Video Games for Learning: Resource Roundup
Check out Edutopia's collection of articles, videos, and resources on using video games and simulations in the classroom.
Resources by Topic:
- Games in the Classroom
- Tips and Tools
- Using Games for Learning and Assessment
- Virtual Reality
- Innovative Programs
- Games for Social Good
- Edutopia Discussions: Education and Gaming
Games in the Classroom
- Game-Based Learning Units for the Everyday Teacher
A game-based unit includes structures, themes, and mechanisms for trial and error.
- Get Your Game On: How to Build Curriculum Units Using the Video Game Model
Blogger Andrew Miller shows educators some specific techniques for building a game structure across different subjects.
- Simulation Nation: The Promise of Virtual Learning Activities
Inventive computer sims can turn dull lessons into hyperreal experiences -- if we can get educators to use them.
- Sims vs. Games: The Difference Defined
Ever wondered? Here's your answer.
- Let the Games Begin: Entertainment Meets Education
Video games, once confiscated in class, are now a key teaching tool -- if they're done right.
- See all Edutopia blogs about Game-Based Learning.
Tips and Tools to Get Started
- Wii Love Learning: Using Gaming Technology to Engage Students
Put today's hottest game console to educational use.
- Teaching Tools: Using Online Simulations and Games
Gaming remains new territory for most schools. But educators on the frontiers are eager to share what they're learning.
- Using the Video Game Model in the Classroom
Blogger Mary Beth Hertz shares her experience in applying gaming concepts to her classroom practices.
- Making Lessons Come Alive in the Classroom with the Xbox Kinect
Guest blogger and middle school teacher Dan Jones shares how he uses the popular video game platform to increase student engagement.
- Serious Tips for Using Serious Games in Class
Experts on issue-oriented computer simulations offer advice on how to do it right.
Using Games for Learning and Assessment
- James Gee: What Do Video Games Have to Do with Project-Based Learning?
A conversation between John Larmer and David Ross of the Buck Institute for Education about project-based learning, video games, and the work of James Paul Gee.
- Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee on Grading with Games
An Arizona State University professor sees a bright future for video games in the learning process -- in and out of school.
- Serious Gaming: Computer Games Become Potent Student Motivators and Evaluators
A new generation of video games sneaks into assessment tools.
- A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool
The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies.
Virtual Reality
- Get a Life: Students Collaborate in Simulated Roles
Virtual reality provides a shared online universe in which students can play to learn.
- The School of Second Life: Education Online
Creating new avenues of pedagogy in a virtual world.
- Avatars Teach Teens About Self-Image
Even as the national beauty obsession grows, a new virtual world has emerged to give kids another perspective about image.
Innovative Programs
- The Games Pupils Play
Quest to Learn, a publicly funded school in New York, teaches entirely through games and hopes to open more of these Institutes of Play in the near future.
- Big Thinkers: Katie Salen on Learning with Games
Katie Salen, executive director of design for Quest to Learn (Q2L) and professor at Parsons The New School for Design, talks about the value of games and technology and the empowerment of play.
- Beyond Blowing Up Enemies: The Future of Games for Learning
Former staff writer Grace Rubenstein's write-up on the Games For Change conference.
- Student Mentors Teach Game Design
In Be The Game, high school students mentor peers and use game design as a tool for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, and the program's high tech bus travels to locations where tech facilities are not available.
Games for Social Good
- Computer Games Explore Social Issues
The fluid, interactive nature of simulations makes them ideal for tackling complex subjects.
- Playing Civic-Minded Simulations May Encourage Social Action
Recent studies explore whether serious games affect teens when they're offline.
- Top Issue-Oriented Computer Simulations
Check out these serious games to see what the buzz is all about.
- Sustainability-Themed Computer Games Come to the Classroom
Educators hope gaming will animate pressing environmental issues.
- Learning World Affairs Through Digital Media
Global Kids uses media and technology to foster civic participation and global awareness. In its Online Leadership Program, students make games, create animated movies, and produce videos that explore global issues.
Edutopia Discussions: Education and Gaming
- Angry Birds, YouTube, Club Penguin Meets Personalized Education
How do you use online games to craft curriculum for students with different skill levels?
- Using Dance Video Games to Teach Global Lessons
Have you tried teaching dance with interactive video gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and Kinect?
- Video Games in the Classroom Environment
Have you facilitated learning with video games?
- Using Video Game Technology to Teach Science
Recommend some of your favorite video gaming sites that focus on interactive science education.
Comments (4)
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Research-proven scientific process & drug education game
I'm part of a small non-profit in Michigan that has just finished 4 years of development & research supported by NIH on an online education game. We're not part of a big company and have no sales force, but we do have a great game that the teachers & students are loving. Would you consider adding it to your list? It's for 6-9th grade and fits well into science classes (covers hypothesis formation and supporting/refuting), forensic science classes, and health classes. It's affordable & proven through nationwide research with more than 2,000 students. www.dsihome.org
Hello Doug, Do you have a
Hello Doug,
Do you have a link to Reality is Broken? I am interested in the subject of Video Games and Learning for Students with Learning Disabilities.
Thanks,
Selah
Games in Learning
If you have not read Reality is Broken...READ IT(I am lucky to be able to hear the author speak later this month). It makes some great points that may not be obvious to the outside world. We have this perception that if it is fun, it cannot possible be useful or educational. But I beg to differ....not only CAN learning be fun, it should be fun. But, it is important to define fun in this context. I suggest that fun is something that is engaging that we look forward to doing. Humans are tuned to learn their whole life, so it is completely appropriate for learning and fun to intersect. Jane's point is that there are some common elements that have been identified as to why we enjoy playing games...why not bring those into education. My point is to take that one step further...why not let that be the foundation of education. No, not playing games as the foundation, but taking the main elements of games and bringing those into the classroom everyday.
Play and Learn
More resources are shared here
http://www.classroom-aid.com/educational-resources/play-and-learn/
There are endless opportunities in using games and simulation in education to raise learning passion!