Education and Gaming

The digital world of gaming unarguably has great potential to as a developmental tool for young people on many different levels. We already established yesterday that if the appropriate type of game is used the social and team building components of a game combined with a system that rewards ethical behavior can be a very valuable tool in developing a stronger, more ethical character. Today's readings assert that with a few tweaks, games with sound moral content, such as WoW, may be used to help effectively teach students, who are living in a digitally--immersed world, a variety of invaluable subjects.


Students may study the expected schoolroom subjects, such as math, as well as social studies, science, and may even obtain valuable computer and digital social skills, which is vital for success in this day and age. As the readings mentioned, just as is usually the case, this emerging teaching tool is just that: a tool. It is not intended to replace a parent or teacher's guidance, and should be done as a parent or teacher/ student activity together. There is no teaching tool that could possibly match the human contact and attention that children require, and the student has much less of a chance to learn to their full potential without these things.

I happen to have to pre--teen sons who have been playing versions of RPG games-- not online until recently-- since they were four and five years old. When my son David started to play Age of Mythology he obviously did not understand certain aspects of the game, but with my help, he played the game for hours. (He still does on occasion.) As the years wore on, and he continued to play, his knowledge and appreciation of the game became more sophisticated, and he fully understands this game along with others such as Age of Empires. This particular pastime sparked an interest in history that spread to science and even math, and both of my children having reading levels that exceed many high school children and can tell me stories about Attila the Hun's battle techniques. It would seem that their gaming activity has had a very positive effect on their learning experience, and if used properly, gaming applications could become very useful in the classroom.

Games and Learning

I think that having online gaming, in school for maybe once a week or something wouldn't be a bad idea. It does help in ways, but I don't think it should be an every day thing, or that it should be done for long periods of time during the school day. I still think that other things should be done other than them playing a game to learn. It does help with hand eye coordination, learning how to help others, and you also learn how to complete things. Even though parts of the game maybe hard, you don't give up and you have people to help you. It shows you how to help and support one another. It would be benifitial in ways, but I don't think it should be a childs whole school day.

Learning Games

I think that using online learning games is very useful for kids. I think that it takes something a child may like (video games) and can help them learn new skills such as problem solving or reading. I think that games that help with counting or math are also beneficial. I see online games as learning tools being most effective for pre-school and elementary school children as opposed to high school students, but I'm sure that a game could be designed to encourage education in teens as well. I just see how beneficial games are for teaching younger children.

I learned how to type through playing games. It helped me to be able to practice the skill. I also learned how to do math problems because the game made it more fun and was a great teaching tool. I think that as technology progresses that incorporating it into teaching and learning will help students to keep up with other kids and also be a fun interactive way of learning. I find that for some kids its useful to actually do it and not just take notes in class.

Ethical Consideration in the Online World

Based upon what I have read in the article as well as from my own experience with some online games as well as the use of forums, I would say that I believe online games do create ethical communities. There seems to be two apparent factors behind this. One factor, which was mentioned in the article, would be rules that are in place. The second factor is based on personal observation of online interaction between people.

Whether it be an online game or a forum, most reputable online communication has some sort of monitoring or filtration. As for online gaming, as noted in the article, players of WoW must communicate with respect to fellow players. If this rule is abused, the person is banned from the game. Furthermore, the same thing applies to those who use forums. Posters are allowed to express their opinion and make jokes, but only to an extent. Use of cursing is blocked, and the repetition of insults or disrespect for other posters generally leads to the person being banned.

In addition to this, what I have noticed personally is that, for the most part, is that online communication does well to promote community spirit and the sharing of knowledge. Most forms of identity, such as gender, race, name, educational background, and location are able to be private. Because of this, some people feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and advice. Individuals present themselves mainly through their writing, leaving little room for distraction of other details. Also, by nature, people like to be recognized and respected for what they're good at.
Therefore, when the online gamer helps a "newbie", or a retired auto mechanic helps a young gearhead get his or her car started on a forum, they can sign out feeling good about themselves for both their knowledge and for helping someone out.

Gaming and School

This might not seem to address the subject at hand, but......

when I was around 6 years old, my parents bought me a Sega PICO system, which is like a pre-cursor to the Leapfrog system. To me, it was the greatest toy ever; my parents set it up in the living room, and I was allowed to play 1-2 hours a day. Like today's playstations or XBoxes (the playstations were popular then too, but not age appropriate in my parent's opinion) the console plugged into the television, and educational games could be played. I remember that my favorite ones were based on the Disney characters. The object of the games were to teach preliminary skills like reading comprehension, spelling, math, colors, shapes, and other school-type lessons through the use of games and animated characters. Now the Leapfrog system has replaced the system and is a big hit with parents.

So I do believe that games could be used to teach children....but the game played also has something to do with it. Games that are just mindlessly violent (like fight games) seem pointless to me, but some could argue that they teach skills like strategy. One thread that seems to run though most video games, though, is cultivating the skill of persistence. Like solving a difficult math problem, successfully playing a video game requires persistance; obviously, it isn't so easy to get to that next level if you don't keep trying! So if anything, games can teach the importance of continuously persisting in not only the game, but in school and life.

Games/School

I'm not real sure that online games should be in the school curriculum for everyday, but maybe monthly or even bi weekly. I know that children today need to be motivated to do their best in school,but I guess I'm old school and feel that having them play games is almost like letting them eat desert before their dinner. I have read that it's good for coordination, problem solving,etc, so I know it has it's good points but not in everyday school hours. I know about motivation, my son Collin is thirteen and loves to carp fish,but hasn't cared for social studies until his social teacher motivated him by telling him to keep his grades above a ninety and he'll go fishing with him this summer,so far so good. I don't think I would have approved if the motivator was to play games during school?

Day 3 Game Journal

I had little information about the game before I began playing the game. All I figured that the game was about was war in some sort from the name and what some of the characters looked like from the commercials. Some of the primary tasks for the game is to select a realm, explore the lands, running around and fighting all sorts of monsters, completing missions or quests, or to interact and talk with the computer and other players all in a third person setting. I spend most of my time running around trying to kill random monsters that are walking around the level. The tasks that the game gives you arent that tough so far and they actually make me engage more in the game instead of just running around just looking for things. I have only done maybe two task and it was by myself and not against any other players. My personality has nothing to do with the way I play or approach the game.