easy homework

Gracie Cervantes

Professor Willard

Composition II

April 13, 2015

Gaming in Education

Now living in a world with new technology one thing that has stayed somewhat the same are video games. Gaming has made a huge impact in the world and has not stopped. We can see this with the kids today who are used too tablets, laptops thinner than a journal, phones that can help you with anything and also see the person you are talking too. Living in a technology world could have some benefits with many things today but one big debate that is talked about involves education. One topic, in this debate, that continues to grow is video games and learning. Video games could be the next online school program for kids. In ways, video games is already teaching you things you don't know about.

Video games has change the way many children use their brain. Teachers are also trying to get involved with the world today. In Malykhina’s article she states, “Video games are playing an increasing role in school curricula as teachers seek to deliver core lessons such as math and reading—not to mention new skills such as computer programming—in a format that holds their students’ interests.” Teachers are trying to find ways to make gaming tie well with learning new things. Educators should look at gaming as “a tool that allows students to take a more active role in learning as they develop the technology skills they need to succeed throughout their academic and professional careers”(Malykhina). There are many ways a student can learn and games can now be one of them. Malykhina states that “games are a powerful learning tool when combined with other exploratory, hands-on activities and ongoing instruction from a teacher acting more as a coach than a lecturer” that will help improve the students knowledge. The Quest to Learn public school in New York City offers a glimpse of how gaming is already changing not just how students learn, but what they learn. Teachers at this school have been working hard since the day the doors opened in 2009 at using the principles of video game design. More than just playing games, Quest to Learn students also study game design using Gamestar Mechanic and other computer programs.

In another article it was reported that “97 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 were playing some kind of digital game every week; about half played daily.”(Schaffhauser) This article mentions a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, which was about the shift from a one focused society to one thats ruled by television. Many have said that gaming provides a compelling way to engage students and make educational efforts more effective. Others believe it is a bad idea and opposite direction. Katie Salen is one of the many who took part in Quest to Learn, says that “Play is the way that human beings learn about the world…. That's how we discover how things work." Games structures can be a “learn by doing” method and will follow by the retry method. When playing a game you want to be able to solve hard problems in a fun manner. The learner will have to try hundreds of times to find success which makes you not want to give up. Retrying will make the problem stay in head even after solving it.

Mackay’s article mentions crucial factors in explaining why and how children learn. We all as people have to work together in order to work in networks. Games help us develop non-cognitive skills that the panelists agreed are as fundamental as cognitive skills in explaining how we learn and if we succeed. Steinkuehler research shows that boys typically read a couple of grades below level in school, but the same boys, turns out to read the texts way above their grade level if the texts are part of online games. A series of tests were then followed up right after trying to see if the results held for the boys who were struggling and those who were on track. Dan Schwartz, professor of education at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), says that “Games allow us to measure learning in ways we couldn’t do before,”(Mackay). He then also adds how “knowledge is not the outcome we want; we want students to learn how to make choices.”(Mackay). When his team did the study on how kids played games, his group found that one of the best negative predictors of performance was the act of walking away after failure.

According to Dr. Sandra Schamroth Abrams, assistant professor of adolescent education at St. John’s University in New York, video games are far more educational than we might think. When interviewing Abrams. he mentions how one game change a students education interest. He became very interested in history by playing the Battlefield games, and he then from there went on to listen to military-based podcasts, history-based podcasts, watched the Discovery channel, he took out all sorts of books and then he wrote his own fictitious story about what the world would be like after an apocalyptic type of situation. So he layered his literacy's “because he was interested in this one particular topic and he became interested in it because he was playing these particular video games."(Looper). However, its important to remember that Abrams doesn't suggest that simply gaming means someone is getting free, legit education. Everyone learns differently in games and learning new things. Some things may seem easy if you stay with the one subject you're good at but leaving out the other stuff will not help you out. Not only is every person different in how they learn, but every game will provide a different experience for each person as well.

McGonigal is the author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (Penguin Press, 2011) and the former director of Games Research and Development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif. McGonigal’s research focuses on how games can transform real life and be used to increase players’ resilience and well-being. She speaks frequently on the psychology of gaming and how it can be used to cure social ills as well as further educational missions. She consults frequently with global agencies, businesses and other institutions to develop games to further their missions or goals. McGonigal finds out that the longer children stay in school, the less engaged they become: 76 percent of elementary students are engaged, which drops to 61 percent in middle school and down to 44 percent in high school. “The cure for that apparent lack of engagement lies in gaming,” McGonigal addresses, “in part because of the positive emotional effects gamers experience: Joy, Relief, Love, Surprise, Pride, Curiosity, Excitement, Awe and wonder, Contentment, and Creativity.”(Buck). Games encourage a sense of resiliency, and also teach gamers that failure is permitted. “Gamers fail, but you have this positive emotional resilience. Think about how different that is from our current educational system.”(Buck)

When looking at video games don't just think of it as some kind of distraction. Kids stay on this for hours on end keeping us motivated to keep trying. So why not add gaming as a new way to stay focus and on task with a subject. Attention span will rise and engagement percentages will increase. Adding gaming with education can change the way we teach and many students will learn positivity grater information.

Toulmin map

Grounds: What evidence does the opinion piece provide to support its argument?

· Educators should look at gaming as “a tool that allows students to take a more active role in learning as they develop the technology skills they need to succeed throughout their academic and professional careers”(Malykhina).

Claim: What is the central claim being made by the article? What kind of claim is it? (These are the types discussed in class: definition, categorical, causal, resemblance, or proposal – or a hybrid of two kinds of claims?)

· Gaming in the Education field and how it can improve learning.

Warrant: How is the claim tied to the audience’s values, assumptions, and beliefs?

· Improving learning for our children can give us a brighter future.

Qualifier: How is the claim qualified, if it is?

· Malykhina states that “games are a powerful learning tool when combined with other exploratory, hands-on activities and ongoing instruction from a teacher acting more as a coach than a lecturer”.

Backing: Does the audience need to be convinced that it shares the author’s values?

· After reading all my sources I believe that the audience does not need to be convinced that it shares the author’s values because the author is giving facts about how to improve your childs learning.

Rebuttal: Does the argument look at counterarguments? How are they refuted?

Reading my articles are all positive facts on gaming methods and how well it will increase the learning in our children.

Work Cited

Buck, E. Tara. “The Awesome Power of Gaming in Higher Education.” EdTech Focus on Higher Education. 2015 CDW, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Looper, de Christian. “Why Video Games May Play Big Role in Education.” Tech Times. 2015 Tech Times, 22 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Mackay, F. R. “Playing to learn: Panelists at Stanford discussion say using games as an educational tool provides opportunities for deeper learning.” Stanford News. Stanford University, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Malykhina, Elena. “Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education.” Scientific American. 2015 Scientific American, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Schaffhauser, Dian. “Will Gaming Save Education, or Just Waste Time?.” The Journal. 1994-2014 1105 Media Inc, 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.