Video games and education are connected in more ways than ever before. This current generation is the most technologically influenced generation to date and the way these children receive information best has changed. A study by Iowa State University shows that 64 million kids between the ages of 2 and 17 play videogames (Reisinger ST.). In school, children no longer can relate to examples about farmer life or playing outside with their friends. With the changing times, teaching styles and teachers’ curriculums need to change as well. Simply put, it is no longer a matter of if teachers should incorporate video games, but how can they do it in an effective and appropriate way.
With this generation so much more partial to technology than any …show more content…
In saying this, it is not to be conveyed that teachers need to not teach, but more that teachers need to change their style of teaching.
There will never be a substitute for a good teacher; a teacher that knows how to relate to their student, but still implants fear in them and gets respect in return. “As former U.S. Secretary of
Education Terrell H. Bell once remarked, ‘There are three important things to remember about education. The first one is motivation, the second is motivation, and the third is motivation”’
(Bell Qtd. In Lim.) But students are drastically changing; they are on a different frequency than the teachers, and the two need to become attuned. The classroom needs to become more interactive and engaging for students to get the best possible outcome. This can be done by installing game systems such as computers, Xboxes or Nintendo Wiis. Video games on the market are no longer all about shooting up some Nazi villain; these games have elaborate story lines, helpful learning tricks and are still a joy to play.
However, computers or game systems are expensive. Cost is the biggest step …show more content…
How are the schools in Sweden incorporating Minecraft? In their English classes, for instance, when learning about William Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, to give the students a more tangible and first person feel of what it was like to walk around the Globe, the assignment was given for students to create their own replica of the Theater with the appropriate aspects to scale in the game. This assignment has many applications; for instance, in a game were blocks (cubes) are your only means of building, how would you construct a circular building? Many challenges much like that one had to be overcome in their endeavor for the perfect digital replica Globe Theater.
In Minecraft you can explore and easily get off topic. There is a whole “mine” and
“craft” part of Minecraft, were you can build a pick axe and mine down to collect resources such as iron and craft strong iron and tools, that makes it a lot less classroom applicable than other purely learning games. However, I have had teachers not allow me to do building projects in
Minecraft, for the fact that they do not know of its good applications. If the students are
With this generation so much more partial to technology than any …show more content…
In saying this, it is not to be conveyed that teachers need to not teach, but more that teachers need to change their style of teaching.
There will never be a substitute for a good teacher; a teacher that knows how to relate to their student, but still implants fear in them and gets respect in return. “As former U.S. Secretary of
Education Terrell H. Bell once remarked, ‘There are three important things to remember about education. The first one is motivation, the second is motivation, and the third is motivation”’
(Bell Qtd. In Lim.) But students are drastically changing; they are on a different frequency than the teachers, and the two need to become attuned. The classroom needs to become more interactive and engaging for students to get the best possible outcome. This can be done by installing game systems such as computers, Xboxes or Nintendo Wiis. Video games on the market are no longer all about shooting up some Nazi villain; these games have elaborate story lines, helpful learning tricks and are still a joy to play.
However, computers or game systems are expensive. Cost is the biggest step …show more content…
How are the schools in Sweden incorporating Minecraft? In their English classes, for instance, when learning about William Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, to give the students a more tangible and first person feel of what it was like to walk around the Globe, the assignment was given for students to create their own replica of the Theater with the appropriate aspects to scale in the game. This assignment has many applications; for instance, in a game were blocks (cubes) are your only means of building, how would you construct a circular building? Many challenges much like that one had to be overcome in their endeavor for the perfect digital replica Globe Theater.
In Minecraft you can explore and easily get off topic. There is a whole “mine” and
“craft” part of Minecraft, were you can build a pick axe and mine down to collect resources such as iron and craft strong iron and tools, that makes it a lot less classroom applicable than other purely learning games. However, I have had teachers not allow me to do building projects in
Minecraft, for the fact that they do not know of its good applications. If the students are