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My Cohort 21 action plan is to work with one or two of the History teachers at my school to design student activities to be used with some history-related computer games (e.g. Mission-U.S. series, Death in Sakkara, and High Tea).
There are a few main benefits to taking on this plan:
- A number of the History teachers at UTS have expressed an interest in using video games in their classes, but have been hesitant to jump in the pool (I teach Geography, but share an office with a few History teachers). I think one of the main reasons is the lack of accompanying student activities for the games. It would be great to work with them to design some activities to help deepen student learning.
- I would like to revisit the way I design student activities for games, and would like to incorporate some of the ideas from the Cohort 21 experience (e.g. the SAMR framework). Working with games that are new to me, and with teachers in another subject area that I am not that familiar with, will help me to develop a fresh approach to game activity design.
- If all goes well, I can use this experience to work with teachers from other departments in the future (e.g. next school year). For example there are a number of excellent computer games that seem like a good fit for the Science curriculum (e.g. The History of Biology, Citizen Science, Re-Mission 2, Virulent, Waterlife, Portal 2, etc.).
I’m very excited to take this on, and look forward to working with my Cohort 21 colleagues to help make this come to fruition!
Hi Mike,
I must tell you, the title of your post is what captured my eye and brought me to investigate further.
The concept of games in the classroom is a great area to tap into as it holds so many possibilities and lends itself well to the curriculum. It seems like you have been doing some research and finding ideas on what sites might offer a connection to the history (PS, I was checking out the three you had mentioned and found them rather fun and engaging yet meaningful).
I must admit, there are some great games which bring the curriculum to life but it can be a bit daunting to create/modify activities to lend themselves/deepen the inquiry process within the game. I am curious to see the kinds of activities you will be looking into to integrate with the gaming aspect.
I may be mistaken but it sounds like you have been using games in the geography strand and are now looking to branch out into other subjects. How was your experience with working with games in the past? What got you interested in this area?
If you are up for the challenge, I would be very interested in learning more and working with you on integrating a few of the computer games into the science curriculum. Maybe meshing Science and Geography together?
Hi Chris!
Thanks for this. Yes, I have been using computer games (about 25) in the Geo curriculum for a while now, and am now looking at branching out to other subject areas in my school (e.g. History). The experience of working with games has been one of the most exciting aspects of teaching for me. The level of innovation out there is phenomenal, and the engagement and learning for the students never ceases to amaze me. I stumbled upon using games in the classroom about 10 years ago, when the TDSB acquired the license for the game ‘PAX Warrior’ which put you in the shoes of General Romeo Dallaire during the Rwandan genocide. The student response was very positive, so then I started looking around for more games and found that there was a whole world out there that I didn’t know existed. I’d love to work with you on integrating games into the Science curriculum, and at looking at meshing Science and Geo together (there is a lot of overlap). Let’s talk more about this on Friday.
Hi Mike,
After posting, I was reading your bio and came across your site, changegamer.ca. I’ll have to explore this further as it has so many great suggestions/recommendations with worksheets to accompany.
I always find it interesting to see what ignites the exploration of new ideas and in your case, how rewarding this one license has been in developing your lessons.
Awesome! I’m looking forward to working with you and see what we can come up with.
Hi Mike, and Chris,
This is indeed and exciting and timely post. This topic has been on the rise, thanks to The Agenda broadcast featuring Justin Medved (http://theagenda.tvo.org/episode/188161/gaming-the-education-system). I think that you’re posts will be very interesting to many both within the Cohort and beyond.
Also, I was wondering if you could use some resources to help define what “gaming” looks like, sounds like, feels like, in the classroom. Many people default to video games, but we know it is much broader.
For example, would you consider a resource like the one I’ve linked below “gaming” history?
http://www.mysteryquests.ca/quests/12/indexen.html
Thanks, and looking forward to more from you,
garth.
Hi Garth,
that is a great broadcast featuring Justin – very helpful.
Good point about gaming not being confined to video games. It just happens to be the area that I’ve pushed into the past few years. I have sent the History teachers at UTS the ‘Mystery Quests’ site – looks great. Perhaps we can work with this site as one of the options.
Thanks for the ideas!
Mike
Mike,
At first I was a little skeptical about the use of games in the class. I do see the value of Phet’s and such but was unaware of the games available to teachers. I checked out the History of Biology one and I love the incentive and discovery focus that they have designed into the game. I wonder if it is something you would push all your students to use, or would you use games as incentive for those who lack the interest? I could also see using this as their ‘homework’ to secretly flip the classroom without them really knowing. An interesting action plan an I am looking forward to seeing where you take it.
Hi Tim,
thanks for the comment. I have heard great things about the ‘History of Biology’ but have not gone too deeply into it – good to hear your feedback about it.
Up to this point, I have the entire class do the games, but would consider making it as one of many options if that seemed like a good fit (thanks for the idea!).
Interestingly, in the TVO video on ‘games in education’ that Garth mentioned (a little earlier in this thread), at one point Justin makes a case for having students do math games at home to emphasize rote skills, as opposed to using valuable class time to do this. It is a great video – Justin takes a very measured and knowledgeable approach to using games in education. Well worth it:
(http://theagenda.tvo.org/episode/188161/gaming-the-education-system)
Hey thanks!
My fives minutes of fame 🙂