My reflection: video games and learning

Assignment: How do these videos change or influence your thinking about games and learning in school? Include an online source that supports the use of video games in school

I provided 2 online sources supporting video games in schools: jointhecteam.com & edutopia.org.

Jointhecteam is a site that primarily focuses on creativity and understanding copyright rules. Although its emphasis is on understanding/teaching the fundamentals of intellectual property, it does include links to other technology centered websites such as Edutopia and sample lesson plans on integrating technologies in the classroom.

Edutopia is a site we commonly see in our instructional technology class. It's primary focus is to provide educators with opportunities and suggestions to integrate digital media and technologies in the classroom.


These videos helped to reinforce the changes I have already been making in my thinking toward the inclusion of video games in the 21st century classroom. Each video provided fresh insight into their potential learning power which is such a terrific concept, rather than following conventional wisdom to dismiss video games as strictly a leisure activity. A claim from each video that resonates with this position include:

• Video 1 - experiment: after approximately 10 hours of staggered gaming, a subject was able to perform better at spatial manipulation tasks...even up to 5 months later!  That's the kind of improvement and retention rate I would love to see in my students!

• Video 2 - The world is moving faster and becoming more interconnected as technology plays a larger role in our lives. An instructor, Ananth Pai, found that including video games in a curriculum he designed increased his students math and reading levels significantly in 18 months. The students thought learning was fun. Compelling results!

• Video 3 - a great possibility: no more formal assessments! Tests are awful, nobody likes them. What an intriguing idea to incorporate gaming concepts, such as immediate feedback thus the student takes on a more active and responsible role for their learning in a fun environment that will build the very skills we want to instill!    

Again, one of the statements in video 2 that really resonated with me was that we as teachers (and parents) need to enter the game, become one with it, understand it...because it is the future and it is how we can best connect with our kids and prepare them for tomorrow's world!

Earlier this semester, I became interested in the gaming/learning connection and actually purchased a game, Skyrim. I am not a gamer, but I wanted to experience it for that very reason I mention above. It was put aside due to my other tasks but I am motivated to try again...at least an hour a day.