What are the possibilities and limitations of using games, immersive social networking, and virtual worlds in the classroom?
Games in the classroom (I like the way that sounds already!): I can understand why teachers tend to lean toward minigames that are short and to the point. Sometimes there just doesn’t feel like enough time for everything! I’m currently working on finding the right amount of balance to the projects in my courses and it’s difficult, as student needs change from semester to semester. Add in an element of technology, everything that can go wrong with it, huge gaps in student ability, and finding that right balance is even more difficult! As Brooks-Young points out, few teachers receive training in using technology beyond the basics and automation (Common objections section, para. 9), much less in playing online games. The process of education also moves slowly, meaning that the “cool” game of today quickly becomes an “old” game, often before we even get a chance to think of an educational use! In my own classroom I find that developing an open line of communication with students is vital. For example, E-Week (Engineering Week at MU) was last week and we were setting up the IT Program open lab exhibit as part of the K-12 recruitment activities. We were exhibiting our “Classroom of the Future” and needed a good, multi-touch, and recognizable game for the HD Smart board. We (the Instructors) couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t from the 80s, so we asked a few students and “Angry Birds” went on display. I find that when I need to know what’s popular (and how to play it), all I have to do is ask! As for the possibilities of games, they open up the ability for students to get “hands-on” experience with creating projects that were not physically possible before (experiences like those in SimCity) and instant feedback about those projects.
Immersive social networking in the classroom: Rosen (2010) describes social networking as “multifaceted, multisensory environments where communication and content are the two key ingredients” (MySpace, Facebook, and education section, para. 1). While the Internet opens the door to massive amounts of information, social networking takes information and connects it with real, accessible people. The major limitation to utilizing a social network is administrative approval due to bad publicity in the media. Yet, social networking is widely available and involves little technical training to use, freeing up more time to discuss important matters like ethical online behavior. With social networking, students can collaborate by sharing additional links and ideas with each other. In this class, even though they are assignments, I find our network of blogs to be an excellent source of trusted links to ideas and sites.
Virtual worlds in the classroom: The article by Liao (2008) quotes Lev Manovich’s description of computer technology as no longer interfacing with a machine, but with culture in a digital form (88). Virtual worlds allow students to explore digital recreations of real world places, as in the Sistine Chapel Second Life site described by Rosen (2010). They also allow for explorations regarding identity, role-play, and human stereotypes and the visual culture of avatar creation should be analyzed for its western-based view of aesthetics (Liao 2008). In creating my own avatar using Voki, I found myself wanting to make it aesthetically less “perfect.” I wanted to make it more like me, define its nose to be larger and make one eye higher/lower, etc. Although I don’t feel like I “bonded” with my Voki avatar, I felt more relieved when I was able to adjust its face shape and shoulder width to be more like me. Yet I didn’t feel a need to be as true to life with the other avatars I was exploring –SouthPark and Hero– perhaps because they are geared more towards role-play and fantasy. In the classroom it would be interesting to have the students attempt to create both representational and fantasy avatars for comparison and identity explorations.
References:
Brooks-Young, S. (2010). Teaching with the tools kids really use. (Kindle Edition). Available from http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Tools-Kids-Really-ebook/dp/B00486THRE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1296870495&sr=8-2
Liao, C. L. (2008). Avatars, Second Life, and New Media Art: The challenge for contemporary art education. Art Education 61(2), 87-91.
Rosen, L. D. (2010). Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the way they learn. (Kindle Edition). Available from http://www.amazon.com/Rewired-Understanding-iGenerationLearnebook/dp/B003QP3NAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digitaltext&qid= 1295657170&sr=1-1
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