Serious Games and Simulation as Tools for Education

The increasing adoption of computer-based “serious games” as digital tools for education requires to address the question about the role of simulation in teaching and learning process. Whereas many recent studies have stressed the benefits of digital games in a variety of learning contexts, this paper approaches the problem of misuse and limitations of computer-based simulations, and argues that we still need to understand when a digital serious game is actually better than other non-computer-based simulation experiences. Considering that the distinction between the two types of simulation does not mean that they are incompatible, the final question that I address regards the best ways to correlate computer-based and non-computer-based simulation techniques.