Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

7.15.10 | Spotlight talks with gamer David Dino about games-based learning and the new adventure level he created for the popular video game “LittleBigPlanet” that teaches young people about stem cell technology.

In “Stem Cell Sackboy,” players shrink to microscopic sizes and visit LitttleBigLabs, where they learn about stem cells and their importance to the body and to scientific research.

“Stem Cell Sackboy” recently won a Game Changers Award for a new and creative game play experience that leverages principles of science, technology, engineering and math. The award was part of the 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition.

Players visit a stem cell colony where they learn to interact in a cellular world. They discover the processes of cell growth and reproduction, play mini-games and grapple with ethical issues along the way.

You can see the game for yourself in this demonstrative video. 

Dino, who collaborated on the game with Amanda Mathieson, says games offer educators the opportunity to make science much more hands-on, and more exciting, than anything students learn from slides or a textbook.

“It’s easier to learn when you get into the nitty-gritty of it,” Dino says. “You’re touching things, virtually, you’re experiencing it in a different way, in a way that relates to you and that’s something that I wanted to promote with ‘Stem Cell Sackboy.’”

In today’s world, says Dino, “everybody games.” Educators should be taking advantage of this medium for learning.

“A lot of people don’t think about it, but when you actually do it, you’re like: ‘Why didn’t we do this before?’”

Related: Read full coverage of the winners of the Game Changer Competition at Spotlight.