002+Videogames+in+Schools



**Introduction** Videogames are used by children of all ages, whether it’s for educational purposes, physical fitness, or just for fun. They play such a huge part it children’s lives today, that it is raising the question if videogames should be implemented into classrooms. Project Tomorrow conducted a survey where over half of the teachers agreed that “gaming will help engage their students in the coursework and provide them with an effective tool for teaching to students with different learning styles” (Silverberg 2008). Today, videogames catch and maintain children's attention more than books do because they grew up using that type of technology, and schools can use games to benefit learning.

**Quest to Learn**

A school in New York City called Quest to Learn took an unusual approach and based their teaching on the concept of video games. This is a unique school that has a very different outlook on learning. Katie Salen, “an executive director of Quest to Learn, said ‘The big idea of the school is we looked at how games work — literally how they're built and the way they support learning — and we thought could we design a school from the ground up that supported learning in the way games do’” (Chaplin 2010). The students are essentially in one big videogame themselves learning about an important concept at Quest to Learn which is systems thinking. The teachers designed a pretend city called Creepytown, and have the students learn about math and English by “traveling the world as travel agents, converting currencies, keeping blogs about their travel experiences and budgeting trips” (Chaplin 2010). It was not an easy decision for parents to send their children to Quest to Learn. Sam Clayton, the father of a student attending Quest to Learn said, “Getting involved with the school, since there has been no program previously existing quite like this, was a complete leap of faith ... like jumping off a bridge” (Chaplin 2010). Although it is only their first year, Quest to Learn is hoping to thrive and give children the opportunity to a different way of learning that is fun for them.

**Types of Video Games** Although the use of video games in the classroom is fairly new, there is quite a variety of games for students to play. There are games covering many different topics such as math, science, writing, and history. In the different games students work through different scenarios and go on different journeys to solve the problems. This shows students that they can have fun while they are also learning. Many schools have been using a game called DimensionM, "an immersive video game world that engages students in the instruction and learning of mathematics. Pre-algebra and algebra objectives are covered through a series of missions that bring math into a world that today's students understand" (Silverberg, 2008). However, many other games are being used as well. "Food Force focuses on world hunger by allowing players to help feed millions of residents on a fictional island; Re-mission starts an "armed nanobot" that attacks malignant cancer cells and teaches gamers about the origins of the disease; and Making History capitalizes on the popularity of the PC game Civilizations to give kids a chance to personify a nation to engage in diplomacy. Making History is part of the World War II Curriculum in more than 150 schools in the U.S." (Silververg, 2008). There are video games to cover just about every subject. In a world that is based around technology this is a way to keep children interested in learning.

**Physical Benefits** Some schools have began to use video games in the classrooms in an effort to get students up and moving to work against obesity. Many schools are using the Wii gaming console in physical education classes as well as the regular classroom. This is encouraging students to get the exercise they need and have fun while doing it. Many children are becoming more and more consumed in playing video games instead of playing sports and playing outside. By incorporating video games where children are exercising can show the students that playing these games and exercising actually can be fun. An eighth-grader at Delano Middle School in the San Joaquin Valley said "I think it's pretty awesome. It's a better way to work out. PE used to be boring, but I really enjoy it now" (Yi 2006). Delano Middle School has been using Dance Dance Revolution in physical education classes and the results have been very positive. "It used to take Ariana Gutierrez 11 minutes to run a mile. Now, the 15-year-old says she can do it in seven minutes thanks to the Dance Dance Revolution video game in her physical education class" (Yi 2006). Children today are already consumed in the world of video games. Why not allow them to play a video game that will get them up and moving. The exercise provided by video games in the classroom is benefitting children more than just the regular classroom.

** Statistics ** Speak Up was a survey conducted in 2007 by Project Tomorrow, a non-profit organization, which revealed the importance of technology among adults and children in today’s world. With just gaming alone, “over 64% of students in grades K-12 play online and/or electronics based games regularly,” and “ more than half of students in grades 3-12 believe educational gaming would help them learn” (Project Tomorrow 2008). You may be thinking “of course kids are going to say that, they love playing games,” but the study also revealed an impressively high percentage of parents and administrators who think technology would improve students’ learning. Speak Up showed that “ 58% of parents say that technology accelerates learning opportunities for their children,” and “84% of administrators say that their school’s implementation of technology enhances students’ achievement” (Project Tomorrow 2008). The main focus of Speak Up was to ensure that students are taught to the best of their ability due to the rising technology.

** Conclusion **

Our research gave us supportive information as to why videogames should be used in advancing children’s education in the classroom. Videogames have not only shown to be easier for children to relate to, but they are also beneficial to physical health which has been a growing problem. Implementing videogames as a teaching tool is hard for some to grasp because they are used to the traditional way of learning (books), but times have changed and the children today are being introduced to technology at younger ages. We have become reliant on technology over the past years and if it can be used to benefit children’s learning it absolutely should be incorporated into the curriculum.

**References** Chaplin, H. (2010, 28 June). //School Uses Video Games To Teach Thinking Skills//. Retrieved from []

Project Tomorrow (2008, 8 April). //21st Century Students Deserve a 21st Century Education//. Retrieved from http://www.tomorrow.org/docs/National%20Findings%20Speak%20Up%202007.pdf

Silverberg, D. (2008, 10 April). //Why Educational Video Games Should Be Part Of Every School’s Curriculum.// Retrieved from []

Yi, M. (2006, February 20). Playing games in school / Using videos helps students love to learn their lessons. //San Francisco Bay Area — News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds: SFGate//. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from []

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Rachel Hanlin [] This article discusses a study that was performed which shows that video games teach students better than the actual teachers do themselves. The students used a video game called DimensionM, which is a multiplayer game. It takes students to a 3-Dimensional world and allows them to work as a team while using mathematics along the way. The study involved 200 kids in a relatively low-achieving school in the Southeastern U.S. The MIT Technology Review author suggested that "a growing body of educators are already arguing that the world's worst-off are better off being educated by machines."

[] In this article, Corbett discusses a school in Manhattan, New York called Quest to Learn where video games were a main part of the curriculum. Students used video game consoles and laptops to play educational games during class. This encourages the students to learn because they were enjoying themselves while doing it. Corbett says "Once it has been worked over by game designers, a lesson doesn’t look like a lesson anymore. It is now a quest. And while students at the school are put through the usual rigors of studying pre-algebra, basic physics, ancient civilizations and writing, they do it inside interdisciplinary classes with names like Codeworlds — a hybrid of math and English class — where the quests blend skills from different subject areas. Students have been called upon to balance the budget and brainstorm business ideas for an imaginary community called Creepytown, for example, and to design architectural blueprints for a village of bumbling little creatures called the Troggles. There are elements of the school’s curriculum that look familiar — nightly independent reading assignments, weekly reading-comprehension packets and plenty of work with pencils and paper — and others that don’t. Quest to Learn students record podcasts, film and edit videos, play video games, blog avidly and occasionally receive video messages from aliens."

[] In this article Yusuf talks about how more and more schools are adding the use of video games into their classrooms. The article also discusses creating a curriculum where video games are the main focus. "A game-centric school requires a whole new teaching philosophy, Salen says. To help distill her idea, she tapped the Institute of Play in New York, a nonprofit organization that promotes collaboration between the gaming industry and educators, to design the school’s curriculum. They envision teachers brainstorming with game designers at least once a week and having a staff of developers on hand throughout the school day."

Bibliography

Corbett, S. (2015, September 10). Video Games Win a Beachhead in the Classroom - NYTimes.com. //The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia//. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">McGrath, S. (2010, September 16). Educational video games more effective than teachers - National Unschooling | Examiner.com. //National News, National Information, National Events - Examiner.com | Examiner.com//. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from http://www.examiner.com/unschooling-in-national/educational-video-games-more-effective-than-teacher

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">Yusuf, H. (2008, September 18). Video games start to shape classroom curriculum - CSMonitor.com. //The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com//. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech-Culture/2008/0918/video-games-start-to-shape-classroom-curriculum

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Katie Begley <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Chaplin wrote an interesting article about a school in New York City called Quest to Learn <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Chaplin spoke with executive director, Katie Salen who said, "The big idea of the school is we looked at how games work — literally how they're built and the way they support learning — and we thought could we design a school from the ground up that supported learning in the way games do.” This is a school that bases their teaching like one big video game that teaches the children “how to solve problems, how to communicate, how to use data, how to begin to predict things that might be coming down the line,” Salen says.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In this article, Hellmish brings to light of the fact that there are active video games get children up and moving in a healthy way. Hellmish points out that “when the staff at Conlee Elementary School in Las Cruces, N.M., began having students do five minutes of //Just Dance//, an active video game for Nintendo's Wii, at the start of every school day last year, they noticed a trend: Tardiness went down.” Although video games can be used for education, this article points out they can benefit physical fitness as well, which is very important with young children.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[] <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In this article, Silverberg focused on the positive effects of educational video games. He argues that we need to listen to the kids and realize that they are growing up with this technology that could be used as one of the best ways of teaching to them. Silverberg spoke with Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow who said, “The students in many ways are far ahead of their teachers and parents not only in the sophistication of their technology use, but in the adoption of emerging technologies for learning purposes.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Bibliography

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Chaplin, H. (2010, 28 June). //School Uses Video Games To Teach Thinking Skills//. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Hellmich, N. (2010, 11 October). //Video games help schools get kids moving, exercising more.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Silverberg, D. (2008, 10 April). //Why Educational Video Games Should Be Part Of Every School’s Curriculum.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[]