“Educators Got Game”
I recently read an article by Cindy Long called “Educators Got Game” in the October 2007 issue of NEA Today (p 42-43) http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0710/trythis.html . In the article, three or four teachers talk about using video games to reinforce concepts. Examples that were given are using The Sims in a sociology class where the game player chooses the characters careers which then steer their social and future lives. Another example is using a game called Civ in a Civilization class because it teaches students what is needed for a civilization to survice in terms of agriculture, commerce and government.
I think using games could provide a hands-on avenue for kids to make decisions and then see the consequences of their decisions. I would love to see this whole avenue expanded so that teachers and students could use games for all sorts of situations and topics. Being a math teacher, I would love to have a game where students had to make calculations to design and then build structures. It would be great if these structures were then subjected to a whole series of conditions provided through nature and humankind.
I’d love to know how other educators have used games to effectively teach various skills to students.
The NEA article makes reference to a resource to “test drive games” at WWW.NEA.ORG/REF?GAMING
I’m not sure if this link will work – I had trouble finding it – maybe someone else will have more luck. This link may be better: http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0710/videogameresources.html
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Though a wave of the future, I am finding myself resistant to the use of gaming at the elementary level. Of course it needs to be balanced with other learning/teaching tools. As with anything new, we have to try it, see how it works and evaluate its benefits.
Yeah. Games are awesome to use in the class. I used a game called Gapardin… It was a tria TV-Tria Game, where students would use hand controls to answer different types of geography & history questions. There are eight remotes, four for each side of the class (break the class into half): and then rotate students… You keep points, and who ever wins would get a doughnut party, or whatever. Games offer are a lot of stimuli for students. They are great to change things-up if you are stuck in a week routine. They also are wonderful for test reviews – if you can get one that allows you to edit/add to its Q & A. Good article Julie.
Considering the size of the gaming market (reportedly about as big as DVDs), you’d think there would be greater market potential for education. I know educational games don’t always have to be the highest production values – but wouldn’t it be great to have the quality of Halo in a resource specifically designed for learning?
Or is that the paradox – that you can’t mix the two quite like that?
I haven;t looked into this much yet, I guess I’ve been thinking about how we can get more money in education so that things like this can really pick-up. Parents would undoubtedly make the investment if children had more of an inclination and as long as EA games, etc. are feeding into out ID we don;t really stand a chance. There needs to be a bigger place for educational videogaming and the only way I see it happening is if those companies make space for it. DU got a huge grant to use in research on videogames. Check it out:
Improved STEM Preparation through Humane Gaming Camp
and High School Education
University of Denver
S. Leutenegger (Principal Investigator, Computer Science), R. Fajardo (Digital Media Studies and Electronic
Media Arts Design) , D. Austin (College of Education and College of Law), A. Andrews (Computer Science)
National Science Foundation, ITEST program, $1,176,572, Award number ESI-0624767
Project Summary
Employment in the US science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce has been growing at
a significantly faster rate than overall employment for several decades, yet at the same time American youth are
exhibiting a decreasing interest in pursuing education in STEM disciplines. While future IT worker demand is
predicted to grow, nationwide computer science enrollments continue to decline. Incoming freshmen computer
science majors have declined 60% between 2000 and 2004. Especially troubling is the paucity of women in IT.
Incoming female freshmen interested in computer science has dropped to less than 10% in 2005 and minority
participation remains especially low. To support IT industries and maintain IT leadership, more American
students, especially women and minorities, must obtain higher education in STEM disciplines. To prepare
students for STEM disciplines, K-12 education must embrace innovations in both pedagogy and content. Our
project aims to attract high school students, especially women and minorities, into IT and game development by
using student interest in computer games and art as a “hook” and by focusing on the “helping” aspects of games,
which we have coined Humane Gaming. By Humane Gaming we mean games developed for education or
medical applications, or socially conscious games which raise social awareness or advocate for a cause.
Over 90% percent of our children play games and 43% of all game players are female. Games heavily influence
our youth. We propose a new instructional model that uses the creation of computer games to integrate
mathematics, computer science, and art instruction in a project-based collaborative learning process. There is
evidence that students who study math within the context of other courses do better on math achievement tests
because they can make the connection between the real-world concepts and math content covered by the test. We
believe that by integrating math, computer science, and art into a cohesive curriculum developing computer
games, we will capture and direct student passion into greater learning, and higher college matriculation rates in
STEM disciplines.
Our interdisciplinary project team, comprised of two computer scientists, a teacher educator, a digital art
professor, and an expert in multicultural and science education, propose a Comprehensive Project for Students
and Teachers to (1) develop a 2 week summer Game Camp for 135 (45 per year) minority and women 9th or 10th
graders using the creation of Humane Computer Games to integrate the instruction of mathematics, computer
science, and art; (2) train partner school 60 teachers (20 per year) via 120 hours of professional development in
game development and technology-enhanced learning environment design principles; to teach at summer Game
Camp; and to actuate similar learning processes at their local high schools; and (3) study the impact of our
pedagogical innovations on teacher practice; student attitudes toward advanced study of STEM disciplines and
careers; and student matriculation into STEM disciplines in college. The training of the teachers will in turn affect
thousands of students in our partner schools for years to come.
Our project’s intellectual merit lies in the innovative use of game development pedagogy; the integration of math,
computer science, and art instruction; and our Humane Gaming focus to entice students into STEM disciplines.
The broader impact is to serve as a model to attract American students, especially minorities and women, to
STEM fields; increase STEM matriculation rates; and improve teacher practice and student learning of STEM
concepts.
I am wondering how much time I should let students spend on the game to achieve something. Could I achieve the same goal with some other methods?
What kind of games are we talking about here, those instructional games or just those pure computer games? I saw a game software a company designed for learning the Chinese language. It is very expensive and we don’t know how much it can help students learn since there are so many other technologies that can help.
It is hard for educators because there are sometimes too many indefinite factors. I am willing to try games, but should I spend the time on some other more practical technologies? That is the question.
We definitely keep thinking about games and learn from those teachers who have explored ahead of us.
Great article! I am using SimCity in my classroom and like to read good reviews about using educational games in the classroom. I sent the article to my whole staff, it is time we start taking a look at the well designed games. Thanks Jacy
This is an interesting turn of events, gaming in the classroom. I remember playing a game in 3rd grade where we simulated situations of homesteading and in turn, learned the rules and the hardships associated with the period of history. This game, however was not online, rather more like a board game with segments involving reading and writing.
I think that this could be very beneficial and engaging. I do wonder, however, how will we pay for it?
Those two games do sound very applicable. I too would love to see games that could be used in the math classroom. We are using the new Contemporary Math Curriculum at my high school, which is very application and real world orientated. They try to use a general theme for each of the lessons and I could see how a game such as the ones you described could fit very easily into an investigation. Now, we just need the programmers to come up with some math games for us!
That reminds me when my sixth grade teacher had one of my classmates bring in their Super Nintendo and we played Sim City. I had never even heard of it. I think it was just for fun and can’t see any educational value in it. I know that I would be frowned upon if I did that in my classrooms. Games can be used as long as it meets the objectives of the classroom. As teachers, we can’t just play games to play games.