Video Games in Education- A Beginners Guide

Although I am an early childhood teacher, with my philosophy grounded in the importance of play, I NEVER would have considered video games as being “productive” play, with a place in classroom instruction. When assigned the task of researching video games in education I was honestly horrified, as I have always carried a personal bias against them. Perhaps it is because of childhood memories of our one home television being dominated by my three brothers playing Atari games. I never considered participating in what appeared to be both a boring and a ridiculous waste of time and energy. Until recently, I could never have imagined video games would have any value to anyone.

The world has changed at an incredibly fast pace rate since the digital explosion. Girls and boys, young and old, rich and poor are constantly digitally connected across our world to both unimaginable mounds of information as well as to each other. Part of this change in society and resulting change in popular culture, has included a much larger and more diverse group of individuals engaging in play with video games. In the United States alone, 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls aged 12-17, across socioeconomic boundaries have played video games (Williamson, 2009).  It is therefore a relevant media to use in order to engage children in schools as it is evidently popular and familiar to most. In their sophistication and educational design, today's games are a far cry from Atari, and so is their potential reach. The attached paper by Annetta provided me with a great deal of insight into the reasoning behind the buzz on using video games in the classroom.

Annetta (2008) in his article titled, “Video Games in Education, Why they should be used and How They are Being Used”, describes the United States as being in a time where they must acknowledge the changes needed to education here, in order to continue to be both a world innovator and power. Annetta explains that our young learners have unique multimedia wiring, enabling them to work best in environments that engage and inspire them to explore, experiment and develop their own knowledge.

With the majority of the game playing population between 14-19 years of age, this phenomena should be addressed in schools, where home knowledge can linked to learning at school. Likewise, those without the ability to access games at home should not be excluded from this knowledge and it is therefore schools and other public places responsibility to allow use of appropriate games that children can learn and master in order that they wont fall behind on gaining these skills. Without schools and libraries increasing access to these tools, those without such technological tools at home, will be disadvantage by the digital divide (Jenkins, 2006).

Aside from developing important 21st Century skills, video games can help to form valuable learning links between formal (school) and informal (home) learning. By introducing good quality video games with educational potential, teachers can begin connect student’s prior learning to classroom teaching to extend and motivate higher learning.  Rather than concentrating on how to divert student’s attention from new technological, teachers need to reconsider using this fascination to benefit classroom participation(Ito, 2009).

 Our students have grown up as contributors, creators, more powerful children then we were. They are less passive, more aggressive in their knowledge seeking. They must be encouraged to be curious thinkers, complex problem solvers, enthusiastic, engaged and connected to prosper in an increasingly competitive world.  These skills can be taught through the experience of playing good video games.

Engagement in online gaming worlds can offer students the ability to master skills while following a passion or interest or enjoying social interactions in an online world. Enormous pressure falls on the shoulders o our students, and this is not always advantageous to learning.  Online worlds offer them escapism. Under an alias students are more likely to take risks and experience failure that can be erased, travel time or space to experience learning, try new occupations along with new identities. These escapes, and moments of spontaneous "play"  can breed innovation, reinforce previous learning and create deep understandings as well as new ideas.

Not all games are equal, so I compiled the following lists of attributes  that teachers looking to adopt video games in the classroom to consider.

Effective Games are:

- complex, problem-solving activities that provide continuous forms of assessment and feedback, making learning flexible, personally responsive and engaging.

-social by nature and through interactions can encourage learners to produce their best work. There is a high standard on the Internet to which passion groups often hold ones another’s work. Input from others can also serve as information sharing resource.

Classroom games should-

-have easy beginning goals.

-focus on playing versus technical aspects of game

-must allow flexibility and monitored choices. For e.g. Students who can create their own avatars they are more likely to stay focused on game

-Should address different learners needs : consider skill, socioeconomic, race and gender differences. For e.g. Girls tend to be drawn more to detailed story lines.

-Must  be challenging enough to keep students immersed.

(Annetta, 2008)

 Annetta discusses the current development of games that use the sense of touch, rather then just sight and sound.  These games could have significant effect on the ability to memorize learning since touch and memory have been related in scientific studies.

Annetta provides a good example of a tool called HI FIVES, which allows teachers to easily create Math and Science lessons within a gaming program.  It is simple programs with drop and drag tools those teachers and students can potentially use to develop their own Math and Science games (Annetta, 2008). These practices are often valuable in that they allow student to converge media literacy skills by creating story lines and sharing information online while becoming experts in the knowledge needed for the game design (Jenkins, 2006).

Today’s youth, having being born in a digital age, are wired differently to us, and as such, their learning preferences are also different (Jenkins, 2006)

As 21st century educators we have a range of technological tools available to us with that potentially enable greater personalization of education and deeper exploration of learning materials. (Robertson, 2008). Video games allow teacher to capitalize on a diverse use of teaching methods, creating a range of experiences to reinforce classroom learning and adjust the pace and skill level to suite individuals needs (Ito, 2009). With our current understanding of differences in learning styles and preferences, it is rather ignorant to not incorporate these tools into classroom.

Video games can provide alternative, personalized educational experiences that engage learners through medium that is popular and familiar in our culture. They link formal and just as valuable informal learning. They enable students to create and share knowledge, and reach learners that may follow traditional instructional teaching successfully.

MOVING FORWARD

Over the years I have worked in a number of different educational settings and in each I have always been open to the idea of digital medias and their place in education. However, since beginning this journey I have learnt that it is not just about finding them a place in the curriculum but changing the whole approach to how I view education (Squire, 2005). So when I ask myself; what have I learned? Where to from here? How will I change my teaching practices to meet new pedagogies? I have to stop and realise that what needs the most change is me, and how I think.

Video games are an exciting media that offers many beneficial learning and social potentials for the classroom (Sanford & Madill 2007). Currently I have had video games available to students but am going about it the wrong way. For example the library has a Wii. Students are encouraged to use it, but, besides from free play and the odd lunchtime round-robin tournaments, there is little that the Wii is used for. At this stage there is no inclusion of it in teaching practices. I realise now that this really isn’t embracing the new technology or teaching in the 21st century. However, just by providing the game has caused a stir amongst staff, most of which believe video games do not belong in the library.

My thoughts on teaching have changed significantly since starting this course and I hope to start making some changes in both my thinking and practice. Although I agree with Squire (2005) that education needs a whole school focus on ‘...changing the cultures of our schools to be organized around learning (2005, p.5)’. This would include changing the whole structure of my school and at this stage is impossible. However I hope that with a few small steps things may begin to take change. To do this I have come up with a plan of action I intend to undertake in the next twelve months which hopefully frame the beginnings that will bring my teaching into the 21st century.

The two areas I intend to focus on are research and choice.

Research:

I intend to become current with new technologies and explore possible uses for them within the library. At the moment I spend several hours each week researching various print materials for our libraries but I would like to dedicate some of this time to researching popular medias, particularly video games. Williamson Shaffer, et al. states that ‘video games have the potential to change the landscape of education as we know it (2005, p.19). I agree with this and have become excited about their potential but I would also like to research more because I find them challenging. Challenging because I find them difficult to play and understand but also challenging because they of all digital medias, these challenge the way I think about teaching the most.

Choice:

I’m currently involved in a project that is looking at a new way for students to access information. Part of this is providing students with their own account that is attached to the website and links them, their subjects and assessment tasks with links to various information sources relevant to their individual learning. I would like to pursue this further into next year and look at some alternative materials that students can explore that we don't currently offer.

Williamson Shaffer, et al, (2005) discuss the potential for video games as spaces in which students can go to learn. From within these games they learn skills they can transfer to real life situations. The games get them thinking (Sanford & Madill 2007, Squire 2005, Williamson Shaffer, et al 2005). This is an exciting concept and I would like to explore this as an option as an information source for students.

The second area of choice I would like to explore is to provide choice for our students on how choose to present their learning. Links from the above mentioned school site to alternative mediums; blogs, film, animation, digital presentations and video game construction, for example.
I believe that we need to provide our students with a choice to learn through different medias (Sanford & Madill 2007, Squire 2005). Critical literacy skills are essential for our students to become information smart and lifelong learners (Sanford & Madill 2007). For our initial project to reflect these results we need the students to have a number of resources available to them.

I realise that I have a long journey ahead of me and a lot of research to do. Experience tells me that I won’t convince everyone straight away so that is why I believe for me to bring my teaching forward I need to be armed with good research and information and why I chose to look at change within me before the classroom.

Education in the Future...Now!!!

One of the biggest challenges that teachers of digital medias face is the digital divide between their students (Williamson, 2009). Although many students participate in video games not all students do and not all have access to them outside of school (Williamson, 2009). This highlights a need for teachers to integrate new medias into the classroom (Jenkins, 2006). Digital technologies are continuously advancing and are likely to change the way we learn, work and perform later in our lives. Current statistics in employment suggest that we are not equipping our students with the life skills they’ll need and that it is a highly competitive world (Jeffpiontek, 2009). The Youtube clip demonstrates the benefits for our students to gain these skills. The students at Hawaii Technology Academy are taking control of their futures through collaboration, communication and creativity (Jeffpiontek, 2009).

At Hawaii Technology Academy there is no divide amongst students. The ratio of laptops to students is 1:1 and internet access is supplemented by the school removing the digital divided amongst its students. The school utilizes 21st c. tools such as online classes, hybrid classes, technology integration to teach students skills in communication, collaboration and creativity, equipping them with the skills they will need for the future (Jeffpiontek, 2009).

At Hawaii Technology Academy students were exploring virtual worlds to gain deeper understanding (Jeffpiontek, 2009). They can participate in times and cultures that have passed, learn information necessary within these worlds but also develop deeper understandings from experiencing (Williamson Shaffer, et al, 2005). Within the worlds students are solving problems and experiencing the situation. For example, they can experience what it would be like to swim under the sea in prehistoric times; an experience that can only be had in virtual worlds. Students were also able to share these worlds and understandings with students around the physical world. This social and cultural collaboration and communication adds another level of thinking for students. (Jeffpiontek, 2009)

What does this mean for teachers who are in traditional environments? It means that what we aim for is possible.

UNDERSTANDING AND ENGAGING OUR STUDENTS

ARTICLE: UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF NEW LITERACIES THROUGH VIDEO GAME PLAY AND DESIGN By Kathy Sanford & Leanna Madill

Current media headlines and discussions amongst educators might have you believing that boys are disengaged in literacy and their results are decreasing just as quickly. However, Sanford & Madill (2007), argue that this may not necessarily be true but perhaps it is current understandings amongst educators of what it means to be literate, what materials count as relevant literacy resources that might be influencing these results. Sanford & Madill (2007), suggest that our boys do participate in literacy and demonstrate many capable literacy skills as literate beings.

A number of studies have gone into researching gender and literacy. Findings show that boys are disengaged in the classroom and have lower reading and writing and comprehension levels compared to girls (Boltz, 2007). However, this may be true only with traditional understandings of literacy. Within the digital age of the 21^st century a new form of literacies are emerging described as new literacies. So, what does it mean to be literate and what does literacy look like in the 21^st century?

The digital age has changed the way we view and shape our understandings of many aspects of our lives. For example shopping is quite different from 30 years ago. In the twenty first century you can buy just about anything from anywhere in the world without leaving the comfort of your own home. Thanks to mobile technologies in the last ten years this has changed even still allowing a person to do grocery shopping whilst catching the bus to work. Our concept of what it means to shop has changed and evolved as has the technology. So why hasn’t our perception of literacy?

Boys and in some cases girls may not be as engaged by print forms of texts as they were 30 years ago as there is now a wider range of texts for them to engage in.

“...many males and some female students are finding success with alternative literacies. Literacies such as chat rooms, internet, comic books, cell phones, blogs, trading cards, zines, film creation, and video games are a few of the new and alternative literacies that students are engaging in largely outside of school spaces.” Sanford & Madill (2007, p. 434)

Students engaged in these multi modal literacies may reflect poor literacy results in the class but still be highly literate individuals (Sanford & Madill 2007).

Technology and digital medias play a huge role in the youth of today (Ito et al. 2010). A report presented by Futurelab (2009) stated that 97% of 12-17 year olds play computer games in the USA and 87.5% of 8-15 year olds in the UK, proving that video games are a significant media in youths’ lives. Video games are one form of digital media and have a number of valuable skills to offer education and new literacies. Danforth (2009) states that for students to use video games they need to possess a number of literacy skills. They need to have understanding to be able to complete steps, skills in reading text to follow instructions, for example (Danforth, 2009). Sanford & Madill (2007) studied two groups of boys and their involvement with video game creation over several weeks, as students and instructors to gain a deeper insight into the effects these games had on the students and the literacy skills demonstrated by the boys.

Sanford & Madill (2007) observed the boys demonstrating a variety of complex literacy skills that demonstrating that they possess skills as one who is literate and were continuously developing these skills during the experience. Some of these skills went beyond initial understandings of what it means to be literate (Sanford & Madill 2007). The boys demonstrated skills of communication in various forms, most of which was not verbal. For example, body language, imagery, signals like pointing. Comprehension skills, understanding of story line and structure, character profiles, climax and intensity levels. Listening skills, understanding of how one listens what they look like and do, that listening is more than just hearing what is said. They also described the written language as being readable for its intended audience. All of these skills are complex and diverse and in most cases undervalued in the current classroom (Sanford & Madill 2007).

For educators this could mean a controversial shift in our understandings of literacy and the way we teach literacy skills to our students. This report is not suggesting that previous methods of literacy are wrong but simply that we need to be thinking of new ways to engage our students and respect new literacies. Videos games can be a powerful tool in helping our students to gain these skills. Changing pedagogies on how we teach literacy and what we acknowledge as powerful and relevant tools within our classrooms.

However, despite the study proving many positive results, some negative issues were raised. For example the students portrayed negative stereotypes and were undeterred by violence and homophobic and sexist portrayals (Sanford & Madill 2007). Williamson Shaffer, et al (2005) suggests that students who participate in the play of video games develop skills from being in virtual worlds that reflect real life situations. It could be argued that if students transfer these positive skills that they also could transfer many of the negative aspects too.

Video games can be seductive and troubling in their content, fuelling arguments against them in the classroom. However, video games are part of children’s lives and as they play them they learn messages hidden in the game and reflect this without knowing it. One child described the idea of cutting heads off as fun (Sanford & Madill 2007). Teachers have a responsibility to students to engage them in critical literacies so that they can develop deeper understanding of the material they are reading, in this case, video games (Ito et al. 2010, Sanford & Madill 2007). They need to create

“...spaces for critical examination of the games and of the players’ own beliefs and values, potentially changing harmful aspects of video games while enhancing their powerful benefits and learning potential.” Sanford & Madill (2007, p. 451)

What does the future classroom look like? It should look like one that:

• Respects and reflects the types of medias children are engaging with.
• Demonstrates and appreciates the new forms of literacies these medias create.
• Develops students understanding and critical literacy skills as part of developing information smart, lifelong learners.

Video Games and Physical Education

in response to news article "Video games help schools get kids moving, exercising more" by Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY.
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/2010-10-11-justdance11_CV_N.htm



http://i.usatoday.net/yourlife/_photos/2010/10/11/dance1x-topper-medium.jpg

The article, Video games help schools get kids moving, exercising more, raises some issues about how games are used and current teaching pedagogies (Hellmich, 2010).

Videogames like exergames have much potential in physical education due to ‘...their popularity and efficient delivery of information... Hayes & Silberman (2007)’ Trout & Christie (2007). With careful selection and implementation video games can be used to develop understanding on how the body works and the best ways to care and improve health and fitness, whilst engaging students in physical activity (Trout & Christie, 2007).

Trout & Christies (2007) discuss the uniqueness offered by these games for individualised learning and skills development. The students, k-12, were participating in the activity viewed on a single screen in each classroom, everyday and it was compulsory (Hellmich, 2010). This doesn’t allow children to be challenged or explore at their own pace. If current practice continues older students who have years of experience will be working at the same level as new and younger students who may have had less exposure. Squire (2005) proposes that for effective teaching practise teachers and schools need to allow for individual learning and exploration which is not happening in this example. Using rote learning techniques and introducing games as compulsory may turn students away games that are made compulsory and think of them as forced, homework and dull (Squire, 2005). Introducing new technologies into the curriculum with old pedagogies and nineteenth century teaching practises means that these new medias are just as likely to lose students’ engagement just as easily as their predecessors.

There appeared to be little thought into how the game would be implemented past the initial introductions to maintain interest. Current success may only be the result of the game being a novelty. Introducing the game was a start, and an idea highly controversial in itself with current teaching practises in most schools, but for education to move forward new ways of teaching need to be considered and schools need to change the way they think about teaching.