This document discusses how learning analytics can help simplify the deployment of serious games in the classroom. Serious games have been shown to be effective for learning, but are difficult to incorporate into curriculums due to challenges in assessing student learning and understanding student experiences in the games. The GLEANER framework allows capturing game traces to provide real-time analytics on student performance, difficulties, and learning achievements to teachers. An example game called "Lost in XML Space" aimed to teach XML was used, and learning analytics helped instructors understand what students were doing and identify behavioral changes when students knew their actions were being tracked. While learning analytics show potential, open issues remain around distinguishing exploration from errors and assessing long-term learning across games.

1. Applying learning analytics to simplify
serious games deployment in the classroom
EDUCOM 2014 Conference, Instambul
Baltasar Fernandez-Manjon, balta@fdi.ucm.es , @BaltaFM
e-UCM research group, www.e-ucm.es
http://www.slideshare.net/BaltasarFernandezManjon/

2. Serious Games use?
‣ Serious Games have probed to be educationally
effective in several domains
• Medicine, military, business, corporate training
‣ But still is a low adoption of Serious Games
‣ Difficult to include Serious Games in the learning
curriculum
• Assessment of acquired learning?
‣ Difficult to deploy the games in the classroom
• What are the students actually doing?
• What are they learning?
• What are the difficulties are they confronting?
2

3. SG deploymen:Black box model
‣ Games as “isolated”
pieces of content
‣ No information about
what is happening
during the in-game
play
‣ Or very simple
• Completed or not
completed
• Time used
3
del Blanco et al (2013). Using e-Learning standards in educational video games.
Computer Standards & Interfaces 36 (1) pp. 178–187

4. Learning analytics
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‣ Improving education based on data analysis
• Evidence based education
‣ Many options
• When the data is analyzed?
- off-line vs real-time
• What data is analyzed?
- log records, interactions, biometric data …
• What amount of data and on how many users?
- Intensive vs extensive
‣ Can learning analytics help to deploy serious games
as effective learning content in the classroom?

5. GLEANER
‣ GLEANER: Game Learning Analytics for education
research
• Open code framework to capture game traces
5
Reference model in the EU NoE GALA
Available as open code at http://e-ucm.github.io/gleaner/

6. Educational game approach
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7. Lost in XML Space
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http://gleaner.e-ucm.es/lostinspace/play/

8. About the XML game...
‣ A single user platform game to learn about XML
• Learn the syntax and basic concepts (document
schema)
• Gain agility writing and reading XML documents
‣ Designed as a complementary activity in a Web
Technology Course
‣ Experiment: Gamified experience in the classroom
Goals
• First to complete the game
• Maximum points in the game
but
• Initially students were not informed that LA was in place
After some playing time LA data was showed to the

9. Understanding the game…
Goal
Main
character
Power-ups
(new syntax
elements)
Write XML
snippets here to
move the main
character to the
goal

10. Main dashboard (GLEANER Report)
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Teacher view

11. Progress report
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User
Session
Phases
completed
Current
score
Learning
achievements
Achievements are
updated and
highlighted in real
time

12. Detailed traces
12
Filters XML
snipets
The fragments are updated in real time
as submitted by the student. The
instructor can filter to see only mistakes,
or all the fragments submitted by a
specific students.

13. Detailed results for a student
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14. Conclusions
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‣ LA simplify SG deployment in the classroom
‣ Instructor knows what is happening in the class
‣ Behaviour change when students know that LA was
in place
• More oriented to success and less exploration or
“playing”
• Open issues in LA
• How to distinguish automatically game exploration from
conceptual errors
• Long term learning across
games
• Students love the experience!

15. Thank you!
15
balta@fdi.ucm.es
@BaltaFM