The longer I play at “settling,” the more my interest is
waning. The need to log in every day has become a chore. I have other things to
do in the real world, and I believe that is a good thing. After all, I am not into
gaming that much, even though I derive pleasure from playing. Suffice to say
that the games newness has worn off and those intrinsic rewards are not as rewarding
or meaningful. I, of course, will continue to play and perhaps my feelings will
change.
However, speaking of
chores, I really liked the idea of “Chore Wars” and I immediately began
thinking of ways to adapt it to a classroom environment. Finding ways to
motivate my students is never far from my mind. I enjoyed reading about ARGs
and was surprised at the authors discussion of ‘SuperBetter” (pg.133) because
this was something I tried to get my 80yr. old mother to do a few months ago without
much success. I may have to revisit that effort after learning more about it.
McGonigal also reviews for us the progress of Quest to Learn, a project that I
find intriguing. That is something I could get excited about, to be a part of
groundbreaking change in our educational system. Reading about ARGs put me in
search of more and I found this website http://www.argn.com/,
which exposed me to a variety of other ARGs that I found quite fascinating. For
now, these types of games can motivate me.
Michael, for a second there I thought I was reading my post. Funny how everyone has their own interests.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I was intrigued by the SuperBetter as well. It was something new and it seems interesting. Again, time is always the determining factor for everything. Maybe once I'm finished with school, I'll see that I've got time to experiment with some of these games again, but right now, it's just not a priority.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be able to use more games in the classroom setting. In my computer lab, we interact with games on a daily basis, but they aren't ongoing. It seems, again, that there just isn't enough time to use the games given that the teachers have technology projects and other curricular "things" that we have to accomplish!
Michael, glad to see that although your interest is waning in Settlers that you did find an interest in ARGs and that you are beginning to envision ways that games of some type can make learning exciting and meaningful! Keep at it...
ReplyDelete