-stakes outcomes.” (Daniel, 2005)pp.7
192. Digital games “are time-consuming, motivational to the point of addiction, and fosters a range of antisocial values which may translate into sexist, racist or criminal behavior.” (Daniel, 2005)pp.7
193. “Games are a good thing because they’ve been significant aspects of human culture for a long while.” (Daniel, 2005)pp.7
194. “Simulation and adventure games where players create societies or build theme parks develops children strategic thinking and planning skills.” (BBC News, 2002)
195. Games have the power to compel players to engage indisciplinary practices, such as planning scientific investigations in Environmental Detectives or reading primary documents in Revolution. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)pp.28
196. Although games are fantasy systems, we believe that by creating compelling goals, they have the potential to make learning very real for players. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)pp.28
197. Games are unique in that they have rules that constrain action, forcing players to manage resources and make trade-offs.(Squire & Jenkins, 2003)p.28
198. Good games are about choices and consequences, and good educational games force players to form theories and test their thinking against simulated outcomes.(Squire & Jenkins, 2003).28
199. Games encourage role playing, which can, in the case of Prospero’s Island, help students to better understand the nature of theatricality, and, generally, to adopt different social roles or historical subjectivities. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)p.28
200. “Games encourage collaboration among players and thus provide a context for peer-to-peer teaching and for the emergence of learning communities. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)
201. A good game can function as a gateway through which students can explore a much broader range of knowledge. The properties and processes of a well-designed game may motivate them to turn to textbooks with the intention of understanding rather than memorizing. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)pp29
202. games may inspire players to read more broadly across a range of other related fields. Learning occurs not just in the game play but as players move back and forth between games and other kinds of activities.(Squire & Jenkins, 2003)pp29
203. Gamers are learning not just to play the game but to become members of game playing communities where gaming knowledge is shared among and across players. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003) Pp.30
204. The kinds of learning gains afforded by “game-based learning environments have much less to do with increases in factual recall or the ability to choose correct answers and more to do with making complex ideas accessible to a different kind of student.” (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)Pp.30
205. Learning gains from games “build students’ identities as learners in new areas and increase their ability to participate in discipline discourses.” (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)pp.30
206. "Computer games engage the brain like no other media" (BBC News, 2005)
207. “Games require players to construct hypotheses, solve problems, develop strategies, learn the rules of the in-game world through trial and error. Gamers must also be able to juggle several different tasks, evaluate risks and make quick decisions…. Playing games is, thus, an ideal form of preparation for the workplace of the 21st century, as some forward-thinking firms are already starting to realise.” (Entertainment Software Association, 2006)

36 Learning principles from Gee, 2003 , & adapted by Prensky, 2003 “Video game players learn from: Gee. J. P. (2003). What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Prensky, M. (2003) Escape from Planet Jar-Gon: Or What Video Games Have to Teach Academics About Teaching And Writing. A Review of What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee. The Horizon, (11), 3.

1.	Active, Critical Learning Principle	Doing and reflecting
2.	Design Principle	Appreciating good design
3	Semiotic Principle	Seeing interrelationships
4	Semiotic Domains Principle	Mastering game language
5	Metalevel Thinking About Semiotic Domains Principle	Relating the game world to other worlds
6	“Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle	Taking risks with reduced consequences
7	Committed Learning Principle	Putting out effort because they care
8	Identity Principle	Combining multiple identities
9	Self-Knowledge Principle	Watching their own behavior
10	Amplification Of Input Principle	Getting more out than what they put in
11	Achievement Principle	Being rewarded for achievement
12	Practice Principle	Being encouraged to practice
13	Ongoing Learning Principle	Having to master new skills at each level
14	“Regime Of Competence” Principle	Tasks being neither too easy nor too hard.
15	Probing Principle	Doing, thinking and strategizing
16	Multiple Routes Principle	Getting to do things their own way
17	Situated Meaning Principle	Discovering meaning
18	Text Principle	Reading in context
19	Intertextual Principle	Relating information
20	Multimodal Principle	Meshing information from multiple media
21	“Material Intelligence” Principle	Understanding how knowledge is stored
22	Intuitive Knowledge Principle	Thinking intuitively
23	Subset Principle	Practicing in a simplified setting
24	Incremental Principle	Being led from easy problems to harder ones
25	Concentrated Sample Principle	Mastering upfront things needed later
26	Bottom-Up Basic Skills Principle	Repeating basic skills in many games
27	Explicit Information On-Demand Just-In-Time Principle	Receiving information just when it is needed
28	Discovery Principle	Trying rather than following instructions
29	Transfer Principle	Applying learning from problems to later ones
30	Cultural Models About The World Principle	Thinking about the games and their culture
31	Distributed Principle	Finding meaning in all parts of the game
32	Dispersed Principle	Sharing with other players
33	Affinity Group Principle	Being part of the gaming world
34	Insider Principle	Helping others and modifying games, in addition to just playing.
35	Cultural Models About Learning Principle	Thinking about the game and how they learn
36	Cultural Models About Semiotic Domains	Cultural Models About Semiotic Domains

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