http://pdf.101com.com/THEJournal/2014/THE_1410DG.pdf
Disclaimer: The title of the article is 5 Skills that Games Teach Better Than Textbooks, but there are only four listed. (Unless I just missed the 5th one due to my red eye flight back from a conference in LA!)
The article discusses how gaming helps students learn concepts better than just using the textbook to teach the concept. In gaming, students become more competitive which increases their engagement in the activity, thus improving their understanding of the concept.
The first skill is connecting physical experiences with learning. The example given was teaching plate tectonics. The traditional method of teaching would be having students read the text and study pictures from a book. The book is only two-dimensional. Incorporating a simulation which allows students to move the plates by waving their hands in front of a screen and building mountains gives students the opportunity to become physically engaged with the topic.
The second is rising to the competition. Students do not compete in passive learning. Once a game is introduced, however, they become very competitive. It didn't matter whether the students were using technology or plain whiteboards, soft skills, like teamwork and collaboration are practiced. Students are eventually going to have to compete for jobs, and gaming helps them practice that skills.
The last two are teamwork and grasping systems thinking, or the desire to WANT to keep playing the game. What I found interesting one of the examples here is that having students collaborate to write a story is gaming. There doesn't always have be access to expensive technology or simulations for gaming to take place in the classroom.
For gaming to be effective, align the game to common core and other standards and find games that fit the goal. Lastly, games can be high tech, low tech, or no tech as long as they fit the learning goal.
As I stated earlier, what I found most interesting is that gaming can be no-tech. Any activity that is aligned to the learning goal, creates competition, and creates an interest for the students to continue the activity is gaming. This is huge for me, as I realize I am already incorporating high-tech, low-tech, and no-tech games in my classroom. Gaming doesn't have to be a paid subscription service simulation. While there are still teachers in the high school who are unsure of using technology in their classrooms, they can still create an atmosphere of competition which can lead to higher student engagement.
I really want to learn how to use gaming more often in my classes. I like the competitiveness and the desire to be successful. I am not a gamer, and I wish I were. My students specifically would benefit from using games to learn as most of them struggle with regular classroom work, reading, writing, etc. This touches on something my article did as well, teamwork. Teamwork is a struggle because usually one or two students are heavy on task output whereas others can be less so. I really believe teamwork is key to learning, and using it with gaming, could make lessons more meaningful.
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