Why Videogames are not Teacher-Proof (original) (raw)
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Teaching with Videogames: How Experience Impacts Classroom Integration
Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 2017
Digital games have demonstrated great potential for supporting students' learning across disciplines. But integrating games into instruction is challenging and requires teachers to shift instructional practices. One factor that contributes to the successful use of games in a classroom is teachers' experience implementing the technologies. But how does experience with a game actually affect teacher practice? We explored these issues by comparing years 1 and 2 of a middle-school mathematics teacher's use of Boone's Meadow, a digital problem-solving game around ratio and proportion, in her classroom. While the two implementations were quite similar, the teacher was able to give more problem solving agency to students and use students' gameplay time much more productively in the second year, both for mathematical engagement and for immersing students in the narrative of the game. Findings point to the importance of considering the teacher's role when designing digital games for learning. Keywords Classroom discourse Á Instructional activities and practices Á Middle school education Á Technology Á Games for learning Á Mathematics education & Amanda Bell
Videogames and Virtual Worlds in Teacher Education: Tapping Into the Potential
2012
This paper discusses how practicing teachers conceptualize commercial off the shelf (COTS) video games within classroom-based English language arts instruction. Understanding how practicing teachers make connections between video games and literacy, as well as understanding how today's teachers perceive virtual worlds and video games as an instructional tool for literacy development, will help researchers to better understand ways that both pre-service teacher digital literacy instruction can be improved, as well as determine what needs to be incorporated within professional development for practicing teachers so that these new media can be used effectively in the classroom. Data for this study were drawn from case study research of a pilot course focusing on the intersections of virtual worlds, popular culture, and literacy instruction. In-service teachers enrolled in a graduate program in literacy participated. Forms of data that were analyzed were class discussion boards, student journals and blogs on their gaming experience, student created videos, and their final papers on video games and literacy. The researchers coded the data by relying on pattern matching within the various literacy activities that the participants were engaging. The researchers found that a limited understanding of video games and virtual worlds does not hinder practicing teachers from creating engaging units of study while using video games as a supplemental new literacy. Teachers were able to easily make connections when they pulled from their existing literacy experiences, which allowed them to create and build engaging lessons and ideas for units of study for their students.
Video games and education: Designing learning systems for an interactive age
… -SADDLE BROOK THEN ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS NJ-, 2008
Recently, attention is being paid to computer and video games as a medium for learning. This article provides a way of conceptualizing them as possibility spaces for learning. It provides an overview of two research programs: 1) an after school program using commercial games to develop deep expertise in game play and game creation, and 2) an in school program using game techniques to teach science literacy. Although there are yet to be real mature examples of game based learning programs integrating all of these elements, these programs suggest a future of schooling very different from today's current path. Whether or not educators embrace games, they ought to consider how these underlying aspects of media and technology in the interactive age affect learning and schooling.
Digital Game-Based Learning Once Removed: Teaching Teachers
British Journal of Educational Technology, 2007
In the spring of 2005, the author designed and taught a graduate level course on digital game based learning, primarily for teachers. Teachers cannot be expected to embrace digital games as a tool for learning unless they have a sound understanding of the potential as well as the limitations, and are confident in their ability to use games effectively to enhance learning. The course was designed as an introduction to digital games and gaming for instruction and learning. In it, students explored the theories; possibilities, considerations and constraints related to the design of instructional games, and the use of learning and commercial entertainment games in classroom and out-of-class settings. The design of the course along with the rationales will be outlined and participant reaction profiled. Suggestions for future course designs are described as well as key elements crucial for teacher preparation. Ultimately, the success of digital games as a medium for learning depends to a large extent on the abilities of new and practicing teachers to take full advantage of this medium. *Note*: This paper is available through BJET
Incorporating Video Games in the Classroom
net.educause.edu
partnerships among educators, the military, corporations, medical fields, and video game designers. This movement embraces the power of video games to attract, engage, connect, and teach game players critical content in the games' respective focus area. The game industry has boomed over the past 10 years. Game systems such as the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation 2 allow thousands of competitors to interact in virtual environments simultaneously. Unfortunately, most of the games created for these popular consoles are ...
Teacher Candidates' Views of Digital Games as Learning Devices
Issues in Teacher Education, 2009
The objective of this research study was to explore teacher candidate views toward digital learning games using an immersive strategy. Specifically, we were interested in finding out what game use in classroom settings taught candidates about the role of teacher as facilitator of instruction. The procedures first focused teacher candidate attention on effective learning methods followed by attention to the pedagogies of teaching digital games to middle or high school students and peers. Data was collected regarding teacher candidate reactions to this learning medium. Teacher educators may be interested in the findings to help design contemporary curricula to support candidates' development in using computer-based games for learning purposes in middle and secondary classrooms. In addition, research findings may help developers and instructional technologists design future games that are germane to specific learning contexts while challenging students to think critically and develop complex reasoning skills.
Researchers have argued that an effort should be made to raise teachers’ and parents’ awareness of the potentially positive educational benefits of playing video games (e.g., see Baek, 2008). One part of this effort should be to increase understanding of how video games can be situated within teachers’ existing goals and knowledge of learning and instruction. However, relatively little research on game-based learning addresses teachers (Ketelhut & Schifter, 2011), and for many a gap remains between the apparent enthusiasm of researchers and policy makers relative to the potential of educational games and the attendant practicalities of selecting and implementing video games in classroom settings. This article begins to bridge this gap by providing research-based areas of awareness and a discussion of factors that can facilitate understanding related to choosing and using video games. To this end, we show how educational games can be conceptualized from different theoretical perspectives on learning and discuss a number of essential design issues that educators should take into account when considering a video game for educational use.
VIDEOGAMES IN EDUCATION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING BEYOND RESEARCHERS’ CLAIMS AND ADVERTISING HYPE
There has been an abundance of writing about videogames1 in education. Characteristic of a young field, much of this work is theoretical and not necessarily based on data. Classroom integration strategies rely on researchers’ arguments, anecdotal evidence, and teachers’ pragmatism. Unfortunately, videogames are often created for profit and to entertain, leaving many additional issues to consider (i.e., marketing, effectiveness, etc.). Researchers’ arguments combined with videogames’ widespread popularity and potentially spurious advertising may leave teachers confused or misinformed. As a result, this chapter examines the salient properties of a commercial game (SPORE), an immersive context with game-like features (Quest Atlantis), and a pedagogically based immersive context (GlobalEd II) as their attributes relate to classroom instruction. Specifically, we describe educational and technological affordances of these contexts, the limitations associated with each, and the necessary yet pragmatic steps involved in their classroom use.