Educators have occasionally used video games to supplement traditional classroom tools, but the practice is on the rise. Games are seen as an easy access point, where school work can meet kids in a space that they already enjoy playing in. Video games are chosen that have challenges and processes reflecting the subject matter at hand, giving students a more complete immersion in the material.
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
“If you, as a teacher, are satisfied with engaging only 15 percent of your students, then you’re failing the majority,” says Mr. Dubbels. “The big idea is to identify what students are already invested in, and that’s video games.”
Less than 1 percent of schools teach through video games, according to Marc Prensky, author of “Don’t Bother Me, Mom – I’m Learning.” But those that do laud games as a way to help develop 21st century skills, such as collaborative problem solving, multitasking, and networking. Some educators compare game play to the scientific method: Players enter a phenomenon that doesn’t make sense, observe problems, form hypotheses, and test them while being mindful of cause and effect.
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Interesting! It’s true that most students simply aren’t engaged these days and to do so, a teacher must teach in an innovative and creative way… those are the teachers that are always remembered and respected!
September 19th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Actually, there’s more. There’s an effort currently underway to teach via game design. Reported in Metropolis Magazine (Sept 2006) at http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2283
They say: “Game Designer, an educational software program currently under development that introduces junior high school kids to the craft of video-game design. Part of a three-year research and development project backed by a $1.2 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the program’s loftier goals are to help equip students with a foundation of technical, artistic, cognitive, and linguistic skills—which some educational researchers argue are neglected by current standardized test-based curricula.”
September 21st, 2008 at 5:14 pm