Three years ago, which in the world of Gaming might as well be a lifetime, I had the opportunity to offer a game design class to a group of SCH Academy upper school students. While my classroom teaching experience up until that time had been limited to technology development skills involving teachers, I was more than ready for the chance to connect and collaborate with students. Discouragingly, at the time my gaming prowess was bounded by a childhood immersed in Atari, Nintendo, and Sega Genesis, along with a freshman year of college solaced in NHL 97 on the Genesis console. Although an argument could be made that I should have been more dedicated to course work, the hours I spent gaming were the most engaging and focused I spent during
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If the truth be told, I had taken on the responsibility for teaching the class for that very reason–the desire to understand exactly what components of gaming had gripped my imagination for so many years, and to be able to create it, albeit very simply, myself.
I began to spend a great deal of time researching gaming in education—evaluating game design tools, listening to podcasts and connecting with other educators. I soon realized that there was little in the way of engaging curriculum that would satisfy course requirements that I had put into place while also appealing to high school students who were most likely more interested in gaming than coursework...sound familiar? Given my background in technology, I explored a variety of online resources including Game Star Mechanic, Game Maker, and Game Salad as complete guides throughout the first semester of the course. Here I was, ready to engage students in the process of understanding the very basics of gaming design, thinking they would be as excited as I was. I was in for a surprise; the students were more interested in their earned grades. The focus of my students was largely concentrated on using online tutorials in order to do this. What had happened to my naïve enthusiasm? …show more content…
They were using messaging services to communicate, social media to interact, websites and mobile technology for online shopping, fantasy sports, gaming and so much more. Online resources and tutorials offered valuable supplemental teaching tools to them in ways that brought almost instant feedback to their design efforts. I came to realize, being in the classroom with them, that they were far more focused on the end goal, completing the assignment to get a good grade, than I had ever considered. I had not done enough preparatory work to foster the key elements of an engaging learning experience—collaboration, creativity, and reflection. I, too, was the learner in that course, raising vital questions for myself as a teacher that I had to figure out. How do we create learning environments that foster creative and critical thinking skills? How do we encourage students to move beyond grades and to cultivate inquiry skills beyond problem solving to problem finding, idea generation and divergent thinking? How do we cultivate deep thinkers...not just good standardized test
If the truth be told, I had taken on the responsibility for teaching the class for that very reason–the desire to understand exactly what components of gaming had gripped my imagination for so many years, and to be able to create it, albeit very simply, myself.
I began to spend a great deal of time researching gaming in education—evaluating game design tools, listening to podcasts and connecting with other educators. I soon realized that there was little in the way of engaging curriculum that would satisfy course requirements that I had put into place while also appealing to high school students who were most likely more interested in gaming than coursework...sound familiar? Given my background in technology, I explored a variety of online resources including Game Star Mechanic, Game Maker, and Game Salad as complete guides throughout the first semester of the course. Here I was, ready to engage students in the process of understanding the very basics of gaming design, thinking they would be as excited as I was. I was in for a surprise; the students were more interested in their earned grades. The focus of my students was largely concentrated on using online tutorials in order to do this. What had happened to my naïve enthusiasm? …show more content…
They were using messaging services to communicate, social media to interact, websites and mobile technology for online shopping, fantasy sports, gaming and so much more. Online resources and tutorials offered valuable supplemental teaching tools to them in ways that brought almost instant feedback to their design efforts. I came to realize, being in the classroom with them, that they were far more focused on the end goal, completing the assignment to get a good grade, than I had ever considered. I had not done enough preparatory work to foster the key elements of an engaging learning experience—collaboration, creativity, and reflection. I, too, was the learner in that course, raising vital questions for myself as a teacher that I had to figure out. How do we create learning environments that foster creative and critical thinking skills? How do we encourage students to move beyond grades and to cultivate inquiry skills beyond problem solving to problem finding, idea generation and divergent thinking? How do we cultivate deep thinkers...not just good standardized test