While reading the articles there were points made by both authors that I agree with, but I definitely feel that games can be used to teach students. With Peshette’s article for games he makes a very good point how games can be used with students for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning. I think this is one of the great advantages that games have. It was mentioned by both authors that these great games are a rarity and hard to find, which is very true, and can also mean that they will be costly for the whole class. But I don’t think this can out rule games. I also think that Thornburg, in his article disagreeing with games as education, was a little harsh on games that are not the best. I feel that there are many games out there that are great for students to use along with what they are learning in the classroom. Thornburg makes the point that students need to know how and why they are making certain computations, and know why they are learning facts etc. This is very true, but I see these games as aids to students that will help them catch onto what is being taught in class. While the teacher may teach them, sometimes certain ideas and concepts don’t catch on right away unless the student figures them out on their own, which can be done with many games. From my own personal experience I remember playing grammar rock and those catchy songs that explained the rules about verbs and adverbs, along with the visuals with the song, and the game all helped me to remember the roles different word types play in a sentence. I believe these types of games can serve as great reinforcements, even if they don’t address all of bloom’s taxonomy levels.
Darfur is Dying:
I thought it was an interesting game. I think it is a good way to try to get people motivated to do something for the cause. When people go through games like this I think it tends them to think about what really is happening. The people who want people to help out with there cause can use this type of game to get people interested and then thinking about what really is going on. When people start wondering what is really happening they will most likely go the closest source, which will be the website. Depending on the honesty of those who made the website this can be a good or bad thing.
Ayiti: The cost of life:
I thought this was a neat concept for a game. I like the idea of teaching how hard it is to run a household, and get an education. I didn’t play it to long before I died, so it was hard. I didn’t count on getting sick so often. I liked the idea of the game though.
Funbrain
I thought this had some neat drill style games that might help students learn to answer information faster, or to practice a certain skill more, like choosing plurals of the singular form.
Gamequarium
I thought the site was a little hard to navigate through at first. The bright yellow made it hard to look at, so if a teacher used this in the classroom it would be better to open up a link directly to the game.
Funderstanding Roller Coaster
I liked the idea behind the game. I think it is a good way to tie in concepts of physics. This is something a kid might have fun doing in pairs, and then the class watching each others roller coasters. It also could get boring easily if students weren’t interested, or didn’t really care so much about getting their rollercoaster across, since it isn’t really very visually stimulating.
No comments:
Post a Comment