Gaming Benefits

Gaming Benefits

Power to motivate

Tom Chatfield tells us in his TED talk, 7 ways games reward the brain, about the power to motivate that games have over us. Through incremental rewards for incremental goals, gamers progress to the next goal and their reward is intrinsic.  Many of the readings and videos spoke to role of the brain chemical dopamine. The motivation to persevere is the brain seeking another surge of dopamine -- the fuel of intrinsic reinforcement (Willis, 2014). I have heard from doctors for many years of the powerful effects this drug has on the human body. It is said that addictions in general have dopamine to thank for the desired or undesired behavior that triggers the pleasure center of our brain. I recognized the feeling the first time I engaged in Settlers Online and felt I had to keep coming back to it.

Collaborative Learning

The interactive nature of games, both with the game itself and others we may be joined with, is a reflection of real world situations in that, for us to survive we must cooperate with others. My students always learned more in a team environment than any other, and they enjoyed it more, too. The same is true with the Settlers game, when I first began; there was no one to help because I was in the wrong realm. I felt at a loss and struggled to solve my problem. It was only with help of someone else that I was back on track.

Epic Win

The epic win Jane McGonigal refers to in her TED talk is a new term for me, however, the feeling is not nor is its associated looks. Overcoming challenges has always been a human trait that I admired and we have all felt it with or without games. The first time you rode your bike by yourself, learning to read, ran a marathon; the list goes on and on. This look is performed for us on televisions across the globe by way of sporting events every day. I want to see that look on the faces of my students.

Quest Atlantis on the Learning Channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q2sRp5YM8Y

Gaming in the classroom

 http://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/1248069030957/games-theory.html?src=vidm

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html

My Gaming Experiences

My Gaming Experiences

My earliest gaming experiences came from board games. Monopoly and Yahtzee were two of my favorites. Checkers and chess were enjoyed for many years as well. Simulations were confined to war inspired Capture the Flag and others along those lines. These activities provided great learning experiences.

Rules, strategies, and interpersonal skills were developed and reinforced by continued play. This, of course, was long before the advent of the digital age. I lost interest in these games as I got older and gravitated toward just one game in which I would participate, golf. I enjoy watching games like baseball and football but, even though I have never been very good, I like to play golf. Today, I am not what one would call a gamer, although I have tried my hand at many games on the Xbox.

As I began college in 1990 with an eye on a teaching degree, personal computers were maturing and the games technology was growing rapidly. Fast forward to my first few years in the classroom and we have education games seemingly, coming from everywhere, and everyone wanted learning to be fun. Similar to today, by the time you bought it, it was obsolete and the kids knew it. 

A lot of money was spent by schools and districts across the country to get that new thing that would help them improve their scores. One of the problems I saw with that was that the students were not engaged for long, if at all. I don’t believe that the district where I taught embraced technology wisely in those years, and I think it had a negative effect on many students’ impression of educational technology. As the technology has improved as well as its access, so has the usage and incorporation by students and teachers alike. 

When I found games that were engaging for my students and they looked forward to the next time or they would tell me how they accessed it at home, showed their parents and siblings, I knew they benefited. When their academic progress reflected improvement in those content areas, we were both excited.

When games aren't relevant to the content being taught or engaging enough for the student to want to continue and return, then it is certainly not beneficial. Those games of my youth were fun and engaging, yet I was learning things without realizing it. When we use games in the classroom, learning doesn’t have to be the only goal.