Gaming

Benefits of gaming, virtual realities, and simulations

The benefits in the classroom are endless.  Gaming allow students to enter worlds that would otherwise be impossible to visit.  Gaming, simulations, and virtual realities allow students to go back in history, understand the complexities of running a major city or corporation, and so forth.  Other benefits I see are increased student engagement, exploration, ongoing and responsive feedback, individualized instruction/learning, and motivation to explore beyond the limits of their abilities.  Gaming, VR's, and simulations also stimulate conversation and discussion, allow for the exchange/share ideas and provides supportive and engaging learning environments.

In an article I read by Engelbrecht and Harding (2005), it stated that, educational literature reflects a paradigm shift linked to education and the web due to the, “anytime, anywhere promise.”  They site authors who argue that, the paradigm shift should occur in the interaction between pedagogy.  Teacher's play a very important role in the implementation of gaming in the classroom.  Most importantly in order for gaming/VR's/simulations to be effective in the classroom, the teacher should consider the following:

• Be clear about the learning objectives that learners are intending to achieve over the course of the work.
• Use games appropriately.  They do not have to be used in their entirety in order to achieve educational goals and stimulate motivation. Certain game aspects can be extracted or isolated from the game as a whole.
• Allow for sufficient time for both you and your students to become familiar with the game.

As a self-proclaimed "techy," it is my belief that student achievement can become a reality if we, educators, utilize the tools we have at hand.  I also believe students would be more stimulated, engaged, and energized when teacher's realize that today's student are less likely to verbally communicate and more likely to communicate through technology.  As an educator, I believe, scores, graduation rates, and participation would rise when we eliminate paper and pencil and use the technological tools available at home and school.

Three sites I visited

Gamequarium - an interactive site that has activities related to the core subjects.  It is my belief that students up to 9th grade would benefit from this site, even though the site is geared towards K-6 grades.  The math game I played was interesting; the concept was similar to "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" except you didn't get "lifelines" only three chances to get the right answer before the game was over. 

Darfus is Dying - a narrative based simulation that from the players perspective must fight or negotiate against the enemy in order to protect the refugee camp.  It appears the idea came from the war in Iraq and other foreign wars, like Pakistan and the Sudan.  Although I'm no history buff, the simulation appears to be very interesting and helps make a difficult concept simple.

There - a virtual reality site that allows the user to use their imagination to the fullest.  Since I'm not very imaginative, this site was a little boring and overwhelming for me.  I think the site would be a great vehicle for at-risk students.  Oftentimes these students have "wild" imaginations and no one taps into it, which makes it easy for them to join gangs and be a part of the wrong crowd. 


This weeks assignment allowed me the opportunity to broaden and deepen my knowledge of gaming, simulations, and virtual realities.  It also gave me some ideas for my dissertation and I will be able to share these sites with teachers in my building.