Thursday, June 14, 2012

Chapter 5- Video Games


Chapter 5 was very interesting because it focused on incorporating video games into the classroom. One of my favorite quotes from the chapter was that humans, when they are thinking and operating at their best, see the world in terms of affordances for actions they want to take. Thus, we see the world differently as we change our needs and desires for action. As teachers, we have all struggled with motivating our students to complete assignments given to them. If we are able to get our students to see their assignments in terms of beneficial, then our needs and desire for action have extra motivation. Relevance is an important part of education. If teachers can provide relevant material to their students there is a strong correlation that students will comprehend the material.

In comparing tasks in the classroom and video games, there are several similarities. Video game has a tutorial, hints, and much in its design that helps players learn the knowledge, values, practices, strategies, and skills necessary to enact professional military knowledge. In these types of games, students are using different types of thinking in order to reach the goal. I also like the idea of giving students more freedom. Giving students the opportunity to make their own choices allows students to feel more confident in their choice and creates a deeper level of thinking. It also says let the students act and experience consequences, but in a protected way when they are learners. Then help them to evaluate their actions and the consequences of their actions. Students are given the role of the teacher as well. Getting to choice their own route and decisions. Student choice has become of the most important parts of teaching.

1 comment:

  1. I like that you discuss choice in your post. I think providing choices within an assignment is very important to students as it provides a sense of accountability and personal involvement. It also offers students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. The same project/task can be executed differently by students and, I think, it only adds to the school experience. This concept is very similar to some online games where players reach their preset goal in whatever way they want/can.

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