In all honesty, I do not have much to say on this subject... maybe that is because I am in the middle of an intense Tetris game and all of my thoughts are concentrated on where to put the L-shape piece.
I am not an avid video game player, but I do enjoy, every now and then, a good game of Super Mario or Mario Kart. However, I was not aware, according to Gee, that I am learning. But am I? As we can tell from my first statement, Tetris has obviously not helped me with geometry- for I obviously do not know the names of such complicated shapes, and therefore, must refer to them by things they might look like...
I can understand Gee's argument that playing video games builds cognitive skills and allows you to apply what you learned to other situations. Yet, I don't know if I am going to be assigning video games for homework any time soon.
On the other hand, two summers ago I completed my foreign language requirement by taking an intense Spanish course. During the day, our teacher would bring in his WII as a tool for learning. He had an immense collection of Spanish-speaking games, and thought that our being able to play the game successfully would serve as an assessment for our understanding. If we could understand the rules, we could understand the language. In this type of setting, games provided a fun way to test your knowledge of the Spanish language. However, bringing games into an undergraduate classroom and assessing the level of knowledge of a foreign language might be different from incorporating a video game into a lesson plan in high school for English.
I think this might be where I end my post. Not much to write about today, for I have not much to say about this subject.
I'm not a big video gamer either, and I am struggling with the concept of video games as teaching tools. There probably are some that would fit that description (games I have never heard of, no doubt), but actually incorporating one into my lesson plan would require careful consideration. I also think video games would work with certain subjects more than others. English is a tough one.
ReplyDeleteAs long as nobody starts playing Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland video games as a substitution for reading it, I think I can get on board with video games in the classroom. The application for english is foggy, so we'll have to work on that one together.
ReplyDeleteI like that your spanish teacher used the Wii, that's a fantastic idea. My french teacher gave me several gigs of contemporary french music and I found easier understanding from listening to it and translating it for my friends who wanted to know what it said. I was practicing interpreter skills that I have since lost from lack of practice, but the concept is fascinating. International gamers tend to speak english so unfortunately it's not as widely employed online as it could be.
I too love Tetris, and while it did not help me in Geometry, I can pack a suitcase full to the brim and still zip it shut. Life skill achievement unlocked.
Where I find Gee's argument to be especially compelling is the way in which he pulls apart some of the components of game play and design, makes some conjectures about what takes place for people participating in those experiences, and then raises questions about whether, as educators, we can mine this to help us raise useful questions about, or gain valuable insights into how we could enrich what goes on in our classroom.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that intrigues me is the possibility of empowering our students through helping them to think about themselves as learners, able to actively reflect on their own experiences and to see the process of "thinking about what I did or thought" as having some real value.
I think there is something to be said for getting kids to use their brains at all. If nothing else, videogames make students think. It's not like TV, where they can just sit and absorb whatever crap comes across the screen; with videogames, they have to respond to dynamic environments, and make decisions based on the stimuli they encounter. Now granted, killing Nazi zombies does not have an apparent educational purpose (although it is really fun), but I'm not sure that there isn't educational potential in a lot of games we might not even recognize. As with the case of your Spanish teacher, I think sometimes just engaging a student in a general content area, can be a good way to get their brain going in the right direction. For English, there are plenty of games that require interpreting written material, such as mystery games, and I see plenty of potential for even more educationally beneficial games to be designed.
ReplyDeleteHi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI loved the idea of integrating a Spanish language video game... great application to foreign language learning. Would be interested to know if you actually felt that it tested your language skills, or if was simply fun. :)
Take care,
Mindy