Should Computer Games Be Used for Classroom Instruction?

Some say the future of classroom learning should be digitized and ?gamified,? so that students barely notice they are learning. Do students learn important skills and concepts playing computer games? What do you think?

Should video games be used more and more for classroom instruction?

In the opinion piece ?Reading, Writing and Video Games,? Pamela Paul writes about her concerns with the growing trend of computer games in the classroom:

When I was a child, I liked to play video games. On my brother?s Atari, I played Night Driver. On his Apple II, I played Microwave, Aztec and Taipan! When I got to go to the arcade, I played Asteroids and Space Invaders.

Here?s what I learned: At a certain level on Microwave, the music from the bar scene in Star Wars comes on. If I am at the front line when aliens descend to Earth, we?ll all be in trouble. Also, dealing opium in the South China Sea is more lucrative than trading in commodities.

In short, I didn?t learn much of anything. My parents didn?t expect me to. I just had fun.

Today, educational technology boosters believe computer games (the classroom euphemism for video games) should be part of classroom lessons at increasingly early ages. The optimistic theory is that students wearied by the old pencil-and-paper routine will become newly enchanted with phonemic awareness when letters dressed as farm animals dance on a screen.

Students: Tell us?

• Should computer games be used more and more for classroom instruction? Or should they be for fun outside of school, while class time is used primarily for deeper learning?
• What have video games taught you?
• Can you imagine a video game that teaches you important skills and concepts?
• A report cites ??game-based learning? as one of the major trends affecting education in the next five years.? Do you think this is a positive or negative trend in education? Why?

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NOTE: Students, please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

Source: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/should-computer-games-be-used-for-classroom-instruction/

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