Learning Through Games

OVERVIEW

Electronic games can inspire players to explore new ideas and concepts. By gaining a better understanding of the dynamic between player and game, researchers hope to develop more interesting and effective approaches.

According to a 2008 survey conducted by the Washington,D.C.-based Pew Research Center,97% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 play computer, Web, portable,or console games.

“Games are goal-directed learning

spaces,” says James Gee

GAMES

Off-the-shelf games like Sim City, Civilization, and Railroad Tycoon have been successfully used in the classroom to help students understand complex social, historical, and economic processes.
Myst can improve students’ writing skills.

World of Warcraft has been praised by educational researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for its ability to foster abstract thinking among middle and high school students, who meet online to share.

In Civilization III, a game in which players lead a civilization from 4,000 B.C. to the present, students are frequently motivated to consult maps, Wikipedia, and other external resources to get ahead.

GAMES AS INTERACTIVE PLATFORMS

Too many titles that are currently marketed as educational games, experts say, are little more than digital flashcards, presenting students with straightforward drills in subjects like math and grammar rather than giving them an interactive platform through which to explore new ideas and concepts.

G4LI

New York University’s Games for Learning Institute (G4LI), for example, offers a forum for experts in disciplines like computer science, cognition, and educational research to collaborate on experiments and research.
G4LI’s mission is to conduct rigorous empirical research into how games can support learning.
G4LI’s work has focused on science, technology, engineering, and math topics and on middle school.

WHY NEED FURTHER INSPECTION ?

Work has focused on science, technology, engineering, and math topics and on middle school, when children typically lose interest in those subjects.

HOW TO MAKE IT EDUCATE ?

develop a comprehensive set of principles and standards that could help people effectively design, build, and use educational games

WHY GAMES ?

You need something that allows knowledge to unfold



WHAT'S NEXT…

The prospect of being able to join the still-growing game development industry has also attracted new prospects to the field

MAKE IT FUN

Why they play games—and is one of the main things that keeps them engaged and willing to persist in ways that many teachers only dream of ?



Reference :

Leah Hoffmann