James Gee Video
James Gee says in his video that testing drives the school system. Do I agree with him? Absolutely. His example about the algebra class vs. Halo poses such an interesting point about the design of video games versus the way children are taught in schools today. He makes a very good point about not giving children a test after playing a video game, but giving children a test after teaching them an algebra lesson. When I was in school, we would go to the computer lab to play games such as Oregon Trail or Number Munchers, but we were never tested on these games, even though they were used as educational tools. In my elementary school years, we would go to the computer lab as a class, and we would be required to play Oregon Trail or Number Munchers that day, and then we would have a class discussion about what we learned from the game we played that day. What did we learn as we progressed farther than our classmates in the game? What did we do differently than our classmates? So, why then do teachers feel the need to test us on basic algebra facts, but not the content of the games that we played during "computer" time.
I think James Gee poses some excellent discussion points in his video. I would prefer to play a video game for homework or class, just like we're playing Gardens of Time, rather than doing algebra or something scientific and having to take a test on it after the lesson is presented. Is James right about people trusting the design of the game as a test of children's knowledge more than we trust the content a teacher presents to her students in an algebra lesson?
I agree with your assessment of the video clip. I thought the most interested concept was the fact that he pointed out that we tend to trust in the ability of the game designer more than the classroom teacher. I also like that he pointed out that well designed games teaches the player to solve very complex problems and patterns while mastering the game.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to see the games you design later in this course. It is my hope that you will be able to design engaging games based on these principles to teach students content we want them to learn in school. I think being able to design a game that will allow us to assess students understanding of content without a traditional test will be challenging and the most rewarding!
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