Digital game-based learning and video games in teacher training. Conception, evaluation and results from Leipzig University

By the beginning of the 21st century, media education on topics such as video games and strategies founded on the concept of Game-Based Learning has become an essential issue in school educational contexts. Continually rising standards in gameplay as well as recent developments in technology, in the gaming community, in the concepts and expectations of the potentials of gaming, have successively changed the perspectives on who is playing what, when and for what purpose, as well as on the consequences, opportunities and problems of gaming itself. The authors of this article designed a seminar at the Faculty of Education at Leipzig University, in which different scenarios of playing computer games in school pedagogical contexts could be tried out, discussed and reflected on. The course was developed, tested and evaluated in cooperation with the Computer Gaming School Leipzig (ComputerSpielSchule Leipzig) before and during the summer semester of 2014. The aim was to create a situation in which future teachers and seminar instructors would be able to reflect critically on the opportunities, obstacles and challenges of a sensible integration of entertainment software (such as video games) in pedagogical teaching concepts. Theoretical and critical introductions to some selected issues concerning Game-Based Learning and computer games in general as well as hands-on gaming experience (gained in three practical sessions) provided the basis for discussion in the seminar.