I just sat through a session of presenters that, although they each shared interesting and valuable information, was disappointing, because we did not have time in the end to ask the questions that the entire session was intended to teach — what we learned in the process of developing our games. The presentations were mostly about the games.
The last presentation was the exception, by Angela McFarlane of the University of Bristol. She gave an excellent presentation from the perspective of FutureLab, with which she appears to have some connection. What floored me, almost literally, was a recent MORI survey, which asked questions about teachers use of commercial video games in their classrooms.
MORI (?) does annual surveys of teachers across the UK each year. For a small fee, additional questions can be inserted, and as a result of adding some questions about video games, they learned that:
- 31% of teachers have used COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) games in their teaching.
- 59% would consider using them in the future.
- 63% believe that players learning “higher-order thinking skills” and 62% specific content knowledge.
- 62% think that games teach stereotypical views and 71% think that they teach anti-social behavior.
I wonder what the finding would be in the U.S.
In Scotland, certainly, there has been quite a sustained use of video games for learning for a long time. Even when I was in Primary school, aged 7 (circa 1985) we used computer games for learning on a regular basis (Granny’s Garden springs to mind on the BBC Microcomputer).
In 2007, over 20 years later, we’re opening the Consolarium, the Scottish Centre for Gaming and Learning. This will feature as part of the newly launched ICT in Education website and my baby, Connected Live, both due for launch late August. They’ll provide a snapshot of what is going on in many domains of education, many involving technology, as seen my the teachers on the ground.
Watch this space…
Forgot to cocomment myself, David. Sorry for commenting again now 🙂
Angela has done a lot of work in this area, eg http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=&rid=13588&pagenum=5&NextStart=1
Back in 1990, I told the Head of my school that I’d be able to teach my whole syllabus thru Sim City if he gave me the money to buy the software licences. Alas, he never did
David & company,
You might wish to investigate what the UK considers computer games. As it’s been said, the UK and Australia have long used games in their teaching even if those games (and their formats) would be completely alien to Americans. I don’t suspect that “off the shelf” means Grand Theft Auto or even Math Blaster.
An old colleague of mine, Mike Matson, had a company, 4Mation, in the U.K. that created graphic adventure games for children. (read about him and his work here
. Two of his most famous titles were Granny’s Garden
and Flowers of Crystal
.
We’ve had graphic adventures in the United States, but they never took off in classrooms. On the otherhand, Matson’s masterpieces sold LIKE CRAZY and were used widely in Commonwealth Countries.
There are two important facts worthy of your attention:
1) Kids didn’t just play these graphic adventures on the one computer in the back of the classroom. Teachers used them as a catalyst for storytelling, map building and countless interdisciplinary projects. These games were the basis for long complex thematic units. Walls were covered with art and student writing related to the “game.” Classrooms became fantasy lands where students could imagine being inside the world of the computer games.
I fear that few American educators would find the educational benefit in such fantastical sustained classroom excursions.
2) American software publishers could not and would not understand the success of 4Mation’s products. My colleague Sylvia Martinez can tell you about the stunned looks of disbelief on the faces of her colleagues at America’s most popular educational software company (mid-90s) when she brought Mike Matson in to discuss the possibility of working together.
However kids and enlightened imaginative teachers (unthreatened by NCLB) recognized the magic.
4Mation is still in business. I believe that Matson has moved on, but the company’s web site features drill and practice titles. Perhaps that’s the American influence on Britain.
Love the idea of gaming in the classroom. Gary states, “I fear that few American educators would find the educational benefit in such fantastical sustained classroom excursions.”
I beg to differ. There is a thriving company called Interact, that provides “real life” simulations for teachers that allow teachers to turn their classrooms into a “fantastical sustained classroom excursion.”
I am not at school and don’t have the URL. Could only find companies who sell the kits. But we use many of these kits throughout the year. My blogsite was a great place for the children to discuss their game (Thank you again, Dave). You can find their comments about Ellis Island, Traveling West, and Math Quest gaming. http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=88116
So there are American educators who love to turn their classrooms into fantasy rooms in order to enhance instruction. And I, for one, would love to use an online gaming system in class. In fact, my classroom website has many links to games that reinforce, not only content skills, but thinking skills, hand/eye coordination, etc.
Lisa,
Do you think that 31% of American teachers have used “Interact” in their classrooms?
I’m not questioning whether SOME American teachers would do as you suggest, but was responding to David’s excitement over the percentage of U.K educators who allegedly said that they DID use Commercial-Off-the-Shelf games.
Three more observations – 1) I don’t imagine that the type of game I discussed requires eye-hand coordination. This is one reason why it’s important for us to define what US and UK educators call a “computer game.”
2) Do you believe that as many educators be excited about a computer game with no obvious content knowledge inclued? In other words, the wildly popular British games I discussed didn’t promise to teach or “deliver” any facts about Ellis Island or Westward expansion. They just engaged kids in mystery or fantasy.
3) It’s not commercially viable to create computer games that will get the attention of American educators, be purchased and then be used in widespread numbers. Sylvia Martinez does a masterful job of explaining why, but it’s not hard to observe that the American educational software industry is near death, that there is almost no R&D and that if you sold one copy of an Ellis Island simulation to every school in America you would be hard-pressed to break even with development and marketing costs.
There are and always have been small innovative software companies, like LCSI or Inspiration or FableVision or Tech4Learning publishing, and educators like yourself who embrace their products. This is why I created the Constructivist Consortium, but their sales combined would not represent 30% of all teachers.
I Googled “interact education game” and the top link returned was for Funbrain.com. I hope that’s not an indication of what American educators mean by “game.”
All the best,
Gary