First of all, I'm disappointed to see that my blog is really dull and boring compared those of many of my colleagues. Some people's posts are really entertaining- sorry Jeff and Kristin! You probably fall asleep reading mine. I'm still getting used to this whole "everyone can see what I'm writing" idea...
Anyway :) I really enjoyed the video interview with James Paul Gee. It wasn't the first time I've heard an argument for the benefits of video games, but his was certainly the most convincing. One of the things that he said that struck me the most was that video games are giving constant feedback on your progress. You constantly are being assessed on every move you make, and if you fail, you try again... and again and again until you succeed. Then, on to the next task. This differs from many curricula in which students learn lots of skills and/or facts, but aren't tested on them until much later. There is a problem with this gap that so often occurs. This is similar to what we discussed with Rachel in ED 606- reinforcement is much more effective if done immediately following the behavior. The larger the gap, the less likely the behavior will continue.
If we can find a way to incorporate non-violent video games into our lesson plans, I think I might be on board.
Hillary,
ReplyDeleteOkay, so this sentence: "This differs from many curricula in which students learn lots of skills and/or facts, but aren't tested on them until much later." For some reason, our classes for the MAC program come to mind when I read it. I mean, we're taking all these classes and learning all these great teaching skills, but we haven't really been assessed on what we've learned yet (although with how busy we've been these last couple of weeks, I'm honestly not complaining.) After six weeks of class, our assessment won't really start until we are in the classrooms this fall. Then we'll see how much we can really apply what we learned in the summer!
It's something interesting to think about.
-Stephanie
PS: You're not boring and dull. You've got me thinking! I enjoy doing that; it keeps me off the streets, yo.
Ditto on the boring and dull self flagellation comment. You rock, Hillary!
ReplyDeleteI share some hesitancy on the pervasive violence and sexism embedded in so many games. I'm taking the concept of gaming more metaphorically, as in we can use creativity to get students involved in game-like settings to get them inspired and actively engaged. In my simple mind, this won't always involve technology, but it could...
--Joe
Hi Hillary,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned an important point: strategic implementation. If video gaming could be aligned with curricular instruction, it could be a valuable teaching resource!
Mindy