Gaming

What is the place of game in the classroom?  In my opinion, gaming is something that can enhance the learning experience.  It can take a lesson from being something that a student sits through, hopefully retaining, to something that is interactive and engaging.  There are many different sites that provide gaming, simulations, or virtual realities.  Below is just a small sample of some of the games, simulations, realities, and technologies that need to be integrated into our classrooms. 

Games can be a wonderful way to learn.  Some games are for enjoyment only.  Some games teach skills.  Some games take the gamer on a immerse trip through history.  The game depends on the class and the students.  Choose something that fits your lesson plan. This game, called 3rd World Farmer challenges the player to take on the role of a farmer in a developing nation (Hermund, 2006).  Although the game can't simulate the real life challenges that these farmers face, you have little money and few resources on your family run farm.  Your farm is subject to civil war, corrupt officials, drought, famine, crop disease, the death of family members, the pull of the city on family members, and exploitation.  You choose your crop, say corn, the cheapest crop to plant.  Do you put all the money into that?  If you do, what if the corn crop fails?  You finally seem to be doing well, buy a shed and a well, get some chickens and a civil war wipes your farm out.  Back to the beginning.  In some small way, a player can feel the frustration of the farmer who has their lives set back again and again.  The student may understand some of the challenges that the individuals face instead of thinking that they live in poverty because they are lazy, don't try hard, lack knowledge, or any other wrong impression of rural farmers in developing nations.  It is an educational opportunity that means more than a few sentences in a textbook.  It gives a little bit of experience in those rural farmer's shoes.

Games come in all levels.  This game is about bike safety for younger children (HMH School Publishers, N.D.).  It is very simple, allowing the child to click on different safety hand signals.  Games are for almost every topic.  This video talks about how students can learn without risk (Edutopia, 2010).  Risk keeps us from taking chances.  In the video, simulations allow the learner to diagnose and practice surgeries.  These life saving tasks are best practiced in a setting where there is no human life at risk.  The video goes on to detail how many schools shy away from new technology and games.  Civilization is a fun game that engages the student in a world of history, geography, and technological development through the ages (Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2013).  The video briefly touches on how it is being used in some classroom settings.  So topics from safety to technology to medical treatments to geography are just some of the ways that games/simulations/realities can be used in the classroom.  These games can engage learners or all ages. 

Games are for education, like some of the ones discussed above, but games are also for therapy.  This simulation looks very similar to a video game, but it is controlled by a therapist helping veterans.  That same technology can be adapted to help children and adults learn (New Yorker Video, 2008).  This video discusses augmented reality in books - what the video calls "the biggest thing to happen to book since the printing press" (CM Merlin, 2007).  The book comes to life and engages the reader in a way that is not possible with text.  This also could work to help reduce barriers such as low literacy levels in some populations.  Living books could be an instant way to engage learners by immersing them into an environment or by directly showing them the images (Metaio AR, 2011).  The reality of Darwin discovering his finches could be so much more meaningful when watching Darwin work.  Plate tectonics goes from being a concept to something clear as you watch the earths crust change.  Living books allow this to easily illustrate convergent and divergent boundaries, something many students have difficulty grasping (Metaio AR, 2011).  Talking about dinosaurs or other creatures are not anywhere as engaging as interacting or watching them walk or move like in this video (AvatarStupiddGuy, 2011). 

The potential to revolutionize education exists in these technologies.  These can help learners of all ages experience the world in ways never before possible.  These technologies go beyond travel, allowing for travel throughout time and in space, all during fourth period class or Freshmen ancient history.  Some of the benefits are discussed in the 2010 Horizon Report: the K12 Edition, such adding virtual information when students visit a historical site (Johnson et al., 2010).  The 2011 Horizon Report states that "[a]ugmented reality is an active, not a passive technology; students can use it to construct new understanding based on interactions with virtual objects that bring underlying data to life (Johnson et al., 2011 p. 17)






References: 

AvatarStupiddGuy. (2011). Live augmented reality - National Geographic. YouTube. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=D0ojxzS1fCw

CM Merlin. (2007). Augmented Reality by Hitlab . YouTube. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE

Edutopia. (2010). Schools use games for learning and assessment. YouTube. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U-GVEANUEVo

Hermund, F. (2006). 3rd World Farmer. : A simulation to make you think.. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com/

HMH School Publishers. (n.d.). Welcome to bike safe!. Bike Safe. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/bikesafe/bikesafe1.htm

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2010). 2010 Horizon Report: the K12 edition. 2010 Horizon Report the K12 edition. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12-2010/chapters/augmented-reality/

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. The New Media Consortium. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/hr2011.pdf

Metaio AR. (2011). The future is wild - living book. YouTube. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3NtPzd51M

New Yorker Video. (2008). Not a Game: Inside Virtual Iraq . YouTube. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R6kl2BuhKmM

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (2013). Sid Meier's Civilization. Sid Meier's Civilization. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.civilization.com/