Gaming and Student Learning

I read Klopfer's article with very mixed feelings. Yes, Web 2.0 gaming and social networking sites can offer dynamic, generative experiences which help build socialization skills like negotiation, enhanced perspective-taking and perhaps even empathy. They also offer students forums by which to access loads of information that excites their personal interest and emotional connection to concepts. And, as we all know at this point, researching a topic on the web forces our minds to collate and synthesize tremendous amounts of information very efficiently. All teachers should consider ways in which they can introduce these elements into their classrooms.

On the other hand, particularly when it comes to primary grade children, I worry that electronic games are merely an extension of television, with kids passively accepting a continuous barrage of visual images without employing the real generative brainwork required to learn. As Klopfer cites in his paper, students who are avid gamers, have a, "tendency to access information in the first instance through imagery and then use text to clarify, expand, and explore."

Our classrooms are word-based environments, with discourse in the form of written texts and teacher-led discussions forming the majority of instruction. To truly comprehend this discourse, students must be skilled at building imagery from written language first, not second. I wonder if our students extensive exposure to the types of visual imagery supplied by the web in the form of games, social networking and wiki sites will allow generative, original imagery to form in students' minds.

I don't want to sound overly pessimistic. I'm part of the Educational Games presentation group, and we feel we've identified some useful web-based educational games. In particular, we think we've discovered some games teachers might consider using with some students who have specific learning challenges. But in my experience observing children in classrooms (and especially with my own 10 and 8 year-old children at home) I see so much of the so-called "web-based learning" happening in a very passive way.

Jamie Hooper