Educational Game Reflection

To anyone who ever thought that there can be no learning done from playing games, I say - think again.  There is perhaps no greater cure to that dreadful disease plaguing our students called "apathy" than the sweet marriage of games and the classroom.  Nowadays, teachers are gifted with the opportunity to take it a step further and incorporate educational games that can easily be accessed through the Internet.  Once again, technology comes to our rescue in the most practical and convenient of ways - now with just the point and click of a mouse, a world of fun and interactive discovery can be explored.  As a teacher, it is our job to take advantage of this opportunity and share it with our students.

Admittedly, I never once considered the value of online educational games.  As with most things that deal with technology, I had limited myself with the fact that many of my students would not have access to computers - both at home and in school, for no classroom aside from our technology classroom housed enough computers to accommodate twenty-eight students.  However, thanks to the discussions we have had in class, a little self-discovery, and personal research on the topic, I must admit to the advantages of introducing online educational games to my students.  Several studies have been conducted on the matter, such as the one discussed by Susan Arendt, in which she states that "[v]irtual environments also give kids the freedom to explore their surroundings and socialize in ways that they might not be able to in real life" (2007).  This offers students the opportunity to engage in diverse situations and allows them the freedom of self-discovery within the safety of a classroom or home.  Says Mary Sumry, online gaming can also provide opportunities for both struggling and excelling students by becoming a free, interactive tutoring option as well as offering a challenge to those that crave it (2011).  Through the use of online educational games, teachers will be able to reach a variety of students to not only engage them in the lesson, but to also provide opportunities to experience a diverse way of learning.

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Now as with most things on the Internet, the options are endless.  A simple search of "educational games" on any search engine will produce hundreds of results, all varying in style, content, accessibility, and even competency.  The game my partner and I wound up choosing is called Free Rice.  While rather simple in design, it offers a wealth of benefits that affect not only the player, but people all across the world.  However, it was not only the game's benevolent goal that was the reason we had chosen it to be the subject of our presentation.  Upon initial exploration of the game, my partner and I found ourselves at an interesting impasse - I enjoyed it but he did not.  It was this dissonance that encouraged us to continue further.  With the two of us presenting both sides of the bias, we felt it would be a beneficial presentation for everybody involved.  We would present our pros and cons, and with the help of our rubric, we would be able to conclude to the class whose opinion was supported by the data.  Essentially, we wound up making a game out of our game.  (I won.)

Perhaps the biggest issue for us was time.  Because I was regrettably backed up on another assignment, I could not devote as much time to this one as I wanted to.  With my partner's impending trip off-island, our face time and actually work hours were cut even shorter.  Communication still happened through emails and shared documents, but time differences made for lags in between replies that just could not be avoided.  Regardless, our team pulled through.  We got most of the framework done together while we were given that time in class, and my partner's diligence and Superman-like ability to produce in record time had been our lifeline.

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The rubric itself was a collaborative effort between my partner and myself, though most of its construction had been my partner's handiwork.  In all honesty, it was an odd experience to create a rubric for something I did not originally construct.  Up until then, I had only ever written rubrics for assignments that I created and intended to assess.  Never before had I evaluated something I did not already know what to look for, so while I am satisfied with what we came up with, I know it can still stand to be fine-tuned.  For instance, a few categories can be made more specific and focused.  However, despite this, I still feel that my partner and I did rather well, all things considered.

The creation of the rubric got me thinking of the NETS*T standard 2C, which requires that teachers "identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability" (International Society, 2011).  The rubric forced my partner and I to look at varying aspects of the online game, which included accuracy in content as well as suitability for students expected to play it.  As teachers, we are still responsible for what we expose to our students, and so it is very important that we evaluate the tools we offer to them - especially if it is found on the Internet. We must never lose sight of the educational part of educational games, otherwise it would all be for naught.

Because the game itself is so broad, and there is no real flexibility in terms of the actual content-within-the-content that it quizzes you on, it is best used as a supplementary tool rather than one to build an entire lesson around.  I can see myself using it in class to enhance students' vocabulary; perhaps within classes I can set up a little competition every week or every other week, where the highest scorer can earn his- or herself some extra credit points.  Or, to make it more mandatory for students and to encourage more participation on their part, I can set up a "minimum grains required" for every week, and they are to go in on their own time to achieve that quota.

All in all, this assignment taught me the value of never being afraid to incorporate activities into the lesson, even if accessibility to it is not so easily obtained.  Students should at least get the chance to be exposed to such an option, even if only once.  The cost of obtaining the resources might be plenty, but the value of introducing students to another form of learning (and engaging them with it) is priceless.

References

Arendt, S.  Study: Online gaming good for teens.  (2007, July 7).  Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/07/study-online-ga/

International Society for Technology in Education.  (2011).  Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx

Sumry, M.  The advantages in using online educational games.  (2011, February 8).  Retrieved June 10, 2012 from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Advantages-in-Using-Online-Educational-Games&id=6002169

Images

[Screencapture of Freerice.com].  Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://santiagosmit.weebly.com/lets-play.html

[Screencapture of EDU Games rubric].  Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://santiagosmit.weebly.com/our-rubric.html