This Week in Education and Serious Games

Are you a teacher looking to use online games in the classroom? Interested in issues relating to education and technology?

Check out this week’s top links!


1)  Assessment is always a hot topic in education!

In “Looking Where the Light is Bad,” J.P. Gee and D.W. Shaffer argue that we need to revolutionize the way we assess students by making tests more like games. According to them, our current forms of assessment, such as standardized testing, are no longer a relevant or accurate depiction of progress.

Accessible and engaging!
 

2) If you’re an educator looking to use games in the classroom, you might be interested in Thorkild Hanghoj and Rikke Magnussen’s “The Role of the Teacher in Facilitating Educational Games: Outlining a Game Pedagogy.”

While most papers focus on students' interaction with games, this paper takes a different approach by looking  at how the teacher’s role changes with games in the classroom!

It’s a bit heavy going, but if you’re interested in a different perspective on gaming and teaching it makes a fascinating read.


3) For something lighter, check out Oliver J. Chiang’s article “Video Games that Can Change the World.” It's a great overview of some the advances being made in the world of serious gaming. (You might also be interested in Jane McGonigal's talk, "Gaming Can Make a Better World"!)


4) OK, it’s Friday afternoon – time to kick back and watch a video. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Sir Ken Robinson’s classic TED talk on schools and creativity:





And finally, if you're interested in all things related to gaming, education, and technology be sure to check out the 7th Annual Games for Change Festival!


Have a link you would like to share? Let us know!

Collette Jackson, Content and Marketing Specialist at BlackCherry Digital Media, is writing on behalf of On the Path of the Elders, a free online educational resource that explores Cree and Ojibway history and culture, and the signing of Treaty No. 9.

Check out On the Path of the Elders at pathoftheelders.com.

For more information, email us at info@pathoftheelders.com.

Created in partnership with BlackCherry Digital Media, Archives Deschâtelets, the Doug Ellis Collection at Carleton University, Our Incredible World (Pinegrove Productions), the Mushkegowuk Council, Neh Naak Ko, the Archives of St. Paul University, Carleton University, and Wendy Campbell, Educational Consultant (Learning Methods Group).

This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. Created with additional financial assistance from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Inukshuk Fund.

“We have to start making the real world more like a game”

This is the revolutionary but easily overlooked statement Jane McGonigal makes during her Ted talk on how gaming can make a better world.

“We have to start making the real world more like a game”

Notice that she doesn’t say, “We have to start using gamers’ skills in the real world,” or “we need to figure out how gaming relates to real world activities”.

No. She says we need to start adapting our society to compliment the values and beliefs of gamers.

It’s not about bringing gamers into the real world; it’s about bringing the real world in line with gaming. 

How Can Gaming Save the World?

This is the question Jane McGonigal asks in her inspired Ted Talk, “Gaming Can Make a Better World”:



After launching On the Path of the Elders last week, it was rewarding to listen to McGonigal’s compelling talk. Not only does she reconfirm the value of gaming, but -- more importantly -- her argument speaks to many of the ideals at the heart of PathoftheElders.com.

McGonigal argues that gaming develops skills and beliefs vital for solving some of the world’s biggest challenges. In particular, she claims that gaming produces individuals with a strong conviction that they are capable of changing the world. Too often, however, these individuals limit their influence to a virtual landscape.

As game designers, educators, and role-models it is up to us to convince these gamers that their skills have real value: the same optimism, team-work, resourcefulness, and determination that makes gamers successful in online worlds can and must be brought to real world problems. 

But how much difference can gamers make?
McGonigal brings some hard-hitting statistics to the table:

• Today, the average youth in a country that has a large gaming culture will have spent 10 000 hours playing online games by the age of 21 (to put that number in perspective, they will have spent 10 080 hours in school between grades 5 and 12).

• Globally, we spend 3 billion hours a week playing online games.

• There are currently 500 million virtuoso gamers (defined as people who have spent at least 10 000 hours gaming).

• As gaming companies continue to expand globally, there will be a billion more virtuoso gamers in the next decade

In other words, the number of highly skilled gamers is increasing exponentially. If we don’t start figuring out how to use gamers’ abilities to solve real world problems, we’re wasting a huge resource. 

Our Vision

From the beginning, using gaming to solve real world problems has been one of the aims of On the Path of the Elders. It is our hope that PathoftheElders.com will serve to:

1. reconnect Aboriginal youths with their culture and history
2. decrease Aboriginal youth suicide rates
3. create a bridge between Non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal cultures

By promoting leadership, negotiation, and decision-making skills, PathOfTheElders.com will demonstrate to players that they have the ability to become advocates for change. We want youths to recognize their connection to a rich and vibrant culture, and realize that the skills they use in the role-playing games are the same skills needed to be leaders in their communities.

Building PathoftheElders.com has been an intense, challenging, and thought-provoking journey. Speakers like Jane McGonigal remind us why we have invested so much of ourselves in this project and what might be its rewards for future generations.

Collette Jackson, Content and Marketing Specialist at BlackCherry Digital Media, is writing on behalf of On the Path of the Elders, a free online educational resource that explores Cree and Ojibway history and culture, and the signing of Treaty No. 9.

Check out On the Path of the Elders at pathoftheelders.com.

For more information, email us at info@pathoftheelders.com

Created in partnership with BlackCherry Digital Media, Archives Deschâtelets, the Doug Ellis Collection at Carleton University, Our Incredible World (Pinegrove Productions), the Mushkegowuk Council, Neh Naak Ko, the Archives of St. Paul University, Carleton University, and Wendy Campbell, Educational Consultant (Learning Methods Group).

This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. Created with additional financial assistance from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Inukshuk Fund.