Video Games and Learning in the Classroom

Play

Rememberthe sandbox?

Is he learning?

“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.”

Leo F. Buscaglia, USC

“The opposite of work is not play, it’s depression.”

-Stuart Brown, National Institute for Play

This is what engagement

looks like.

Are they learning?

This is what school

looks like.

Are they learning?

Video Games

The average age of a game player

is

34

The percentage ofwomen who are video

game players is

40%

Videos Game sales in 2009 generated

$10.5 billion

Between 5th grade and graduation,students will spend 10,080 hours inthe classroom.

The average young person will spend 10,000 hours, by the time they’re 21, playing video games.

Jane McGonigal, Institute for the Future

A Parallel Curriculum?

“...the designers ofmany good games have hit on profoundly good methods of getting people to learn and to enjoy learning.”

-James Paul Gee, University of Madison Wisconsin

Learning works best when new challenges are “pleasantly frustrating” in the sense of being felt by learners to be at the outer edge of, but within their “regime of competence”. That is, these challenges feel hard, but doable.(Gee, 2007, p. 36).

How Do Games Teach?

•Social Interaction (Collaborative Learning)•Customized Experiences (Differentiation/Learner Control)•Achievement (Mastery Learning)•Relevance (Contextual Learning)•Multimedia (Multiple Intelligences)

“Today's game designers have figured out something today's educators are still searching for: how to make learning engaging for today's kids. It would be a shame not to employ this knowledge in our classrooms.”

-Marc Prensky

11 Tips for Bringing VideoGames Into Your Classroom

#1 Read what the experts are saying.

#2 Talk to your students about whatgames they play.

#3 Let your own children teach you aboutthe games they play.

#4 Pick up a new game and play it.

#5 Put on your teacher lenses.

#6 Don’t overlook off-the-shelf games.

#7 Always start with your instructionalgoals in mind.

#8 Collaborate and share with other professionals.

#9 Make cookies for your IT staff; theycan be powerful allies.

#10 Get your principal on board.

#11 Remember how to play.

Idea Starters

“What if?” world history with Civilization IV.

•Multiplayer or single-player.•Strategy/research/decision-making.•Rich world history information.•This game is currently only $6.10 onAmazon!

Nickel-and-dimed challenge in The SIMS 2.•Game can be easily modified.•Can you play the part of a singlemother with no marketable skills whoseonly goal is to raise one or more childrento high school graduation?•Teaching point-of-view and perspective.

Study statistics through MLB 2K10.

•How do players’ in-game statistics compare to the real world?•Predict outcomes of a game based on known statistics.•Are game statistics accurate?

Tell a story using Neverwinter Nights 2.

•Rich, fantasy roleplay game.•Includes development tools allowingplayers to completely build and scripttheir own world that other players canexperience.•Strong writing/literacy connection.

A story about a girl...

Questions?

Lucas Gillispie

@PCSTechand

@wowinschool

www.edurealms.com

Photo Credits:http://www.flickr.com/photos/benmcleod/213005390/http://www.flickr.com/photos/divinedecay/4732129949/http://www.flickr.com/photos/superhua/http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/authors/stuart-brown.jpg?0http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Leo_Buscaglia,_1987.jpghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mommylicious/4445019534/http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/4515090284/http://www.flickr.com/photos/zizzy/89581233/http://www.flickr.com/photos/trojanguy/3402405468/http://www.flickr.com/photos/takeda/3786428050/http://www.pandorajewelrydenver.com/_product_73690/Spectacular_Cat_Eye_Spectacleshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlukk/110883674/http://icoblog.wordpress.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/4962298166/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecastro/3016899799/http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianauer/2136995371/