When I was younger, my parents, brother, and I used to travel to Minnesota every summer to visit my family. My dad would make us leave at 1 AM and we would arrive in Minnesota just as the sun peaked up over the pine trees. Now, these trips were great. Days at the lake, four-wheeler rides, trips to the only grocery store for ice cream. And video games. Lots of video games. My cousins and brother would stay up late at night and play for hours. I was the one who fell asleep.
So, when I saw the reading was about the merits of video games, I was skeptical to say the least. I have honestly always thought of video games as a waste of time, but this could partially stem from the fact that I have never cared for them. Of course, I would much prefer my students pick up a book to read in their spare time, but after reading the article, video games don't seem quite so bad. I am especially intrigued by this idea that video games "talk back" to us. When Gee discussions the element of "interaction" in video games, he states that games "react back" and "give the player feedback and new problems." I like this idea of video games giving the players "new problems" that are challenging and make players think on their feet. And, as Gee states, this seems to be an idea to carry into teaching. That is, we don't necessarily have to use games in the classroom (although this could be an interesting activity) but we can rather treat learning more "game-like." For an English classroom, I could see this "game-like" notion coming by having students treat reading as an interaction. By getting students to make decisions about a text, they are immediately challenged. They will have to grapple with decisions that characters or authors make and interact with the text in new ways.
Now that I've been thinking about video games, I actually wonder what a lesson would look like if it were framed in the context of video games. Could students act as characters that have to reach a goal? How would obstacles be implemented? As teachers, it seems that we should always be thinking of ways to get students interested in learning. I think my main idea here is having students be an active part of their learning. Being good at video games is a definite skill and I'd love to get students involved in learning by knowing what they are interested in and manifesting this interest in the classroom.
Hey Katie, take a look at my post. I may be one of your brothers. Video games have always been and continue to be a part of my life. It was refreshing to hear scholarly types tout the virtues of gaming. It's equally wonderful that you are open to exploring how video games can inform your teaching. Those of us who shout a triumphant "w00t! We can play games at work now." need to be cautious that we temper our glee with critical analysis of what games and game theory will apply to our instruction. I'm sure (along with legions of others) that I can come up with an acceptable rationalization for CoD and Fallout: New Vegas tournaments in my high school English classes. Hopefully, you can keep me in check.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I would love to hear more about the tournaments you had in your high school English classes. After class today, I am left wondering how to incorporate video games into an English curriculum. While I am convinced they can be a great tool, I still have a lot of questions about incorporating them into the classroom. How do you think we could go about doing this in English?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of in class work being "game like." The closest thing I can thing of that would lead to this may be a real world problem that they have to work on in teams, such as designing a construction plan, where every so often they have to pick a "problem" from a hat that they must deal with as a group. Unfortunately this is not very English related, but you might be able to do something where the students have to go on an "adventure" where they encounter problems, create strategies to get to the end, and develop a plan of attack, this could be based on book they are reading or are getting ready to read. There are many stories where this happens to the main character, such as Gulliver's Travels, Dante's Inferno, or The Odyssey. I agree that video games have a certain skill level, and I think there are ways to get students to use these skills in the classroom through the use of simulated action and role playing.
ReplyDeleteYour initial feelings about video games is a common one - and one not entirely untrue. As someone who enjoys playing video games(at one point I was probably clinically addicted), but quickly lost interest in many of the games I liked - I can definitively say that, while they ARE useful, the majority of the actions conducted in a video game are redundant and more insistent on clockwork uniformity as opposed to any perceived acquisitions of useful skills. Indeed, I found a lot of what Gee said interesting based on my own blog post - but do you think we should perhaps tap the breaks on melding the mediums of our classroom and video games, or should we embrace the contrasting styles head-on?
ReplyDeleteI liked your post, Katie, and I'm intrigued by your musings...this, for example: "Could students act as characters that have to reach a goal? How would obstacles be implemented?"
ReplyDeleteI like this because it's creative and also because it suggests the possibility that students might design games for others to play. I'm intrigued by what it means to break down an idea of a set of ideas in such a way as to bring someone else inside of that experience. Of course there are lots of ways to do this, but maybe there's some value in building a game-like experience around some of the questions/dilemmas that Holden Caulfield faced, for example. Following your idea, I'm suggesting that building a game that captures something essential about a literary experience could be thought of as a kind of assessment.
Something to consider?