After reviewing multiple sources regarding
gaming in today’s society and in the classroom I have come to the conclusion
that the benefits of gaming outweigh the negative aspects or thoughts of
gaming. In just about every source it was mentioned that gaming provides
opportunities for collaboration, critical thinking (higher level thinking),
instant feedback (positive and negative), and allows for constant problem
solving and exploration. Students are able to
collaborate (socialize) and work as a team to solve problems in a game. Students also use higher level thinking
skills to solve problems and to achieve more.
What I think allows the students to achieve higher level thinking skills
is they are creating student-centered learning where they are learning
based on their knowledge and not what a teacher is telling them to do and
learn. The instant feedback is also
beneficial because the students will know right away what is working and not
working and determine what their next steps will be (explore new options).
Not only does gaming have the previously
listed benefits but it also keeps a person engaged in their learning. The students are working towards goals and
having fun working towards the goal. I
think about learning multiplication in 3rd grade. My students have flash cards to learn and
memorize their facts but it has seemed to be a slow process because a lot do
not want to sit and recite facts all day long.
One of my students came in after Christmas break and told me she knew
all of her facts. I asked her how she
did this and she said she played a bingo game on her iPad. This showed me how gaming can truly help a
student learn at a faster rate and still have fun with it. This student achieved her goal and was
excited to achieve her goal. She
received her instant feedback while playing the game.
What I also found interesting was the
article, A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as
a Learning Tool, on the increase of
dopamine in the brain while playing a game. Here you have research on the benefits of gaming within the brain. Students are successful in gaming and when they receive the positive
feedback from games they are creating more dopamine in their brains.
As I play the game Setters I began to notice
these skills being used. I have to
collaborate with other players to build a successful settlement and later to
join a guild to attack leaders and take over more sectors to expand my
settlement. I am thinking through
placements of buildings and strategizing attacks on other sectors. This thinking requires me to socialize with
others of what would be best and it requires me to research information on best
practices within the game. I notice my
mistakes or accomplishments when my settlement is producing all materials
needed to maintain the settlement or when the red exclamation mark pops up
informing me that my production is missing or low on a certain product. When this occurs I need to problem solve on
how to make it better…do I buff a building temporarily (which is what I have
been doing), do I level up a building, or do I build more or reposition my
buildings? I have to think through what
would work best and sometimes it requires multiple steps to get through a
problem. The game keeps me entertained and
engaged in my thinking, what more could I ask for?
Below I have listed multiple sources about
gaming and a few notes pertaining to the benefits of gaming.
-"Food Force"- game that has
students saving communities from starvation
-good for exploring complex social
issues "peacemaker"
-hope to make games in 24 hours or less
with real life issues such as with elections for people to respond and discuss
-virtual reality
-students work together as a team while
having fun
-3-d technology that is curriculum based
to help kids learn academic content
-eager to learn, see outcome, and eager
to listen to what their classmates see
-you learn and interact with other
people
-quicker than reading a book and you are
more interested
-learn from failure- no stigma in
failure
-constructing a picture makes it more
meaningful than just looking at it
-a real genuine game will allow students
to learn from failure
- remarkable transformation in students
-video game is a set of problems that
you must solve in order to win
-theory of leaning behind video games-
more complex what any kid will see in school
- surprised at how adult video games
were
- schools teach the way they do because
of testing- testing drives the system
- situated and embodied learning- solve
problems of what you know
- two different school system- 21st
century complex learning and school system giving you the basics
-kids assume roles that allow them to
work collaboratively
-use one domain and apply it in another-
higher level thinking
-games are complex to design and study
-"the three most recent cohorts of
children-- those born in the early 1980s, the early 1990s, and the early
2000s-- have grown up in a world where digital games have always been an
important part of their lives."
- average gamer in 2009 was 35
- feeling of working towards a goal
-problem solve
- collaboration, socializing
-open-ended, challenge based, truly
collaborative games
-provides immediate performance feedback
to players
-students are engaged to succeed
-will help achieve personal meaningful
goals
-MMO (massively multiplayer online)
games requires collaborative problem solving ---requires teamwork, leadership,
and discovery
-role playing, refine team and group
skills
-ideal method of assessing student
knowledge comprehension by providing immediate performance feedback
-productive role of play, which allows
for experimentation, the idea of exploration, and even failure
-training for militaries, simulations
for skill training
-training for graduate student- ex.
medical
-dopamine motivation- reward when brain
recognizes success
-rewards- emotional, individual, and
collective
- processes- wanting, liking =
engagement
-ambitious
-link consequences to actions
-an element of uncertainty
-modeling predicts learning
-enhanced attention
-spend 3 billion hours playing games
online
-intense concentration and deep focus
-optimism- shown on face of gamer
(picture)
-shows what you are truly capable of
-achieve more in game worlds
-we become the best version of ourselves
-positive feedback, constant feedback
-lots of meaning behind games
-engaging and students are optimistic-
who doesn’t want to pay a game to learn?
-steps on how to get in gaming in higher
ed started
-improved
eyesight
-process
information efficiently
Superb job of describing the benefits of gaming for us! And there are so many! Glad to see that you can relate the benefits of gaming to your own experience in Settlers and while your experience might not be anything like your elementary students might have, you can surely see that given the right game, students will also benefit in ways that they wouldn't without the use of games.
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