With all the background information supporting the use of game-based learning in the classroom, the obvious next step is to look at a class that has implemented such practices. Lee Sheldon's article, "Marked Tree High School: The Multiplayer Classroom" examines Denishia Buchanan's 10th grade Biology class. Buchanan, an avid gamer, decided to take her knowledge of video games and apply them to her own classroom. 80% of her students fall below the poverty line, under-perform in the classroom, and often fail to graduate. In order to change the way she engages her students, she set up her classroom to encourage learning by giving students choices, making the coursework creative, and setting attainable goals that rewarded students for their work.
One of the first things Ms. Buchanan changed was the typical way students are graded. Instead of a number or letter grade assigned to the work, she used an experience point system often found in role playing games (among many others). She mapped out how many XP points needed to be earned by what date to successfully complete the course. XP could be earned through 'quests'. Quests were the name given to assignments. These quests were given through characters she created in the classroom. This is also a staple of RPG's that push the plot or overall quest forward. There are always a number of different quests that are available to the students allowing them to explore areas of interest. Quests are not the only means the students learn by. Every class 25 minutes are devoted to the 'lore' of Biology. This change in terminology may seem small, but the psychological impact it can have on a student who is used to hearing 'lecture' can be huge. She also created a reward system which is normal in RPG's as well. When quests were turned in (only accepted complete and perfect), biology bucks are earned based on difficulty level. These bucks can be used to purchase paper, pencils, folders and other materials in the classroom. There are also auctions at the end of semester that included gift cards, hall passes, coupon books, and food. This added incentive helped students pursue their assignments and also helped the overall success of the school.
In 2009, 62% of sophomores in the school passed Biology with a D or higher in a traditional classroom.
In 2010, 98% of sophomores in the school passed Biology with a D or higher in the game-based classroom.
In 2009, only 29% of students tested at a proficient level in the subject.
In 2010, 68% of students tested at a proficient level in the subject.
Students also gave mostly positive feedback for the change in classroom structure. The data supports the notion that this kind of classroom can and will work when done correctly. Game-based education is a way to interact with students in a creative way that considers their culture of gaming and technologically advanced world.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
The Physiology of Games: Option E
Judy Willis decided she could better understand the rising issue of ADD in the classroom by entering one herself. So she became a teacher and, for the next ten years, explored how best to accommodate students that were bored with the typical classroom setting. In the video and article, "A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool," Willis discusses the role of boredom, how it affects dopamine production, and why video games should be a model for teaching strategies.
Willis begins her inquiry by asking whether students today are suffering, at an alarming rate, from attention deficit disorder, or whether they are simply bored? She suggests that technologically savvy students are bored in the classroom. Boredom creates stress on the body. It triggers the same fight, flight, or freeze reaction as danger does for animals in the wild. This anxiety is problematic. Her first suggestion is to create a classroom environment that is comfortable, welcoming, and supportive. She also suggest using specific tools to show students that a particular lesson or idea is something that is very important. She does this by writing in a different color of ink or putting on a hat to let the students know that their attention should be raised without saying, "this is really important" and being ignored. She then begins to discuss dopamine motivation and how gaming reward systems create neurological feedback that supports learning and discovery.
Dopamine reward systems work to build skills by promoting pleasure responses. The article says:
"Dopamine response requires that people are aware that they solved a problem, figured out a puzzle, correctly answered a challenging question...This is why students need to use what they learn in authentic ways that allow them to recognize their progress as clearly as they see it when playing video games."
Willis next goes on to explain how video games perform this task. First, they always give access to incremental progress while working to the goal. This continuous feedback reinforces the brain to promote the pleasure centers in order to reward the continuous work. This kind of feedback and setting of incremental and attainable goals can be translated to the classroom. Students need to feel that what they are working on will help them get to a higher level of understanding and that the end game is worth the battle.
The next idea is individualized achievable challenges. Willis states, "when learners have opportunities to participate in learning challenges at their individualized achievable challenge level, their brains invest more effort tot the task and are more responsive to feedback. In this way, it is of the highest importance for teachers to accurately and continuously assess their students in order to build their challenges on their current level of proficiency. Students make gains as they accumulate knowledge and build stronger foundations in order to attain higher levels of progress. Pre-assessment and feedback are the stalwarts of creating these differentiated challenges for a classroom of unique students with a variety of intelligences. Teachers would be wise to learn from the video games that parents are complaining about as they mold their own lesson plans. The basic principles that can keep their students attention for hour after uninterrupted hour need to be utilized in the classroom. Students need feedback and consistent challenges to remain engaged in their work. But they must also feel that the end result is worth working towards.
Willis begins her inquiry by asking whether students today are suffering, at an alarming rate, from attention deficit disorder, or whether they are simply bored? She suggests that technologically savvy students are bored in the classroom. Boredom creates stress on the body. It triggers the same fight, flight, or freeze reaction as danger does for animals in the wild. This anxiety is problematic. Her first suggestion is to create a classroom environment that is comfortable, welcoming, and supportive. She also suggest using specific tools to show students that a particular lesson or idea is something that is very important. She does this by writing in a different color of ink or putting on a hat to let the students know that their attention should be raised without saying, "this is really important" and being ignored. She then begins to discuss dopamine motivation and how gaming reward systems create neurological feedback that supports learning and discovery.
Dopamine reward systems work to build skills by promoting pleasure responses. The article says:
"Dopamine response requires that people are aware that they solved a problem, figured out a puzzle, correctly answered a challenging question...This is why students need to use what they learn in authentic ways that allow them to recognize their progress as clearly as they see it when playing video games."
Willis next goes on to explain how video games perform this task. First, they always give access to incremental progress while working to the goal. This continuous feedback reinforces the brain to promote the pleasure centers in order to reward the continuous work. This kind of feedback and setting of incremental and attainable goals can be translated to the classroom. Students need to feel that what they are working on will help them get to a higher level of understanding and that the end game is worth the battle.
The next idea is individualized achievable challenges. Willis states, "when learners have opportunities to participate in learning challenges at their individualized achievable challenge level, their brains invest more effort tot the task and are more responsive to feedback. In this way, it is of the highest importance for teachers to accurately and continuously assess their students in order to build their challenges on their current level of proficiency. Students make gains as they accumulate knowledge and build stronger foundations in order to attain higher levels of progress. Pre-assessment and feedback are the stalwarts of creating these differentiated challenges for a classroom of unique students with a variety of intelligences. Teachers would be wise to learn from the video games that parents are complaining about as they mold their own lesson plans. The basic principles that can keep their students attention for hour after uninterrupted hour need to be utilized in the classroom. Students need feedback and consistent challenges to remain engaged in their work. But they must also feel that the end result is worth working towards.
The Psychology of Games: Option C
Three excerpts from authors Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi and Jane McGonigal's books look at how psychology explains how and why games are enjoyed. In Csikszentmihalyi's Happiness Revisited, the author focuses on happiness. Men and women seek happiness above all things. Work and other endeavors that may not seem to be directly related to happiness, but they typically have potential outcomes that create an opportunity to engage in activities that bring about happiness. Despite increased health, life expectancy, and affluence, people today feel as though they are wasting their lives. They are not happy but, rather, bored and depressed. The author studied happiness to find out when people feel most happy. His conclusions were that happiness is not something that happens, but it is something that must be prepared for, cultivated, defined, and defended privately by each person. Although we may not be able to control many aspects of our life (when we are born, our parents, our congenital health defects, the world around us. etc.), we can control our actions. We also control the way we react to the world around us. So happiness is partially a choice and partially a response to outside influences. Another interesting finding was that hard work was something that created the most happiness. Csikzentmihalyi writes, "Contrary to what we usually believe, the best moments in our lives are not passive, receptive, relaxing times...The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile." This is the definition of 'optimal experience.' This experience is universal and important in understanding Csikzentmihalyi's next idea: Flow.
Flow is basically optimal experience but focuses more on the active participation in the moment by the individual enjoying the task that they are engaged in. There are several reasons why games are conducive to flow. For one, they have rules that require learning a skill. Next, they set up goals and provide feedback to the participants. And finally, they make control possible. The first three reasons that Csikzentmihalyi sets out are identical to McGonigal's core factors of a game. As discussed in a previous post, these factors are universally present in all types of games. Csikzentmihalyi wants to show that games can "help participants and spectators achieve an ordered state of mind that is highly enjoyable." This experience has the ability to transport a person into a new reality. Flow activity is highly rewarding and creates happiness. According to Csikzentmihalyi, it also leads to growth and discovery. If a person becomes bored with an activity, they can increase the difficulty level. If the activity is too difficult, causing performance anxiety, this is a motivator for practice and continued engagement in the sport or activity. Although flow is an excellent way to create interest in a particular activity or sport, it is ultimately up to the individual for the experience to become transformative. Extrinsic motivation only takes the flow experience so far without the need for intrinsic value to take the experience to the ultimate level.
In Jane McGonigal's book Reality is Broken, she discusses this flow dynamic and why it pushes gamers to continue to play when failure is so persistent. According to McGonigal, gamers actually enjoy failure as it is proof of a great challenge that is not often experienced by hardcore gamers. There was a specific example that she discussed in the book. The game Super Monkey Ball 2 is a challenging game that causes the player to fail at a high rate. What made the failure acceptable for the players was the humorous graphic that played during those moments. The game gave the player positive failure feedback. This gives the player a feeling of hope as failure is both an option and obstacle to overcome. Games allow users to set attainable goals in settings with rules that govern fair play. This is a stark difference from life.
The summation of all this information is that people want to be happy but are afraid of failure and can become depressed by goals that seem unattainable. Happiness will look differently to all people, but Csikzentmihalyi suggests that happiness is not a destination. Instead, it is hard work and challenges that we make for ourselves that bring the most happiness. So with this in mind, it is important to challenge students but to also keep those challenges within reach. Students may not feel as though they are enjoying the hard work that is expected of them at the time, but they will experience a sense of pride when they accomplish the goals they are working towards.
Flow is basically optimal experience but focuses more on the active participation in the moment by the individual enjoying the task that they are engaged in. There are several reasons why games are conducive to flow. For one, they have rules that require learning a skill. Next, they set up goals and provide feedback to the participants. And finally, they make control possible. The first three reasons that Csikzentmihalyi sets out are identical to McGonigal's core factors of a game. As discussed in a previous post, these factors are universally present in all types of games. Csikzentmihalyi wants to show that games can "help participants and spectators achieve an ordered state of mind that is highly enjoyable." This experience has the ability to transport a person into a new reality. Flow activity is highly rewarding and creates happiness. According to Csikzentmihalyi, it also leads to growth and discovery. If a person becomes bored with an activity, they can increase the difficulty level. If the activity is too difficult, causing performance anxiety, this is a motivator for practice and continued engagement in the sport or activity. Although flow is an excellent way to create interest in a particular activity or sport, it is ultimately up to the individual for the experience to become transformative. Extrinsic motivation only takes the flow experience so far without the need for intrinsic value to take the experience to the ultimate level.
In Jane McGonigal's book Reality is Broken, she discusses this flow dynamic and why it pushes gamers to continue to play when failure is so persistent. According to McGonigal, gamers actually enjoy failure as it is proof of a great challenge that is not often experienced by hardcore gamers. There was a specific example that she discussed in the book. The game Super Monkey Ball 2 is a challenging game that causes the player to fail at a high rate. What made the failure acceptable for the players was the humorous graphic that played during those moments. The game gave the player positive failure feedback. This gives the player a feeling of hope as failure is both an option and obstacle to overcome. Games allow users to set attainable goals in settings with rules that govern fair play. This is a stark difference from life.
The summation of all this information is that people want to be happy but are afraid of failure and can become depressed by goals that seem unattainable. Happiness will look differently to all people, but Csikzentmihalyi suggests that happiness is not a destination. Instead, it is hard work and challenges that we make for ourselves that bring the most happiness. So with this in mind, it is important to challenge students but to also keep those challenges within reach. Students may not feel as though they are enjoying the hard work that is expected of them at the time, but they will experience a sense of pride when they accomplish the goals they are working towards.
Why Use Games? Option A
Mark Prensky's article, "Engage Me or Enrage Me" is a great introduction to the basic ideas involved in our tech class. He presents the task that educator must be aware of when dealing with the 21st century student. Their involvement and interest is going to be influenced by the technology they use for entertainment and communication on a day-to-day basis. To understand the types of students that teachers will encounter in the classroom, Prensky describes the three typical kinds of student. The first is the teacher's dream student and the smallest percentile. They are the students who are truly intrinsically self-motivated and genuinely engaged in their personal educational process. The next type is the student who merely goes through the motions. This is the typical student that teachers will encounter. They know what they have to do to get by and how many points they need to pull that 'B'. They aren't interested in their education as a means to an end, but they understand that failing to at least participate and earn average grades could be detrimental to their long-term success. The last type of student Prensky discusses is the student that tunes out the teacher and merely fills a seat in the back of the classroom waiting for the bell to ring. They see school as trivial and not connected to life. Schools typically do reasonably well with the first two groups of students. It is the last group that Prensky feels desire a greater engagement from teachers to make the curriculum relevant.
The question of why? the students feel this way is reasonable and not to difficult to surmise. Students are engaged in things outside of school that they are good at and have creative components to them. They have access to hundreds of t.v. channels, internet, video games, smart phones, and social networks. They have constant interaction with technology and can manipulate and control how they view this information and where it comes from. By comparison, the classroom can be dreadfully dull, slow, and uniform. They don't feel that the same engagement in school that they consistently have outside of it. Teachers are continuing to use an outdated approach to education that frustrates students who are used to fast access to information and a wide variety of choice. When students disengage from activities and tune out their instructors, they are not merely rebelling and asking to be left alone. Rather, they are asking to be challenged in a way that is meaningful to them. Pensky says this best when he proposes the following:
"Maybe if, when learning the 'old' stuff, our students could be continuously challenged at the edge of their capabilities, and make important decisions every half-second, and could have multiple streams of data coming in, and could be given goals that they want to reach but wonder if they actually can, and could beat a really tough game and pass the course-maybe then they wouldn't have to, as one kid puts it, 'power down' every time they go to class."
Penksy closes by suggesting that what is lacking in the classroom isn't necessarily relevance. Instead, educators are missing the mark on engagement. They fail to recognize the temporal situation that students are living in and how it can contribute to the classroom. This is the underlying theme behind game-based learning. This is the fundamental argument for how and why educators need to re-imagine their classroom and to move it forward into the 21st century in order to catch up with their students.
The question of why? the students feel this way is reasonable and not to difficult to surmise. Students are engaged in things outside of school that they are good at and have creative components to them. They have access to hundreds of t.v. channels, internet, video games, smart phones, and social networks. They have constant interaction with technology and can manipulate and control how they view this information and where it comes from. By comparison, the classroom can be dreadfully dull, slow, and uniform. They don't feel that the same engagement in school that they consistently have outside of it. Teachers are continuing to use an outdated approach to education that frustrates students who are used to fast access to information and a wide variety of choice. When students disengage from activities and tune out their instructors, they are not merely rebelling and asking to be left alone. Rather, they are asking to be challenged in a way that is meaningful to them. Pensky says this best when he proposes the following:
"Maybe if, when learning the 'old' stuff, our students could be continuously challenged at the edge of their capabilities, and make important decisions every half-second, and could have multiple streams of data coming in, and could be given goals that they want to reach but wonder if they actually can, and could beat a really tough game and pass the course-maybe then they wouldn't have to, as one kid puts it, 'power down' every time they go to class."
Penksy closes by suggesting that what is lacking in the classroom isn't necessarily relevance. Instead, educators are missing the mark on engagement. They fail to recognize the temporal situation that students are living in and how it can contribute to the classroom. This is the underlying theme behind game-based learning. This is the fundamental argument for how and why educators need to re-imagine their classroom and to move it forward into the 21st century in order to catch up with their students.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
What is a Game? Game-Based Learning option B
In the excerpt from Jane McGonigal's book Reality is Broken, the author defines the four principle elements of a game and begins to build an argument around these elements for how the purpose of games could and should be transformative in all aspects of life. The four elements that make up the fundamental basis of all games are goals, rules, feedback system, and voluntary participation. McGonigal expands on these elements and defines how they work within a game. Goals are simply outcomes that players are hoping to achieve. Rules are the defined limitations that are placed on the game in order to make goals more difficult to accomplish. Feedback systems help players see how close they are to accomplishing their goals. Voluntary participation is the idea that players agree with the first three criteria of the game and willingly proceed based on the understanding of this unspoken agreement. As McGonigal points out, it is interesting to consider the list of terms that are not included in the definition of a game; interactivity, graphics, narrative, rewards, competition, virtual environment, and winning. She defines these terms as the things that, "merely reinforce and enhance these four core elements. Along with this definition of games, McGonigal introduces Bernard Suits' definition of game is included as a segue to her next section. Suits writes, "Playing a game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles."
McGonigal then makes the claim that, "compared with games, reality is too easy. Games challenge us with voluntary obstacles and help us put our personal strengths to better use." The idea of a challenge is put into context with the psychological definition of depression. People who are suffering from depression encounter two primary issues. First, they feel pessimistic sense of inadequacy. Secondly, they are despondent to the idea of activity. For McGonigal, games become a means to focus our energy on a task and fulfills our need for hard work. She writes, "in other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression." McGonigal is arguing that games represent and fulfill an important aspect of human desire. That desire is for hard work and a challenge. She also discusses the fiero or pride that we feel when we have accomplished a goal or overcome a difficult obstacle. This excerpt from her book underlies a great deal of information in a small amount of space for why there is such a large and growing gaming culture. How that translates to life and to the classroom is left for further examination.
The idea that hard work is a foundational attribute for a healthy psychological disposition may seem slightly counter-intuitive for teachers. The cause of this misconception might lay in the idea of the zone of proximal development. This idea was developed by Lev Vygotsky in the early 20th century. How this affects students in the classroom is dictated by the educator. It is the onus of the teacher to differentiate instruction in order to push a class forward in their educational journey without leaving anyone behind or allowing other students to stagnate who are ready to move forward. There must be a challenge that is appropriately set forth by the teacher which considers the prior knowledge of each student. Students need to be challenged without feeling incapable of achieving objectives. Going hand in hand with this instructional aim is the idea of relevancy. Students need to agree that the outcome of the educational endeavor is worthwhile and meaningful. Much like the principle of gaming, students must be voluntary participants. Again, it is up to the teacher to set out the goals, rules, and feedback system for the classroom. But they must make it relevant to the student in order to have them engage in the activities and challenge themselves in order to happily participate in their own education.
McGonigal then makes the claim that, "compared with games, reality is too easy. Games challenge us with voluntary obstacles and help us put our personal strengths to better use." The idea of a challenge is put into context with the psychological definition of depression. People who are suffering from depression encounter two primary issues. First, they feel pessimistic sense of inadequacy. Secondly, they are despondent to the idea of activity. For McGonigal, games become a means to focus our energy on a task and fulfills our need for hard work. She writes, "in other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression." McGonigal is arguing that games represent and fulfill an important aspect of human desire. That desire is for hard work and a challenge. She also discusses the fiero or pride that we feel when we have accomplished a goal or overcome a difficult obstacle. This excerpt from her book underlies a great deal of information in a small amount of space for why there is such a large and growing gaming culture. How that translates to life and to the classroom is left for further examination.
The idea that hard work is a foundational attribute for a healthy psychological disposition may seem slightly counter-intuitive for teachers. The cause of this misconception might lay in the idea of the zone of proximal development. This idea was developed by Lev Vygotsky in the early 20th century. How this affects students in the classroom is dictated by the educator. It is the onus of the teacher to differentiate instruction in order to push a class forward in their educational journey without leaving anyone behind or allowing other students to stagnate who are ready to move forward. There must be a challenge that is appropriately set forth by the teacher which considers the prior knowledge of each student. Students need to be challenged without feeling incapable of achieving objectives. Going hand in hand with this instructional aim is the idea of relevancy. Students need to agree that the outcome of the educational endeavor is worthwhile and meaningful. Much like the principle of gaming, students must be voluntary participants. Again, it is up to the teacher to set out the goals, rules, and feedback system for the classroom. But they must make it relevant to the student in order to have them engage in the activities and challenge themselves in order to happily participate in their own education.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Maps
Google Maps has been my go to source of directions for the past few years. I like the fact that the directions are easily changeable and allow for different routes if so desired. I've also found my house and other Knoxville places of interest for fun. The addition of street view was a really great feature that adds a great deal of depth to the service. I did enjoy learning about some other features that would be interesting to use in a lesson plan. The World Wonders project is an excellent idea and could be used in a variety of ways in any classroom. This project brings interesting sites directly to the user who may be otherwise unable to see such places over the course of their lifetime.
The middle school lesson plan for To Kill a Mockingbird utilizing Google Maps was really interesting. The basic setup and form could really be interesting for a history class looking to explore the progress of battle with an overview connected to the actual cities/places. This was a bit unusual, however, as the places did not necessarily correspond to anything in the novel. The points are all set in the ocean and are somewhat randomly placed. I don't really understand why it was set up this way. It was a nice idea that could be done a bit better when working with historical fiction or literature that is based on specific places.
The middle school lesson plan for To Kill a Mockingbird utilizing Google Maps was really interesting. The basic setup and form could really be interesting for a history class looking to explore the progress of battle with an overview connected to the actual cities/places. This was a bit unusual, however, as the places did not necessarily correspond to anything in the novel. The points are all set in the ocean and are somewhat randomly placed. I don't really understand why it was set up this way. It was a nice idea that could be done a bit better when working with historical fiction or literature that is based on specific places.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Picasa
Here are my before and after pictures of the Knoxville skyline.
I downloaded Picasa onto my home computer and am quite impressed with how easily it functions. It automatically began importing pictures from folders that I specified. After that process was completed, it began to scan through all my pictures reading faces and grouping pictures together based on that information. This was surprisingly accurate and impressive. It even picked up faces that were on a t-shirt. This serves a great purpose as it naturally creates new groupings based on the facial recognition technology.
I investigated the movie creation and collage function. Both of these were extremely user-friendly and fun to explore. I spent more time than I should've on a collage of Christmas photos. These functions are easily mastered and have obvious uses for the classroom. I will absolutely keep Picasa on my computer and use it as my default photo viewer from now on.
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