Although gamification and open educational resources
(OER) are current buzzwords in education, game developers are concerned about the
#GoOpen initiative from the U.S. Department of Education, which directs
organizations receiving federal grants to make copyrightable intellectual
property part of the public domain when completed.
The fact that more teachers will be turning to digital
tools and resources is good news for game developers, according to a column by Lee Banville, editorial director of the Games
and Learning Publishing Council. Another positive to the #GoOpen initiative is
more open-source tools should also free up more funds for schools to spend on
digital content.
However, a world full of free educational tools could
also mean fewer educators willing to pay for learning games.
“So the Department of Education’s new push could go
either way for learning-game developers,” Banville wrote. “It if goes the way
some seem to hope, the far larger budgets connected to textbooks may soon
become more available for schools to invest in digital learning tools,
including games. The danger is if the perception is most educational content,
like OERs, is free, then why pay for digital games?”