"Video games provide a far lower degree of failure and it’s consequences which encourage players to explore the environment, take risks and try new things."
According to
Video
Games: A New Path for Education in the 21st Century
By :Beatriz Miyares Kimball
Motivation and engagement play a link between instruction and achievement. This link is crucial to any sort of school success. In 2004 the National Research Council concluded that instruction that combines ways to increase student engagement can affect reading comprehension outcomes in a positive way. Educational researchers are suggesting that making a connection between digital media and literacy, content learning and complex academic language may offer a solution to the fourth grade slump. The interactive capacities of the computer and multimedia are an effective way to make reading less frustrating and more enjoyable. Computers and other forms of technology provide the necessary practice, support and motivation that are crucial for students who are experiencing reading difficulties.
The potential of technology to engage and motivate struggling readers plays a key role in the JUMP project. The most accurate predictor of school success is the size of a child’s vocabulary. Digital media can allow students to see how complex language and mathematical symbol systems attach to the world. The Jump into Reading for Meaning (JUMP) Program focuses on the development, delivery, and evaluation of a supplemental vocabulary instructional game for the Nintendo DS Lite. The curriculum targets low-performing fourth-grade students enrolled in supplemental after school and SES educational services programs to address the “fourth grade slump”. This project is funded by a five-year Star Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The overall all premise of JUMP is to combine the research-based vocabulary learning with good game design to produce and effective instructional digital game.
The use of gaming in education is different from most uses of technology in school environments. When most games are used in the classroom, they are basically electronic versions of pencil/paper worksheets and deemed boring by students. These are games that are easy to grasp immediately, and can be played in very short bursts of class time. The games are often curricular, attempting to teach subject matter and stuffed with factual content that is otherwise advanced through textbooks. They are little more than interactive quizzes. The activity often involves nothing more than answering multiple-choice questions. Success is measured as a percentage of correct answers expressed as a “score” and presented with a fun animation.
The overall all premise of JUMP is to combine the research-based vocabulary learning with good game design to produce and effective instructional digital game.
The use of gaming in education is different from most uses of technology in school environments. When most games are used in the classroom, they are basically electronic versions of pencil/paper worksheets and deemed boring by students. These are games that are easy to grasp immediately, and can be played in very short bursts of class time. The games are often curricular, attempting to teach subject matter and stuffed with factual content that is otherwise advanced through textbooks. They are little more than interactive quizzes. The activity often involves nothing more than answering multiple-choice questions. Success is measured as a percentage of correct answers expressed as a “score” and presented with a fun animation.
Kimball, Beatriz, and Keith Freeman. "Video Games: A New Path of Education in the 21st Century." (2011): n. page. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. bmkimball@ualr.edu
This article makes me feel encouraged that our education has begun to effectively use the technology. As teachers learn new techniques maybe this will move our children from seventh in the world of education to one again. It is amaging that we the U.S. is behind Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Hungry.
According to Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution,"Schools have diluted their academic mission, by emphasizing the social experience: sports, proms and clubs."
"Many countries offer multiple paths to a high school diploma, including career and technical programs," points out Russell Rumberger, a researcher at the University of California-Santa Barbara."We have a very monolithic conception of high school, which is a comprehensive high school with a singular diploma that everyone gets," Rumberger said.
The U.S. has placed less emphasis on vocational education because in years past, educators have been criticized for "tracking" children or steering them to certain careers -- especially low income, immigrant and minority students. But many experts say the U.S. should rethink its approach and model itself after countries that offer rigorous, challenging coursework in their vocational schools.
For example, if you want to work in a bank in Switzerland, you can either go to a university or combine your high school courses with professional experience.
"Education Olympics: How Does the U.S. Rank? ." PBS News Hour. PBS, August 12, 2012. Web. 12 Oct 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/08/education-olympics-how-does-the-us-rank-1.html
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf
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