2. Interactive media environments in education have been praised and criticized by educators, students and developers alike. But recent research is causing us to reconsider the roles of literacy, technology, fun, and commercial games in an educational context. This presentation will provide an overview of interactive media environments, some of the contemporary and former research as well as some ways to incorporate interactive media into the classroom.
3. What are your ideas of computer games in the classroom?
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5. Visual Literacy To ‘read’ media:images,pictures & text through mobile phones - brochures - magazines televisions - computers - internet & interactive media environments
7. Interactive media environments = Computer Games Computer Games are the highest earning entertainment medium in the world. Therefore becoming the most influential ‘text’ in contemporary societies.
13. Is it possible to merge entertainment and edutainment; Can there be a hybrid?
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15. Edutainment > Thinly veiled attempts to make students "learn" facts or skills that have been traditional goals of education through outdated computer games. Entertainment > Engaging and attractive graphicenvironments that arescaffolded with goals that are appropriately difficult for players.
16. In computer games the activities the user performs playing are identical to those required to learn. (Norman, 1993). They share some of the same goals: interactivity, challenges, guided discovery, relevance, meaning and provide feedback. (Hedberg and Harper, 1996; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Norman, 1993).
17. Computer Games enable new forms of knowledge interaction previously unavailable within the normal curriculum.
19. “When people learn to play computer games, they are learning a new literacy,” Gee (2003)
20. Computer games encourage literacy through the interaction and understanding of signs, images and texts also known as Semiosis. Semiotic processes are a fundamental act of human cognition and are the way in which we usually make sense of the world. In games, these semiotic processes become a narrative for the player.
21. “Narrative is not an inherent feature of computer games, but something merely implemented in a game virtually. The actual construction of the narrative is always done by the player by taking the signs on the interface and interpreting them further". (Kuchlich, 2004)
22. For computer games to be inherently effective in facilitating literacy and critical thinking "…the learner must see and appreciate the semiotic domain as a design space...as ways of thinking, acting and interacting...” Gee (2003)
23. Visual Literacy: Texts are not understood purely verbally, but are understood in terms of embodied experiences “Game environments situate meaning in multimodal space through embodied experiences to solve problems and reflect…” (Gee, 2003)
24. Computer games > media devices enable players to interact meaningfully with each other. Encouraging: metacognition communication collaboration comprehension.
27. How can computer games help enhance student’s skills in other important areas of curriculum?
28. Computer games represent a new technology which creates a potential learning environment that shares little with traditional schooling, but much with how learning, thinkingand understanding works. (Gee, 2005, p. 81)
29. Gee (2003) and Steinkuehler (2004) state that instructional potential of games can only be realized through awareness to the fact that learning is a social practice. Gee (2003) states “good video-games teach users to solve problems and reflect on the intricacies of the design of imagined worlds and the design of both real and imagined social relationships and identities in the modern world” MMOs are complex communities characterized by a "full range of social and material practices" (Steinkuehler, 2004, p. 9
33. Tangential Learning > Self Educate if exposed to something they are highly engaged in As Winston Churchill once stated, “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught."
34. Will computer games created to teach educational aspects engage learners in the same fashion as commercial computer games?
35. How can educators implement the use of computer games within their classroom?
36. Computer games should be used as support material rather than the main tool in the learning Can commercial games be used within the teaching and learning process?
37. "It is already apparent that contemporary students have limited attention spans, have a more visual learning style than their predecessors, and need to be entertained in the classroom” (Affisco, 1994)
38. Integrating Computer Games into a lesson: Ensure: Educator and Students are clear about the learning objectives and how the game will assist in achieving these learning objectives.
42. How can educators incorporate commercial computer games into a learning experience within a literacy context?
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46. Time for encouraging reflection and review of games-based activities needs to be systematically built into lesson plans, with contingency set aside for technical issues that may emerge during games play.
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48. Today’s average student is immensely different from students of the past years simply by the environment and the culture in which they have been raised. 8 Intrinsic Needs of Students of the Digital Age. These are the ability to:-Work in responsive information environments-Communicate-Share personal experiences and identities-Form and participate in communities-Ask questions-Illustrate accomplishments-Invest themselves -Safely make mistakes (Norman, 1993)
49. Students of the digital age call for a new way of learning: a more interactive learning style. "Simulation and gaming offers our best chance of reaching these students” (Affisco,)
51. References: Affisco, J.F. (1994). My experiences with simulation/gaming. Simulation and Gaming, 25,166-171. Churchill, W. (n.d) Quote. Retrieved August 10th, 2009, from:http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/23615.html Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, USA: Harper and Row. Dempsey, J., Lucassen, B., Gilley, W., & Rasmussen, K. (1993). Since Malone's theory of intrinsically motivating instruction: What's the score in the gaming literature? Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 22(2), 173-183. QSA (n.d) Essential Learning's. Retrieved August 10th, 2009, from: http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/7261.html Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video-games have to Teach us about Learning and Literacy. New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan. Gee, J. P. (2004). Learning about Learning from a Video Game: Rise of Nations, retrieved March 16, 2006, from, http://distlearn.man.ac.uk/download/RiseOfNations.pdf. Herz, J.C. (1997). Joystick nation: How videogames ate our quarters, won our hearts, and rewired our minds. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Hedberg, J. & Harper.B, (1996) "Interactive Educational Technologies: Effective Design and Application in the Classroom," 3rd International Interactive Multimedia Symposium, pg 160-168.
52. Hedberg, J. & Harper.B, (1996) "Interactive Educational Technologies: Effective Design and Application in the Classroom," 3rd International Interactive Multimedia Symposium, pg 160-168. Johnson, (2005) Everything bad is good for you: How today's popular culture is actually making us smarter. Allen Lane, London. Kucklich, J. (2004) Neverendingstories: Perspectives of computer game philology. In Proceedings of the Challenge of Computer Games. Retrieved August 10th, from: http://www.uni.lodz.pl/kmk/a_03.htm. Mann, C., & Stewart, F. (2000). Internet Communication and Qualitative Research: A Handbook for Researching On-line, London: Sage. Norman , D. (1993)Things that Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine. New York: Addison-Wesley, Peng, W. (2004). Is playing games all bad? Positive effects of computer and video games in learning. Paper presented at 54th Annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New Orleans, USA,pg 27-31. Steinkuehler, C. A. (2004). Learning in massively multiplayer online games. In Kafai, Y. B., Sandoval, W. A., Saegesser, Francois (1981). Simulation-Gaming in the Classroom. Some Obstacles and Advantages. Simulation & Games, Vol. 12, No. 3: 281-294. Powers, R. B. (1994). How should I spend my $25 million lottery winnings?.5. Simulation and Gaming. 25, 226-235.
