Being that I reached the Golden State last night, I was able to blissfully enjoy reading two articles by James Paul Gee about the educational impacts of video games on learners. Both Good Video Games and Good Learning and Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds offered valuable examples of how gaming has possitivley impacted student learning and picks apart the skills and challengers players learn and overcome.
Gee emphasizes that the playing of video games inherantly teaches problem solving skills, interaction and collaboprtation opportunites as well as multiple chances to take risks and learn from mistakes.
I've considered the value of video games in the classroom and would like to try and find games that would be appropriate for students in the elementary grades. I know as a young learner myself I had the chance to travel the Oregan Trail and definitely learned the hardships that travelers were up against. In my own experience I'm sure a broken arm led to a fever led to pnemonia led to dysenteri and a bear attack. It's amazing anyone made it to the West at all judging by how long it took my pixelated wagon to get across my computer screen!
As a continued gamer through my life I have experienced the triumphs and tribulations of the learning experiences that video games bring.
I agreed with the articles right away as, just last night, I turned on my parents' Wii and inserted their newset game: Michael Jackson The Experience.
Right away you are thrown into the midst of a Michael Jackson classic, challenged to follw his sparkling glove and jerk your hips and limbs matching his grace. I definitely looked afool at first, but as I started to hit his golden moves I earned mini Dance School videos to learn from :)
My trial and error and mishaps earned me the chance to learn more. Maybe by the end of my trip in California I'll be practiced enough to bust a sweet groove when Muchale bumps through near-by speakers.
One of the most profound points in Gee's articles I considered was in the article Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds. In it he explained how many individuals can be consdier ed "Pro-Ams", or professional amateurs - ones that have learned compitancies from their own interest based learning from whatever source they may find.
In the end it seems that Gee is challenging the 21st Century educator to find ways for students to guide their own learning in ways that are interesting to them - be it in a video game or elsewhere :)
