Gaming Trends

It's been an interesting semester!  If you would have told me in January that I'd spend as much time as I have playing an online game, I wouldn't have believed it!  I think I've come a long way in both my game playing ability and my understanding of the way that gaming could potentially impact our educational environment in the future.  To look ahead to 2030, which really isn't that far off when I think about all that has happened in the last 15+ years in education, gives me a chance to really see an educational environment where games are a main focus.  

Teachers strive to reach their learners and keep them engaged.  McGonigal cites Czikszentmikalyi when she talks about engagement in gaming, saying, "we regularly achieve the greatest form of happiness available to human beings: intense, optimistic engagement with the world around us. We feel fully alive, full of potential and purpose"(Kindle Locations 616-617).  That's how a student should feel when they leave a classroom!  Full of potential and purpose.  If games can offer students that level of engagement, then the classroom of the future could be centered around students' game playing.  

Another potential impact of game playing is that students would be challenged, as I was during my Settler's experience, with setting goals and working both alone and with a group to achieve those goals.  Willis (2011) states, "When learners have opportunities to participate in learning challenges at their individualized achievable challenge level, their brains invest more effort to the task and are more responsive to feedback".  
I talked earlier in the semester about schools and the educational system needing to "level up" in their efforts to really meet the needs of the learners.  As we've learned more about the way that the brain works and the effects of game playing on the brain, we should be able to develop methods and pedagogies that cater to these game playing students. 

I teach in an elementary setting and also work with teachers at the graduate level.  It's certainly clear that the "one size fits all" mentality won't work when it comes to game playing.  Elementary students have different needs from their high school counterparts and the dichotomy becomes even greater when you continue to shift from high school to college.  Students' brains are wired differently and they develop according to that wiring.  Researchers from The University of Rochester studied reaction time in answering questions.  College students who "played the action-packed fast-paced games like the popular “Call of Duty” answered a series of questions about 25 percent faster than their counterparts" (Carter, 2012).  

It's time to take a closer look at the impact of video gaming in the classroom.  Gaming has important benefits like motivation, reward, feedback, engagement, collaboration, etc. All skills and experiences that as educators we strive to provide for our students.  It's important to realize that these components can make for powerful experiences in the classroom.  Positive experiences that can propel students forward in their learning and achievement.  

This semester has given me a reason to really look at and think of the ways that games could play a role in the classroom of today and tomorrow.  It will continue to be an interesting picture, framed by the games we bring into our classrooms.  

Simulations

The first simulation that I explored is actually one that we are using with our 5th graders this week in Science.  It's called "Energy Skate Park" and the link to use the simulation is:  http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics.  This simulation explores different types of energy including kinetic and potential energy.  It also includes different additional concepts that students can add to their skate park including friction.  The mass of the skateboarder can be changed so that students can see the effects of different masses on the energy track.  Students can customize the track and change the configuration to compare the differences in the amounts of energy created and consumed by different tracks.  The students who have had the chance to use this already are loving the fact that it relates to skateboarding. We have several students who skateboard regularly and this has really captured their attention.  This is also providing them a little bit of competition to see who can create the best track.  The students can also create different graphs to compare the different amounts of potential energy, kinetic energy, and friction created by each track.  This simulation could best be used with upper elementary students.

The second simulation that I explored is called "Eating and Exercise".  The link is:  https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/eating-and-exercise.  I was trying to find a simulation that could be used with younger students as they study nutrition each year, but in further exploring this simulation, it may be too complicated to use with younger students.  It could easily be used by middle school students.  The object of the simulation is to see what happens when calorie intake and exercise and activity are factored together each day.  Students can select the criteria for their own body (age, height, weight, etc.) and then track their food intake along with activity completed.  Once they run the simulation, they can see the effects of their diet and exercise on their constructed body.  I would suggest using this simulation in the context of a health/science unit on nutrition and be mindful of the body image issues that might be present with middle schoolers. 

Both of the simulations that I spent time using this week are from the University of Colorado Boulder.  They have a multitude of different simulations geared for different age groups. What is also nice is that many of the simulations seem to also have lesson plans and suggestions for teacher uses available.  It's a great resource that I'll be sharing with all of my teachers this week! 

Virtual Worlds

This was an interesting week!  I've used Second Life before and quite frankly, gave up because I didn't have the time or see how it was relevant to my "real life".  Before in my experience in SL, I even became affiliated when ISTE had a virtual conference using SL.

Maybe my thinking was flawed...after all shouldn't a virtual experience take me away from my "real life" and expose me to others in a more anonymous way?  The premise of the virtual world is that it is a space where people can potentially collaborate, play games, and experience a different life.

I was interested when reading "Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds", to begin thinking about these virtual spaces as a place to "construct learning".    I know from my experience in Settler's this semester that every time I played the game I was able to build on my own learning.  Antonacci and Modress (2008) mention that, "students engaged in educational games and simulations are interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving".  I can readily see those happening when reflecting on my experience in Settlers, but less so this week in SL. 

I still felt the same uneasiness going into Second Life that I did when I started Settler's.  I had several people come up to me in SL and try to interact.  Unfortunately, I spent much of my time this week wrestling with a video card issue that made my whole virtual world, purple.  While I was able to get into SL and set up my avatar and do some exploring, not much progress was made.  These technical issues are the ones that concern me the most as a tech person, because in using something like this with students, we have to be prepared to encounter and overcome these issues.

In thinking about the potential uses for a virtual presence like Second Life in education, I came across an article that researched how Second Life has been used in the medical profession to help doctors and other professionals learn how to interact with patients and give them a virtual "practice" area to help learn.  Wiecha et al (2010) mentions that,  "the virtual world offers opportunities for student interaction, intense engagement, scripted immersive experiences, simulations, role-playing, and constructivist learning. The anonymity afforded by the avatar appears to lead to less inhibition and greater interaction."  The anonymity can be a good thing/bad thing in education.  Students need to be taught the proper way to interact and need support when they come across someone who makes them uncomfortable.   I can see clearly how this type of learning could have a place in the educational experience as students get older and are using a virtual world to explore career options, learn hand's-on techniques, and to collaborate on building new knowledge.


References:

Antonacci, D.M. & Modress, N. (2008). Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual      Worlds. AACE Journal, 16(2), 115-126.

Wiecha, J., Heyden, R., Sternthal, E., & Merialdi, M. (2010). Learning in a virtual world: experience with using second life for medical education. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 12(1), e1. doi:10.2196/jmir.1337