Game On, Even When School's Started...

All I said was, "Yes."

Last winter, some students of mine asked if they could choose to create a model using Minecraft.  We do a large project as the culmination of our unit on Islam.  Students write a research paper, create a Powerpoint or other visual presentation on their topic, and create a project to demonstrate their knowledge and share with their classmates.   So, I told these students, "Sure, you can build your model mosque using Minecraft."

The result was astonishing, and I don't just mean the virtual model.

Engaging with Games
These boys, a group of often "unengaged", struggling but very bright students, got excited.  They took on a huge project on their own.  They worked long hours outside of class to create a detailed exterior and interior mosque.  Soon, three other boys, who I DON'T EVEN TEACH, got involved, managing a server for their project and helping to trouble-shoot.  I stepped to the side as coach and facilitator, and they made it happen.  When they presented their project to the class, they were so proud of the project they chose, they created, and they managed to complete.  Their fellow classmates were just as excited to learn about it.

More about educators' uses of Minecraft in this article and MinecraftEdu.

Playing games is a huge part of what our students enjoy outside of school, and more than ever, it's becoming a part of how they learn in school as well.  If we want to engage students, we need to speak their language, step into their worlds.  This article describes how students are using video games to learn.

Recently, my family has started to play around with the XBox 360's Kinect Camera.  I am amazed at how sophisticated the technology is!  The camera can read all of my movements, making an arm gesture replace the remote control.   I can go skydiving above the Himalayas, kayak death-defying rapids, complete brain-games by following a pattern to burst bubbles, or learn dance-moves with the Black-Eyed Peas.  (That last one is done in total privacy!)

Video-gaming is not just for couch potatoes.  Not only do active games get kids moving, they get them thinking.  The Quest to Learn program is capturing kids' love of play into their curriculum.  Teachers, more than ever, are incorporating games into their classrooms, and it's just going to grow.

Gaming is Good
It's not a bad thing, either.   A White House study shows that video games are actually good for you.  In moderation, Michelle Obama might add!  Entertainment Software Associates have found that "video games make exceptional teaching machines." They teach critical thinking, problem-solving, persistance, for example.   Furthermore, game-design has become a huge industry, one that we want innovative new thinkers to be a part of, and to continue to create more constructive and educational games such as Games for Change.

Infinite Realities and Possibilities
This podcast on infinite realities got me thinking.  What will education in the future look like?  It describes a world in which technologies such as the Kinect camera make it possible for students to present information virtually, and to take on any form they choose, like when we choose an avatar for a Facebook profile.

Teachers as well can assume a different avatar.  I, for example, can take on the avatar of a knight when presenting a vodcast about feudal society.   I love the idea of taking on historical personalities, like having William Shakespeare deliver a mini-lesson on an excerpt of Romeo and Juliet.  If you want to get started with something like this, go to Voki.   How about this?

Gandhi wants to know, "What defines a nonviolent protest?"

Playing games is something that kids have always loved to do.  And I'm a big proponent of kids spending times outdoors and with face-to-face interaction as well as playing on the screen.  But stepping to the side to let students explore their world, both virtual and real, by using games they know and love was a powerful experience.  So, I say, "Game on!"

Log on, play and learn

USA TODAY's Greg Toppo asked Asi Burak, co-president of Games for Change, to pick five powerful online games that show the genre's educational potential. Here are his picks:

iCivics. Inspired by retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the series of games teaches players how government works.

Codeacademy. A relatively new gamelike experience, it teaches users how to write code for computers "in a very engaging and friendly way," Burak says.

WeTopia. Released last November on Facebook, it's a "fresh and ambitious" game similar to FarmVille that generates charitible donations to non-governmental organizations.

Nanu Planet. The game explores the historic conflict between North Korea and South Korea as a fictional planetary struggle.

Collapsus. The game uses multimedia to bring an "energy crisis scenario" to life.