Electronic games(e-games, video games, online games) are always attractive to children. Especially these days, lots of portable devices are released, says, smartphone, tablets, etc. It lead to a rapid development to the electronics entertainment industry.
Though children/teenagers love electronic games so much, most parents and teachers usually do not like it. One main reason is that they think that e-games would distract children from study and make them be so isolated from the real world. Is it really true? The answer, of course, is No. In Hong Kong, there are certain schools do not be reluctant to e-games, instead, they provide e-games and encourage students to play the e-games. Teachers would ask students play the "RPG"(role-play game) provided by the schools network.(T5) The RPG may include several subjects, using MC, matching, pictures, etc to ask students to finish some "quests".(T1, T2) If students can accomplish those quests(T4), their avatars in the RPG will be level-up. So that students can have more accessories for their avatars. It encourages students to self-learn and teachers can also check students' progress.(T3)
In this kind of learning, teachers change their role from assessor to facilitator. In the past, teachers might encounter a problem that students did not have the motivation to learn or teachers could not find a better way to draw students' attention in the class. But with e-games students can be excited when playing games; they can also interact more with their classmates and teachers, as a result students can also gain social skills. Moreover, students can get information from different topics. Teachers can easily provide any content they want in the e-games. In such case, teachers do not the only one who teach students, but students also teach themselves from the games. It is a good example of self-learning.
There are some examples showing how electronic games(T5, T8, T11) are adopted in classroom and what teachers would do.
1. Nintendo DS Plays It's Part In The Classroom
2. Schoolteacher Ananth Pai Brings Video Games to the Classroom
3. Wii Fit Class of 30 doing hula hoops together in new PE class
(T6, T7, T11, T13)
Further reading:
- Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen (2009), moving learning games forward
- Elaine Pearson and Chris Bailey (2007), Evaluating the potential of the Nintendo Wii to support disabled students in education
- http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.html (turn a $40 video game controller into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer)
- http://www.kinecteducation.com/ (open-source community using Kinect, a motion sensor gaming device, in education)
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