Janelle’s Blog

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The use of using games in classrooms has been an issue of concern over the years. More recently the use of computer games has been heavily debated by teachers, parents and community members. Over time games are becoming more and more tolerated for use in education, and in many schools teachers are expected to use methods such as games to motivate and engage children in their learning.

It is obvious to state that the quality and quantity of educational games (often termed edutainment) is growing every year. We can see by comparing early games such as Reader Rabbit and Where in the World is Carmen SanDiago?, with recently created games such as I SPY Fantasy and Marble Blast Gold. Even the widespread usage of edutainment shows the changes in teacher’s opinions over time. Lipschultz writes about how games are being played in today’s libraries, something which many librarians would never have imagined possible.

Etuk notes that edutainment began in 1984 with ‘Math Blaster’, and that today’s products must be anchored in more specific pedagogical design principles. In “What Video Games have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy” Gee comprised a list of 36 principles that are used to make video games, that can be transferred to the education sector to enhance learning. Among these principles are active and critical (opposed to passive) learning, taking risks without real world consequences, intrinsic rewards, lots of (not boring) practice, and a variety of modalities. Gee states that edutainment engages children, asks questions, gives children safety to fail, is contextual and provides relevant learning. Children are learning through games without even realising it.

There is an extensive number of research that has been produced arguing for and against the use of computer games in schools. The European Parliament released a report stating that these games can teach children essential life skills, such as strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovative thinking. The report urged parents and teachers to take a greater interest in games and to consider using them for educational purposes.

Egerfeldt-Nielsen outlined some of the problems relating to the use of edutainment, but he also states that the new generation relies on constructivist learning theories. He realises that computer games are just another tool for the teacher which can be dispensed with great success, but also have clear limitations. There is the understanding that computer games can be used effectively in classrooms to facilitate learning, if they are adopted in careful ways and incorporated into the curriculum thoughtfully. I believe that children should be able to see how the games they are playing fit into what they are learning.

Etuk states that games are being designed to teach, not simply to entertain. I believe that this combination (entertainment and teaching) is powerful and has opened up avenues for children to learn that have never been possible before.

As a teacher I will use games in the classroom to support learning. I will ensure that I create an environment which is supportive to learning by setting clear guidelines for behaviour and by making sure that games are used to enhance learning, and therefore are strongly correlated to the curriculum I have chosen. I will also endeavour to incorporate some of the principles of video games in my own face to face teaching to enhance learning. I will need to be cautious to ensure the games chosen are based on good pedagogy and age appropriate. I believe that it is important to inform parents about games that are used, both for their interest, and to justify how that game is educational. The NSW DET provides documents outlining procedures for consultation with parents over the implementation of computer games in schools. I really want to encourage parents to be supportive of games and be on the lookout for educational games that their children love for use in their own homes. I myself will be looking for free edutainment that I can recommend to parents, so that children are less disadvantaged by their economic circumstances.

Bold References
Egerfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2007). Third Generation Educational Use of Computer Games. Journal of Educational Multimedia & Hypermedia, 16(3), 263-281.

Etuk, N. (2008). Educational gaming-from edutainment to bona fide 21st-century teaching tool. Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 10(4). Retrieved February 2, 2009.

European Parliament. (2009). Computer games ‘can teach children essential life skills. Education, 34(3), 2-3. Retrieved February 13, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=36575892&site=ehost-live

Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved February 12, at http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utslibrary/docDetail.action?docID=10089175

Lipschultz, D. (2009). Gaming @ your library. American Libraries, 40(1/2), 40-43.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT USING COMPUTER GAMES IN SCHOOLS?

Schools, governments and parents all around the world area currently talking about web filters. Why? They want to protect their children from exposure to inappropriate content that is all to easily popping up in internet browsers.

Current discussion suggests that governments should introduce free automatic filtering of the internet to block pornographic sites. Bailey writes that at the core of our technology infrastructure must be a strong set of access and filtering controls, detecting and preventing intrusion.

Leslie reports how Government tests have shown that often material that should be targeted will slip through, and much that should be allowed will be blocked. In addition to this, usually the better the filter is the more it slows down network performance (up to 86%). Miners writes that for this reason schools will need to look for ways to increase their bandwidth.

An article written by Wortham reports that Connecticut Attorney General Mr Blumenthal stated that almost 100, 000 convicted sex offenders (in America) are mixing with children on MySpace (shown by a subpoena), and for everyone of them, there may be hundreds of others using false names and ages. This scares me.

Bell discusses how some teachers strongly believe that some of the current filter systems block perfectly legitimate and valuable educational sources yet still allow inappropriate sites. She argues that teachers and principals are not given any power to unblock sites which causes stress for teachers who want to access them. This also restricts teachers ability to deal with cyber bullying issues as they arise since often teachers are unable to access sites such as MySpace to check out these incidents.

Bell suggests that children would be safer if schools reduced the strict filters and instead focused on teaching students good search skills and how to distinguish for themselves between good and bad sites. Bell also states that a current problem is students use the internet at school without having to think too much, they then go home where they are often unsupervised in their internet use, and suddenly become bombarded with spam and inappropriate sites.

Filters also provide a false sense of security for teachers and parents. Many sites manage to avoid becoming captured in filters and many guides are also easily available to give children step by step instructions on how to get around filter systems, E.g. Youtube clip.

In addition to this, teachers should teach children (and learn themselves) how to judge the reliability of sources of information found when surfing the net. Descy writes an article titled “Of course its true.. I found it on the web!” gives some attributes to look for when evaluating a site for accuracy of information, these are, authority of author, is the author/site biased?, credible references and is currency of information. Descy also suggests teachers give students many different examples of good and bad websites to help prepare them to critically evaluate information they see on the web.

As a teacher I realize the need to not only set up a filtering system that will help protect children from inappropriate internet sites, but also to teach children appropriate behavior and communication on the internet. Children need to be warned about people such as these, but more importantly children should be taught the skills to equip them with the knowledge of what to do incase they do become involved with such people or sites. I plan to always be alert when allowing children to use the internet, monitoring them and not leaving them alone. I think it is important to teach parents about the dangers of the internet, but also to equip them with the knowledge and skills to help set up a safe environment for their children to use the internet rather than to scare them into banning the internet in the home. It is disappointing that we live in a society that needs such filtering, however it is a reality and as a teacher I will do I all I can to protect the children whom I teach.

Bold References
Bailey, D. (2009). Safe surfing for primary education (new @techlearning.com). Technology & Learning, 4(1).Retrieved February 26, 2009 from Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. University of Technology Sydney
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM.

Bell, M.(2009). Do you want kids to be safe online? Loosen those filters! (Column). Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 38(3). Retrieved February 2, 2009 from Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. University of Technology Sydney
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM.

Descy, D. (2008). Of Course It’s True…I Found It On the Web!. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 52(6), 8-9. Retrieved February 5, 2009.

Miners, Z. (2008). Technology Overload. District Administration, 44(11), Retrieved February 28, 2009.

Teachers  are being encouraged to learn different tools that they will be expected to use in the classroom in the near future. Teachers can not deny children the rich learning experiences which come through using these technologies. New media is beginning to be used in flexible ways in schools. For example, the use a genre of video called digital storytelling is becoming widely popular. Through this medium students (and teachers) are able to create powerfull stories as voice, music and images combine. Matthew blogs about this and directs attention towards a site where prospective teachers have published their own digital stories. I myself have recently experienced creating a digital story and would encourage teachers to think about how they can incorporate this media into their classrooms. Obviously a task like this can not be completed in one afternoon with no prior planning. A task like this would likely span over weeks, but would be meaningful to students and well worth the effort. Suprisingly (for me) however is that these digital stories are very simple to create. Once an idea for a story is found, the process is both educational and enjoyable. I used Photo Story 3 and a very old microphone to create my digital story book: Here is my story, enjoy.

Resnick writes an article (see below for reference) pointing out that many computers today are stifling childrens learning and creativity because children are simply passively consuming them. (Resnick is also interviewed on the same topic – in my opinion an audio summary of his article). He argues that computers could be used more like paintbrushes if children were given opportunities to use them to playfully explore, experiment, design and invent.

Since childhood is considered to be the most creative time of ones life, as future teachers we need to be looking for ways to exercise, nurture, refine and extend their creative abilities by taking a new approach to education and the new types of technologies which promise to support learning. Rather than have your children use the ‘limited’ (or ‘mandatory’, depending on your attitude towards technology) “computer time” playing games or programs that seek to ‘jazz up’ learning with cartoons, colours and sound effects, consider giving your children the opportunity to creatively explore through programs such as garageband.

Also reconsider the way you currently think about which KLAs technologies are appropriate for use in the classroom. Broaden your thinking, be creative yourself. When choosing what technologies to use in your classroom, appraise your options by focusing on the difference between technologies that foster creative thinking and expression, and those that don’t.

Resnick, M. (2006). Computer as paintbrush: Technology, play, and the creative society. In Singer, D., Golikoff, R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (eds.). Play = Learning: How play motivates and enhances children’s cognitive and socio-emotional growth. Oxford UniversityPress.

Image made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Available here.