What Can We Learn From Video Games for Classroom Application?

1. What Can We Learn From Video Games for Classroom Application? Dr. Michael England Professor of Education Southwestern Adventist University August 2012

2. If the games generation are Digital Natives, what does that make the older generations – those who make or buy the e-Learning that the Digital Natives use? One way to think of them is as “Digital Immigrants.” They came to the digital shores later in life, and they had to learn to cope with digital technology as adults.

3. “For the first time in history, we are no longer limited by our teachers’ ability and knowledge.” – Mark Anderson

5. Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials • Video games • Computers • Email • The Web • Multiple, mobile devices • Instant messaging • Online communities • TV generation • Typewriters • Memos Product of the Environment

6. Our Digital Native’s e-Life • Coordinating • Projects, workgroups, MMORPGs • Evaluating • Reputation systems–Epinions, Amazon, Slashdot • Gaming • Solo, 1-on-1, small & large groups • Learning • About stuff that interests them • Evolving • Peripheral, emergent behaviors • Communicating • email, IM, chat • Sharing • Blogs, webcams • Buying & Selling • ebay, papers • Exchanging • music, movies, humor • Creating • sites, avatars, mods • Meeting • 3D chat rooms, dating • Collecting • mp3, video, sensor data • Searching • Info, connections, people • Analyzing • SETI, drug molecules • Reporting • Moblogs, photos • Programming • Open systems, mods search • Socializing • Learning social behavior, influence • Growing Up • Exploring, transgressing

7. Mind Boggling Statistics

8. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).   And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

9. Number of minutesper week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5

10. Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500

11. Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000 Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000

12. The average gamer will have played 10,000 hours by age 21 with 99 percent of male gamers (94 percent for females) under the age of 18 playing five days a week.

13. The average young person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21 -- or 24 hours less than they spend in a classroom for all of middle and high school if they have perfect attendance.

14. It's a remarkable amount of time we're investing in games. 5 million gamers in the U.S., in fact, are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games -- the equivalent of a full time job! 

15. Reading.Over the past 5 years, time spent reading books remained steady at about :25 a day, but time with magazines and newspapers dropped (from :14 to :09 for magazines, and from :06 to :03 for newspapers).   The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42% in 1999 to 23% in 2009.  On the other hand, young people now spend an average of :02 a day reading magazines or newspapers online.

16. Media and homework.  About half of young people say they use media either “most” (31%) or “some” (25%) of the time they’re doing their homework.

17. Rules about media content. Fewer than half of all 8- to 18-year-olds say they have rules about what TV shows they can watch (46%), video games they can play (30%), or music they’re allowed to listen to (26%).  Half (52%) say they have rules about what they can do on the computer.

18. Gender gap. Girls spend more time than boys using social networking sites (:25 vs. :19), listening to music (2:33 vs. 2:06), and reading (:43 vs. :33).   Boys spend more time than girls playing console video games (:56 vs.:14), computer games (:25 vs. :08), and going to video websites like YouTube (:17 vs. :12).

19. Tweens and media. Media use increases substantially when children hit the 11-14 year-old age group, an increase of 1:22 with TV content, 1:14 with music, 1:00 using the computer, and :24 playing video games, for total media exposure of 11:53 per day (vs. 7:51 for 8-10 year-olds). 

20. Texting. 7th-12th graders report spending an average of 1:35 a day sending or receiving texts. (Time spent texting is not counted as media use in this study.)

21. It’s not attention deficit – I’m just not listening!

22. Why Kids Drop Out of School 47% Classes weren’t interesting. 43% Missed too many days and couldn’t catch up. 42% Friends weren’t interested in school. 38% Too much freedom & too few rules in my life. 35% Was failing in school. But 70% were confident they could have graduated. and 81% recognized that graduating was vital to their success.

23. Online 3 -5 hours per day. Today’s Students

24. 97% play video games 50% played yesterday Today’s Students

25. Accustomed to high level of empowerment Today’s Students

26. Live in a world with lots of content to choose from. Today’s Students

27. Are active learners Today’s Students

28. Today’s Students Are active builders

29. How MillennialsLearn

30. Themes of Millennials • Digitally literate • Always on • Experiential • Mobile • Community-oriented

31. Digital Natives Digital Immigrants Conventional Speed Twitch Speed Random Access Step-by-Step Linear Processing Parallel Processing

32. Digital Natives Digital Immigrants Graphics First Text First Play Oriented Work Oriented Stand Alone Connected

33. 21st Century Learners • have had technology forever • have found new processes for critical thinking • have embraced the concept of change • have managed to strike fear into the previous generation

35. What was your favorite game? What was enjoyable about it?

36. Why Games Engage Us Fun Play Rules Goals Interactive Outcomes & Feedback Adaptive Win states Conflict, competition Problem solving Interaction with people Representation & Story • Enjoyment and Pleasure • Intense involvement • Structure • Motivation • Doing • Learning • Flow • Ego Gratification • Adrenaline • Creativity • Social Groups • Emotion

37. We have learned to “play school.”  We study the right facts the night before the test so we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student. – A high school student

38. “...how many educators are able to keep the undivided attention of 5th graders multiple hours straight without a break...and yet video games manage to do so...”

39. The gamer's world ─ Move over, I'm driving; buckle up!

40. Video games are fair. There is always an answer There is always a problem(s) that has a solution(s) which lead to an end result -- the object of the game.

41. The answer is rarelyobvious. There is always an answer A correct answer will give you information which will be useful in reaching the goal; thus you must persevere to find a correct answer. The answer is always relevant.

42. You might be frustrated for a while and you may need help in finding it, but it is always there. Cheats (hints) are built into the program and are part of the resources available to you. There is always an answer Cheats are OK, because you are learning (gaining valuable information) as you move forward toward the goal.

43. In schools, the answer is given to you; it is often not linked to anything relevant. There is only one right answer and one right way to get there and cheats are not to be tolerated! There is always an answer Students rarely, if ever, associate fairness with schools.

44. In any game, you have the tools and the talent to be successful on your own, or you may connect with someone who has the information you need in order to move forward (collaboration). Nothing is impossible You see yourself and your friends do amazing things such as save the world from terrorists or alien invasions, create thriving civilizations, and manage a successful small business. You have the power to control your destiny. You can accomplish anything you want, and therefore you are motivated.

45. Competition is inherent in game structure. Competition is the motivating factor Competition & Collaboration Competition does not eclipse collaboration; in fact, collaboration is often an integral part of furthering your success. Competitionand collaboration are symbiotic rather than mutually exclusive concepts.

46. In games, roles are clearly defined. You choose your role and understand its powers and limitations. Roles are clear You understand the rules, the tools at your disposal and you are willing to take the risks.

47. In schools, the roles are not as clear. The child's role of “student” is defined at the discretion of the teacher. Roles are clear At the secondary level, a child may have several teachers a day who all have different definitions of the child's role depending on the activity chosen or the concept being taught.

48. If a child comes into the learning environment with an identity that is contraryto the role the teacher is asking them to perform, he or she will not be successful. Thus, a child with a history of failure in math may have difficult time accepting the role of “math student.” Roles are clear

49. They are the stars in their own adventure. They are responsible for their own success. They dominate their culture Their experience tells them that with patienceand perseverance, they will succeed.

50. Compared to the classroom, games are empowering, motivating, individualized differentiated learning environments with set rules which value the efforts of the individual child. Games vs. Schools Games are challengingand motivating.