Chapter: 1
Play confronts problem solving in a
methodical fashion that is placed in the region of progression. Sociologists
and anthropologists have tended to treat play as a human activity, in which
they analyse the principal characteristics observed in the age of the player
(Caillois1961). I was introduced to my
first computer based education game at an early age. ‘Logical Journey of the
Zoombinis’. This numeracy based activity was one of my first tastes of the crossovers
between education and video games and a great way of learning Math. The bursts
of animation and interaction made the new learning experience fun and immersive,
however video games have come a long way since then. The player is now capable
of making more of the experience, with increasingly smart artificial
intelligence and jaw dropping aesthetics. If the education system is to
acknowledge the teaching of the next generation today, it is crucial to focus on
progressive learning. I feel the current
education system doesn’t do its best to provide a solid interactive environment
with learning potential. I want to investigate how well current video games are
teaching, and the controversy between the benefits and cons of digital game
based learning.
My
reason for choosing this subject is largely based on my own vast interest in
teaching. During my higher education specifically, I have found myself more
interested than ever to make this a possible career path for the future. The build of both education and video games
working as one, to make a new progressive academic system, is one that excites
me greatly. Video games are a relatively new media tool. In a rapidly growing technological
environment I feel it’s essential that today’s education system keeps up with technological
development, additionally, creating a more engaging learning environment.
Can video games be an overlooked
asset to the education system and be a vast untapped source of educational
profit? Or are they detrimental to the educational learning environment? Within
this essay I will find a series of arguments and counter arguments to come up
with a personal opinion on the educational theory within video games. I will
not be looking into the health related issues within gaming.
There appears to be an ever growing
gap between educational games and games you play for fun, the genres seem to
have been segregated and hardly ever seem to co – inside. The issue here is
that they both loose something from this. Educational games usually cease to be
fun, while the supposed fun games, and give up the opportunity to educate the
audience. This raises the point of tangential learning, this is a system where
you are not taught directly, and rather you are exposed to inherent learning
within the game.
Simulation
The definition of simulation is the
mimicry of an operation that happens in the real world. In order for simulation
to be affective you need to gather a model of the basic characteristics of what
you are trying to mimic. These key points are vital in making the simulation
feel as real as possible. The replica model showcases the system itself whereas
the simulation will represent the operation over time. The Simulation is used
in many ways in the working and learning world, to show eventual real effects
of certain alternate conditions.
Quest Atlantis is simulation
software developed by researchers at Indiana University that has been designed
for children from the age of 9 – 15. This game inherits creativity and personal
expression, which shares a 3D multipurpose environment in which the players can
investigate large scale in game issues. (e.g., Unity, Ecology, culture and
health) Quest Atlantis encourages students to meet global issues such as saving
parks from environmental disasters or investigate a problem and make a news
article for a local paper. The game creates an entire world for the students to
roam around in, where there actions have a significant impact on the world and
where they can reflect on the consequences of their work. I feel that this game
gives a substantial combination of academic subjects which is combined with
meaningful educational play. Donna Stevens states (“I’ve had the unique pleasure of having used Quest
Atlantis with students in a classroom, having used it in as part of a graduate
class in Learning Science, and now, as a member of the Quest Atlantis team, and
so I know first-hand of the power and pleasure of using this learning
environment”). ARX have made a good effort at understanding the
challenges of using new forms of media within education and have managed to
successfully make an educational engaging game.
(Wolf Den)
Video games often lend themselves
to be implemented as unique learning tools because of their prevailing methods.
They can strongly convey stories they are capable of becoming more accessible
for the education community to step in and create a problem based learning
environment. The wolf den is an environment created by the North Carolina State
University’s College of education. The students that were admitted to the Wolf
Den program were instructed to test water samples through micro scopes in the
virtual classroom. One of the amazing results of these virtual learning
environments is its ability to eradicate social anxiety and promote class team
work and positive attitudes. This virtual learning world creates an element of
freedom, a sense of un-halted possibilities, not only can it help academics
work together in a team, but provides a safe learning environment to learn in.
The students exposed to Wolf den had very positive attitudes toward the
delivery method and the interactions within the virtual learning environments (Annette,
Murray, Gull-Laird, Bohr, and Park, 2006)
Tangential Learning
For example,
(Rome Total War 2) a turn based strategy game set in the height of Rome’s
conquest of Europe. This game has not set out to be an educational game however
has the pre – requisites for tangential learning, by having the real world map and historically
accurate unit names which the player automatically memorise as it matters to
them in game. The point is being able to excite the audience enough to make
them go and further research the subject within the game, which in this case
would be the vast number of playable cultures. L.Brozak (1981) cited from
Brookfield (1983) at the ‘direct encounter with the phenomena being studied
rather than merely thinking about the encounter, or only considering the
possibility of doing something about it’.
In game indexes
have proven incredibly useful for tangential learning, what’s to stop
historical games attaching wiki’s that link history to the game. Games should
provide the possibility to take something from the games and into our lives
after committing hours of play.
What delivers more to a child, traditional or game based
learning?
This section will consist of
studies into traditional methods of teaching, as well as game based learning. I
will compare the findings from both sides and cross reference each example.
The Cons of Educational games.
(Cons)
The majority of the bad publicity
video games get are in conjunction to violent video games and video games addictive
properties. The thoughts behind this are that the kids that play violent video
games over long periods of time become more violent themselves and will go and
re-engineer what they have done in the virtual world. ‘Children who play more
violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts
feeling, and behaviours, and decreased pro social helping, according to a
scientific study’ (Anderson and Bushman, 2001). Within many games the player is
rewarded for such violence, this might be okay for the older generation but as
for a younger still developing mind the repetition of this can affect learning
behaviour. The Columbine and Newport massacres have been heavily pinned on the
fact that these children were playing a lot of violent video games, however on
the contrary; better gun laws should be put in place by these states. In addition
to much
The Pros of Educational games.
The Huffington Post seizes upon
recent comments by Barack Obama to survey the educational potential of videogames.
Consider the following as ample evidence for means that video games can enhance
education in an efficient manner. Learning through play is something we adopt
at a very early age. Much of this
current software is not structured towards school curriculum, and usually runs
on its own educational tangent. However the possibilities for cohesion between
the game developers and teachers could bring some very exceptional outcomes.
Conclusion
Despite the clear findings about
the untapped resources of education within video games the media seems only to
focus on the detrimental properties of games. The media big’s up these hit
stories of video game addiction and “Killer games” that are destroying our
youth’s lives. In comparison there are very few trending articles on the
compelling platforms that video games are able to create when combined with
good interactive design properties. I hope that in the future the people will
realise the cries for help from the younger technology fluent generation. In
order to make this happen people must start to move with the times, as
technological headway is only due to speed up, we will perhaps only find
ourselves falling further behind in pushing for next generation educational
systems.
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