THE GENOMICS DIGITAL LAB APPROACH
Genomics Digital Lab (GDL) is an award winning, integrated on-line learning environment where users experience the world of biology through immersive discovery-based learning. Teaching and learning with GDL captivates learners and engages them in the biology they are studying while simultaneously promoting critical thinking, creativity and problem solving skills.

• GDL was developed as a series of curriculum-aligned and integrated games, modules, and interactive simulations covering an array of topics in biology.
• Unlike text books, Genomics Digital Lab takes an integrated big picture approach to help learners understand cell biology and its personal relevance
• GDL is designed to be fully online, accessible through a web browser, with no downloads, or installation, accessible from home or school
• GDL provides teachers with much needed class creation tools and integrated real-time assessment.

WHY GAME-BASED LEARNING?
“…Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”
Marc Prensky, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

We are highly adaptive social animals who live to “play” and our discoveries are limited only by our own imagination. As we all arrive, develop, and learn in a bright, noisy, interactive world, our brains are wired to explore, question, and solve within that context. Educational tools should be designed around the way our brains learn. Computer games are engaging and immersive, and with the integration of all media formats, have quickly become one of the leading forms of entertainment. It’s not surprising that there is an increasing amount of research on the effectiveness of using games to teach. Interactive learning environments, like games, provide rich context and emotional investment in the material. One of the most powerful ways to form a better connection between teachers and students and student to student is through game play. It’s no wonder why learning potential increases substantially through experiential engagement rather than through linear methods such as text books.

GDL’s Game-based learning APPROACH

The Genomics Digital Lab Learning Environment uses game theory to encourage students to learn from their mistakes and build on their successes. Because it tracks student performance through each challenge, progression through the activities helps indicate their level of understanding. GDL’s stunning and dynamic graphics allows educators to:

• Get students hooked on a new topic
• Facilitate self-directed, discovery-based learning
• Connect with harder-to-reach students
• Integrate aspects of the “21st Century” skill set into the classroom, including media literacy, intellectual curiosity, problem identification, formulation, and solution skills, and self-direction skills
• Effectively use technology in the classroom
• Act as a visual aid for teacher-directed learning
• Facilitate cooperative learning as students explore and problem solve together

SUPPORTING RESEARCH
Summit on Educational Games 2006, published by the Federation of American Scientists
“…The success of complex video games demonstrates games can teach higher order Thinking skills such as strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, and adaptation to rapid change. These are the skills U.S. employers increasingly seek in workers and new workforce entrants…”

Does Game-Based Learning Work? Results from Three Recent Studies
Richard Blunt, Ph.D., Advanced Distributed Learning
“…The data analysis found classes using the game had significantly higher means than those classes that did not use the game. There were no significant differences between male or female scores, regardless of game play, while both genders scored significantly higher with game play than without. There were no significant differences between ethnic groups, while all ethnic groups scored significantly higher with game play.”

Video Games in Education
Kurt Squire, Comparative Media Studies Department, MIT
“In this paper, I argue that video games are such a popular and influential medium for a combination of many factors. Primarily, however, video games elicit powerful emotional reactions in their players, such as fear, power, aggression, wonder, or joy. Video game designers create these emotions by a balancing a number of game components, such as character traits, game rewards, obstacles, game narrative, competition with other humans, and opportunities for collaboration with other players. Understanding the dynamics behind these design considerations might be useful for instructional technologists who design interactive digital learning environments. Further, video game playing occurs in rich socio-cultural contexts, bringing friends and family together, serving as an outlet for adolescents, and providing the “raw material” for youth culture. Finally, video game research reveals many patterns in how humans interact with technology that become increasingly important to instructional technologists as they become designers of digital environments. Through studying video games, instructional technologists can better understand the impact of technology on individuals and communities, how to support digital environments by situating them in rich social contexts. ”
Click here for full report

Why Games Engage Us
Marc Prensky
Click here for more research on the topic of Game-Based Learning

EMMERGING TRENDS IN INNOVATIVE LEARNING
Become a Spongelab fan on facebook and gain full access to all the latest industry news and developments in education, technology and innovation in science.

Teachers can join the Genomics Digital Lab facebook page to connect with other teachers excited about advancing their classrooms towards 21st century teaching methods.

GET INVOLVED!
Genomics Digital Lab is a living online educational gaming project with a collaborative community. We welcome educators and students that want to get involved and become a part of the development process of these modules.

Become a beta tester or take part in a focus group and help shape the future of the educational gaming.

ONLINE TEACHER DISCUSSION FORUM
Share or search techniques, case studies, solutions; and ask and answer questions with a global community of Teachers. Gain access to a wealth of knowledge from teaching professionals around the world as well as down the hall at your school. Stay tuned for this new resource!

HISTORY OF BIOLOGY
History is an interactive, online science scavenger hunt game where students learn about the history of biology, the people and the impact their discoveries had on and continues to have on society, ethics, politics and culture.

NEW SPONGELAB BIOLOGY CONTENT
Spongelab is continuously developing new content. Sign up for our quarterly newsletter and become a Spongelab fan for all the latest updates on new products.