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My Teacher Just Told Me Video Games Will Teach Me
to Read
Literacy Instruction and Video Games
❏ Licensed teacher in the state of Illinois
❏ Experience both in public school and private tutoring.
❏ Avid technology and video game admirer.
❏ Author of the blog Gamifying Teacher
Who am I?
Today’s Focus:Literacy
❏Reading❏ Fluency ❏ Comprehension
❏Writing❏ Speaking
Literacy
❏ Important Knowledge is gained through direct instruction.
❏ Activities are entertaining but meaningless play does not encourage learning.
Common Misconceptions
❏Direct instruction is one of the weaker methods of providing information. More authentic tasks stay with the learner longer and prepare the learner to adapt to new situations.
❏We are always learning so long as we are using our brains critically.
Truth
❏ Interactive❏ Allow for testing of hypotheses in safe
situations ❏ The proportion of individuals who classify
themselves as ‘gamers’ is increasing. ❏ Literacy instruction for the technological
domain❏ Successful video game tutorials
demonstrate a blending of ‘telling’ and ‘doing’
Why Video Games?
❏Common Core is the list of standards that each student is expected to meet per grade level.
❏ The Illinois State Common Core has recently been updated and put in place in all Illinois schools.
❏Common Core Standards are specialized for each subject area.
Common Core
❏Not all games are created equal.
❏ Video games should not be the only source of information and learning.
❏ Technology cannot replace a mentor/teacher/sensei
❏Games are NOT BABYSITTERS!
Disclaimer
❏Currently:❏ Carrot and Stick programs are most common.
They are mostly skill and drill with game icing on top.❏ LEXIA❏ IXL
Video Games in Schools
Lexia
❏ The future: Virtual Classrooms❏ MMORPGS
❏ Potentially beneficial for ESL students and native English speakers learning a second language
❏ Learning is occurring in an authentic environment. ❏Holodecks anyone?
❏ New co-teaching opportunities❏ Limited language proficiency students with
novice gamer skills encountered problems which limited success in virtual classrooms.
Video Games in Schools
❏Misconceptions about activities versus direct instruction
❏ ‘Gaming Phobia’ ❏Girl things and boy things❏Cost❏ Technology Availability and Internet
stability
Roadblocks in Schools
❏Using video games at home to support learning.❏ Students who spend time engaged in active,
critical thinking activities outside of school in general do better. (Practice makes perfect)
❏ Teach students to find learning opportunities and seize them.
❏ As demands build extending learning time outside of school hours is going to be extremely important for long term success.
❏ Social benefits both long term and within the family.
One Possible Solution
❏ Family Read aloud time❏Game Manuals, build guides, and other
print materials ❏Discuss meanings and context clues to
discover game mechanics and story meaning.
Video Games at Home: Reading
❏Game Reviews❏ FAQs❏ In game communication
Video Games at Home: Writing
❏Critical discussion while gaming❏ LPs❏ Voice activation in video games (There
Came an Echo)
Video Games at Home: Speaking
❏ Some students have not meaningfully incorporate literacy into their daily lives.
❏Often these students are pulled out for skill-and-drill style interventions.
❏ Technology can help place students in meaningful literacy situations with built in tools to aid in language acquisition
The Last Word: At Risk Kids
Gee, James Paul (2007). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kongmee, Isara, Strachan, Rebecca, Montgomery, Catherine and Pickard,
Alison (2011) Using massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) to support second language learning: Action research in the real and virtual world. In: 2nd Annual IVERG Conference: Immersive technologies for Learning: virtual implementation, real outcomes, 27-28 June 2011, Middlesborough, UK.
Peterson, M. (2011). Digital gaming and second language development: Japanese learners interactions in a MMORPG. Digital Culture & Education, 3:1, 56-73.
Lexia image from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sRVbNSxLwmo/S-xqd2dJzFI/AAAAAAAAABE/VzB8QwZY3lU/s1600/Lexia+2+Final.png
References
Questions?
