Hi, Allison and Michelle,
I always thought the games were beneficial to the learning environment. I have used them as a student and later I always have used them as a teacher. I have played role games with my students or I have had them play some kind of game to reinforce a concept. However, I have never used a video game to teach them. Well, I would not know how to use video games then. Besides I had preconceived idea of video games associated to the isolated teenager who is playing a violent, sexist and non-useful game. This week I have learned that we, as teachers, can use all the interactivity that videos games provide to help students learn.
I have read some articles and information online, but there are two papers that captured my attention: “Playing and Making Games for Learning Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies”, written by Y. B. Kafai[1] and “Video Games and the Future of Learning” written by D. Shaffer, K.Squire, R.Halverson, J.Gee[2]. These writers explain the video games’ potential as a teaching material and confirm my idea that games are beneficial to the learning environment.
I am thinking about the possibilities the video-game design activities (level and character editors) offer for educational purposes. Video games offer the opportunity of learning by doing. So they become handy to constructivists. The current interactivity that video games provide, where players can create and design their own characters, storylines, games themes and interactions, help them learn by doing. It makes perfect sense to me because we as teachers need to master topics when we have to prepare our teaching materials. Players have to master a topic, whether it is history, math or science (Civilization III, Time Engineers, Making History).
There is also a lot of effort put to create and design the characters, and to make the storylines, game themes and interaction. However, this is a motivational and challenging effort that is going to help the students learn and become lifelong learners. Playing makes the students improvise, innovate, seek out for answers and be creative. For instance, in allowing learners to play working as a surgeon, he or she can learn biology; in designing buildings or cities, he or she will learn about engineering or architect. Players can learn a lot of from the video games, history, ecology, math, science, politics… and they learn in context.
We are talking about ”social interactivity” where the players are playing simultaneously online at a given time, and participating in virtual worlds, where players seek out news sites, read and write FAQS and participate in discussion forums.
I have read some articles and information online, but there are two papers that captured my attention: “Playing and Making Games for Learning Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies”, written by Y. B. Kafai[1] and “Video Games and the Future of Learning” written by D. Shaffer, K.Squire, R.Halverson, J.Gee[2]. These writers explain the video games’ potential as a teaching material and confirm my idea that games are beneficial to the learning environment.
I am thinking about the possibilities the video-game design activities (level and character editors) offer for educational purposes. Video games offer the opportunity of learning by doing. So they become handy to constructivists. The current interactivity that video games provide, where players can create and design their own characters, storylines, games themes and interactions, help them learn by doing. It makes perfect sense to me because we as teachers need to master topics when we have to prepare our teaching materials. Players have to master a topic, whether it is history, math or science (Civilization III, Time Engineers, Making History).
There is also a lot of effort put to create and design the characters, and to make the storylines, game themes and interaction. However, this is a motivational and challenging effort that is going to help the students learn and become lifelong learners. Playing makes the students improvise, innovate, seek out for answers and be creative. For instance, in allowing learners to play working as a surgeon, he or she can learn biology; in designing buildings or cities, he or she will learn about engineering or architect. Players can learn a lot of from the video games, history, ecology, math, science, politics… and they learn in context.
We are talking about ”social interactivity” where the players are playing simultaneously online at a given time, and participating in virtual worlds, where players seek out news sites, read and write FAQS and participate in discussion forums.
Pros:
- Its gaming nature provides the necessary motivation to learn happily.
- Students and public generally speaking are familiarized with them.
- Material is very attractive to the senses (sound, color, velocity…) and very challenging and engaging.
- Videos games provide the same values, attitude and behaviors that are present in our society.
- Character and material richness (History, Art, Geography, Math, Health, Urbanism/Lincoln, Van Gogh, Frank Lloyd Wright…) allows to experience in the virtual past, present or future in different realities and context.
- Players in their roles can learn and reinforce concepts and ideas.
- Allow repetition and coming back. Players have to master a level to pass to the next and these go from easy to difficult.
- Players need to become flexible, improvise, and be innovating to seek out for answers and be creative or even imaginative. They develop higher thinking skills.
- Clear goals and immediate reward.
- Games allow social interaction: players can play online, and participate in discussion forums or chat rooms; they can seek out news sites, read and write FAQS.
CONS:
- The idea that video games are violent, bloody, sexist, racist and consuming. One has to check what kind of rating the video games have.
- Teachers have to learn to work with the video games to use as teaching materials.
- Teachers have to learn to relate video games with and educational goal.
- It is expensive for the school (tech support, copyright, hardware…)
- Its gaming nature provides the necessary motivation to learn happily.
- Students and public generally speaking are familiarized with them.
- Material is very attractive to the senses (sound, color, velocity…) and very challenging and engaging.
- Videos games provide the same values, attitude and behaviors that are present in our society.
- Character and material richness (History, Art, Geography, Math, Health, Urbanism/Lincoln, Van Gogh, Frank Lloyd Wright…) allows to experience in the virtual past, present or future in different realities and context.
- Players in their roles can learn and reinforce concepts and ideas.
- Allow repetition and coming back. Players have to master a level to pass to the next and these go from easy to difficult.
- Players need to become flexible, improvise, and be innovating to seek out for answers and be creative or even imaginative. They develop higher thinking skills.
- Clear goals and immediate reward.
- Games allow social interaction: players can play online, and participate in discussion forums or chat rooms; they can seek out news sites, read and write FAQS.
CONS:
- The idea that video games are violent, bloody, sexist, racist and consuming. One has to check what kind of rating the video games have.
- Teachers have to learn to work with the video games to use as teaching materials.
- Teachers have to learn to relate video games with and educational goal.
- It is expensive for the school (tech support, copyright, hardware…)
Susana
[1] Yasmin B. Kafai, “Playing and Making Games for Learning Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies”, Games and Culture, Vol. 1, n. , Jan. 2006, 36-4. Retrieved from http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kafai/print/pdfs/playing.pdf
[2] David Shaffer, Kurt Squire, Richard Halverson, and Jim Gee, Video Games and the Future of Learning WCER Working Paper No. 2005-4 June 2005. Retrieved from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/workingPapers/Working_Paper_No_2005_4.pdf
Hi Alison,
ReplyDeleteHey I wanted to thank you for the idea of making these games a homework assignment that the students then have to explain. I like that idea because I can see how that would work. In fact I could assign a few advanced students to take the time to learn the game and then teach me what they have learned and go from there.
Also, I wrote a paper on constructivism as an approach in the classroom and I never thought of video games being a constructivist approach. I agree. Students learn by doing when working with video games so it fits!
take care,
Michelle
Susana, I am happy to read of your ideas on how games can help students grow in a variety of ways both curricular and social. You identified the positive ways appropriate games can immerse students in a world where they need to learn to move forward. Skills can be based on subject matter from the classroom and gaining them will ensure success in the game, a motivation that may not be present in the traditional class setting. Good ideas, I hope it will soon be our option to incorporate these into our teaching bag of tricks. Alison
ReplyDelete