I'm not sure if both of these will be able to be viewed but as a parent and an educator I thought I would share a bit of my personal experiences with video games and children. The one quote that struck me from the Educational Arcade piece is "for our youngest generations - technologies are shaping the way we think, work and live". That toddler with the Nintendo game or on a parent's iPad will be doing video scientific simulations in elementary school. High School students are already creating their own i-phone apps. Someday, the college application process including the interview will be all virtual or online with a portfolio of work possible including something that is digital technology project learning based. What is wrong with pairing X-box Warlords 3 (that is a simply made up game)with a social studies unit on the famous war battles like Normandy, invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan to help teach tactical war maneuvering and the social and scientific elements of being in battle (ie casualties, loss of life, predicting enemy movements, etc.). Add on a retired military general or Navy Seal and you put a human face to what it is like to be in combat in real-life. For some reason, and it somewhat goes against my parental instincts, but as educators, we may have to initiate more of a give & take relationship with students have more engaged learners in the classroom. Then I think everybody wins!
No comments:
Post a Comment