Sunday, February 17, 2008
Gaming in the Educational Setting
I have gotten really excited about using computer video games in the educational setting. In my gut I know that with gaming we can recapture some disengaged students' interest, and help them see success at school. The initial learning curve and research time will be large at first for Teachers and Librarians, but it could transform the educational setting, redefining it for some students from drudgery to inspiration. We need to tread lightly at first, as the skeptics will be many. Slow going wins the race..., with lots of direction and collaboration with teachers.
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I also think that gaming can capture disengaged students. I fear that there will many teachers, librarians, and administrators who will be wary about using such a format. There has been a long-held belief by some people that games have no redeeming value and reaching those people could be quite slow going. As Dr. Ruth said in 663 if you can connect with one teacher others may soon follow.
Hopefully, when we get past the limited mind set of standardized testing & NCLB (which is great ideaologically, but makes me question what is really going on in educational trends to ensure that no child is left behind?) Right now it seems our national educational system falls short when compared to what other countries are accomplishing.
Unfortunately, we are failing many of our students in the public school systems. Our country must be willing to re-examine and overhaul our educational infrastructure bringing things up to par. And, if gaming offers to be an effective tool for teaching than why shouldn't it be considered and integrated?
Currently, I have seen glimpses of this happening through gaming tools that school media centers offer teachers (where they can build them into lesson plans). However, I'm talking about remote controled responses which allows for an interactive game show setting. It's a start, but so far they have been timidly received because they are time intensive to learn, and most Media Specialists and teachers have limited time to spare.
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