Games Based Learning

"In classrooms throughout Scotland a range of game based technologies are now being used to help make teaching and learning experiences within Curriculum for Excellence challenging, demanding and appealing." (Scottish Government 2010)


























This week we had inputs from David Miller, Divya Jindal-Snape and Jill Shimi on games based learning in the classroom.
David Miller firstly talked about using Dr Kawashima's Brain Training within the classroom and the benefits it had for not only the children's numeracy skills but also their self-esteem.
Divya then talked about using Guitar Hero as a context for the transition between primary and secondary and the benefits it had for the children.
Lastly Jill talked about the reaserched she had carried out using Nintendogs with eary years classes.
Games such as Nintendogs, Guitar Hero and Dr Kawashima's Brian Training are called COTS games.
COTS stands for Commercial Off The Shelf games, this means that they were not designed for educational purposes, however when used within a context can be a great learning tool to motivate and engage children.

I am going to focus on the research carried out by Jill on using Nintendogs within diferent contexts in early years settings. The research was carried out using four primary 1 and 2 classes in Aberdeenshire over a summer term. The teachers were able to choose the context that the Nintendogs games would be used in, and also how often or little the game would  be played.
One of the main reasons for this reserach was to find out what effect the nintendogs game has on social aspects of classroom life. The findings showed increased social interactions, especially in less confident children. The children were able to talk to each other about the game and also have some common ground with other children in the class that they may have not been friends with before.
There was also evidence of PAL(Peer Assisted Learning) which showed that there was examples of greater collaboartion and also peer tutoring. An example that Jill gave of this was a child that was of very high ablity was struggling to work out how to play the game correctly and it was a child of a lower ability and someone that the child did not normally talk to that was able to help them understand. The importance of this is highlighted by LTScotland that state that "Peer education has a strong emphasis on personal development and can be particularly effective in allowing low achieving pupils to fully participate and succeed in a wider range of educational and health promoting activities". I feel that using games such as Nintendogs in the classroom gives children who may stuggle with certain aspects of the curriculum an opportunity to be involved in lots of different activities that will play to their strengths and allow them to succeed. It will also increase their self-confidence and motivation to learn and participate.


This project not only increased the children's motivation and enthusiasm but also their level of engagement. Using Nintendogs within a context also relates to the different principles outlined in the Curriculum for Excellence. I feel that using Nintendogs in this way will relate to the principle of challenge and enjoyment as the children may find it challenging at the beginning to work out how to play the game and look after their dogs properly but they will be engaged and having fun at the same time. It can also relate to the principle of relevance as the activities the children do can be can be related to real life situations for example discussing the pets they have at home and what they need to do to look after them, ask a dog walker to come into the class and talk about their job or even go for a walk with them or keep a doggy diary.


When using games based learning, although it is very important to ensure that it used in a appropriate way and that the children see a purpose in playing these games there are many benefits to using it for example:

• motivating learners to succeed and to continually improve
• fostering self-esteem, self-determination and enhancing self-image
• facilitating collaborative learning
• implicitly developing learners ability to observe, question, hypothesise and test
• facilitating metacognitive reflection
• developing complex problem-solving skills
• making school an exciting place to be
• offering inroads into other curricular areas
• sharing practice features that show how games have enhanced learning in the classroom.  (Scottish Government 2010)

To find out more about using Dr Kawashima's Brian Training look at http://iteach-ict.blogspot.com


To find out more about using Guitar Hero to support transition look at http://missh29.blogspot.com/




References

Scottish Government (2010) About Game Based Learning. Available online at:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/usingglowandict/gamesbasedlearning/about/understanding.asp [accessed 16/2/12]

Scottish Government (2010) Peer Education. Available online at:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningteachingandassessment/approaches/peereducation/index.asp [accesssed 16/2/12]