Video Games: The Answer To Future Economic Growth

Video games have been touted as necessary inclusions in modern day classrooms, even by the business sector (Annetta, 2008).  What does the business sector have to do with the education of our children you may ask?  I myself initially thought the same thing.  I get frustrated hearing about all of the things we need to teach children today and here was yet another group of people telling us what we should be doing in our classrooms.  Where was it all going to end?  However I was also very curious, so with my interest piqued I read further and began to understand the connection between the business sector and our current educational practices.

The children we are educating today are going to be the participators in our future workforce.  According to A Report By the Business Roundtable (2005) cited in Annetta (2008), if the United States of America is to prosper as a country for the benefit of future generations, then today’s educators must be harnessing technological and scientific methodologies which will be relevant to the next generation workforce.  Annetta (2008) further concludes that future income, wealth and job growth of a country will be reliant upon people of the work force being able to ‘apply technology and new ideas to create new products and processes’ (p.231).  Bearing this in mind it stands to reason that if Australia is to continue to flourish economically we also need to be ensuring that what we do in today’s classrooms is relevant and connected to working in the 21^st Century.

Image retrieved from Creative Commons
19 October 2011
http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-page-main/ehow/images/a08/24/aa/disadvantages-language-games-teaching-vocabulary-800x800.jpg

Currently, many educators are still using practices and materials designed for use in classrooms of 40 years ago (Annetta, 2008).  Alone these resources and practices are not preparing students for successful participation in a modern work life.  Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robinson and Weigel (2006) point out however, that skills students were previously taught do not need to be abandoned completely but simply need to be built upon using mass and digital media forms. Annetta (2008) further claims that we need to be incorporating practices within the classroom that engage and motivate the students and allow them to experiment and construct knowledge using tools which they are accustomed to interacting and playing with. 

The Queensland Studies Authority (2006) developed the Early Years Curriculum Guidelines for use in Queensland Preparatory classrooms.  These guidelines have been based on extensive research which concluded that children learn best through play.  Annetta (2008) further adds that childhood is a time when people learn to make connections to and master the structures of the world around them through play.  In addition to this he concludes that in order for students to continue to master the structures of an ever changing world we need to extend the use of learning through play beyond the confines of the early years’ education.  One such method recommended by Annetta (2008) for incorporating play into all year levels and which will also ensure the future growth of a country is the adoption of video games. 

Image retrieved from Creative Commons
19 October 2011,
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/upload/images/chilekids.jpg

Children of today are growing up in a world dominated by newer and increasingly smaller and more mobile mass media devices.  According to Siwek (2010), gaming is an ever increasing market in the US, accounting for over $10 billion in sales in 2009.  As is evident from the US sales figures, gaming is a form of learning through play that many students are engaged with in their personal lives so why not include its use in the classroom?   Many of these modern video games are not designed solely for entertainment purposes; they also have great educational value for the learner.  Commonly video games of today situate the learner within a virtual world where they can create their own avatar.  According to Annetta (2008) this provides the learner with a sense of individuality and can lead to greater learning satisfaction.  Within this virtual world the player learns to navigate their way through a variety of problem solving tasks using critical thinking and trial and error and learns to negotiate the structures of the environment surrounding them.  It has been asserted by Annetta (2008) that incorporating gaming into the classroom can thus provide motivation, engagement and improved achievement levels for students.  Dede (2004) cited in Annetta (2008), further concludes that video games have the potential to improve participation in the classroom by providing those previously disengaged students with a learning environment they can connect to more readily than the conventional classroom.

Video games can be used across all year levels and across all curriculum areas.  Not only can video games be used to teach core content, test and engage students but they can also be used as a basis to teach students the elements of game design and process so as students themselves can become the creators of video games (Annetta, 2008).  HI FIVES (Highly Interactive Fun Internet Virtual Environments in Science) is one such program discussed by Annetta (2008) in which students used software called Virtuoso to create their own video games as an assessment piece to demonstrate their knowledge learned in a science unit.  It seems the closer one examines the uses of video games in education the more the potential options become endless. 

It is however important to remember, as Annetta (2008) points out, using video games in the classroom is not a replacement for good teaching.  Video games should be thought of as a supplement to a good educational setting.  They should be used to engage and motivate learners, inspiring them to grasp more in depth and complex knowledge on a topic and should not take over the classroom completely.  As an educator of young children I need to ensure that I follow the advice of Annetta (2008) and consider carefully how I could integrate video games into my teaching practices to compliment what I currently do. This requires reflection on my current practices, contemplating future direction and consideration of resources available so as to enhance student learning, not just adopt video games because it is the new ‘fad’ tool to use in education.

References:

Annetta, L. (2008). Video Games in Education: Why They Should Be Used and How They Are Being Used. Theory Into Practice. 47(3), 229-239.  Retrieved 19 October 2011, from   http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405840802153940

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J. & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century [Occasional paper]. Retrieved October 9, 2011 fromhttp://digitallearning.macfound.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=enJLKQNlFiG&b=2108773&ct=3017973&notoc=1

Queensland Studies Authority (2006). Early Year Curriculum Guidelines.  Retrieved 19 October 2011, from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/early_middle/ey_cg_06.pdf

Siwek, S. (2010).  Video Games in the 21^st Century: The 2010 Report.  Retrieved 19 October 2011, from http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/VideoGames21stCentury_2010.pdf