Computer Games, Schools, and Young People

A response to Williamson & Futurelab’s (2009) report.

Computer and video games are an integral part of many students’ out of school lives (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). They spend hours playing games and are reluctant to put down their game controller, walk away from their computers to do their daily, handwritten homework (Marsh, 2008). It is clear from this that students would rather be engaged with gaming than the traditional style of education. So, should we introduce computer and video games into the classroom as a way to reach students and motivate them in a context they can relate to? From an educator’s point of view, are there any benefits from introducing gaming into the classroom?

From reading the report Williamson and Futurelab (2009) state that by introducing video games into the classroom, educators are helping students to become successful citizens in the 21^st century. Williamson and Futurelab (2009) continue to state that computer and video games facilitate improvement in motivation, engagement, cognitive development, higher order thinking skills, literacy learning, design skills, problem solving skills, decision making skills, multitasking and collaboration. Other literature by Marsh (2008) adds to the list of positive outcomes of gaming by stating that gaming has the potential to reach students in all communities including the underprivileged. These skills can be taught without the use of computer and video games. What makes using computer and video games more advantageous than the traditional pencil and paper?

A study in the United States of America discovered that 97 percent of young people (aged between 12-17) surveyed play video games outside of school (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). Is this reason enough to include video games into classrooms or libraries? Everyone is doing it, so we should too? Is it due to the high stimulation levels students experienced while gaming? (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). What Williamson did not discuss, which I believe is the most important reason for including gaming into the classroom is the changing nature in the way that students are thinking in the 21^st century. Williamson and Futurelab (2009) briefly discuss that education today is ill suited for learners in the 21^st century, yet does not explain why. Prensky (2001) explains why by stating “today’s students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach” (p. 1).  Due to the thousands of hours that students play computer and video games and interact with technology, students are processing information and thinking differently in comparison to students taught ten years ago (Prensky, 2001). Prenksy (2001) identifies these students as digital natives. Digital natives are students who have grown up surrounded by technology and are used to having access to it daily. I believe if educators introduce gaming in to the classroom for digital natives they will design a context that is familiar for them and create a meaningful learning environment that will be appropriate for the digital natives’ needs. If it has been established that learners in the 21^st are being seen as digital natives who think and process information differently to students ten years ago, why then are classrooms and libraries still designed to accommodate the traditional style of learning?

Students are becoming frustrated with how little they get to interact, engage and learn through media, including gaming (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). It has emerged from the report, Computer games, schools, and young people: A report for educators on using games for learning (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009) that there are a few “barriers to educational gaming” (p.25). A survey of teachers in England revealed that the major barriers to gaming in education were related to licensing, cost and hardware (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). From personal casual teaching experience, hardware appears to be one of the biggest drawbacks to including gaming into classrooms and libraries. A large percentage of the classrooms that I have taught in have three to four computers available for an average class size of twenty-four students. In many schools there will be between one to two computer labs that can be booked once a week for students to use for an hour at a time. It is understandable from this that students’ frustration levels are rising. How can educators provide quality education to students if educators cannot even prove basic hardware to meet the learning needs of digital natives? Teachers also saw the cost of gaming and licensing issue as problem barriers to using gaming in the classrooms and libraries. Unless schools are fortunate enough, as a school in Chicago (Macfound, 2010) has been, to be given funding to afford the technology and pay for licensing, gaming in classrooms and libraries is hardly possible.

While many teachers believe that licensing, hardware and cost are major hurdles to jump over in the race to include gaming in classrooms and libraries, the aforementioned study also noted that teachers were apprehensive about educational games in terms of the games’ educational appropriateness (Williamson & Futurelab, 2009). Many educational video and computer games try to “hold you down and hit you with the point” and promise an entertaining time before “smacking you with a lesson plan” (Floyd, 2008, n.p). Some educational games are simply wrote games (Traling, 2011). Site such as Fishsmarty is an example of wrote learning, where there is no need for higher order thinking, where students have to remember correct answers to finish games. Wrote learning in today’s education is seen as a backward step to educating students. From personal teacher training experience, I was taught improved ways to educate. Through my casual teaching experience, I have noted that there are computer games designed to push students to use higher order thinking, work together and problem solve. On the Learning Place website, such games and learning objects which have educational appropriateness exist and only require the bare minimum of hardware to operate.   

In the report Williamson and Futurelab (2009) discuss that educators feel inadequately prepared to include gaming into their lessons and units because they feel they lack the training necessary to understand games and how to incorporate them into their lessons and units. I believe that this is the biggest of barriers holding back educators form including video and computer games into classrooms and libraries. Many educators are scared of what they do not understand and I feel that the lack of gaming knowledge will stop educators from transforming education for the 21^st century digital native learners.

I feel as I am training to be a teacher-librarian that it will be my responsibility to help teachers incorporate gaming into their classrooms as more ICT responsibilities are given to teacher-librarians. Williamson and Futurelab (2009) discuss that teachers need to try out the games for themselves and this will help to understand the teaching potentials and educational benefits. This will be my first piece of advice to teachers as I aid them in incorporating gaming into their classrooms when I am a qualified teacher-librarian. 

(Jacqui Long)

references:

Floyd, D. (2008, September 8). Video Games and Learning [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s

Macfound. (2010, Febuary 17). Using Digital Media to Extend the Classroom Beyond School [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeNoj7hbjAk

Marsh, T. (2008). Game to Learn: Integrating virtual reality, mixed reality and serious gaming environments into classrooms is not without challenges, but the results could transform the way students learn. Innovation, (8)3, 16-17. 

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon (9)5, 1-6.  

Tarling, B. (2011, August 30). Developing Education: Is there room for video games in classrooms? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.techvibes.com/blog/developing-education-is-there-room-for-video-games-in-classrooms-2011-08-30

Williamson, B & Futurelab (2009). Computer Games, Schools, and Young People: A report for educators on using computer games for learning. Retrieved September 19, 2011 from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_75617_1%26url%3D