I want more.......Video Games!

TRANSFORMING THIS TEACHER

An anticipated move into the field of Teacher Librarianship is the impetus for my further engagement with higher education and study. Through the research considered in Semester One of this course, exciting adventures lie ahead in my future.  Video games and education is an idea that I will continue to explore, as either a full time classroom teacher or school librarian.  The thoughtful  posts presented by others on this blog,alongside my own investigations, indicate that there is a vast array of available video games ready for immediate integration into school settings. These video game resources have the added benefit of having been tried and tested in many other classrooms around the world, so there are pedagogical endorsements to accompany them. This would be an awesome starting place for any teacher looking to incorporate 21^st century teaching and learning practices. Without the need for one’s own creativity or game design expertise, video games could be being utilised in more classrooms, informed by the greater body of research supporting the pedagogical imperative of doing so.

The opportunity that I perceive for myself in all of this, as a TL, is the promotion of appropriate video games for use across a diversity of curriculum departments.  I investigated the selection criteria for inclusion of  video games in a school resource centre in an earlier blog post but now have an increased awareness of that being only one part of the role. Locating appropriate resources for the teacher and enabling the delivery of quality education is also important in terms of the collaborative aspect of teacher librarianship. 

With the wonderful leadership of current and past TLs who have shared their wisdom and treasures I am sure it would be possible to create some buzz around video games used in others’ classrooms, in my school.

 I would like to become more than a lurker in the online professional community and participate in growing a shared understanding of the value of video games in educational settings. I already utilise video games with my English and SOSE classes including;  

• Stop Disasters when teaching Geography to middle school students,  
• Echalk for revision,  
• Brainpop for motivation,  
• Yacapaca for literacy purposes and 
• a COTS game - Law and Order, when teaching students Legal Studies. 

Furthermore, I observe the engagement that students exhibit when playing coolmaths, (as well as my daughter with Mathletics) have incorporated activehistory across the SOSE department and actively search for online games sites for use in my lessons such as BBC skillswise. I love games and so do students. The effective and evidence driven use of them is opening the doors to some very engaged learning experiences, particularly for numbers of teenagers who are turned off traditional teaching and learning methods.

Gaming in Libraries 

I am now interested in seeing how they could be employed in library lessons. Having  recently registered in Second Life, I am actively attempting to realise its potential in demonstrating information literacy practices for students in a simulated environment. I have also spent some time viewing the vodcasts of Scott Nicholson (2009,see above) for further ideas of the practical implementation of video games in school libraries. Nicholson (2009) explains that Web based games are easier to explore and have no cost to the library in contrast to the popularity of console games. So these are just a few examples of some of the steep learning curve I am excited to be involved in currently.  

I am embracing a cross curricular approach to video gaming in schools. As the cartoon (Le, 2011) below suggests, it can be incorporated into almost any educational situation, including homework. The use of video games in schools is educational, social and democratising.

"By exercising careful thought in game selection and gaming policies, librarians can, through the use of video game programs provide and support education, promote community interaction not only among young people, but among a broader spectrum of patrons, and even level the playing field between haves and have-nots"(Adams, 2007).

 With Teacher Librarians aspiring to show curriculum leadership, this is too important an opportunity to let slide by.

Son, L. (2011). Digital Game-Based Learning Cartoon [Image]. Retrieved  October 23, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/donjonson/5351362611/

There must be potential, within the video games context, for students to interact meaningfully, rather than just as a training activity as I believe my teaching practices currently represent. There are multimodal projects (such as Education Queensland's Games in Learning) in which I need a broader knowledge, preferably as a participant, but at the very least as an observer, searching for the inevitable learning opportunities that exist. This should also ensure that the gap between play and learning, and in school versus out of school differentials are decreased, as I engage more fully with what Jenkins states as essential in the 21 st century - digital media literacy. Michael Dezzuani (2010) spoke of the flow from participation, to pleasure, to interaction and ultimately, engagement, when curriculum content and concepts are learnt through video games. For the my teaching role in a school library to be based around a wholly engaging and demonstrably successful curriculum, this is a path that I need to travel along.

References:

Adams, S. (2009). The case for video games in libraries. Library Review,  58, 196 - 202. doi: 10.1108/00242530910942045

Dezzuani, M. (2010). CLN647 Youth, Popular Culture, and Texts - Video Games Week 8 [Lecture Podcast]. Retrieved from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_75617_1%26url%3D

Nicholson, S. (2009, June 14). Gaming in Libraries Class, Session 4 – Digital Games [Video file] . Retrieved from http://www.gamesinlibraries.org/course/?p=34