What do I think
About Gaming in the Classroom?
The concept of Gaming in the
classroom is relatively new for me to a certain level. I’ve utilized learning games in the classroom
as practice work and pastimes between transitions, but not really on a level of
incorporating the games into my lesson or using it to truly teach skills. The
2011 Horizon Report mentions children born since the early 90s have never lived
in a world without global networks, which is absolutely true and something to
consider when teaching them. I am the one who has watched technology evolve and
now become what it is. I am the one who
is often timid and have a hard time embracing every aspect of technology,
simply because it is new for me and I have to act as a student to learn how
everything works. My students are using
these various systems every day and are motivated by games and what they
entail.
According to The New Media
Consortium’s Horizon Report (2): 2011, educators need to forget about the
negative connotations related to games, which is a great suggestion. We have negative connotations are things we are
unfamiliar with, just like students “the fear of the unknown.” Similar to handheld games used to promote
literacy skills in toddlers and learning television shows over the years
producers and manufacturers try to make their product better based on the
customers and results. The Horizon
Report (Johnson et al., 2011) also discusses how early studies in the last
decade were made to help identify specific aspects of the games to get to where
they are now.
I chose Gaming websites that I could
utilized when working with the population of students I work with on a daily
basis. The majority of those students have
cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties that affect various areas of
learning. The first gaming site I chose
was PBS Kids. This website was ideal for me to reinforce functional
and daily living skills. I was pleased
that the characters associated with the games I chose were not “kiddie”
characters. Many students with special
needs at the middle and secondary level need low level materials that are not
visually designed for younger children. The
game titled Fresh Pick provided very enthusiastic interactive characters with
appropriate auditory directions along with close caption options. The game was divided into several
“challenges”. All challenges related to
Fresh Pick were related to nutrition and healthy foods. Each challenge game reinforced specific skills
such as navigation, following directions, adding and subtracting prices,
decision making, learning new terms associated with cooking and or shopping,
differentiating between coins and choosing appropriate prices surrounding the
underlying topics of nutrition and healthy foods. The more tasks a person completes correctly
the more complex the next task will become. This gaming website would be a great resource
for reinforcing skills taught in class and gathering information to assess
comprehension of specific skills while improving fine motor skills, time on
task and ability to navigate the keyboard.
Another gaming program I chose to review
was Logicity. The Logicity game was created to increase
public awareness regarding Climate Change. Logicity is a 3D virtual city with specific
tasks that a player must fulfill to decrease pollution and carbon footprints
that cause climate change. Every
player’s mission is to reduce the emissions of new greenhouse gases before it
is too late and the people of the city will not survive. Players have the ability to compete with other
registered participants and earn scores. Including this interactive game during lessons
related to pollution, greenhouse effect, global warming, and or energy
efficiency would be appropriate for students at the secondary grade
levels. Follow up discussions and
possible a question and answer sessions would be ideal for an educator who chooses
to utilize this game to reinforce concepts taught in class.
The game 3rd World Farmer started out as an assigned project for group
of college students in 2005. After feedback and development it has evolved into
the game it is today. This game is not
fun and exciting like most games that attract students while practicing skills.
This game sheds light on factual events
and situations 3rd world counties are faced with. 3rd World Farmer creates a platform for
students to learn about challenges and decisions people make on a daily basis
to survive. There are several subject
areas such as, Social Studies, Geography, Economics, and or Literature that can
benefit from what this game entails. The
players of the game are required to manage an African farm while random
challenges arise such as corrupt officials, raids and thieves, market prices
fluctuate, and or unpredicted weather. The topics of disease, drought, wars and
economic hardship will be unavoidable when participating in this game. Educators who chose 3rd World
Farmers for their students should take time to provide introductory and follow
up lessons when incorporating the game into their lessons. If used appropriately this game could be a
good representation and supplement to chapter readings.
According to Johnson et al. (2011)
teachers should take gaming seriously and incorporate them into lessons. The U.S. Secretary of Education, Anne Duncan
suggested that gaming is an ideal method to assess students’ comprehension and
a means of providing immediate feedback.
As I reviewed the several gaming websites and videos I was pleased to
see the variety of games available that cover so many academic areas because
educators are responsible for presenting information in ways to accommodate all
learning styles. Along with including
innovative ways to help students remember skills that they may use a lifetime. One can see tremendous advancements in the
technology that assists professionals in almost every career from equipment in
stores, medical equipment to military advancements.
Edutopia’s video, School Use Games for Learning and Assessment
demonstrates students in several U.S schools utilizing gaming and technology as
their primary method of teaching. David Williamson-Shaffer, Associate Professor
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pointed out, people in the U.S. do not
live in an industrial economy any longer but a knowledge economy therefore,
educators have to think about learning in fundamentally different ways beyond
basic facts and skills.
Gaming will only become more sophisticated
and challenging. Therefore, it is my
responsibility to add this means of computer technology to my toolkit of
resources not only to keep students busy during break times but reinforce
lessons and skills. Students can now
gain skills utilizing simulating and interactive games monitored in school that
can prepare them for their future careers.
2011
Horizon Report K-12. (n.d.). 2011 Horizon Report K-12. Retrieved January 31,
2014, from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI find that being a teacher, we are constantly having to be students and accepting the fact that we will be continuously learning for the rest of our careers. Learning new methods of teaching and materials I have found to be a lot easier than when it comes to learning new technologies. The fact that our students are our pushing factor though ensures that we are constantly keeping up with the ever growing technologies. The issue that I am constantly finding with technology constantly growing is that at times it is quite difficult to keep up with everything that has been changing. I just graduated from college and when I entered into the classroom to teach, instead of taking notes by computer or paper, my students were taking pictures of my slides or any writings I would do on the board. This begs the question that although technology and games are great, is there a possibility that they are overtaking the classroom and maybe hindering learning in some ways?
I like that you chose gaming sites that you could potentially utilize while in the classroom. It can be difficult to rummage through the many gaming websites that are offered, especially those that can potentially work well with students who have cognitive disabilities. It is even more difficult when gaming sites that you have found to work well with students’ learning ends up being shut down or completely altered. I find it difficult as well to search for websites that my ESL students can understand.