Gaming and Special Needs

The last few posts have discussed implementing gaming within the context of set content in our curriculum. Today I want to highlight the use of gaming for students with special educational needs.

As the video shows, gaming can be used to help students on the autism spectrum  to identify facial expressions – an important facet of socialisation. In this context, gaming extends beyond traditional education by increasing life skills.

The Center of Autism Research (CAR) in America is undertaking a research program also based on increasing facial recognition skills via the game FACE STATION:

“computerised health games can motivate players to perform a wide range of activities that promote learning and skill development in ways that have the potential to exceed conventional teaching and training methods by tapping “reward” circuits in the brain.”

The Center of Autism Research (2011).

The results of this research will include brain imaging before and after gaming to measure the effect on the brain. Whilst there is still need for further research, Churchill discusses similar research on the effects of technology on the brain:

“individuals who used the internet showed twice as much activity in regions of the brain responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning compared with those who had limited exposure to the internet”

Churchill, (2011).

How can we apply these findings to education?

By continued scientific research, innovation and discussion.

Assistive Gaming is an online organisation that “make accessible games that were not made with accessibility in mind.” Indeed, its staff consists of editors who themselves use and create “assistive technology”:

“Of course, gaming’s possible, just about anything in life is possible. Sure, I’ll never walk, but I sure as Hell can rock at World of Warcraft.”

http://www.assistivegaming.com

Harushimana (2008) found games greatly enhanced his students’ print and digital literacy skills as a part of an after-school literacy programme in an urban city high school. Gaming can be applied to a multitude of special programmes, including abused children.

Inclusive education demands individualised approaches to students with a variety of special needs, from physical to emotional, students at risk to students with literacy issues. Yet individual learning approaches can be costly and difficult to implement in a classroom environment. They require funding to cover materials, special education aides and training. Further feasibility studies focusing on the fiscal benefits of gaming within this context would be extremely useful towards future policy discussions.

Discussion being an imperative to ensure the resource of gaming for special needs is utilised properly in our classrooms.

Resources

Assistive Gaming, The Assistive Gaming Team, http://www.assistivegaming.com

The Center for Autism Research (2011), Computerized Gaming, http://www.research.chop.edu

Churchill et al.  (2011). Teaching Making a Difference. John Wiley & Sons, Australia.

Harushimana, I.  (2008) Literacy through Gaming: The Influence of Videogames on the Writings of High  School Males, Journal of Literacy and Technology 35 Volume 9, Number 2: August 2008, ISSN: 1535-0975.

Terdiman, D. (2005). Second Life Teaches Lessons, http://www.wired.com

Teacher Facilitated Gaming

When considering gaming in the classrooms, teacher facilitation is imperative to propel gaming beyond its current model of ‘gamer reacting to the constructs of the game’. If not carefully implemented, similarities could be drawn between the ‘gamer and game’ model to the ‘teacher centric’ model in which the teacher transmits information at the student. Although the gamer/game model is arguably an active and even collaborative relationship, I am arguing that for educational application, guided teaching is not only necessary but the key factor in the successful implementation of gaming in schools.

“For games and simulation to be effective instructionally in the classroom…[students] need guided facilitation by the teacher”.

Klopfer et.al. (2010).

This requires teacher training, resources funding, administrative support and parental approval. Concerns will range from a lack of funding, to a disconnect between the “generation of digitalised students and their pre-digital parents and teachers” . (Harushimana, 20o8).

There is some evidence of the beneficial cognitive effects of digital technologies but more extensive research is required and would undoubtably aid discussions with administrations and parents. Perhaps highlighting the extensive industry training that utilises gaming and simulation would facilitate a wider acceptance. After all, how many professional parents using technology, have experienced either gaming or simulation in their own career training? Approval might start with educators making the use of gaming  relevant to the parents too.

Schools are wary of the safety issues that surround online technologies but this should not detract from implementing them within a structured, teacher facilitated programme. Klopfer (2010) urges that schools “explore new ways to manage potential dangers; these technologies are safe, valuable tools that schools must take seriously”.

Teachers must embrace the new technologies and receive the appropriate training in order to deliver best practice implementation of gaming in education. Without the teacher, it may just be a game.  The game cannot replace the learning that stems from the relationship between student and teacher, or between students in a collaborative classroom.  Yet with guided implementation, gaming can enhance the learning and relationships.

Resources

Gee, J. (viewed 2011), Good Video Games and Good Learning,  http://www.academiccolab.org

Harushimana, I.  (2008) Literacy through Gaming: The Influence of Videogames on the Writings of High SchoolFreshman Male,Journal of Literacy and Technology 35 Volume 9, Number 2: August 2008, ISSN: 1535-0975.

Klopfer et al. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking and Simulations. The Education Arcade.

There is more than one way to skill a cat….

Fear not, we won’t be skilling any cats with gaming in the classroom. However, the title highlights the point of this post – gaming can teach a multitude of skills, from contextual to technical and perceptual to ethical. From hidden curriculum to hand-eye coordination, and building self-esteem to saving the world.

All in a digital game you ask?

According to  proponents of gaming – yes.

Several research studies identify the following common skills pertaining to gaming :

• critical higher order thinking
• improved literacy
• enhanced visual perception
• cognitive ability development
• collaborative problem solving/interactivity
• conflict resolution
• competitive responses
• ability to operate in complex, rule-based environment

(Klopfer, 2010).

Jane McGonigal designs game specifically to create new order thinking about global complexities such as poverty and alternative environmental resources. These tools can be translated into the classroom to increase subject specific skills. (McGonigal, 2010).

However, it is important that gaming does not detract from other methods of learning in schools. Its purpose should enhance lessons, not replace them entirely. Taking this approach, several other skills become possible, spanning KLAs with cross-curricular ELAs.

Suggestions for including gaming and simulations in a lesson plan:

• building avatars in class discussions encompassing self-esteem, women’s studies, pastoral care and PDHPE. Whilst not technically defined as “gaming” because there is no “end/win” state, these simulations are valuable in this context.
• games that simulate natural disasters might be considered topical in the extreme. These can be used in Environmental Studies, Science, Biology, International Studies.
• students can create their own games on X-box for Design and Technology, IT and ITC, Maths and History. Content specific games could be explored for any subject in a curriculum.
• Food Force – an online game created by the United Nations World Food Programme

If you have attended to the concerns of administration and parents, then as a teacher, you are only limited by your imagination and resources. Each of these must be taken into consideration when designing gaming lesson plans to impart set skills in your students.

Resources

Klopfer et al. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking and Simulations. The Education Arcade.

McGonigal, J. (2010) Gaming: Making a Better World,  http://www.ted.com.

http://www.meez.com/

Microsoft Press Release, (2006), Microsoft Invites the World to Create Its Own Xbox 360 Console Games for the First Time http://www.microsoft.com

World Food Programme, (2011) Food Force: The First Humanitarian Video Game, http://www.wfp.org

World Without Oil: Lesson Plans. (2011) WorldWithoutOil.Org, IVS Interactive, Electric Shadows Planning.

Wide Open Doors (2007), Gaming in Education, http://www.wideopendoors.net

Judge Jodi and Gaming Pedagogy…

In my last post, I introduced  the reasons to consider implementing  gaming at school.   Does this mean the latest top-selling game should be provided to all classrooms just so our students can have some fun? No, it does not. At least not without that old academic favourite:  critical analysis. But for brevity – let’s keep it simple :

It’s a RESOURCE.

Judge it accordingly.

How can we measure this value?

By judging its application to current pedagogical thinking.

McGonigal (2010) espouses the social constructive nature of the collaborative learning environment of “massively multi-player online gaming”. Yet this alone is not a strong enough argument to implement gaming into classrooms. Whitton (2007) states that though gaming does not guarantee motivation in students, it can offer pedagogical benefits, whilst Harushimana (2008) refers to “game based pedagogy” as having a direct influence on literary skills. Accordingly, Klopfer argues for pedagogical consideration in the design process and transforming institutional and instructional approaches to learning,

“Technology changes the way we educate, but the way we educate changes technology”
Klopfer et al (2009)

In doing so, games will become the agent of education, rather than the reverse. To avoid the potential conflicts of educational technology as a political and economic commodity, educators must take care to analyse, evaluate and utilise resources with integrity.

Hadjerrouit (2010) further highlights

“technical usability is not enough for designing pedagogically usable [technologies]”

In other words:

Just because it is usable, does not mean it is useful!

Make it a meaningful classroom resource. Gaming in schools is not just about computer skills – it is a medium to deliver content.

Games are most useful in the learning environment when they have been designed pedagogically or identified for their pedagogical worth. Fun is great but educationally beneficial fun is best.

Resources

Hadjerrouit, S. (2010) A Conceptual framework for using and evaluating web based learning resources in School Education. Journal of Information Technology Education, Volume 9.

Harushimana, I.  (2008) Literacy through Gaming: The Influence of Videogames on the Writings of High SchoolFreshman Male,Journal of Literacy and Technology 35 Volume 9, Number 2: August 2008, ISSN: 1535-0975.

Klopfer et al. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking and Simulations. The Education Arcade.

McGonigal, J. (2010)  Gaming: Making a Better World, http://www.ted.com.

Whitton, N. (2007). Motivation and computer game based learning. In ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007. http://www.ascilite.org.au

School Game Play

The next five posts relate to my ELPCG1 Journal in which we research a topic relating to ITC in education. I have chosen Gaming and Simulations in Education.

There are several reasons to consider introducing gaming and simulations into our schools today.

Today being the operative word – because we know that students learn more effectively when the learning is relevant to their world.

And their world today is digital .

• An interested student is more likely to engage and participate. Student participation not only enhances their learning but allows teachers to gauge student progress and understanding. Therefore, gaming can be FUN and fun is not a dirty word :

“humans, in their healthiest states are active, inquisitive, curious and playful creatures”

Churchill et al. (2011)

• Gaming has evolved into a 21^st Century technology. Our students are 21st Century learners. We must evolve into 21st Century teachers.
• Gaming can be flexible – in its content, in its delivery and in the level of abilities required of the students.
• Gaming takes ICT skills outside of a discrete unit designed to teach technology and  uses technology to teach set content.
• Gaming provides scaffolding to problem solve, creating a consequence free environment in which the student can either win or lose. Pintrich’s Motivational theories state that “learning is improved when students associate success or failure with the effort they make as opposed to their ability”. (Churchill et. al. 2011).

Resources

Churchill et al.  (2011). Teaching Making a Difference. John Wiley & Sons, Australia.

Klopfer et al. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking and Simulations. The Education Arcade.

What kind of teacher do I want to be? My teaching philosophy:

The kind that engages my students. How can I do this? Using the technologies my students are already engaging with, on a daily basis, outside my classroom. Bringing it inside my classroom. Directing the technology in education is different from technology directing education. I want to utilise the digital resources that are currently available and learn the new technologies as they unfold. I will learn with my students. And help them to teach themselves. And each other – peer to peer learning. The facilitation of learning rather than information transmission. Not filling an empty vessel but helping them lift off the lid to discover what is waiting inside. Employing social discourses through a variety of mediums – face to face, wikis, blogs, emails, nings, – in order to construct new knowledge that is relevant to the world of a 21st Century learner – a ‘digitalised social constructivist’ pedagogy.

STS Reflection 2

This week I have been reflecting on different pedagogical thinking in relation to forming my own pedagogy. Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist theories appeal greatly – the student can construct their own learning, based upon what they already know and believe, through social discourse. As a teacher , I do not want to simply ‘transmit’  knowledge but facilitate the ‘getting of wisdom’ by helping the student uncover it, identify it and analyse it. I believe that class interaction and discussion are integral to this process.

The notion of Authentic Pedagogy builds upon constructivism to include the student’s ability to retain information beyond mere memory recall but to be truly engaged with that new knowledge. Also, that the student can recognise that not all knowledge is of the same value – some knowledge carries more authority than others – for surely the ability to categorise sources as valuable or less valuable opens up the world of critical analysis to students.

Provocation 2 and 3 are very prevalent this week. Will I be allowed to be the teacher I want to be? To whom am I accountable? There is a great deal of focus on pedagogical knowledge in this unit. More than there is on English content. I can see the value of this – it is an inspirational approach to producing a new generation of teachers focused on a wholistic style of education that caters for all students. Furthermore, studying the Essential Learning Areas of several of our states’ curriculums demonstrates that this is current thinking that encompasses all learning styles, genders, cultural and ethnic origins. It feels like a wonderful new direction. But it concerns me that we are also moving into a political environment that measures the worth of teachers and schools in very basic quantitative measures, that leaves little room for measuring the social, community orientation or even artistic worth of a school. This week I am reflecting on all the stakeholders to whom I am accountable and realising that this is a large group – students, parents, school, community and government.

PPLE Module C : The Class Revolt

The overwhelming information for me was Steve’s advice “Above all else, just survive”.  It reminds me that the path of a pre-service teacher is likely to be filled with stumbles, great leaps of womankind and occasional bouts of falling on my face. To quote Shannon’s blog name – we are becoming “Teachers as Learners”  and this means recognising our start point as a place that WILL be improved upon. It also highlights that we must not make the incidental, personal. Remembering that the students are attached to their current teacher, allowing them the time to assimilate my presence in their education and accepting a temporary moniker as “the newbie” will help to smooth some of the transitional bumps that clearly lie ahead.  Steve’s suggested that the “fight/flight/ tackle the task” response is one that we can apply to all aspects of our lives.  (I have experienced several of these in the first weeks of the DipEd!) I will apply this to the students’ responses, as it may illustrate how different groups will respond to my teaching and allow me to view them from a different perspective.

Steve referred to different kinds of freedom in his lecture. It appeared that several of the students may have confused the types of freedom afforded them in an alternative schooling model. There are applications to all schooling models in the clarification. The freedom the students were given was NOT freedom from all control, responsibility or discipline. This is a notion I hope to convey early on to my students. On this note, my reading this week suggests an approach for pre-service teachers that is termed “Assertive Discipline”. It consists of giving students’ concise guidelines for behaviour and positively reinforcing their classroom choices. The parameters of classroom behaviour are narrower than a more experienced teacher might apply  but Desiderio suggests this is an appropriate approach for inexperienced teachers who have not yet built either rapport or reputation with their students. As far as classroom achievement and student  contentment were applied, there were not marked differences between the pre-service teacher using the “Assertive Discipline” approach and the mentor teacher who adopted a more relaxed teaching style. The students were well-directed in both cases, as to what their teachers expected. In turn, the teachers were consistent in their guidelines and the application of those principles. Hence, the students responded to clear, confident and consistent instruction, despite the different styles. Desiderio suggests that as the pre-service teacher gains more experience and presence, they can adopt other techniques for classroom management but that it is important, early on, to assume these deliberate measures to instill a more successful learning environment.

Sources

Desiderio, M.F. & Mullennix, C. (2005). Two Behavior Management Systems, One Classroom: Can Elementary Students Adapt? Educational Forum, 69, 4, pp. 383-391. Retrieved August 3, 2007 from EBSCO database.  http://teachersaslearners.wordpress.com/

STS Reflection 1

 

[ This post relate to Kerry Heath’s STS  lecture.] 

Kerry related that her son was experiencing some temporary social isolation at school due to the new school year and changes to the class constituency. This was a result of her son moving from a composite class last year, in which he mainly mixed with elder students, to a single grade class this year. Kerry highlighted how difficult it was  for her son to learn effectively, or even to maintain his attendance in school until these social issues – part of the milieu of curriculum  – were recognised. As teachers, we must understand that the aspects that form the curriculum (teachers, students, subject matter and milieu) have a direct implication for learning. We do not teach in a vacuum, nor do students operate in a singular environment. Comprehension of the multitude of pressures that students face outside our classroom will transform what seems personal to us, but is actually  individual to our students, so we may evolve an individual approach to their learning.

Secondly, and briefly, is the notion that as a teacher, we facilitate learning rather than the traditional model of teacher-centric education. This married well with Meg’s ELPC  lecture, in which she reminded us that with digitization, the “teacher is not the only font of knowledge in a room”. If we can facilitate learning rather than transmitting knowledge at our students, then we have given students the ability to learn in an autonomous manner, that will last many years beyond the scope of our classroom and even our interaction with those students. Seems like a no brainer to me. That is how I want to teach!

Steve’s Sticky Tape Tale

To what extent do you think that Steve convincingly demonstrated, in the lecture, his assertion that theory can make us better teachers?

Steve’s story occurred very early in his career – he was young, enthusiastic and by his own admission inexperienced. I think the entire lecture theatre could relate to those sentiments. As graduate students, most of us have some of the content knowledge in our chosen subject areas. We have three or more years under our belts in the “What” department. The “How” department is looking a tad understocked. I refer to the term PCK as mentioned in our text. In my mind I see “EduPaCK”. As in, what are we putting into our tool bag, our ‘edupack’ to make us better teachers? Clearly, had Steve been exposed to the different models of classroom management, he would have had a well of information from which to draw upon. He may NOT have reacted differently, but he would have made an informed choice.

What did you notice and what did you wonder as you read your chosen section of the Krause article?

(Section 1) The legal requirements placed upon teachers is quite extensive and can be far-reaching (cases have been brought against teachers and schools nearly twenty years later). This is the ‘business’ side of teaching and it is imperative we are familiar with all facets of our duty of care. Students are precious cargo and require our vigilance to ensure their safety. As a parent, that much was already clear to me, but the article highlighted the importance of ensuring our own transparency as teachers. This not only protects the students, but ourselves and professional colleagues.

In the lecture, Steve described five different models of classroom management. (Krause describes three.) If you had to choose one of these five to study in depth (and to become something of an expert on), which one would it be? And why?

As yet, I am undecided which model to choose, although I am drawn to the interventionist. The reason for this is plain and simple : this model got bad press in the tutorial (by the group in general). It interested me that the interventionist was seen as (overly) authoritarian. I believe the article wording directed some of this opinion but I also believe that there are many useful qualities to this model. I would highlight that much of Krause’s theories in this model related to a 1987 study by Frederick H. Jones. (Krause, p.459). Some of the techniques do not hold up to current scrutiny, especially the “Limit Setting through Body Language” techniques may be considered physically intimidating in the current environment. However, there are still some valuable tools for my ‘edupack’ that bear further scrutiny.

What thoughts did you have as you listened to Steve’s story about Nick, the boy in the Year 7 English class? To what extent did this story contribute to your developing understanding of how to promote effective learning environments?

The main thought as I listened to this story was that the manner in which Steve handled the matter was acceptable. He may have handled it differently with more experience but it proved effective on the day. Furthermore, Nick produced a poem that he may not have otherwise written. I did not understand the sticky tape. It is possible that Nick was protecting his raw emotions, it is equally possible it was another of his funny tricks and he left the classroom chuckling at the thought of Steve unravelling all that tape! Steve mentioned feeling ‘authentic’ on that day and ultimately that is what was translated to his students. It was an example that we must all find our authenticity as teachers, no matter what theories we have been exposed to, there will certainly be days that will require our own, clear voice. We need to learn to trust it.