Games: Learning Can Be Fun Video games do have a place in the classroom. They provide opportunities for learning, thinking, and applying meaning.

Video Games Help with Socialization Students can work in teams Builds communication skills of strategy Promotes conversations involving thinking skills

Video Games Help Develop Problem Solving Skills Encourages students to come up with multiple routes to the solution Promotes analytical logic; such as in the game Lemmings, students can work together to find a step-by-step process to achieve the goal, similar to the scientific method

Video Games Encourage Reflective Practice Encourages the process of: –Probing (looking around, clicking on things) –Hypothesizing –Reprobing –Rethinking Practice is not boring Students learn from their mistakes! Dissimilar to a testing situation, students practice what they are learning, find a comfort zone, and receive no penalty for mistakes

Video Games Promote Active and Critical Thinking Active learning – understand and produce meaning by doing Critical thinking – active learning but at a higher level within a complex system (semiotic domain) Video games allow students to reach the critical thinking level as they reach mastery at different levels Students apply principles and lessons learned to future situations

Video Games Strengthen Encoding and Decoding Skills Allows students to find new meaning of different symbol systems Creates a community among the learners and builds literacy; such skills can be similarly applied to other classroom experiences

Video Games Reward Knowledge Students receive concrete rewards; i.e. points earned Mastery translates into achievement and sense of accomplishment Even inituitive knowledge is rewarded

Video Games Promotes Discovery Promotes experimentation Encourages risk taking

Video Games Works with Symbol Systems and Text MYTH: Video games do not use text In fact, students do use manuals, help menus, supporting websites, and scenarios or background story Text works hand in hand with video games and again promotes literacy

Video Games: Call to Action In summary, video games provide ways of supplementing current classroom curriculum, promoting thinking skills, and motivating students Suggested resolution: –Create committee to screen a number of video games –Pilot video game use in the classroom –Evaluate with teacher and student interviews, test scores, and critical thinking application