Module 6: Article 5

Digital “Gamification” in the Classroom: A Growing Teaching Trend

By Marcus A. Hennessy, CEA (ret)

http://lessonplanspage.com/digital-gamification-in-the-classroom-a-growing-teaching-trend/

Marcus Hennessy writes to explain a new trend in education. He writes and explains how game consoles are being integrated into the classrooms in order to extend learning. Hennessy writes, “A middle school in New York applies The World of Warcraft (WoW) in-School Project to bolster at-risk students’ skills in digital literacy and leadership.” 

The University of Colorado reaches out in order to teach computer science to middle school students by recreating popular arcade games. Hennessy even explains how students in Singapore use the Nintendo Wii console to explore their country’s history. The new trend in education is to use “digital gamers as educational tools.”

With technology growing and becoming the new focus in our lives, it is important that we utilize it in order to maximize teaching. It lends creativity and engagement to the learning process. The Joan Cooney Center released a survey of 505 American teachers who are implementing “educational gaming” into their classrooms, and found that 60 percent of the teachers believe that the game systems are fostering collaboration and a deeper understanding of new content areas. 70 percent of the teachers believed that the gaming systems motivate struggling students within the classroom. Another 60 percent of teachers believed that the digital games help to personalize and to differentiate instruction. They are able to work through the lesson at their own pace, while instead of unlocking levels, students are able to unlock different content areas and further explanations.

The use of educational gaming has increased within the past decade, alluding to the term “Gamification- The use of integrating digital games into the education systems.” Several benefits have been noted of “Gamification”. Gaming makes boring subject areas more fun and engaging for all students, and it increases and encourages student performance (students are eager to show off what they know). Gaming provides teachers with a digital way to track student progress and offers immediate tangible rewards like certificates.

However, not all educators are embracing “Gamification”. Some educators argue that the students are showing difficulty when transferring the gaming skills to standardized and paper based tests. Another down fall is that at this time, teachers are often paying for these games out of pocket, which can quickly become a burden.

I think that “Gamification” would be a great way to get students involved in the learning process. This could be incorporated into our scheduled computer lab time each day, or even through small groups. I think the trouble is creating the games in ways that appropriately assess each learning standard. Another downfall, as mentioned in the article is the cost. As a teacher, I would not want to pay for these games, but it would be great to ask as PTA grant or create a technology fund to fund the gaming consoles. We could even get a few systems for each school or grade level to be checked out as it would be a learning process.

Our students are surrounded by gaming consoles. I think that it would be a great idea to incorporate something they are so familiar and comfortable with into our classrooms. In science we could use the consoles to outline the rules and procedures before creating the experiments. Virtual experiments could be tracked using trial and error, and students could easily record their findings. I think that “Gamification” would be a neat advancement in the world of education.