For myself, I am not proposing to make great pedagogical changes, but to start slowly by using a number of curriculum based video games until I am comfortable to utilise them regularly as part of my pedagogical toolkit.
Two curriculum based video games that I will begin to utilise more often relate to Primary students as this is currently the area in which I am teaching:
It is an Australian p
rogram developed by the Blake Education literacy team. “The program is the result of over 3 years’ research and work designed to bring 21st century technology to the key task of getting children successfully started on the journey to becoming proficient and motivated readers. “
It caters for Stage One (3-7yrs) children and the focus is on reading and spelling. But there is also a new program, Reading Eggspress, coming out this year that caters for 7-13 yr olds. If students use it at school they can also log on at home with their username and password. From a teaching perspective one of the things I like is how a lot of the hard work is done for you. The lesson design in both the spelling & reading follows on from the previous one to build skills. The lessons are presented in three broad levels with 40 lessons in each level. You can choose to have students progress through each corresponding level or select an individual lesson that relates to an area you are covering in class
Is another excellent games site designed in Australia & used extensively worldwide. I initially became interested in this as I could see that my 7 yr old daughter was struggling with maths. Not wanting her to be as mathematically challenged as I am I started to investigate maths games- both board & video. At the same time her school introduced mathletics and since she has been using it I have been so impressed with her understanding of concepts and her ability to learn basics i.e. timetables. Given that she does not have a competitive nature I questioned whether she would enjoy participating in the ‘challenges’ but, surprisingly, she loves it. An unexpected spin off from this has been an interest developed in Geography as she now wants to know about the countries she is competing against.
Again students can log on at home with their school password. The plus for teachers is that Mathletics covers the full Primary and Secondary curriculum and the “implementation team works hand in hand with schools to ensure that Mathletics is successfully integrated into the existing school program. Each school is given ongoing, individualised training and technical support throughout the school year.“ So, if as a future teacher-librarian I was to introduce this to a school it would be good to know that I had some back up if I started to encounter problems.
There are also step by step instructional guides on the most effective way to introduce it to your class with lots of practical hints & tips and a blog where you can link to your country and follow latest innovations & what other schools are doing.
There are a multitude of relevant and educational video games out there but this week I was reminded that they really are only as good as the teacher using them. In my role as University adviser I saw two student teachers use the same spelling video game resource.One used it brilliantly to consolidate learning experiences from the lesson, the students were engaged & able to play/ participate successfully. The other used it in an ad hoc fashion where it seemed to be stuck into the middle of the lesson just for the sake of it. Students were uncertain of how to use it as it had not been explained clearly and it didn’t seem to serve any particular purpose or achieve an objective. Rather than being a valuable learning tool it just caused disruption.
The point I am trying to make here is that video games cannot replace a teacher, but they can enhance lesson delivery & become part of your pedagogical toolkit. Games are only as good as the teacher using it and we still need to plan how to best utilise them. So it is for this reason that my first forays into using video games in the classroom will be somewhat cautious and carefully planned.
However, my ultimate goal from there, as I continue my studies and become more proficient at using technology would be to eventually use ‘stand alone’ video games and the ultimate goal would be to combine my background of Art and English and work with a class on game design. My influence here being a case study reported in Walsh’s (2010) paper, Systems- based literacy practices: Digital games research, gameplay and design (p.33) where students designed games using Powerpoint . The teacher described the classroom as (p.33) a “dynamic environment in which students work individually and collaboratively to engage, explore, explain, extend, evaluate and celebrate their work.” Now, how inspirational would this be whilst still meeting curriculum requirements!
References.
Walsh, C (2010) Systems-based literacy practices: Digital games research, gameplay and design. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33 (1), 24-40. Retrieved September 12, 2011 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=11c034ea-9b66-41e1-81bb-bf43fe2aa388%40sessionmgr13&vid=6&hid=15
All images sourced from Google.com.au Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=mathletics&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=IMl&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=640&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=L6_PZglIB-bvZM:&imgrefurl=http://www.beachlands.school.nz/WebSpace/28/&docid=OvfFnXnzA0-E1M&imgurl=http://www.beachlands.school.nz/DataStore/Pages/PAGE_28/Docs/Documents/mathleticsWEB.jpg&w=250&h=175&ei=4kejTvevNciZiQf5x-m_Bg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=764&sig=114891364082347634713&page=1&tbnh=124&tbnw=165&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&tx=113&ty=55
I think you've hit the nail on the head Jacqui - or in gaming speak, pacman has eaten the cookie!! Video games in the classroom are only as good as the teacher using them. If they are not integrated effectively then they simply become a time filler and limited educational potential is achieved. It's a lot like filling in a lesson with a dvd that is unrelated to the subject content or is not explored in any significant depth. If we are to embrace digital games in the library or the classroom then there needs to be deliberate and well-planned consultation between the teacher librarian, leadership and the classroom teacher. A well-planned integration of a product that has been endorsed by others and tested in the classroom is going to be far more beneficial and address what Catherine Beavis believes is 'real world' literacy practices and needs.
ReplyDeleteBeavis' paper clearly states that video games support mainstream literacies and have the potential to build bridges between texts and traditional literacies. She also highlights the importance of skilled teachers with a good working knowledge of the games as a significant factor in their success. This is further suppoerted by the Futurelab report which identifies games as 'constructionist' technologies for learning and ideal environments for practising skills.
References
Beavis, Catherine( 1999) Literacy, English, and Computer Games. Opinion paper presented at Biennial Conference of the International
Federation for the Teaching of English.
Williamson, B (2009)Computer games, schools and young people - a report for educators on using games for learning. Futurelab.