"Our students are in the 21st century. They are waiting for the teachers and curriculum to catch up."
That'd be an emotionally-gripping one-liner in a Michael Bay movie, wouldn't it?
On the other hand, it is a bit depressing that this sort of belief isn't more widely accepted. As teachers, we should be cognizant and embrace the fact that we are lagging behind in terms of testing the limits of a students ability to learn with technology. We share a lot in common with today's typical secondary student - we play the same games, watch the same programming on TV, and tinker and enjoy the same gadgets and gizmos that make our lives easier and more interesting every day. We are doing students a great disservice by not acting upon our many similarities with one another - it is imperative that we begin to take advantage and utilize instructional techniques that meld traditional methods with the sensational resources we have at our disposal in 2012.
I was particularly fond of James Paul Gee's "Good Video Games and Good Learning" article, partly because he references some pretty awesome games and mostly because he presented some pretty interesting talking points while contrasting children's experiences playing video games with their experience in the classroom. I was very, very impressed at how well he depicted the cognitive benefits people feel playing video games and how we as teachers can emulate the same sort of attraction and interest in our own works in the classroom. At one point, he discusses how guilds in World of Warcraft can be translated to the classroom setting - strategically placing our students into groups and building off of their unique traits and characteristics could cultivate a learning environment extremely conducive to higher learning. Having your students dress up in Mage or Warrior outfits for these learning activities is entirely optional but highly encouraged.
More than anything, I was amazed at how well strategies in video games relate to similar processes in the classroom - and how we as teachers need to take advantage of students strengths in these areas. One point Gee highlights is risk-taking - I mean, that's why we love video games right? You can do whatever you want, and if you fail, you'll learn from it. Schools, as Gee succinctly states, "too often allows much less space for risk, exploration and failure." Indeed, it is a crying shame we don't do enough to encourage our students to try new things as opposed to try not to fail - which is an unfortunate mindset a fair amount of students progress through school with. Teacher's can change that. Teacher's can change a lot of things, quite frankly. Video game traits like Agency, Challenge and Consolidation are all applicable in the classroom setting and can do a lot to bring about the change we all wish to see in teaching pedagogy. With that said, on a totally unrelated note, I want to conclude this with my favorite video game meme of all time...
LEEEROYYYYYYYYYY JEEEENKIINNSSSSSSSSSS
Hussein,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of teaching students to try new things instead of teaching them not to fail. We learned recently in 402 about low-risk writing activities and I think this is part of the same idea. I'm wondering how we can square this, though, with the need to assign grades to students. One idea I've seen is to give students participation points or credit/no credit assignments instead of giving points to every single assignment. What do you think?
I agree with you and Felix- "try new things" is a much more inspiring message than "try not to fail". I think Gee makes a good point about video games encouraging "failure-based learning." I wrote my concept paper for 606 on learned helplessness, and one theme in the articles I read for that was the need to instill in students a more positive view of failure. It shouldn't be seen as an end point- it can simply be a cue to change strategy. I think it's important to encourage our students to see failure not as something to be avoided, but as a useful part of learning.
ReplyDeleteI think that your choice of quoting that specific citation about curriculum and teachers catching up is very well founded. Many teachers may feel the need to mold the students into what they view as a proper student. When in actuality it makes much more sense to work with what they already have in order to create more content knowledge and learning skills.
ReplyDeleteI also think that we can emulate the same learning strategies that games utilize in our future classrooms. This is not an easy task but i believe that if we can create motivation and engagement through competition or the utilization of computer programs, then we will see the benefits.
I also think that risk taking is of great importance in the classroom and in the game world. We must encourage our students to take risks and feel comfortable if they fail. This will play a large part in how we decide to manage our classrooms. If we are successful in eliciting critical thinking and risk taking the students will be successful at engaging with the coursework and trying unique tactics and supplying unique ideas. This will enrich the classroom environment greatly.
Mr. Shap,
ReplyDeleteI like where your brain is going, though I would hope the end result of any reform does not diminish one of the most basic goals of teaching - to create skilled, decisive learners who "know the answers," so to speak. Less graded assignments is better, but too many ungraded assignments dissuades students from meeting the challenges they should be confronted with in the classroom. It is important that we still hold extremely high expectations for our students, and graded assignments is where much of the satisfaction can be derived(or deprived) from. Perhaps graded assignments that are actually enriching and enjoyable for students to participate in is a good solution? Sounds obvious enough, but far too much emphasis has been placed on the standard "heres a question, give the answer" formula - and there are, assuredly, many better ways to grade students' performances than that.
How do you think we can best encourage students to apply the problem solving strategies that they learn from video games to real world situations? It seems that although they maybe shouldn't be stored separately, video game skills and practical skills used to deal with reality, are stored separately and rarely interact. Do you think that's true? Do you feel that your experiences with videogames have helped you handle real world situations in a more strategic manner? I have very little experience with gaming and it is something that I have a lot of questions about since it seems to be able to have so many opportunities to incorporate learning.
ReplyDeleteI think the strategy aspect of video games is very important. I also think that you could possibly fashion some sort of international relations simulation through the guilds of wow if you were very carefully planned and executed. The reason this could be beneficial is that students have a real stake in "winning" instead of the usual way kids kind of make a joke out of it. Games provide incentive to do a good job and actually be diplomatic and try to create real alliances. At the same time, we have to be careful and keep the games in perspective for sure. I think there is a lot of good to come from video games, but we also don't want them to be a distraction.
ReplyDeleteRachael,
ReplyDeleteI think one way we can encourage problem solving strategies akin to video games is to simply a replicate a particular aspect in gameplay for a particular game. For instance, have a students work in particular groups modeling the makeup of a "clan" in the online game World of Warcraft. Don't specifically refer to it, but perhaps allude to the parallels of the class assignment and the video game itself during the lesson to perhaps excite and motivate the children to carry on. References that students can relate to like that always worked for me and enticed me to care a little more in class.
I do think there's a distinct separation between video game skills and practical skills, but that doesn't mean they're entirely exclusive. My experiences with video games didn't have any glaringly obvious effects on my problem-solving strategies, but the success I had in certain situations in video games sometimes matched up with real life scenarios. So i guess it does create a bit of awareness and preparation in some respects.
Hussein, I'll just add that I think that part of what you describe in your response to Rachel captures what we might label as a process orientation. It seems to me that one under-utilized dimension of student experience is asking them to narrate their process...how did they conceptualize a problem, how did they formulate a plan of action, what did they try that failed or seemed to have failed, and what did they learn from that, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think about your important caution that kids should 'know the answers,' and this in turn leads to deeper thinking about what kinds of answers we would ideally want them to know, and this, in turn, leads us back to the kinds of questions that we ask in the first place. This is great stuff for future social studies teachers--or, indeed, ANY teachers--to be thinking about, so we thank you, Hussein.