Video Games and Education
TechEd 2007
www.genconnection.com/online/teched2007.ppt
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Far Side by Gary Larson
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Facts
• … academic experts across the country
are unearthing educational benefits in the
digital games… surveys show [that video
games] are now played by more than 80
percent of American young people ages 8
to 18.
Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune, Feb 11, 2007
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Facts
Video game sales exceeded the movie
industry's annual box office draw last year
[2002] by $1 billion.
USA Today – Dec. 23, 2002
The video game industry has out-grossed
the movie industry every year since 2002.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Some researchers even suggest
supplanting much of the traditional
back-to-basics K-12 curriculum with
a new generation of game-based
materials to capture the increasingly
short attention spans of today's
youth.
Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune, Feb 11, 2007
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
World of WarCraft
• Over 7 million players in this
MMPOG – massively multi-player online
game
The World of WarCraft
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
"But it shouldn't come as a
surprise that when our economy
has changed, when innovation
and creativity are much more
important than rote memorization,
that the system needs some real
updating to train kids how to use
computer games to solve
problems in the real world."
David Williamson Shaffer, How Computer Games Help Children Learn.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Simulation games in particular have
already been embraced by some
educators, as well as many
businesses and the U.S. military, as
effective ways to introduce people
to environments and situations that
would otherwise be too expensive,
dangerous or impossible to access.
Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune, Feb 11, 2007
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Other researchers are studying
what students learn when they join
other players across the Internet in
creating characters, or avatars, in
online fantasy or role-playing
games, such as Second Life, There
or World of Warcraft.
Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune, Feb 11, 2007
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 1
• Good gaming
requires that players
feel like participants
not spectators.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 2
• Good gaming accommodates different styles of
play.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 3
• Good gaming places
the player in an
authentic game
situation.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 4
• Perceptions and
actions are deeply
connected
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 5
• Problems/obstacles need to be well-ordered and
the steps clear.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 6
• Learning needs to be
sufficiently frustrating.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 7
• Players need to be
encouraged to “stepup” their games.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 8
• Information needs to
be on-demand and
just-in-time.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 9
• Simplified minature
models can help
learners grasp
concepts that can
later be applied to
more complex
systems later.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 10
• The risks of learning
must be considered.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Principle 11
• Seeing the big
picture…
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Classroom Application
• Marc Prensky
• Today’s learners are Digital Natives
• We are Digital Immigrants
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Classroom Application
Motivation in learning is concerned with
• Interaction with content
• Interaction with peers
• Interaction with teacher
Lack of motivation usually points to one of a
lack of one or more of these factors.
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.
Gaming Implications
Reduce formal instruction
Replace with gaming activity
Rely on student trial-and-error
Rely on peer learning
Relate goals and timelines
Realizes risk taking but in mediated place
Ron Glahn, Ed.D., Russ Glahn, Ray Gen, Ed. D.