Educational Gaming - Friend or Foe?

It doesn't take long to find games with an Internet search. There are a multitude of results, from arcade style gaming to, what some may consider, educational games. The discussion this week centered around technology gaming in schools, friend or foe?
Whether you are in support of them or not, there is no question kids love them.

• Some educators believe there are negative implications of gaming in the classroom.

"While there are concerns like violence in games, simply being aware of different games canreduce the chances of students using these types of games."

"Some even have the flashing "you've just won ____" and my kids really think they've won that free laptop or million dollars! I guess I can look at it as an opportunity to educate, but it really is annoying."

" I would not want to see students/children become so involved with technology, that they no longer understand how to interact face to face with other individuals. "

• However, many educators made substantive arguments for gaming in the classroom:

"I agree with your thoughts that even kids with attention problems can play video games for hours on end. I would love to be able to motivate these kids to learn as much as they are motivated to play games. "

"In the same way, the game might also be a hook to get students interested in the topic to begin with. I see a big cross over between the fantasy games kids are playing and their interest in medieval history. "

"The nice thing about technology, is that it has allowed the learning to deepen with morecomplex ideas and increased exploration into a particular subject. "

I like how Jenn sums up this discussion for the week,

"The most important thing, is that no matter how the games are delivered, that if they can support classroom lessons, students will be encouraged to subconsciously to understand and learn more deeply about subject matter. Games do indeed make learning more fun."

I would tend to agree with this stance on the subject. As long as the classroom technology games can support the curriculum/standards of learning in a meaningful way, games should become a new tool in the scaffolding of student learning.

For sites with educational games, try these links:
Simple online Java applet for fractions
Visual Fractions: A tutorial that models fractions with number lines or circles.
Quia. This is a pay site, but there are some free resources and games available for trial.
Fun Brain and Fact Monster
The game, Lure of the Labyrinth, is a product of a US DOE grant, LG2G, Learning Games to Go.