With the amount of money and time invested in video gaming (of all
different kinds), it bears looking into with regard to the effect that
video gaming could have on an educational environment. Over the years,
the educational community has struggled to find the best way to teach
students so that they could learn. The various strategies and methods
have become a lucrative business for those who are creating materials,
training, and support for these varied teaching strategies and methods.
Video
gaming has become a billion dollar business. With over $7.4 billion
dollars spent annually by gamers
(http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/library/culture.php), it appears
that this industry is not going away any time soon and it may be time
for the educational community to take a closer look.
We
must reach students where they are at and work from there if we are to
even attempt to improve the learning environment. If students are
engaged in gaming, we must figure out educationally appropriate ways to
include these technologies into the curriculum. Video games allow
students to collaborate, be creative, think "out of the box" and solve
problems. If we can impart these skills on students, they can probably
be successful in almost any career choice.
Jonathan
Schenker makes a compelling case in his TED talk for gaming in
education. He believes that online video games will "entice students to
learn" in more effective ways
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auP-eq17U1g). One of the strongest
arguments that he makes is that video games can be customized to meet a
variety of different learning styles (aka Multiple Intelligence) when
teachers are often so stretched for time and resources that they can
only attempt to include a few in their regular teaching strategies.
I
would agree that gaming could be a powerful paradigm that is worth
exploration! With the students already engaged in this type of
activity, half the battle is already won! It's time for the educational
community to "level up!!"
Love your last sentence...It's time for the educational community to "level up" and indeed, if we are going to reach this digital generation, we need to find out what motivates them and I think there is plenty of evidence that traditional methods are not. Maybe games is not a panacea but it certainly is worth studying and integrating into classrooms to see if it has value and will increase learning.
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