#etlead How does the culture of your current teaching environment differ from the learning environment you experienced as a student. Week 6 initial blog

Let’s start off with a quick comparison.  Similarities between my current teaching environment and  what I experienced as a student are as follows.  Both have textbooks, the school day starts way too early, and the most knowledgeable person in the room is the teacher.  (OK, I added the last one to make myself feel good.)  There is very little else in common.  What’s different?  My current room has a Smart board, there is absolutely no chalk anywhere, I have three computers in my room and several computer labs available, my students use graphing calculators regularly, we use videos to supplement lessons, kids work in groups, kids actually talk in class (because I expect them to), I  use an iPad or a wireless slate to run my Smart board while walking around the room, and we laugh – a lot.  Students share their ideas and look up information on their smartphones when we’re not sure about something.  My kids are aware of the fact that I don’t know everything.  When I don’t know something, I expect them to find it and educate me.  The reason my current classroom is so different is because the technology I use didn’t exist or was not available when I was a student.  Several years from now, classrooms probably won’t look much like they do today.  The speed at which technology is expanding, change is bound to happen quickly.

The text reading this week from A New Culture of Learning caught my attention from the very beginning.  Not because of new ideas the authors were trying to explain but because of some old ideas that were described as part of this “new culture”.  I found myself thinking that some of their ideas have been around for decades.  The idea that learning through “play” in a structured environment is part of a new learning culture seemed rather short sighted.  Learning through “play” was a major part of my social environment as a child.  My early education was based on play and social interaction.  Our social networking groups were small but they provided much of the same support that todays electronic networks provide.  I fully agree with the authors on the overwhelming amount of information that is instantly available to twenty first century learners.  I also agree that the way we obtain this information is significantly different.  Students today can research topics quickly and effortlessly.  I’m not sure this is always a good thing but it is very convenient.  Being able to cross-reference multiple sources of information has definite advantages when verifying accuracy.  Having an ever-present social network can provide valuable feedback and encouragement. 

The authors also mentioned a difference between a teaching-based environment and the new culture of learning.  They said a teaching based approach focuses on teaching about the world where as the new culture of learning focuses on learning through engagement within the world.  Perhaps I grew up in a unique school system because I experienced both of these environments in my classrooms a long time ago.  Learning through engagement within the world was a significant part of our education.  The biggest difference was that my world was a lot smaller when I was a student.  We were limited geographically to our own locale.  Today’s students have the ability to build networks and gain experiences all over the world through social media.  I find that to be an exciting benefit that has some tremendous potential as well as significant responsibility.  This was evident in both of the videos posted on our class website.  Listening to the excitement from students about their experiences online added to my appreciation for the gaming environment.  Having the ability to make modifications to games creates a level of problem solving that I had not considered.  Just learning the intricacies of a game requires a significant level of problem solving ability.  It also affords the opportunity for students to create visual representations of realistic events so they can get a virtual look at things they are studying.  The availability of programs such as Unity 3d opens up an entire world of creativity for students.  Sharing ideas through game development creates a unique environment where student can communicate and learn.  I was particularly impressed with Drakkart’s comments that kids who participate in gaming communities openly share ideas and consistently work cooperatively.  They build a level of teamwork on their own.  I have seen teachers who are unable to do this in their classrooms yet these kids do it naturally within their gaming world.  Drakkart summed it up well when he said that the games create an abstract presentation of how our world could be. He may be on to something.

 

Resources

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. (1st ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Video:  The Potential of Unity.  http://youtu.be/hF6SLwJApqM

Video:  Drakkart – Why Minecraft Inspires Me.  http://youtu.be/Qug78oFipiE

Week 5 reflection. How do we maintain excellence as we innovate?

One of the aspects of being a teacher that constantly amazes me is how much work it is.  Things seem to come in waves and this week provided some big ones.  As I was desperately surfing through all of the activity, I found that I wasn’t trying to hang ten, I was just trying to hang on.  I can never complain that my job is boring.

The constant barrage of activity with my job caused me to miss one of the opportunities our class offered this week.  Due to my school districts parent/teacher conferences, I was not able to take part in our hangout with Dave Burgess on Thursday.  I was very disappointed that I missed the live session.  Being able to watch the recorded session was great but it made me wish I were there to take part in the live discussion.  Listening to him talk makes me want to fly to San Diego to watch him in action.

On a more positive note, the Twitter session on Tuesday was excellent.  The discussion was lively and our hosts did a great job at keeping things rolling.  I am getting better at communicating via Twitter despite the 140 character limit.  One thing I appreciate with the sessions is the opportunity to briefly share things we are doing in the classroom.  When responding to individuals, I try to look at their ideas from a different perspective and positively share how their ideas can be beneficial beyond what they see in their classroom.  I am not always quick enough to come up with websites or programs that I can share but when I can, I include them in my responses.  For example, our discussion turned to using videos in the classroom.  Sara mentioned that she used Claymation with her classes several years ago.  I was able to share an excellent app for iPhones and iPads that students could use to create their own stop action videos.  Several other students have shared similar ideas.  Adding these ideas to “favorites” in Twitter is creating a nice portfolio of resources.  Using TweetDeck has helped organize some much of this communication.  Perhaps I should mention this option during our next session and ask how people are monitoring the sessions.

Reading through blogs continues to be an excellent source of encouragement and ideas.  I particularly enjoy seeing other students perspectives and writing styles.  Colin made several comments in his blog about standardized testing which caught my attention.  It appears he and I share similar opinions about high stakes testing.  Every year, I am one of the chosen who get to proctor our graduation exam.  I find this to be a very painful experience.  Besides being very boring to administer, I also find it to be very limited in its value.  I do not believe it is worth the time or money.  Our district has recently begun offering the Work Keys exam.  Although I know very little about the exam, it seems like a valuable tool to help kids see how their education can affect potential careers.  It is not a required exam but students are encouraged to take it.  I feel as though it has more value than our current graduation exam.  Naturally, I felt the need to respond to Colin’s blog.  I was also able to share thoughts and ideas with other students about classroom engagement, our quest for excellence, and how classroom environments have changed over the years.  I was a student in the public school system in the 60’s and 70’s.  I have seen how education has evolved since then and have witnessed a change in our students learning styles.  I have tried to share that experience when responding to blogs.  Looking ahead at next week, it appears I will get even more opportunity to share that experience as we look back at our past.

#etlead How do we maintain excellence as we innovate? Week 5 intitial blog

Trying new things in a classroom is always exciting.  We try to anticipate how well the lessons will be received and try to iron out the details so that things go smoothly.  Of course, there are times when things do not come together as planned and our lessons are less than stellar.  When this happens, I rarely get discouraged.  It usually drives me to figure out what went wrong and I try to determine what I can change to make it better.  I also talk to other teachers and ask for their opinions.  As I was contemplating this week’s essential question, I immediately thought of the section in Teach Like a Pirate that discussed collaboration.  I would like to think that I have all of the answers and that my ideas are naturally the best but I am smart enough to realize that I can have some bonehead ideas and I certainly don’t have all of the answers.  Sometimes, I’m not even certain about the questions.  For that reason, I am a firm believer in collaboration.  I have taught next door to another math teacher for the past 13 years.  We talk about our lessons, ideas, successes, and failures on a daily basis.  When either one of us are contemplating a new idea, we always discuss it first.  We brainstorm about ways to present the lessons, tech resources we could use, and any other resources we may already have.  It’s encouraging to get feedback from another professional and it’s invaluable to get another perspective on my ideas.  I try to help new teachers develop a similar habit when they begin working at my school.  As I was looking through resources for this week’s blog, I found an excellent article on Edutopia that discussed ways to build successful collaboration. (Johnson, 2011).  The article listed five easy to follow suggestions.  They were to build relationships, observe the best, ask questions, share, and come prepared.  This sounds like something that should be taught to all new teachers as they begin their first teaching job.  It should also be part of a veteran teacher’s routine.

In addition to collaboration, teachers must be able to develop ways to accurately assess the effectiveness of their lessons.  If a lesson does not proceed as planned, it does not necessarily mean it was a failure.  It just means the kids received it differently than you intended.  Assessment not only provides students with a means to gauge their progress, it also provides feedback for the instructor so they can adjust as necessary.  (Wilson, 2014)  Assessment is a tool that helps teachers plan and revise their lessons.  When I am trying something new, I spend a tremendous amount of energy watching, listening, and evaluating while my students are involved in the lesson.  I am constantly trying to evaluate the receptiveness of my kids.  I am also taking note of things that are working well and things that I need to adjust.  I don’t expect my lessons to be perfect the first time through.  I do expect, however, that they will improve the more I use them.

A third component to maintaining excellence as we innovate is to make sure our lessons are relevant to both the subject and the students and that they have a level of rigor that provides an appropriate challenge to students.  This gives students the opportunity to gain knowledge while encouraging investigation and experimentation.  (Daggett, 2005)  The questions we ask our kids should allow for discussion and should encourage them to utilize a variety of resources.  By making the lessons relevant, motivation will naturally increase.  Making them challenging will encourage more investigation which should encourage them to seek answers from a variety of sources.

Resources

Daggett, W. (2005).  Achieving academic excellence through rigor and relevance. In Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/academic_excellence.pdf

Wilson, S. (2014). The characteristics of high quality formative assessments. The Innovative Instructor, Retrieved from http://ii.library.jhu.edu/category/teachingmethods/

Johnson, B. (2011, November 30). Making the most out of teacher collaboration. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-collaboration-strategies-ben-johnson

Week 4 Reflection: How do we keep our lessons engaging?

This week felt like I was in constant communication with the entire class, our rubric group, or individual members.  There was plenty of activity.  I began the week re-reading a few of the blog postings from the previous week and adding a couple of comments.  I spent part of the week playing tag with Shauna via email as we prepared to host Thursdays Twitter session.  We were both a little apprehensive about hosting but we managed to come up with several questions and seemed to keep the conversations rolling.  It worked out well that we teamed up for this event.  I was more comfortable using Twitter so I did not mind getting the conversations going.  It turned out to be a learning experience for both of us and I feel as though we are both more comfortable with the procedures and expectations.  I found it challenging trying to keep track of multiple columns of information on Tweetdeck.  If I wasn’t responding to the group, I was either responding to single individuals, retweeting messages that forgot the #etlead hashtag or was getting the next question ready.  Now I know what a Ping-Pong ball feels like. 

I spent the rest of the week working on the teacher rubric, trying to implement some of Dave Burgess’ ideas in my classroom, and responding to blogs.  The teacher rubric group was very systematic.  We simply worked down our list of responsibilities as if it were a checklist.  The rubric is not in its final form yet but has undergone several edits and is close to being completed.  Using Chatango made it easy to follow our efforts.  I chose to be in charge of revisions.  My rationale for doing this was to make sure the final product was easy to understand and easy to use.  I have been around working professionals long enough to know that when we start brainstorming, it is easy to make things overly complicated.  When I create rubrics, I try to make them to clear, concise, and easy to use.  If they become too complicated or too wordy, they become annoying and I end up not using them.  My group has not complained about any of my changes yet so hopefully that means they agree. 

As I responded to blogs, I tried to focus on topics that were discussed in Teach Like a Pirate.  My focus in my classroom this week was to implement ideas from the book with an emphasis on maintaining enthusiasm.  Several of the blog postings addressed this topic.  Thomas mentioned that he sometimes has conflicting feelings about the tremendous efforts teachers often go through to make their lessons engaging.  Students should be willing to put forth more effort to learn without needing to be entertained.  I think he touched on something that all teachers feel at some point in their careers.  As I responded, I tried to add a few perspectives that are easy to overlook.  There is a difference between entertainment and entertaining attempts at creating engagement.  The challenging part is developing ways to do the latter.  I do not mind adding entertainment in my classroom to help my kids pay attention as long as it pertains to the learning outcomes I am trying to teach.  Ultimately, it should get my kids thinking.

#etlead How do we keep our lessons engaging? Week 4 initial blog

As I researched ideas about increasing engagement in a classroom, I came across a web article titled “Ten Tips For Engaging Underachieving Students” written by Mariko Nobori for Edutopia.  In the article, Norbori listed ten practical lesson-planning strategies that result in highly engaging lessons.  Some of the ideas were things I had already considered such as keeping lectures to a minimum, including questions that involve higher-order thinking skills, and using activities that require  kids to move.  The article mentioned several other ideas that I had not previously considered.  Number one on the list was to have an essential question that all students must be able to answer by the end of the lesson.  This seemed like common sense but then I realized that I often overlook this part when planning a lesson.  I typically have several subtopics I am trying to teach which makes it easy to overlook the big picture.  What is the main thing I want kids to know when they are done?  The Article also mentioned using a relevant vocabulary.  Again, this seemed like a no-brainer.  It’s something I have been doing so long, I forget I am doing it.  It is something I need to refocus on from time to time.  The idea that completely caught me off guard was to make sure the lessons end with a summary.  There needs to be a way to close out the lesson so the teacher can verify students’ ability to answer the essential question.  I do try to summarize but the article got me wondering if there were creative ways I could do this differently that keep my students attention instead of giving them warning that the class is about to end.  Are there formative assessments I can develop that will provide feedback as well as encourage ongoing mental activity in my students?  The idea of developing ways to summarize lessons and summarize the results led me to research assessment ideas.  I came across a website maintained by the West Virginia Department of education listing dozens of creative formative assessments that are useful for a variety of subjects.  I’ve included the link at the end of this posting.

This week’s text provided inspiration and affirmation for maintaining engagement in my classroom.  I love humor in the classroom.  Days when I laugh with my kids almost always end with me remembering why I love teaching.  Creative drama, story-telling, corny math puns, and strange sound effects are evidence of a job well done.  The hard part is trying to keep that enthusiasm going when I am exhausted or I am teaching the same topic for the third time that day.  This is where “Teach Like a Pirate” provided inspiration.  Dave Burgess devoted an entire section in his book toward building and maintaining enthusiasm.  I especially appreciated his comment that we need to show enthusiasm even if we have to fake it.  This can be very challenging but it is something I have been trying to embrace this week.  There were times when my energy level was low.  When I looked out at my kids, I kept telling myself that I had to get my brain back in the game.  I also kept telling myself it would get easier the more I did it.  One of my favorite success stories this week was when my 9^th grade algebra one class was discussing a word problem that dealt with the exponential decay of a bat population.  Very few of my kids wanted to attempt the problem.  Neither did I.  For some reason, I remembered the video series “Planet Earth” and the enormous bat population that inhabited a cave in South America.  The video didn’t focus on the bats but focused on the enormous “guano” pile that formed over the years.  I don’t know what led me to bring that up but the excitement in the room went through the roof.  We ended up discussing how to calculate volume and weight of the “poo” pile and how long it would take to make various piles of different height.  It was disgusting but when we were done, everyone wanted to attempt the exponential decay problem.  The next day, I brought in the video and we spent the first 5 minutes watching part of that segment.  The kids started talking about the equipment and the techniques the filmmakers used and we talked about how interesting it would be to become a nature photographer.  The first part of the class had nothing to do with algebra but it didn’t matter.  The kids were hooked and the rest of the lesson was fantastic.  My kids loved the change, they appreciated my willingness to talk about disgusting things (9^th graders can be very weird), and they enjoyed my ongoing “dung” puns throughout the class period.  They all know what guano is and they will never forget the bat problem.  If they get stuck with exponential growth or decay questions, I just have to remind them about the bats and the light bulbs go back on.

The essential question asked if innovation is part of an engaging lesson.  My response is “YES”!  Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas or methods.  It leads to new technologies, which provide a means for students to communicate their ideas in new and exciting ways.  Innovation leads us to look at the way we teach, encourages us to identify areas that need improvement, and challenges us to find new ways to implement the change.  If we are looking to make our lessons more engaging, we need to look at the things we do that hamper engagement and adjust accordingly.

Web resources

http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/ExamplesofFormativeAssessment.html

http://www.edutopia.org/stw-school-turnaround-student-engagement-tips

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/12/04/student-playlist-engaging-lessons/

Week 3 Reflection: What is the rationale for the evaluation tool your group created…

Week 3 reflection

I find it interesting that I’m writing a blog about evaluating serious games at the same time the Super bowl is underway.  It makes me wonder if football could be considered a serious game. Could it pass the scrutiny of the grading rubric our group developed this week?  If you think about it, players’ choices have real world consequences (sometimes painful, real world consequences).  There are clearly defined objectives, the game encourages risk, it has an inherent entertainment factor, and provides feedback (instant replay).  It also allows participants to take on an alternative identity.  I stopped at Walmart on my way home this morning and I saw dozens of football fans wearing jerseys for their favorite team.  They are undoubtedly trying to take on the identity of their favorite player.  The area where things fell apart was how it could show transference of new skills to the real world by promoting positive and responsible choices.  Based on the public behavior of many professional athletes, this component of serious games seems to be lacking.  I guess football will have to remain a simple form of entertainment that promotes lots of yelling and head butting as well as a good excuse to eat nachos in the living room.  All of this leads to the next question.  Was the time I spent comparing football to serious games worth the effort?  Probably not.  Would I do it again given another chance?   Yes, I probably would.  Sometimes, things are worth doing purely for the fun of it.  The Broncos are getting stomped, the outcome seems likely, so perhaps it’s time to move on to the serious side of this week’s blog.

This week’s topic made for an interesting week.  I was unsure how things would play out when I first read the requirements for our assignment.  I had no doubt our group would come up with a workable Rubric.  I was not sure how effective communication would be on the Wiki.  As it turned out, things worked beautifully.  We all had valuable contributions to the criteria we put into the rubric.  As questions arose, we shared our ideas, freely edited the rubric that Donna so graciously typed up and pasted into our Wiki page, and offered feedback on each other’s ideas.  I anticipated that wording would be the area we would need to address frequently as the rubric came to fruition.  I was impressed how well our group evaluated and respected each other’s ideas and how easy it was to come to a consensus.  When we discussed the idea of either assigning scores or just using words to define our evaluation criteria, it was apparent that we felt it important to include both.  I am glad we chose to do that.  As per our Twitter conversation this week, using numeric scores and using words both have their merits.  I feel as though words provide feedback that is more meaningful but including a numeric scale may help assign a score for anyone using the rubric as a grading device.  The result was a Rubric that focused on the educational aspects of a game.  The wording is usable by teachers and the students involved in this project.  Our focus was to make it clear, easy to use, and usable for multiple audiences.

This week’s Twitter session led to an interesting revelation.  As I was responding to various questions, it dawned on me that I have a tendency to forget we all come from significantly different work environments.  We started the session letting each other know where and what we teach.  We have members in our class who teach kids from early elementary to adults.  Despite knowing that, I found myself considering things from my limited perspective.  I teach high school kids and have been privileged to teach some of the hardest working, brightest kids in my school.  I often encounter students who have ideas and opinions that are more mature and are intellectually deeper than many adults I’ve met.  As I was answering questions on Twitter, I found myself focused on this type of student.  I need to expand this perspective as we look at serious games for all grade levels.  I am grateful our group has diverse backgrounds.  It makes me value their ideas and perspectives even more.  I am especially appreciative for the members of my group who work with elementary age kids.  I often tell people that a good high school teacher is impressive but that a good elementary school teacher is a saint.

Week 2 reflection

Week 2 reflection:  What are components of a serious game?

It was interesting to see the number of ideas that showed up on our blog pages this week.  At first glance, it seemed as though we would end up with an enormous list if we combined all of our ideas.  As I read the blogs a second (or third) time, it was apparent that several themes occurred throughout most of our sites.  The difference was the names we gave them.  I noticed several sites listed some form of collaboration, which was referred to as teamwork or community.  Several blogs mentioned problem solving with titles such as systematic thinking and hierarchical structure.  I also noticed the idea of role playing showing up as Avatar or character choice.  As I responded to blogs this week, I tried to make these connections in order to show that, despite the seemingly endless list of criteria, there were some common threads throughout.  Some of the members in our Wiki group also noticed the similarities and together, we began putting together a list with titles that made sense.  We are nowhere near completion but we have a good start.  As the groups begin to narrow their lists to something that is manageable, I believe more people will see the similarities.  The difficulty will be in choosing an appropriate name that is agreeable to everyone.  Last week’s Twitter session helped us convey some of our common ideas, which undoubtedly influenced many of our choices.  I found it helpful to see the varying opinions and appreciated being able to expand on them during our discussion.  I have a feeling next week’s Twitter session will yield even more insight.

#etlead What are components of a serious game. Week 2

Week 2:  What are the components of serious games.

As I perused this week’s readings, I noticed several similarities amongst the authors about necessary components of a serious game.  While I did not fully agree with all of them, I did find several that I believe should be part of a serious game used in an educational environment.  I originally believed I would only have three or four specific requirements.  As I thought about it during the week, the number continued to grow.  Here is what I have come up with so far.

Components of a serious game:   

1.  Relevance:  Games used in an educational environment need to be relevant to the class.  If students do not see the reason we are asking them to play, they will not have the same level of academic involvement.  I believe this would be especially true with high achieving kids.  Administrative, parental, and community support is necessary in every school district.  If we can show relevance to our subject and can show learning that is taking place, we will gain that necessary support which in turn can lead increased funding and continuing education opportunities. 

 

2.  Role playing:  Players take on the role of a character (or develop a character) that has specific tasks to master.  This creates a level of individuality and ownership in the game.  When a player makes good or bad decisions, the consequences become more personal and meaningful.  Characters can be chosen or developed based on personal role models, which would increase interest and meaning.

 

3.  Interaction within the game:  Players receive feedback on their actions.  As players make decisions, they are able to see the consequences.  As players progress through the game, the consequences of their decisions dictate future possibilities.  Having control over outcomes will develop a feeling of ownership and will increasing motivation and importance.

 

4.  Risk Taking:  Players should be encouraged to try new things in an effort to see how these decisions affect future events.  Taking the “safe” or familiar pathway limits the potential for new discoveries.  Taking risks should take students beyond their current knowledge and into unknown territory in order to provide a much deeper understanding of the tasks.

 

5.  Hierarchical structure:  Levels of difficulty should be built in so that players learn to make meaningful conclusions when they are faced with difficult circumstances.  This will build their knowledge base, which will help them when the going gets more difficult.  Each new level should require knowledge from previous levels.   As levels increase, difficulty should also increase which will prevent complacency or boredom.

 

6.  Entertainment Factor:  The game needs to include a component of fun in order to keep students interest.  Creating an enjoyable environment should be part of every classroom.  Boosting enthusiasm increases willingness to continue even when lessons become difficult.  The goal is to create an environment where students want to be involved. 

#ETLEAD Reflection – Week 1

Week one reflection.  What serious games exist….Week 1

As is typically the case, reading through the blogs of my fellow classmates has yielded an abundance of interesting and useful information.  It appears that our class is experiencing varying levels of apprehension coupled with considerable anticipation.  After reading through the blogs and learning about serious games, my apprehension level has dropped considerably.  I’m still not sure where all of this will lead but I have no doubt the journey will be interesting and rewarding.

As I responded to the various blogs, I tried to point out some of the valuable ways their games were useful in classrooms.  Like most of our class, I tried to find games endorsed by educators that had other resources available such as lesson plans or online educational opportunities.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the serious games I researched met that requirement.  It was also interesting to see the diversity of gaming experience within our class.  I do not consider myself a gamer but after researching games and reading our class blog sites, it is apparent that my experiences with serious games are deeper than I originally thought.  It was fun to see how many of us had experience playing The Oregon Trail.  How interesting (or disturbing) it is that so many of us experienced virtual dysentery during our younger years.  I also found it interesting that some of the training I received over the years was in reality, part of a serious game.  During much of my flight training, I was subject to the complexities of flight simulators.  These were especially valuable when I was working on advanced ratings.  I spent many hours in simulators trying to hone my skills by experiencing scenarios that would have otherwise been impossible (or highly improbable) in real life.  It’s very unlikely that I will encounter catastrophic engine, instrument, and flight control failure during a flight but if it does happen, I have a fighting chance of walking away from the incident even though I have never experienced it in reality.  Participating in this serious game won’t save the world but it may save my life. 

My attitude toward serious games in a classroom was one of skepticism prior to the beginning of this class.  That is no longer the case.  Today’s youth live in a plugged-in world.  Electronic communication, entertainment, and learning are a core part of their lives.  Serious games are a natural addition to this lifestyle.  I do believe that serious games have a valid place in an academic curriculum for the simple reason that they are a familiar and prevalent part of our students’ lives.  They may even help educate some of our “old-school” teachers on how our kids think.  That, however, presents an entirely different challenge.

#etlead What serious games exist…Week one

Essential Question: What Serious Games Exist for People Ages 13+? What can we learn by playing these games?

What can we learn by playing serious games?  Just about anything you can imagine.  I remember the first serious game I played on a computer many years ago.  If the phrase “You have died of dysentery” sounds familiar then you know that I’m talking about The Oregon Trail.  We learned what it took to travel across the country in covered wagon in the mid-eighteen hundreds.  It was fun, challenging, and filled with historical information.  The most interesting thing about The Oregon Trail is not necessarily the game itself but the fact that I still remember many of the things I encountered even though it was 40 years ago.  That tells me games have a way of putting info into our long term memory.  Serious games allow players to simulate events in order to determine potential outcomes.  It’s the same idea that is used by professional pilots and flight simulators.  A variety of scenarios can be used in order to test the pilot’s response.  If a pilot makes poor choices, the results could be devastating.  Using a simulation allows pilots to see the results of their actions without placing anyone in danger.  This same idea is used with serious games.  Players make choices and experience the repercussions.   

As I think ahead, it makes me wonder how (and why) I would use serious games in my classroom.  I believe the “how” part will be answered during the upcoming months as this class dives into the serious gaming world.  Why I would use them is much easier to answer.  I mentioned above that my memories of The Oregon Trail are that it was fun, challenging, and filled with information.  As a kid, having fun was a priority.  (OK, as an adult it’s still a priority.  It’s just that the toys are far more expensive.)  When I have fun with my classes, their engagement level goes up exponentially.  The amount of information they remember also increases.  Those are two pretty powerful reasons to throw a few serious games into my curriculum.  Most of my kids enjoy a challenge.   They will grudgingly work through the math problems I throw at them but when it involves a competition or game, suddenly their enthusiasm grows.  When they get stuck on a test or quiz question, I just have to mention the game we played and their light bulbs immediately go on. 

The following are a few of the serious games I played this week.  All of them are educational, challenging, and free.

http://www.wolfquest.org/   WolfQuest is a free simulation game that allows players to learn about wolf behavior.  Players must learn how to survive as a wolf in Yellowstone National Park.  The game takes players through a variety of experiences with weather, seasons, other wildlife, and joining/forming packs.  The game can be played as a single player or with 4 other people in an on-line game.  It has been around since 2007 and has won numerous educational awards. 

http://www.peacemakergame.com  In this game, players become an Israeli Prime Minister or Palestinian President and attempt to bring peace to the region during their time in office.  A Variety of scenarios are presented and players must choose how to respond.  The game presents several video clips and articles from historic events.  Reactions to player decisions are based on these events and can result in anything from a Nobel Peace Prize to regional destruction.  This is a free game designed for students. 

http://www.icedgame.com/  The object of this game is to take on the role of an immigrant trying to become a citizen.  The game takes players throughout a city where they encounter a variety of questions related to immigration in the U.S.  The idea is for the player to avoid being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Incorrect responses or poor decision can result in being detained.  The game is filled with information on immigration policies in the U.S. as well as facts and misconceptions people have about the cause and effects of immigration enforcement. 

http://www.brainpop.com/  This site contains a collection of subject specific short games and lessons to broaden a variety of academic skills.  I included this link as a reference for other teachers who are looking to add resources to their collection of teaching tools.  There are resources for multiple grade levels.