More on Digital Natives

I stumbled upon this link while looking for a few new/good links to add to my link list: "The impact of digital games in education" by Begoña Gros http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/xyzgros/index.html

I particularly liked the section on design - as that is something I struggle with daily as I'm working on the Virtual Congress project: "Specialists all agree on the requisites for good design: To have played a great deal; to be aware of the good and bad designs on the market; and, — above all — to think like a player at all times."

Gros highlights the following questions from Prensky (2001):

1. Is the product fun enough that someone who is not in its target audience would want to use it?
2. Do people using it think of themselves as "players" rather than "students"?
3. Is the experience addictive? Do users want to play again and again?
4. Are the users’ skills in the subject matter and learning content of the game — be it knowledge, process, procedure, ability, etc. — significantly improving at a rapid rate and getting better the longer he or she plays?
5. Does the game encourage reflection about what has been learned?