Games and Simulation in Education

I do think that the notion of viewing a concept from various viewpoints is a good idea to help students understand practical and real life situations, but I also wonder that while such a feat may be practical for adults and older learners, how practical is it for younger children who have not developed as wide a body of knowledge and the life experiences that help in understanding situations and concepts from different viewpoints? To one extent, I think this approach can be modified for any learner, but on the other than, I know that for kindergarteners and many younger learners, they and that which is most immediate to them is often the only things they know and the only things they think about, so that makes me wonder would practical and effective such an approach would be for those learners. Also, I wonder about older learners who are more stubborn or stuck on a particular viewpoint and refuse to view situations and concepts in differing manners. However, I also know that when playing games, individuals are often able to choose to represent different characters; and that can be likened to viewing the same situation from different perspectives especially when you think that each character often has a different agenda and a different reason for its significance. So if somehow characters and viewpoints on more educational issues can be meshed, than I believe the potential for effective use of games and simulation for educational instruction is heightened.

The concept of using an anchor for instruction relates to the notion of giving students something personal which helps them understand and retain knowledge. I can relate to the passage on mathematics in the real world because I can remember asking my math teacher(s) what I was I going to need a particular concept for; especially when I was taking higher level math courses such as trigonometry and calculus. Using the anchor methods of instruction, I think games and simulation can definitely be incorporated into classroom instruction because many students are already interested in and often play video games and the like for hours on end. Although altering such games so that they may be more educational may be an initial turn off for students, I think if that games are made educational, but still exciting and challenging in the same way as the typical video game, then educational video games could definitely peak students interest and be used as a tool for instruction.

The Marc Prensky video clip had a lot of good points, especially when he discussed how kids want to be engaged and have a desired to learn, so therefore learning is more effective when it is engaging. I definitely agree with Prensky’s assumption that engagement is more important than content because it is impossible to get the content knowledge is one is not interested. While it might be possible to get some knowledge from non-engaging materials, to maximize such learning, the more engaging, the better. Prensky also outlined how games engage children through the decision making, the complexity, the feedback, and the pacing. Also, Prensky’s statement about children learning how, what, where, when, and why from games lends itself to the idea of multi-disciplinary learning. If students can use games to teach them how to ask and find the solutions to such questions, then they can use that knowledge to figure out the how, where, what, when, and why of more educational issues.

I was a little frightened by the idea that games will eventually replace teachers, especially in the K-12 arena; and I am not sure how effective or close such an idea is to reality, but it does make me wonder. If kids can learn all they need to know from gaming, then what is the practical use of classroom teachers? On the other hand, I am not worried because while I do believe bringing gaming into the educational arena is potentially a great tool for maximizing instruction and learning, I do not think that gaming is the end all, be all to the various educational dilemmas, and I would hope that teaching and teachers would always be needed and useful instruments in education and the learning process.