http://education.mit.edu/papers/GamesSimsSocNets_EdArcade.pdf
The article launches with a short list of desired student outcomes: student collaboration, project-based learning, students connecting globally, and immersion leading to higher order problem solving. Then the article proposes that teachers can achieve these outcomes by integrating technology into their classrooms. However, it's not just employing smart phones or Chromebooks. The main points of this article are the uses of digital games and social networking and simulations in the classroom to foster the desired outcomes. The authors provide a background about these technologies, they look at the implications of their use, they explore the challenges of implementation and strategies for overcoming those challenges, and what to expect in the future.
This is important for educators because our audience, our student population, has grown up in a digital world. They play World of Warcraft. They use FaceBook and SnapChat and Instagram. Some are into simulations such as SimCity and Minecraft. To engage our learners we need to incorporate their interests into our teaching. The article gives several examples of teachers using games and sims and social networking to tap into students' interests or engage them in ways that would be difficult to manually create.
I agree with the thrust of the article. There will be challenges as we change the way we approach teaching. For me, as a math teacher, changing over to the Common Core Standards is sensible, but we have seen in the news that even something so sensible can be challenged by the public. The public will likely not have a positive opinion about relying on the integration of technology into the curriculum. I worry about the vocal minority resisting the move toward digital games and social networking and computer simulations as key components in the classroom.
In my school district this might be misconstrued as gaming instead of learning. Or, it might be seen as unnecessary socializing. Hopefully it will look like teaching to students' interests. If I were to incorporate these practices into my classroom I would invite parents and administrators to witness the effectiveness of integrating such engaging technology.
Bill-I agree and can relate to your statements about transitioning to the common core. Our school recently bought a full common core series for math two years about grades 1-6. There have been so many parent complaints. They are feeling like they cannot assist their children anymore in math because things are "so different." This converts to unhappiness and bitterness to the new standards. It makes it challenging as teachers because with parents already upset about this new introduction, introducing new ways of thinking and different forms of technology integrates could also trigger some unhappiness.
ReplyDeleteOther thoughts I have on the article are that people may really be onto something with this game-based learning. If implemented properly, it would really be powerful to a lot of people. I also think it could turn sour quickly if sometime tried it and it flopped. Parents, as you mentioned, could view it as just games in class rather than a motivational learning tool.
Your point that our students have grown up with technology is a very important point that can be lost sometimes. Especially with teachers that didn't necessarily grow up with technology or with the amount of technology that our students today have. It can be hard sometimes to relate to that because it is different from what a lot of teachers know. I see my 2 year old playing on the iPad and already talking about her folder and waiting for a program to load and it seems crazy to me that she is already comfortable using it to some extent, but it has always been around for her. It is the world that we live in now and the world in which our students will work.
ReplyDeleteI think using games for this purpose has some merit. I still can't quite picture what that might be like in my own classroom, but some of the articles that I have read about incorporating games have valid points about engagement and developing problem solving skills.
I would like to try this type of classroom, but as a non-gamer, I struggle with how to actually do it. I don't even all the time 'get' what is being talked about, so if I am that way, I suspect many parents would be as well as many older teachers. I totally agree that our students are growing up with these games, my son plays games when we visit friends and I have no clue what he is doing. I should learn, mostly to be 'up' on the newest things. I understand the background of gaming in the classroom and realize it could be quite valid as a tool, but in order to get buy in, in our community, there would have to be extensive pre-integration meetings to fully explain. As it is, just using computers solely instead of books being implemented in 6th grade science was met with great resistance just a mere 5 years ago.
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