Alright, everyone - I'm going to just come right out and admit it. I. LOVE. Video games. Now, I really enjoyed all the reading for this module, and I was a student musician who can relate to being in that perfect state of flow, but what I really want to talk about is the Dickey article.
But first I have to say this - sometimes the stigma of being an English teacher just isn't fair. Tell me you haven't imagined me sitting in my high-backed leather chair by the fire, reading poetry or Austen and listening to classical music, dressed in a cardigan and with a cat on my lap. Admit it! I know that's the prevailing assumption - I even had a guy ask me at the gym once if I had one of "those" sweaters. I am not kidding. So I absolutely delight in the moments in school when I have an opportunity to share my gaming habits with the kids. "You play video games?" "You have a Wii?!?" "You play Just Dance?!?!" Talk about messing with their prior knowledge...
Personally, I always preferred the adventure games, the ones with quests and fantasy elements - and I owe a lot of my problem-solving skills to Link, Zelda, and that little fairy guide. I was never one for the shooting games, although I have the utmost respect for what's being done with the design of these games. How can anyone look at these graphics and not take math seriously? It's just brilliant.
But to return to a more academic discussion of the matter... Dickey's got it exactly right. It's not about making classrooms a free-for-all video arcade; it's about learning a thing or two from video game design. And I'm sure we've all thought about this before - how can we harness the power of these games that can take otherwise apathetic, attention-lacking students and make them so hyper-focused and motivated to succeed? I've had many conversations with students about the instant gratification found in the immediate feedback of solving a mathematics or chemistry equation as compared to their English assignments, but the video game analogy works much better. Why else would students keep doing the same thing over and over and over again? I don't think any of us would approach diagramming sentences over and over with such enthusiasm (or would we?).
The connections that I found most exciting were those relating video games to the student's role as investigator, adventurer, problem-solver and inquirer. That students experience engaged learning when they "analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and employ critical thinking skills as they make decisions and determine the course of their actions" (Dickey, 2005, p70). Now, can't that description can be applied to the objectives in the latest Zelda game as well as an inquiry project in which the students have choice, an authentic purpose and audience, and challenging tasks? Dickey explains that what we need to do is "create activities and environments that allow learners to become engaged in meaningful activities" (p70). I think the most significant concept here is meaningful. Ask me how much meaning the critical lens essay holds for my juniors...
I think the skeptics out there would scoff and say that no matter what we do, we cannot replicate what happens when kids are locked in to their gaming systems. I disagree - and I think that is entirely what the concept of Flow Theory is all about. I've seen it happen - usually in the library, when my kids are experiencing autonomy, collaborating, tracking down research leads, and doing work for a real purpose other than a grade. My librarian and I were thrilled to hear students meet us in the library and ask "can we get started right away?" before the bell rang or who wouldn't clean up their reading materials or laptops on time because they needed to finish one more thing (aka - just one more level, mom!).
I think the real question is - how do we get other educators to realize this? To trust that such instructional design will meet the curriculum goals and work the skills necessary to pass the exams? If you have an answer, tell me. Because right now, all I'm doing is preaching to the choir.
Dickey, M. D. (2005). Engaging by design: How engagement strategies in popular computer and video games can inform
instructional design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53 (2), pp 67-83.
