Of the readings this week, the one I really enjoyed was Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Really Works, by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski (2007). This chapter discussed the importance of teaching students that increased effort leads to achievement. The effort spreadsheet was an excellent example of Excel use; I was very impressed that the teacher discussed in the chapter was teaching fifth grade students how to use Excel (pp. 157-159). Not only was she helping them visually track their improvement in achievement, she was teaching them how to use a versatile and useful tool.
All of the videos were very informative this week, but the video that I found the most significant was Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee on Grading with Games. Many parents and educators feel that video games have no place in the classroom, except as a tool for drilling math facts, or perhaps as a reward when work has been complete successfully. Video games can, in fact, be teaching tools. Professor Gee makes the point,
“All a video game is, is problem solving…If you think of it in some weird way, a video game is just an assessment. All you do is get assessed, every moment while you try to solve a problem.”
This point is reiterated by Professor Sasha Barab in Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement (nd), when discussing how video games can bring about new levels of thinking for children:
“In a game, I’m considered someone who has a really powerful role to do something significant with my time. And that significance requires that I learn a bunch of things, so that I can do that thing even better.”
Rather than just requiring students to learn for the purpose of ingesting facts and spitting them back out, this type of game requires that students learn information for a greater purpose: to actually use that information, students must think deeper, apply the concepts, and find solutions that require them think creatively and extend their learning. When a teacher gives a student a failing grade, it usually results in feelings of dejection for the student. Most students do not regard the pick up the gauntlet and regard the failing grade as a challenge. However, in a game, the student is on safe ground; he is in his element and is comfortable. Failure does not mean the game is over; it just means it’s time for a new start.
References:
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: Sasha Barab on new-media engagement. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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