Here is an interesting review of Marc Prensky video podcast on "Engage Me or Enrage Me" by one of the students enrolled in this semester's Advanced Instructional Technology Online Educational Technology Graduate course at Western Michigan University that I wanted to also share with our readers. Stephen Hasenick has kindly agreed to share this review of Prensky online lecture on gaming and education.
September 20, 2010
Being an older computer gamer this lecture really engaged me. I say old because since I started my master degree I have not had time to play any complex games. My son started playing a game called Runescape about 4 years ago. Wanting to know how safe it was I decided to give it a try. Ok, it sounded fun too. The game was very key stroke intensive; I wonder why over 100,000 people played it at any given time. The graphics were nothing compare to other games on the market. One of these Prensky hit on, leveling up, motivated the players. They would complete a normally boring task to just gain a level. The gained levels would allow them to complete quest that made them heroes. Some of the task had real concepts. Making a steel sword required a player to mine both iron and coal, combine them in a furnace, to make steel and then use a hammer and anvil to make a sword. A few years later they came out with the grand exchange. My son learned business concepts by learning to buy low and sell high. He would calculate out how many items he needed to buy to make a certain profit. Social networking and teamwork was learned while texting and planning out different tasks that his friends and he would do. These games are very real to them.
No wonder education is boring in comparison. Where are the clear objectives and rewards? As Prensky points out, these games engage the player. I agree there is much us current and future instructional designers can learn from game designers. I have already wondered if games could train people to do many of the tasks that are trained through education.
An interesting point is that we as educators do not have to learn these new technologies unless we want too. We are not ‘native’ to it. Let the students do it. We just need to guide and teach them to evaluate it. An interesting twist is to let students use technology to educate each other as we guide them.
------------------------
Reference:
Prensky, Marc. Engage Me or Enrage Me: eTeaching Day Keynote. 2006
Retrieved from: http://frontrow.bc.edu/program/prensky/
1 comments:
You raise a valid point on the lack of research on the impact of gaming on standardized test, but I believe that is about to change. Here is a summary of what I could find on the topic from a recent article from the gaming industry.
University of Wisconsin education professor Dr. James Paul Gee concluded that video games intermix instruction and demonstration, a more effective learning technique than the style currently found in most classrooms. According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, video puzzle games that exercise children’s working memories can enhance their abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills, which can have a direct impact on future educational and occupational success. In addition, a study conducted by scientists at the University of Rochester found that video games can improve players’ vision, attention and certain cognitive skills. Study participants also performed better than non-gamers on certain tests of speed, accuracy and multitasking.
In June 2009, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop released a report titled “Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health” which concluded that computer and video games provide “an important, untapped opportunity” to support learning, particularly when children and adults play together. That same year, the center launched its Innovation in Children’s Digital Media prize program, providing incentives for university media labs as well as the entertainment software industry to develop research-based games that promote learning through digital media.
In an effort to maintain this unprecedented momentum, the Department of Education announced in January 2010 that it would provide initial funding for the nonprofit National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies. The center will offer grants to academic institutions, nonprofit organizations or corporations who propose to research and develop new educational technologies, including simulations, computer and video games, virtual worlds and avatars that serve as tutors.
Post a Comment