Interactive
Technology, a Staple in the Lives of Today’s Youth
Question: How do we catch the online gaming craze and
harness it for educational purposes?
Survey any Intermediate or Middle School student in the country on what is the
hottest game on their game system and iPhone. The answer is consistent:
FORTNITE! With over 45 million players world wide and 3.5 million
consistent, Fornite is the most downloaded game in the world and this craze
does not appear to be slowing down soon. According to pcgamesn.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site. (Links to an external site.) it has taken over the
net, in February, Fortnite had a 16.3% share of all PC players according to
their data. Even on YouTube, “Fortnite holds 17.9% of daily viewership
hours.” How has this game taken over the net and the lives of our
children? The answers are simple: The game is free to download. No
Cost! The game moves through a constant evolution. Every week the
game board and theme change to reinvigorate the players imaginations.
Gamers are connected to other players all over the world. One could
let the game sort them into squads or they can invite their friends to
play. Once sorted players can communicate via gaming headsets in this
imaginary world. This has replaced the phone, text messaging, standalone
gaming and has become the social scene for adolescents and teenagers.
Where does Fortnite make its money? Gamers spend millions of
dollars a month upgrading the characters persona. Gamers can buy new
clothing (skins), gliders, pick axes, and emotes (dances), online without ever
touching their piggy banks by using Play Station V Bucks, which directly
connect to parents’ online banking.
The Question is: How do educators cash in on the gaming
craze to engage children into curriculum.
This has been a debate for years, in 2013, the blog Virtual
Worlds and Education From Skyrim to School appeared to answer the same
question citing the popularity of MineCraft and Skyrim, discussing the
creations of online world’s that teach children how to interact, in new ways,
with people around the world.
Maybe we need to take a closer look at how we are
teaching. Many educators look for a single response or convergent thought
process that focus on a common answer in preparation for testing.
Just as blinders are put on thoroughbreds to keep their focus on the
finish line. Do we as teachers put blinders on our students so that their
thought processes become uniform and focused on what we want as a result? Maybe
this is the problem with why educational games and apps and technology, it does
not demand engagement challenge our students at their given levels. What
if we look at Fortnite for a few suggestions? How can educational apps,
games and programs give students choice in open questions with different entry
and exit points? How can characters build their own persona to display
their personality? How can programmers design something that adolescents and
teenagers will want to compete and have conversations over while working
together to solve the task and secure victory? How can the same program
challenge a low achieving student and a high achieving student at the same
time? How can a game or program be left open for divergent thought that
deepens conceptual mastery?
Few educational apps, games or programs have understood
these questions. Many simply work on fact fluency, but few challenge the
students in exciting ways that offer choice and differentiation. At the
elementary/middle school levels technology is always in demand and the
following 8 sites, apps and programs get it:
(hip new age educational songs that are sure to make your
foot tap)
(open ended game that teaches civics through student
choice)
(historical missions that allow student choice to dictate
the path of the game allowing for different entry points while stretching the
students imaginations)
(awesome science activities and lessons)
(classroom organization, participation and engagement)
(math fluency)
- Google apps
Even with these 8 programs, we do not capture and harness the engagement for all students. As an 80's kid who was always outside, I longed for those same experiences at school. Any time that I could work on something hands on or outdoors, it excited me about education. Students still get that excitement today except it comes from technology. Are we doing enough to feed the excitement?
While attending the KySTE conference in Louisville a couple
months ago a group member of mine (Rick Merman) may have stumbled upon a possible
answer. There, he learned that Microsoft has a version of Minecraft built
specifically as an education tool, where teachers could set up their own worlds
which could include any type of lesson they want. They can then let their
students join their world and work together to complete objectives and advance
through a lesson.
Check it out:
On a smaller scale in another group members school students
who have mastered concepts work on online challenges or choice boards and
submit the responses virtually using one of the google apps or blackboard.
Here you will find a sample task:
In the US economy Supply and Demand set the price of
products. Click the link about the hula hoop to find an ideal example: The
Hudsucker Proxy - Hulahoop (Links to an external site.)
- Describe how supply and demand determine the price of the hula hoop (be sure to use vocabulary).
- Create a video or add that explains supply and demand for a product of your choice.
- Submit both answers using Google Slides, be sure to share with your teacher.
There is no doubt about it, technology will eventually take over the world of education. Many of today's students often are more attuned to the opportunities it presents more than the teachers. They have developed skill sets, and replaced the traditional stand by methods of doing work and conducting business with online programs and personal devices. Furthermore, their interests reside in online technology. It is how they communicate, work and play. Through it they live their lives. If we are to prepare our students for the future of tomorrow we must harness it (technology).
Back to the question: How do educators cash in on the
gaming craze to engage children into curriculum?
Share your thoughts and ways that you could see
educators using the students own devices to further motivate them to be engaged
with content and stretch their minds.
What strengths, weaknesses and possible opportunities does
the idea of online tasks imply?
Edited by Nick Rice on May 19 at
2:34pm
Nick,
ReplyDeleteYou are 1000000% right about how technology will eventually take over the world of education, and I feel like it already has! What you said about students and comparing them to horses being on blinders is brilliant. Ten years ago every teacher had objectives, this is how I am going to do it, and this is what they have to learn. Everything was very cut and dry and teachers can't have that narrow tunnel vision for the students. Fortnite gives players access to a whole different world and students eat it up. Fortnite is something I have grown to love as well, it was new and different but once I tried it out I was hooked. Technology is that way for a lot of different teachers in this world. Teachers see that it's new and different and it scares them because they don't want anything to do with it. However, teachers can use technology as a big advantage in their classroom to enhance learning. What a student can learn in a book is limitless to what is on the page. What a student can learn on a educational website, or a software is endless!
Educators can cash in on the gaming craze by making a lesson about fortnite or another popular game that they play. Anytime you relate a lesson to something that the kids enjoy, then it will be more beneficial for everyone involved. Teachers have to buy into technology though and really plan to make it work.
Strengths- Endless learning possibilities, creativity at their fingertips, the internet is a great learning tool and kids are more engaged.
Weaknesses- Internet problems, double the planning, and easy to be off task
Opportunities- Learn more than just the facts, expand on the topic, enhance the learning for the student, and lets students be creative and explore by themselves.
I didn't use as much technology in the classroom as I would've liked this year but I am going to make sure I give the students that opportunity this coming year!