This presentation, originally presented in Second Life to the NC Distance Learning Association, explores how video games and virtual worlds can be valuable tools for instruction and shares resources that teachers might use to incorporate gaming into their curriculum.

1. Game On! Connecting Video Games and Virtual Worlds to Instruction

2. Video Games and Digital Natives

4. 65% of American households play computer and video games.

5. The average game player is 35 and has been playing games for 13 years .

6. 38% of homes have at least one console (such as: Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo).

8. The Digital Native Today’s High School Student Has Never Known A Time Without: CD Players Microwaves Nintendo The World Wide Web

9. A typical college student has spent less than 5,000 hours reading books, but over 10,000 hours playing video games.

10. “ The 10,000-hours rule says that if you look at any kind of cognitively complex field, from playing chess to being a neurosurgeon, we see this incredibly consistent pattern that you cannot be good at that unless you practice for 10,000 hours, which is roughly ten years, if you think about four hours a day.” -Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: The Story of Success

11. What if they spent that much time doing Biology homework?

12. “ When I go to school, I have to power down.” -Student

13. Their Brains Work Differently

14. Maybe we need to rethink how we teach them?

15. How Do You Engage The Digital Native?

16. They crave: Social Interaction Customized Experiences Achievement Multimedia Learning That’s Relevant

17. So, Why Video Games?

18. Customized Experiences

19. Social Interaction

20. Achievement

21. Learning That’s Relevant

22. Multimedia

23. Serious Games: What the Researchers are Saying

24. “ ...the designers of many good games have hit on profoundly good methods of getting people to learn and to enjoy learning.” -James Paul Gee, University of Madison Wisconsin

25. “ ...within games, there are in fact multitudes of literacy practices – games are full of text, she asserted, to say nothing of the entirely text-based fandom communities online that take place in forums, blogs and social networks.” -Constance Steinkhueler, FuturePlay 2007, Toronto

26. “ Today's game designers have figured out something today's educators are still searching for: how to make learning engaging for today's kids. It would be a shame not to employ this knowledge in our classrooms.” -Marc Prensky

27. What I’ve Seen... Students in Virtual Worlds

28. Extreme Engagement! http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/j/i/jibo/pir2.JPG Warhammer Online Screenshot Students are leading people from around the world (often 40 or more) to accomplish collective goals. These events take planning, coordination, and decision-making skills.

29. Extreme Engagement! They spend hours outside of the game collaborating and planning in forums, researching maps, statistics, and strategies to improve their game.

30. A Level Playing Field – Who are They Playing With? http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/j/i/jibo/pir2.JPG Source: http://www.harbingersoflight.com They are collaborating, online, with people from all over the world. Differences in race, age, gender, and nationality are no longer an issue. Teacher Ph.D. Candidate Stay-at-home Mom County Sheriff Researcher Business Owner Editor for the Senate Produce Clerk Business Analyst Instructional Technology Coordinator Technology Engineer Quality Assurance Supervisor Water/Sewer Technician College Student University Admissions Representative Director of IT Network Administrator Protestant Minister

31. So, how are educators using video games in instruction?

32. Larry Dugan , a college administrator, is using the MMORPG, Lord of the Rings Online to teach Tolkien in an immersive environment.

33. Revolution! – a Neverwinter Nights modification allows students to explore colonial Williamsburg in a 3D, immersive environment.

34. Dimension-M, by Tabula Digita allows students to learn and practice pre-Algebra and Algebra skills in a multiplayer, action-oriented game world.

35. Peggy Sheehy’s Middle Schoolers had an in-world trial based on the novel, Of Mice and Men, in Teen Second Life.

36. Time to Learn? Time to Game!