As I watched the Grading with Games video this week, I had to chuckle because Mr. Gerr was so right when he said, “In some weird way a video game is just an assessment. All you do is get assessed every moment as you try to solve problem…” Yet students absolutely love video games. I began to ponder the idea of how one would go about developing a video game that would teach American History or Texas History. I can’t even begin to imagine what that game would look like; but, there are people out there who can and they know exactly what it would take to create such a thing. So, why aren’t they!?
I wish I had the time and knowhow to create a series of video games that would teach my U.S. History curriculum. Can you imagine getting upset with students for doing the entire semester’s lessons over the first weekend? Just think about that. It’s not unusual for some of my 8th grade students to spend 6 hours a day playing a video game. If there are approximately 55 instructional hours in a semester, it is conceivable that a student who is really into the game could complete the entire semester in one week. They might even learn something! Unfortunately, most of the popular video games are based on fantasy. Therefore, kids might not be quite as excited to play a game that might actually teach them something. And from personal experience, the history games that are available are, for lack of a better word, pretty boring.
While I may not have the talent needed to create a full-fledged video game, I do have the talent to create a game of sorts, or at least a chapter review, using a PowerPoint with hyperlinks that will allow a student to pick a topic, answer a question, and access a mini reteach lesson if necessary. I can’t wait to get started.
Reference:
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gerr grading with games. Retrieved on March 27, 2012 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video
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