Doing a bit of research, I have noticed that schools around the world are finally introducing computer-based learning (GBL) in the classroom, and for good reason: It’s a great way to engage students with something they participate in by choice during their downtime. In both 2010 and 2011, the Horizon Report: K–12 Edition, identified GBL as an emerging technology that will impact teaching and learning in the next two to three years. “Games are really effective for increasing the engagement level of lots of people,” Larry Johnson (CEO of the New Media Consortium) explains. “We’re no longer thinking of games as something only kids do — we’re in our third generation of people who have grown up with these games.”
I also came across this site Quest to Learn, a New York City public school that has based the principles of game design and integration in the classroom. Supposedly, each trimester, in each class, students are given a mission — a complex problem they can’t solve at that time. I think this unconventional learning model, in which students play games to introduce and reinforce skills is great. The designed quests that students embark upon are very sequenced, with each one giving them a piece of information they need to solve the complex problem. Students ‘level up’ only after they complete each quest. The approach mirrors how many video games work, and is a natural way for educators to think, set and achieve goals for students who have grown up playing on their computers. The idea of play in learning has been around for a long time and for some weird reason, it ends after early elementary school.
We all in our daily lives, even as professionals, play with objects and concepts to see how they work. If we mess up, it typically doesn’t hold serious consequences. Making failure fun is an important part of games and should also play a role in learning. Sure, there are other obstacles, though to all this game play. Game development is expensive and also some CEOs/managers/teachers don’t understand the technology’s learning benefits. What do you all think?