Poonam Sharma, Cofounder of Mango Learning Inc., posted an article entitled "Mediocrity VS Mastery- The Case for Game Based Learning." The article argues that gaming should be integrated into our educational systems. Sharma believes that many of our youth would benefit from game-based learning math and science programs due to the competitive nature of gaming. Game-based learning is believed to improve a student's overall understanding and retention of material.
Do you recall when you were a child; maybe you played sports? Do you recall that there was always a kid who always excelled athletically and made every sport look easy? Maybe that kid was you? But if you ask that child how they did it; what was the common response? They would say, "I don't know, I just do it." Sound familiar? It's called muscle memory. Any professional athlete will tell you that they have practiced at their craft for so long that it became automatic. Sharma is making the same point; automaticity. Video games create automaticity in education.
Continuous innovations in technology have created a digital universe with mobile platforms that have made it possible for teachers to bring adaptive, mobile, game-based learning into the classroom. Because tablets are so widely used, K through 12 grade students have the ability to learn at any time and at any place as long as they are inspired to do so. But how do you keep students inspired to learn?
The answer is simple. Meet students where they are. Children of this generation have been interacting with technology and gaming their entire lives. Gaming is a fundamental part of their everyday experience. By taking something with which they are already familiar (gaming) and allowing them to use it to provide them with different ways to learn; the kids then become excited about learning.
We can't rely on memorization alone as a method to teach our youth; it will only get them so far. How many of us recall how to do functions or what the formula is for the circumference of a circle or the area of a rectangle? At some point, most of us learned how to do all of those things but don't remember how to do them now. Sharma argues that, "The promise of the mobile age for education is far more than a chance to teach our kids the same facts in a more exciting way - it's a chance to retrain our students to expect more from themselves."
Game-based learning is not a tool to distract children from all of other media that they are bombarded with every day. Sharma stated that, "this is about training them to get excited about driving their own education. It's about delivering the sense of incremental achievement that we know inspires people not to quit, and not to want to see themselves as quitters." How discouraged does a child become after failing a science test? How determined is that same child after failing a level on a video game? Bringing game-based learning into the classroom will not only help children stay motivated but it will help them thrive.
Do you recall when you were a child; maybe you played sports? Do you recall that there was always a kid who always excelled athletically and made every sport look easy? Maybe that kid was you? But if you ask that child how they did it; what was the common response? They would say, "I don't know, I just do it." Sound familiar? It's called muscle memory. Any professional athlete will tell you that they have practiced at their craft for so long that it became automatic. Sharma is making the same point; automaticity. Video games create automaticity in education.
Continuous innovations in technology have created a digital universe with mobile platforms that have made it possible for teachers to bring adaptive, mobile, game-based learning into the classroom. Because tablets are so widely used, K through 12 grade students have the ability to learn at any time and at any place as long as they are inspired to do so. But how do you keep students inspired to learn?
The answer is simple. Meet students where they are. Children of this generation have been interacting with technology and gaming their entire lives. Gaming is a fundamental part of their everyday experience. By taking something with which they are already familiar (gaming) and allowing them to use it to provide them with different ways to learn; the kids then become excited about learning.
We can't rely on memorization alone as a method to teach our youth; it will only get them so far. How many of us recall how to do functions or what the formula is for the circumference of a circle or the area of a rectangle? At some point, most of us learned how to do all of those things but don't remember how to do them now. Sharma argues that, "The promise of the mobile age for education is far more than a chance to teach our kids the same facts in a more exciting way - it's a chance to retrain our students to expect more from themselves."
Game-based learning is not a tool to distract children from all of other media that they are bombarded with every day. Sharma stated that, "this is about training them to get excited about driving their own education. It's about delivering the sense of incremental achievement that we know inspires people not to quit, and not to want to see themselves as quitters." How discouraged does a child become after failing a science test? How determined is that same child after failing a level on a video game? Bringing game-based learning into the classroom will not only help children stay motivated but it will help them thrive.
About the Author:
Benjamin W. Luffkin is an online marketing enthusiast. If you are interested in learning more about atlanta web design, then he invites you to visit www.interactivemarketing.net
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