My friend’s dad came into town the other day. I told him that my professor had just suggested an article which emphasized how the process of playing a video game could be beneficial when it comes to learning, and also in literacy. He exclaimed, “That’s right! I remember when Jordan started playing video games, and when we asked his teacher if she could predict any problems coming from it, she said to let him play. All-in-all, she said that Jordan was learning problem-solving skills.”
I’m not sure whether I want to do my ‘research blog’ on the link Denise posted for me (on the previous entry), so I’m going to sidestep that and elaborate a bit more on what I think the article’s main message was: Finding a “zone of proximal development”. I mentioned this in my first introductory blog post, and the content of the article spurred some thoughts on what finding this ‘zone’ had meant to me in the past, and how I can help students find it in the future.
I remember the first educational video game I played: Math Blaster. It was purchased by my mother after I had failed spectacularly at the dreaded ‘times test’. The after school practice it brought to me transcended simply filling out sheets of multiplication problems. It challenged me engage in math activities, while at the same time kept me from getting discouraged. This was my “zone of proximal development”, and from it I began to excel at multiplication, and put into the ‘smart’ math classes.
But that was math: What about literacy? How can I develop a curriculum which engages discouraged learners? Here’s a site which could be implemented, but not necessarily used to innovate. I remember playing it all the time during keyboarding class. There is another link below it; a paid site which has similar games.
I suppose this entry really does sidestep the main message of the article I mentioned at the beginning. I’ll come back to it in another blog, but here’s my brief summary (this article made me think a lot, as a post-video game nerd): If teachers were to mimic, or incorporate, the fundamentals of video gaming (brings challenges, lets the user transfer his/her self to an avatar, isn’t discouraging) then there would be less student aversion to schooling and learning. I will come back to this article only if I can cohesively join the article’s main tenets with my own thoughts. Again, though, the article link is below. If you can’t get to it, sign into the ISU library, then just search for the same title.
I do think gaming is an unexplored area for us in education, just because we have been quick to dismiss it as playing and we should have students learning. In your example of Math Blasters I think that is set up to focus on developing skills, while some video games are set up to really delve into critical thinking and problem solving where students develop a strategy for attacking the problem they are posed. I had an interesting conversation with my 8-year old grandson this weekend after watching him play a video game on the computer. I had no idea what he was doing - but he could tell me the strategies he was putting in place to "win" the game. Amazing - how do we bottle that in the classroom for application beyond the video game?
ReplyDeleteYour blog made me think of the online game Neopets. I have to admit, I played the game in middle school. I never really thought of it as educational, but it does provide many avenues for learning in multiple school subjects. Last year my youngest cousin was playing Neopets, and her parents got her hooked on one game called "Spell or Starve" in Neopets. It is an interactive spelling game. Basically the user has only a couple minutes to spell as many words as possible out of the provided letters in a box, and they can rotate the box to make the letters mix up and provide more options for spelling. My cousin's spelling has seemingly improved. Granted I wouldn't implement Neopets in the classroom - especially because it's for younger children. But this does make me think about how games can help in the classroom. However, then I think about games I played in elementary/middle school - like Oregon Trail -- not a very beneficial educational game in my opinion. I am curious what literacy games are being promoted out there for the classroom. I feel like math classes have more educational games!
ReplyDeleteIf someone were to tell me they were a gamer, I would just think they were lazy, lounged all day and stared at the tv screen all day. Now when I think gamer, I think smart, problem-solver, unique thinking skills, and a great imagination! I think it's interesting how games have developed more to address education and usage in the classroom. Even at this very moment I'm watching a commercial for a VReader that is game-like and teaching reading and so on!
ReplyDelete-Cali F.