I have always thought that education and learning should be fun. Therefore, any use of educational games or ways to learn while I having fun, I have always been a fan of. I remember growing up and being home schooled and my siblings and I would play Mavis Beacon typing game or the Oregon trail or Reader Rabbit and other varieties of games. I know some kids who struggle in school really enjoy those types of educational games because they may really understand games more than books. Even for ESL students, I see a big benefit for any type of board or computer game that engages them in English and allows for extended exposure to the English language. I would say though that gaming should only be a part of education and not the whole of it. With gaming, the teacher is not there right along side the student and the teacher can't see the progress of the student. It is hard for teachers to monitor as well as assess. Some games are simply a waste of time for students so teachers need to play the games in advance to see the educational and fun side to the games.
Before reading this chapter in our book, I never really thought of students creating their own minigames on the computer. I guess I didn't think it was possible and I didn't know that there were programs out there where regular students and people could create their own game. I always thought it was too complicated and left it for the super smart gamer guys to create it. I really do like this idea though of having students make their own minigames. Students, above other people, will know what their fellow student are learning or what they need to know and will able to create games that are challenging and yet fun. Having students create their own games allows them to be in the teacher position for a time to analyze what they know and to be able to show it to others in a manner that others will enjoy. This would be the top level of Bloom's Taxonomy: Creating. Pure creating from the bottom up is such a high level of learning that students would walk away from this experience learning much more if they had simply just played a minigame. If I could figure out how to use these programs, I would definitely consider using them in my classroom someday.
Minigames often are developed using PowerPoint - and they aren't always all computer based. Sometimes one uses the graphics in PowerPoint to design the pieces and the game can be printed out and played on a table.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am glad you are interested in potentially using games in your classroom in several ways.
Thanks!