Video games don’t just carry the potential to replicate a sophisticated scientific
way of thinking. They actually externalize the way in which the human mind works and
thinks in a better fashion than any other technology we have.
This quote really says a lot. As a new and young teacher at my high school, some of the traditional teachers do not always agree with my methods of teaching or my extrinsic rewards for good behaviour and completion of assignments. In my class I like to find educational games that the students can play once they have completed and turned in all of their assignments. The students find this very rewarding and fun :). The students are learning by playing these games but yet they think they are just having fun. One of my favourite games I have is the lemonade stand game. In this game students have to run a lemonade stand determine how many ingredients to buy based on the days weather and how much to spend on advertising. Students go through a 30 day period (this only takes about 10-15 minutes) and they are provided with a profit/loss statement at the end of each day and then at the completion of the 30 days.
It is always important that we discover the way in which our students learn and address those methods through our teaching. Our students are accustomed to playing these games as a routine part of their life - since they are so use to it and they enjoy it - why wouldn't an educator want to find a way to make their educational content reinforced through the use of a game. As the quotes says video games are the best method of technology we can use in the educational system.
I found an article Why Should We Play More Video Games, An Article about Health - that supports the quote that I made to the same degree.
The following quote was obtained from the article:
Games that claim to train you brain like Brain Games for DS, puzzle games that require increasing skill like Tetris, and games that require that the player continue to play small amounts everyday like Animal Crossing. Believe it or not even these simple games help our minds with problem solving skills of everyday life. They also challenge us to set aside our limits of what we are willing to give up on and how long we are willing to work at our best. “the way gamers explore virtual worlds mirrors the way the brain processes multiple, but interconnected, streams of information in the real world. “Basically, how we think is through running perceptual simulations in our heads that prepare us for the actions we’re going to take,” he says. “By modeling those simulations, video games externalize how the mind works.” (reference #3) no other platform is this natural when it comes to teaching our minds new things.
The Question:
How did this reading change or confirm your understanding of the connection between video games and learning?
I knew that video games were great for our students because that is what they are accustomed to and it makes the learning process fun and enjoyable. What I learned from the reading of these articles is that video games do in fact improve the function of our brain. I found the information about simulation to be very interesting and surprising as I never thought of video games as simulations. It makes since to think that video games are simulations and by practising and solving problems in the video game it helps us to solve those similar problems in our daily live. This is a great point to argue for the support of video games in the classroom.
I am from Buckhannon, West Virginia and I am a Teacher at Buckhannon-Upshur High School. I have been teaching Business Education at BUHS since 2011. I teach the information concentration which includes: digital imaging I and II, desktop publishing, business computer applications, and web design. I enjoy the classes I teach so much, I tell everyone I get to play and learn everyday at my job :)
What do you want to get out of the class.
This year I became the FBLA advisor for my school, and I have some students that are interested in entering a competitive event that involves game design. I hope to help give them some input for this year and really take it to the next level by next year. BUHS is also considering including Game Design in their curriculum and offering the Game Design Cluster - which I hope that I could teach after this class.
Are you a Gamer? What Games do you play? Why do you like playing games?
I enjoy the old school games such as mario, spyro, tetris and crash. I find these games to be challenging and fun at the same time - I have many students that feel the same way. I enjoy having a release allowing my mind to keep working but to feel like I am just having fun.
What is your position on kids and video games? (ie time wasters, socially isolating, moral corrupting, new ways of learning, conflicted)
I allow my students to play educational games in my class. I feel that these games help to inspire learning and creativity among the students. I like video games, My only negative comment about video games would be the violence some of them contain that in fact teach our students very bad morals and ethics.
Link to a video, podcast, online article or blog posting that is related to the effects of video games on children's learning, sociability or character development and explain why you have selected to resource.
I found a video James Paul Gee on Learning. This video is great. It addresses educators and talks about how we percieve that games are not education but they are in fact using physics and a great deal of complex thinking processes. When a gamer becomes interested in a game they then begin to access it on the internet and research it while having social interaction. In turn the gamer begins to develop a deeper understand in a since as some one studying a specific topic for a research article.
I have experienced this hands on with students I currently have. My students are looking into spyro and crash and they have done a survey to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each game - they have totaled a comparison of the more liked game and then compared the characters to find the most appealing game. They initiated this on their own as a "curios and fun" activity. They have document all response and calculated the responses using Microsoft Excel. I think this is amazing that the students are doing this on their own - imagine what they could do in a class where this kind of learning was encouraged.
List three major world events that happen during the year you were born. (I couldn't decide on January)
Jan 8th - Hewlett-Packard
introduces HP-28S Advanced Scientific Calculator
Jan 13th - Supreme
Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school
newspapers, plays & other expressive activities
First
transatlantic fibre optic cable laid able to carry
40,000 telephone calls simultaneously
Stephen
Hawking Publishes " A Brief History Of Time "
The first major computer
virus infects computers connected to the Internet.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Beetlejuice
first played and was a hit film. (ironically this is a movie that both my
husband and I both like and we were both born in 1988).
