Good Learning with Digital Games

I agree with Klopfer’s notion that the newest generation is “completely normalized by digital technologies.” I am currently in a kindergarten class and when students were asked what their favorite game was, they were all digital games, many of which I am not familiar with. Go figure!

One thing that concerns me about the use of digital games is the limited interaction it may generate among children. What I mean by this is while digital games may be highly engaging for students, teachers should be careful not to assign one student to one computer. I think it is counterproductive when a child is playing a computer game alone. In order for “good learning” to take place, there needs to be some sort of interaction among peers. Some of the many benefits may include; sharing ideas with one another, collaborating, problem-solving, developing social skills, etc. So when I read that Ross, the 7^th grade central subject teacher was introducing a digital game called Diplomacy to his classroom, I found it important to highlight that he either chose to assign two students per computer or play the game with the whole class through a projector. That way, there was always some sort of interaction taking place between the students.

Additionally, when would teachers use digital games in their classroom? I know that Jessica briefly mentioned last class that technology does not always have to be used at the end of curriculum, but how would that work with digital games? Just a thought.