TKC!

The online conference that caught my attention was called “Kicking it up a notch Games in Education” given by  Sylvia Martinez from 2008.

The conference was on how/if games should be used in the classroom and to what extent students actually learn from them.

The main points made were:

• Games can give students control over their own learning if they are given the opportunity to design their own game using a language like LOGO
• Games are played in every society and are a natural part of childhood that can be vehicles for learning
• For games to be effective, students need time to play them and to reflect on the game itself
• Games should also encourage problem solving, collaboration between peers, and logic skills

• A student that can’t sit still for 10 minutes can spend hours playing video games, but if your idea of a class game is Math Blaster, it’s not really more effective than a worksheet

The conference was somewhat worthwhile, but did not necessarily give me any concrete things to do in my classroom. I used LOGO when I was in 5th grade. Is this really the only suggestion she had? I learned that MathBlaster is not a great idea for a game, but I loved playing in school. It made practice fun, which honestly, is the key for helping kids have that repetition with math skills.  I learned that there are a lot of games for physics classes (but then she goes on to say that kids can play them without really knowing any of the skills). A bit confusing!

It was fun to learn while sitting in my pjs.