Gaming in Education

Why has the use of games in the classroom become a “hot” topic in education lately?

The use of games in the classroom has always been around in education. I have memories of playing games as a student and have tried to incorporate games in my own classroom. Every educational conference I have attended has always had either sessions dedicated to games in the classroom or there were vendors pushing the latest educational games. However, the use of console style games in the classroom is a bit different from the educational games of the past and present. Video games are a multi-billion dollar industry and continues to grow. Not only is  it a lucrative business but the high level of engagement we see in gamers while involved in game play has made educators jealous. Teachers are always looking to make our classrooms and lessons more engaging for students and when a student sits willingly for hours on end playing a game it shows “time on task” engagement and teachers have become interested in using this type of learning as a motivating tool. Teachers may also see the advantages of students engaging in other world environments and making decisions within those environments. Educators believe student exploration within virtual worlds can enhance current frameworks in their decision making process. Strategy games help students to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills they can apply to various situations in their real world, hopefully with success.

I was recently directed to a video on TED by David Perry. David is the mind behind such famed video games as Earthworm Jim (in which a bionic suit-clad worm saves the galaxy), Messiah (in which a rogue cherub hijacks creatures’ bodies to defeat sin), and best-selling game adaptations of movies like Disney’s Aladdin, Terminator and The Matrix. He has designed tie-ins for international brands such as 7-Up and McDonald’s, and now works on a group of massively multiplayer online titles for Acclaim.

A programmer since childhood and a lifelong gamer, Perry has a special understanding of the mechanics that make games fresh, fun, emotionally involving — and addictive. A sense of humor and a visionary outlook make him a sought-after adviser in the industry, and he also heads several websites on the art and business of game development, including GameConsultants.com, GameInvestors.com and the Game Industry Map. I highly recommend watching the following video presentation from David. Pay particular attention to the student video he shows near the end as after the video I have posted some follow up comments.

Post video comment:

The next generation of games will have a profound effect on our culture. As the student video ends he says… “I am not sure what the implications of my experience are, but the potential for using realistic video games stimuli in repetition on a vast number of loyal participants is frightening to me.” If we are to use video games in our classrooms need to be aware of the impact using this media could have.

Right in front of me

Yesterday Sylvia talked about how boys were more aggressive when computer time is offered. I had some classroom coverage today and it allowed me to post this while in class observing students. I had worked with a couple of really fast working students and we decided to go explore some games found on the links shared last night in class. Once the computers were open for use immediately a group of five boys gathered around two computers and closed off the rest of the class. The girls in the room maintained their positions at the classroom tables and showed no outward interest in using one of the computers.  As class time merged into lunch an even larger group of boys gathered to discuss strategies and achievements during game play. Although it was very cool to listen to the interactions amongst the group of boys it was unfortunate that the group of girls were completely shut off from being able to use either of the computers. Some of the back channel discussion last night spoke directly to this phenomenon of excluding girls from computer use in the classroom as boys take over the computers. Very politely the girls in the room reverted to reading their books and having quite conversations amongst each other and never really drew attention to this inequity of computer use. Maybe these middle school girls are the polite wall flowers we assume they are. I hope not! Computers and games are not just for boys, there is a definite dynamic that needs to change to make sure girls feel equally entitled to use technology.

I took a quick break from this post and went to talked with the group of girls, I wrote about above, to see if they agreed with this inequality. For the most part they agreed. However, one girl did proclaim “…if I wanted to use one of those computers I would go make one of the boys get off and take over.” Unfortunately her response was the exception to the rule rather than the standard. I also asked the girls what style of games were of interest to them. For the most part girls listed problem solving and strategy games that draw highest interest. The problem solving aspect was very different than the “shoot’ em up” explosions based games the boys get into. As a real time experiment I had all the students return to their seats and offered the computer only to the girls in the room. Several girls took the opportunity and proceeded to explore the site for games that were of interest to them.  Equal time must be a part of our plan for computer use in the classroom as I saw today when we leave it to open aggression and the claiming of a computer unfortunately the boys take over.

Applicable Knowledge

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