http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/01/31/video.games.smarter.steinberg/index.html?iref=allsearch
At first I chuckled at the sight of this but I like to think I have an open mind so I decided to read it. The first thing I noticed before the article mentioned it is that the titles of the sections correspond to teaching goals and practices. This initially peaked my interest and encouraged me to give the topic serious thought. The article brings up very valid points but I disagree in one major area. The article cites the benefits of having medical students practicing in a game format instead of on actual people. While granted this is safer for the patient I would much rather have a doctor who has practiced on people operate on me than the chief of medicine who has only performed in a digital version of the game Operation. This being said I think that a very small amount of video games, used appropriately, could support a lesson in an interesting and effective manner.
1 comment:
I don't think I'll ever to be able to actually incorporate video games into a lesson. This is mostly because the knowledge (literacy) that schools teach doesn't really mesh with the literacy that video games teach (perhaps with the exception of problem solving). But I think that video games can be good teachers of literacy that happens outside of school. Teamwork and collaboration is a great example that this article gives. In most games, you can reach an objective more easily through effective teamwork. In finding out what works and doesn't work in teamwork, young adults can transfer that knowledge to real life cooperative projects.
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