After much research, it is time to get down to work and apply, test my learning so I can come back to the drawing board and figure out what about gaming that is most effective and how best to apply that. So my initial thoughts on beginning to apply the concepts of gaming in the classroom will be to have my Earth Science students play a game to learn a concept. Then evaluate their learning in relation to the activity and their perception or "fun" factor in relation to the game. My issue with this method, ie the reason that I have not done this yet, is that I do not find this to be effective necessarily to reaching an enduring understanding of learning. It becomes an activity of random nature unless I can help students become cognizant of their learning and the use of the game as a learning tool. However, many of my students have shared with me the unusual process and nature of the class already, and that this style of learning was new to them. This is really evident in the fact that they struggle with application and synthesis of concepts presented to them.
Regardless, at some point one needs to quit that yapping and start implementing to truly understand what will work and what will not work. Thus the Plan!
So again, I think the best bet at this point is to identify a game that has the following components as suggested by Anetta (2008):
Anetta, L.A. (2008). Video games in education: Why they should be used and how the are being used. Theory into Practice, 47, 229-249. DOI: 10.1080/00405840802153940
Some games for my current unit that fit this description are:
Regardless, at some point one needs to quit that yapping and start implementing to truly understand what will work and what will not work. Thus the Plan!
So again, I think the best bet at this point is to identify a game that has the following components as suggested by Anetta (2008):
- Contextualization of the game, ie it is real to life
- Cooperative and collaborative learning involved
- Ability for individualization such as avatars
- Debriefing components, or methods for engaging the learner to help them make connections to the deeper understanding
- Engaging simulation and storylines to help reach cognitive disequilibrium and resolution.
Anetta, L.A. (2008). Video games in education: Why they should be used and how the are being used. Theory into Practice, 47, 229-249. DOI: 10.1080/00405840802153940
Some games for my current unit that fit this description are:
- http://www.globalwarminginteractive.com/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/index_1.shtml
- http://www.logicity.co.uk/game/
- http://climateprediction.net/
- http://forio.com/simulation/climate-development/htm/motivation.htm
- http://kam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/vgas/
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