After watching and reading the materials this week, along with playing the Settler's game, I can certainly see some common language appearing in my notes! One of the first words that I wrote down was MOTIVATION. In the TED talk given by Tom Chatfield, he mentions that when gamers "want" and "like" that they are increasing their motivation to continue.
Along with motivation, comes REWARD. Rewards are calculated in games so that player engagement (and motivation) can continue. The mathematics involved in providing players the correct percentage of winning ensures that players are constantly rewarded when needed, but allowing them to push to the edge of new discoveries, activities, etc. Gaming also offers players IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK. This is something that more traditional educational settings cannot always offer. This immediate feedback is important to effective learning, so much so that the National Educational Technology Plan encourages the use of gaming for the purposes of student assessment, just because of the immediate feedback!
Player ENGAGEMENT is one of the words that I kept writing over and over as I watched the videos and read through the materials. Games are highly engaging for students (and adults alike). That's not to say that students are mindlessly sitting in front of a computer playing games for hours on end. The engagement that I'm sensing is from students using higher order thinking skills to interact and react to both the games and the other players they encounter. I know that as a teacher I am always searching for ideas and activities that will keep my students engaged in their learning. Jane McGonigal reminds us that "gaming pushes the threshold of imagination". This is key to keeping students engaged in learning.
Another word that is such an important word in the educational community today is COLLABORATION. Collaboration with other players allows students to problem solve and from that problem solving, students who are good collaborators often find it easy and important to establish trust with other players. It offers them the chance to cooperate in different settings.
I think that when I reflect on my initial experiences playing Settler's Online, I can see how all of these factors come into play. I am excited to check in and see how my settlement is doing daily, spending some times too much time checking in. I'm most excited to play when I know that I'm approaching the chance to move up a level and see what that new level brings me. I'm offered immediate feedback when my geologist or explorer head out to see what they can find. In using the combat preview, I can also see what will happen if my troops attack the bandit camp. Obviously, if I'm still working and playing daily, I'm seeing the engagement that the game offers. I have found myself starting to think and plan ahead for my settlement. I wasn't doing that in the beginning, but now I see how important that is. I think having everyone else playing the same game offers the collaboration that gaming brings to the table. I haven't yet "friended" anyone outside of our class, but I anticipate doing so as I feel more comfortable with the gaming environment.
I think if I look back at the main words above, these are words that I would want someone to use when they were visiting my classroom. So, if gaming can offer students the chance for these, maybe we should be taking a closer look at the benefits of gaming in education.
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