I think that maybe making this an alternative class, or maybe an elective would be great to do. By doing this, you are letting kids who want to learn this way have the opportunity to do so. I remember this one video game called RPG Maker that was really cool. You could design an entire video game. This included the characters, the maps/villages/dungeons they were in, and so forth. You even chose the paths that they would walk and what they say to one another. Here is an example, mind you it is a hokey little advertisement, but it works:
I think maybe incorporating something like this might be a really cool idea. You could have your students create a scene from literature or a play, or maybe provide an alternate ending to something they read and have the other students play it. As long as it was just a side project, I think that using video games in the classroom is a really cool idea.
I am still really unconvinced about video games in the classroom. As someone who has been playing them since childhood, there is little value in 99% of games that can be applied in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great, modern technology that people use and COULD be developed into something intellectually stimulating. But beyond the early elementary games like Oregon Trail and that frog-oriented math game we used to play, I haven't found much depth for applicable knowledge in videogames.
Even RPG maker, a game I played extensively back in the day, I don't see as worthwhile for children to be engaging in as a means to education. Maybe it could work for a Creative Writing class where you are supposed to write a story, because that is exactly what that game does, but never beyond that type of assignment.
This would just sidetrack from a more worthwhile education.
-Matthew Colwell