Gaming in education presentation at NSTA National Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 2009

1. Jeffrey Piontek

2. Imagine as if I was speaking to you today…

3. … from the point of view…

4. … of our children

5. WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR US?

6. “ You can give us 21 st Century Tools!”

7. We are growing up during a VERY DIFFICULT TRANSITION

13. FOR MOST OF US, OUR BIGGEST NEED IS NOT BETTER CONTENT

14. WE NEED BETTER UNDERSTANDING & 21 st CENTURY SKILLS

15. OUR TEACHERS CAN PROVIDE US WITH BETTER UNDERSTANDING

16. BUT WE CAN’T GET 21 ST CENTURY SKILLS from our TEACHERS

17. THEY DON’T HAVE THEM! (most of them at least)

18. EVEN IF YOU “ RETRAIN” THEM!

19. WHY?

20. BECAUSE WE ARE THE

21. Digital Natives

25. OUR TEACHERS, HOWEVER, ARE MOSTLY…

26. Digital Immigrants

27. TO US THEY HAVE A DIGITAL IMMIGRANT ACCENT

28. AND MOST OF THEM DON’T UNDERSTAND THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES OR EVEN THE LANGUAGE

29. BTW, SOL U WL problE hav 2 Lern d lingo. othRwIz U wiL hav knO idea wot yor students R sAN 2 1 NothA Bhind yor bak. By the way, sooner or later you will probably have to learn the lingo. Otherwise you will have know idea what your students are saying to one another behind your back.

30. Digital Immigrants Digital Natives

31. FOR A LOT OF WHAT WE NEED OUR DIGITAL IMMIGRANT TEACHERS CANNOT HELP US MUCH

32. and DIGITAL NATIVE teachers WILL NOT TRULY BE THERE

33. UNTIL WE GROW UP AND BECOME THEM!

34. TO GO BEYOND OUR TEACHERS’ ABILITY AND KNOWLEDGE

35. AND TO SUCCEED IN THE 21 ST CENTURY

36. In School Outside School

37. Out of School we are EMPOWERED

38. “ Whenever I go to school I have to ‘power down’ ” – a high school kid

39. GOOD TOOLS EMPOWER US AS LEARNERS

40. “ On the Internet you can play games, you can check your mail, you can talk to your friends, you can buy things, and you can look up things that you really like.” – A High School Student

42. POWERED By Our INTERESTS

43. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN EMPOWER US

44. Help us take advantage of the computers we already have… … in our pockets!

46. GIVE US GAME-TOOLS TO ENGAGE US

47. WE KNOW GAMES PRODUCE LEARNING WITH ENGAGEMENT

48. WE WANT TO LEARN WITH ENGAGEMENT ALL THE TIME

49. WE WANT GAMES NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE GAMES, BUT BECAUSE THEY’RE THE MOST ENGAGING INTELLECTUAL THING WE HAVE…

50. … AND WE KNOW HOW MUCH WE LEARN FROM THEM!

51. IN FACT, LEARNING IS THE BIG SECRET REASON WE PLAY GAMES!

53. 1. Doing and reflecting 2. Appreciating good design 3. Seeing interrelationships 4. Mastering game language 5. Relating the game world to other worlds 6. Taking risks with reduced consequences 7. Putting out effort because they care 8. Combining multiple identities 9. Watching their own behavior 10. Getting more out than what they put in 11. Being rewarded for achievement 12. Being encouraged to practice 13. Having to master new skills at each level 14. Tasks being neither too easy nor too hard. 15. Doing, thinking and strategizing 16. Getting to do things their own way 17. Discovering meaning 18. Reading in context 19. Relating information 20. Meshing information from multiple media 21. Understanding how knowledge is stored 22. Thinking intuitively 23. Practicing in a simplified setting 24. Being led from easy problems to harder ones 25. Mastering upfront things needed later 26. Repeating basic skills in many games 27. Receiving information just when it is needed 28. Trying rather than following instructions 29. Applying learning from problems to later ones 30. Thinking about the game and the real world 31. Thinking about the game and how they learn 32. Thinking about the games and their culture 33. Finding meaning in all parts of the game 34. Sharing with other players 35. Being part of the gaming world 36. Helping others and modifying games, in addition to just playing. Why We Learn From Games (James Paul Gee: What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy

54. visual selective attention multiple task processing rule understanding strategy morality ethics identity flow traditional literacy digital literacy new media literacy concentration social skills stress relief scientific thinking intellectual development affective development social development transfer comprehension skills academic skills strategies & procedures use of symbols problem solving sequence learning deductive reasoning What We Learn from Games Areas various researchers claim are improved by Playing Video Games

57. Science Today, with students creating their own learning

59. Scratch and Curricula

61. Practice your Mandarin in Yuan Ming Yuan

62. Talk and Role Play with Students in Beijing

63. Create Virtual Ecosystems

65. Create Worlds Create Worlds

66. Design Future Vehicles

67. Design Future Cities

68. Future Sustainability

69. New Sports

70. New Robots

71. Research in new ways

72. Through Simulation, Conduct Experiments Too Dangerous or Too Expensive in the Real World

73. Gettysburg The New World Civilization III Pharaoh Medieval Total War Viking Invasion Rampage Across Britain Stronghold Crusader Caesar III The Age of Kings The Age of Empires The Rise of Nations Shogun Qin History Emergency Room Emergency Emergency EMT Vet Emergency Roller Coaster Tycoon Airport Tycoon Cruise Ship Tycoon Big Biz Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon Mall Tycoon Startup Theme Park Tycoon Zoo Tycoon Restaurant Empire Job Simulation Resource Mgmt Business Physicus Chemicus Green Globs and Graphing Equations Math-Science Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) Games Virtual Leader Trader Objection! Strategy Co-Pilot Marketing Co-Pilot Sales Co-Pilot Virtual U

74. Revolution Eyewitness Spanish Inquisition Qin Making History Tropical America Mass Balance City Planning Corporate Greed Power Politics The Political machine President Forever Quandries (Ethics) Sim Health Balance of Power Social Studies Building a Home Entertech ReaL Lives Virtual U. Incident Commander Road Quiz Streetwise Flood Ranger Park Ranger Waterbusters Job Simulation Resource Mgmt Language The Algebots The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy Environmental Detectives Supercharged Rapunsel Kinetic City Mission Max National Geographic Space Station Sim Project Connect Nitrogenius Episims Math-Science Custom Games English Taxi Listening Skills Achieve Now Slide Prospero’s Island

75. “ We have learned to "play school." We study the right facts the night before the test so we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student.” – A high school student

76. It’s not attention deficit – I’m just not listening!

77. GAME DESIGN IS CRUCIAL TO MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT

79. Eye Candy

82. It’s where Art MEETS Science

83. We CAN’T USE TRADITIONAL PEDAGOGY

84. “ Beat the Game, Pass the Course”

85. Game Examples

86. “ Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” Elementary: Logical Thinking In Stores. Also: “ Lemmings” “ The Incredible Machine”

87. “ Rapunzel” Elementary: Programming From NYU www.maryflanagan.com/rapunsel

88. “ The Typing of the Dead” Middle School: Keyboarding In Stores

89. “ The ESP Game” © 2004 Carnegie-Mellon Middle School: Language From Carnegie-Mellon http://www.espgame.org/cgi-bin/login

90. “ English Taxi” Middle School: Language (ESL) From Desq http://www.desq.co.uk/

91. “ The Algebots” Middle School: Algebra Coming, from Games2train.com and DigitalMultiplier.org http://www.games2train.com/games/algebots/thealgebots.html

92. Middle School: Science “Space Station SIM” (NASA) Coming, from GRS Games http://www.grsgames.com/products/game1/DGoals.html

93. “ Revolution” High School: Social Studies From The Education Arcade at MIT http://www.educationarcade.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=9&page=1

94. “ Tropical America” High School: Social Studies Available Online http://www.tropicalamerica.com/

95. “ Making History” High School: Social Studies Coming, from Muzzy Lane Software http://www.muzzylane.com/products/making-history.htm

96. “ Eyewitness” ( Nanking Massacre) High School: Social Studies Coming (free download) http://www.mic.polyu.edu.hk/nanjing/index.asp

97. “ Under Siege” (Palestinian Freedom Fighters Game) High School: Social Studies Available for download http://www.underash.net/

98. “ The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy” GAME 3 levels, save station TASKS 30 graded, w/self-evals HS: Mechanical Design

99. Immune Attack (NIH) High School: Biology, Virology Design Only http://www.educationarcade.org/gtt/Virus/Intro.htm Created using SCRATCH Replicate (MIT)

100. High School: Law “Objection!” Online demo available http://www.objection.com/

101. “ Virtual Leader” (Interpersonal Relationships) High School: Business For Sale at http://www.simulearn.net/SimuLearn/simulearn_home_page.htm

102. “ Airline Tycoon” High School: Business In Stores (along with Casino Tycoon, Cruise Ship Tycoon, Big Biz Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Mall Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon, School Tycoon, Theme Park Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, and Restaurant Empire . )

103. “ Start-Up,” “ Capitalism,” etc. High School: Business Available soon Ulua Media

104. “ Environmental Detectives” HS-AP: Environmental Science Available From MIT http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/Handheld/Intro.htm

105. “ Supercharged” HS-AP: Physics Available From MIT http://www.educationarcade.org/gtt/EM/Intro.htm

106. Education Health and Wellness Public Policy Military Political and Social Advertising COTS REFERENCE www.socialimpactgames.com

107. Digital Immigrants Digital Natives

108. [email_address] The book is available for purchase at booth 1140