At first, I thought was is this person talking about! I have a son that loves to live on the Xbox and it drives me crazy. I feel like I never get it. By the end of the chapter, I see what it is he is getting at. Basically, there is little difference in being a virtual character and functioning in their virtual world with the understanding of the games objectives. We use objectives all of the time in our classroom. We provide a lesson and new information that will hopefully connect with our objectives. How kids identify with the information be provided can determine to what extent they "get it." The new information draws from their values and identity. The ability to function inside this virtual world is a task that is learned and not always decided upon by the gamer. The game determines the objectives and the perimeters the character must exist within. The same is true for us in our classroom. The student must learn the expectations and work within in those expectations, even bringing different values and identities outside of the game we have created. Students are using previous school experiences to draw from so that they are able to function in the classroom, just as they learn these values and identities of the characters they play. The author is asking us to be like video games in terms of helping students use their experiences to succeed and learn within your classroom environment. I like the example about learning physics. In order to learn physics, the student must think like a physicist. The student needs to learn the values and identities of this character and think like this character. This article was a great current analogy for a life long lesson.
I like how you described video games as the ability to function inside this virtual world is a task that is learned and not always decided upon by the gamer. It is a great analogy because we set goals and boundaries in our own classroom just like video games do.
ReplyDeleteI am much like you, it drives me cray that my son would rather play video games than go outside and play. I didn't understand why these games are so captivating until reading how the gamer becomes the characters in the game! If we can learn to teach in such captivating ways, just imagine what the outcomes could be!
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