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Games in education

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Games. Some Struggles Teachers Face Using Games in the Classroom Lack of time and administrative support are just some of the obstacles to using games in the classroom. Continue Reading The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning explains key ideas in game-based learning, pedagogy, implementation, and assessment. This guide makes sense of the available research and provides suggestions for practical use. Continue Reading How Digital Games Help Teachers Make Connections to Lessons and Students Teachers finding the most success are good at creatively connecting the game back to the curriculum, while allowing it to maintain the qualities of a good game. Continue Reading Video Games and the Future of the Textbook Curriculum designers are rethinking not only the textbook, but educational content delivery in general.

Continue Reading Could Video Games Measure Skills That Tests Can’t Capture? Continue Reading Screen Time That’s Valuable For Young Kids. How To Choose A Learning Game. Getty Part 17 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning Many teachers are excited about trying games in the classroom but don’t know where to begin. The landscape of learning games is vast and confusing — and it’s growing and changing rapidly. Moving at the pace of the software industry, games are often updated and iterated so that new versions replace familiar ones before you’ve even had a chance to implement them in your classroom routine. And teachers have busy schedules.

We have barely enough time to complete our prep or even to provide students with as much written feedback as they deserve. On the other hand, not exploring, updating and reinventing our teaching strategies can cause us to miss valuable opportunities to reach students. Is It Fun? Selecting the right game can be like walking the teachers’ tightrope.

This is the same tension an English teacher might be forced to mediate when picking a text. Cool and fun are not the same thing. Think about games the same way. Related. The Gamification of Education and Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Learning Benefits. Guest post by Jane Wolff. The current trend towards the increased use of games and game mechanics in instructional situations could probably have been foreseen quite some time ago. Stretching right back to the primitive gaming technology of the ZX Spectrum in the early 80’s, kids were hooked. As a wider variety and higher quality of educational games have been produced, it is really no surprise that educationists have gravitated towards further use of them as tools in the learning environment.

Is this necessarily a positive development, however? A recent article on the subject makes for interesting reading. In 2011, Joey J. ‘Cognitive’ benefits include the development of problem-solving skills. Gamification can, according to Lee, be a powerful tool in addressing the child’s ‘emotional’ needs. The ‘social’ benefits of gamification may not be immediately apparent, since gaming has a rather unfair image of being an antisocial activity as games are often played alone. About Kelly Walsh. Introducing a Game-Based Curriculum in Higher Ed.

Continuing from last week’s post about “The Gamification of Education”, this week we bring you a guest post from Justin Marquis, who examines the why’s and how’s of incorporating game based learning elements into the higher education curriculum. The gamification movement is in full-effect with its fair share of proponents and opponents. Those in favor of the idea most often cite student motivation and the ability of games to simulate real world circumstances so that learners can safely explore these environments without endangering themselves or others.

Those on the other side of the argument think gamification is just a fad and that there is no real transfer of what is learned in games to the real world. There is enough research on both sides to support either point of view, but perhaps those most opposed to the incorporation of games into their curriculum just don’t know where to begin? Why Games in Higher Ed? About Kelly Walsh Print This Post. Lit_Review_of_Gaming_in_Education.pdf. Games in Education.