My first house built in Minecraft "creative" mode.
OLTD 508 Mobile Technologies and Game-Based Learning: An Eye-Opening Experience
Investigating mobile technologies and game-based learning in OLTD 508 has been an eye-opening experience for me as an educator and a learner. My preconceived notions regarding the use of mobile devices changed from an emphasis on technology to a focus on pedagogy, strategy and implementation. When considering mobile devices for learning, I felt Koole’s Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model best suited my perception of mobile learning. Koole’s FRAME Model illustrates how mobile learning is a combination of the interactions between learners, their devices, and other people (JISC, 2014). Koole places the importance on the mobility of the learner rather than the device itself, reminding educators that mobile learning is more than technology (JISC 2014). Given that the use of technology is a tool used by educators, this course allowed for discussion and implications on BYOD (bring your own device) in education. Along with exploring the concept of personal mobile devices for learning in the classroom, the application of Clark Quinn’s 4’Cs of mobile learning to our teaching practise was valuable in developing lessons using mobile devices. App selection and an exercise creating a rubric for educational use of apps were extremely helpful to embed the importance of a focus on learning objectives rather than the technical criteria. In a group, we designed a rubric for game selection and each member selected a game to rate. But by far the greatest learning curve for me occurred with the readings and videos of James Paul Gee (an introduction to his 13 Principles on Gaming), Kurt Squire (Video Games and Learning) and Katie Salen (Learning with Games) and by taking the leap by experiencing Minecraft firsthand. My attitude towards game-based learning shifted as I learned more about what the potential games, such as Minecraft, can offer learners in an educational setting.
James Paul Gee eloquently describes his 13 Principles on Gaming as a set of learning principles that games use to hook people on learning that engage them for the long haul in learning (Gee, 2013). Kurt Squire echoes Gee’s sentiments about the value of gaming with his belief that “Games are possibility spaces; we get good at new things and becoming new kinds of people”. Squire states, “Good learning within games enables us to be knowledge producers. It gives us robust ideas to work with and propels us towards participating in social practise” (Squire, 2011). Katie Salen, executive director of The Institute of Play, addresses the challenges that game-based learning faces when connecting it to educational use. Salen sees most educators struggle with the idea of gaming in education partly because of the history of gaming being viewed as a leisure activity or a waste of time, but mostly because the learning in gaming is hard to see. Salen points out when we see kids playing games that maybe our first reaction is to say, “Oh well they’re just playing, they’re just kind of wasting time.” There isn’t a sense of even sitting down with the child and asking them… “What’s going on in your head right now?” Because if you sit down and talk to a game player about what they’re doing, an incredible narrative will come out of their mouth about the complex problem they’re working on.”(Salen, 2009). Having watched many videos on Minecraft and videos by kids describing their problem solving and creations in Minecraft, I am convinced that what Salen says is true. There is so much more going on in their thought processes than just “playing a game.” Keri Beasley, in her blog post Massively Misunderstood Minecraft, writes about her classes’ collaboration and problem solving while only a few days in to her Minecraft activity she started at her school. Beasley explains, “It’s pretty clear that the students in our Minecraft activity are incredibly creative. Day 3 (today) brought the addition of a theme park, more boats, more hot air balloons and a castle. They have organised their world to make it more efficient and more aesthetically pleasing” (Beasley, 2012). Gee believes games are effective learning tools because they empower learners, provide good problem-based learning opportunities and create deep understanding (2013). According to Salen, games also have a powerful potential for enabling players to take on the role of a designer. Students are not only designing for themselves, but their first thought is often who they are designing for. Salen sees this as a valuable 21st Century skill for young adults to possess (2009). Students experience a high degree of social interacting when playing games. Salen expresses that much of their learning has more to do with the mentorship and collaboration involved than the actual creation inside the game and it is this social scaffolding that promotes deep learning (2009).
What educators need to see and what Salen drives home in her video is that the game itself is not the holder of all the content (2009). Any game or online activity is only part of a larger piece of the curriculum that students are experiencing. Teachers need to ask the question, “What is it about the game that a student can get practise at, a skill or an idea, that can be connected to a reading in a book, a lecture, group work or direct instruction? Salen states, learning is not specific to an artefact (i.e., a game), but is a mix of an ecology of experiences (2009). Salen believes we should stop the dichotomy between digital and non-digital learning and realize that it is learning across all platforms (2009). These ideas of student empowerment, creativity and collaboration hold true for me in my teaching. Through research, student tutorials and numerous blog posts from professionals, I not only acknowledge the potential games offer for educators, I also can now envision possible gaming opportunities in my own classroom. The time had come for me to have my first endeavor with Minecraft.
My first hands-on experience with Minecraft took place in the company of my two sons (both in their twenties). Unfortunately, I was unable to get MinecraftEdu to work on my laptop, so my solution was to play on my sons’ Xbox game and video-tape the experience. I am a confessed non-gamer and admit to needing a great deal of help starting out in Minecraft. I was amazed at how quick my sons were at creating structures, finding items and using different tools. We decided to play in creative mode to make things easier for me (in a game play you would have to earn tools, make materials, worry about health and fend off creatures) and to focus on a lesson I could use for my art class. Once I was able to feel comfortable with the controls (this took longer than expected and tested my sons’ patience level), I began to understand the creative power Minecraft holds for its players. As my grade-eight student exclaimed to me, “The best thing about Minecraft is the possibilities are endless!!” I did see endless possibilities in the game and watched in awe as my son began building an art museum for my future lesson in Minecraft. I was dreading the actual play in Minecraft but as it turned out, I had an engaging afternoon with my sons, sharing an interest they both have and creating a mini-world together. I do believe it is important to play the games you intend to use in your classroom even if you are a non-gamer. Just as in the case of Keri Beasley, you just need to dive in and know you will be guided along by your students or other players.
This course has given me a background in mobile learning, a system for selecting and rating apps, experience creating BYOD lessons, a rubric for rating games for educational use and an appreciation for the potential of game-based learning in education.
*See below for images from my first Minecraft experience.
References:
Beasley, K. (2012, February). Massively Misunderstood Minecraft. Retrieved from http://kerileebeasley.com/2012/02/16/massively-misunderstood-minecraft/
Gee, J.P. (2013). Principles on Gaming. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk
JISC (2014) Mobile Learning. Available at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/mobile-learning/
Quinn, Clark. Re-Thinking eLearning. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/452/rethinking-e-learning
Squire, Kurt. (2011, August 4) YouTube video: How Video Games Can Encourage Civic Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcGdh9AbIS8
Squire, Kurt. (2013). Design for Learning [Video Games & Learning] Week 1. Video 2/8 (Squire). YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzfY1N4FxsQ
Investigating mobile technologies and game-based learning in OLTD 508 has been an eye-opening experience for me as an educator and a learner. My preconceived notions regarding the use of mobile devices changed from an emphasis on technology to a focus on pedagogy, strategy and implementation. When considering mobile devices for learning, I felt Koole’s Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model best suited my perception of mobile learning. Koole’s FRAME Model illustrates how mobile learning is a combination of the interactions between learners, their devices, and other people (JISC, 2014). Koole places the importance on the mobility of the learner rather than the device itself, reminding educators that mobile learning is more than technology (JISC 2014). Given that the use of technology is a tool used by educators, this course allowed for discussion and implications on BYOD (bring your own device) in education. Along with exploring the concept of personal mobile devices for learning in the classroom, the application of Clark Quinn’s 4’Cs of mobile learning to our teaching practise was valuable in developing lessons using mobile devices. App selection and an exercise creating a rubric for educational use of apps were extremely helpful to embed the importance of a focus on learning objectives rather than the technical criteria. In a group, we designed a rubric for game selection and each member selected a game to rate. But by far the greatest learning curve for me occurred with the readings and videos of James Paul Gee (an introduction to his 13 Principles on Gaming), Kurt Squire (Video Games and Learning) and Katie Salen (Learning with Games) and by taking the leap by experiencing Minecraft firsthand. My attitude towards game-based learning shifted as I learned more about what the potential games, such as Minecraft, can offer learners in an educational setting.
James Paul Gee eloquently describes his 13 Principles on Gaming as a set of learning principles that games use to hook people on learning that engage them for the long haul in learning (Gee, 2013). Kurt Squire echoes Gee’s sentiments about the value of gaming with his belief that “Games are possibility spaces; we get good at new things and becoming new kinds of people”. Squire states, “Good learning within games enables us to be knowledge producers. It gives us robust ideas to work with and propels us towards participating in social practise” (Squire, 2011). Katie Salen, executive director of The Institute of Play, addresses the challenges that game-based learning faces when connecting it to educational use. Salen sees most educators struggle with the idea of gaming in education partly because of the history of gaming being viewed as a leisure activity or a waste of time, but mostly because the learning in gaming is hard to see. Salen points out when we see kids playing games that maybe our first reaction is to say, “Oh well they’re just playing, they’re just kind of wasting time.” There isn’t a sense of even sitting down with the child and asking them… “What’s going on in your head right now?” Because if you sit down and talk to a game player about what they’re doing, an incredible narrative will come out of their mouth about the complex problem they’re working on.”(Salen, 2009). Having watched many videos on Minecraft and videos by kids describing their problem solving and creations in Minecraft, I am convinced that what Salen says is true. There is so much more going on in their thought processes than just “playing a game.” Keri Beasley, in her blog post Massively Misunderstood Minecraft, writes about her classes’ collaboration and problem solving while only a few days in to her Minecraft activity she started at her school. Beasley explains, “It’s pretty clear that the students in our Minecraft activity are incredibly creative. Day 3 (today) brought the addition of a theme park, more boats, more hot air balloons and a castle. They have organised their world to make it more efficient and more aesthetically pleasing” (Beasley, 2012). Gee believes games are effective learning tools because they empower learners, provide good problem-based learning opportunities and create deep understanding (2013). According to Salen, games also have a powerful potential for enabling players to take on the role of a designer. Students are not only designing for themselves, but their first thought is often who they are designing for. Salen sees this as a valuable 21st Century skill for young adults to possess (2009). Students experience a high degree of social interacting when playing games. Salen expresses that much of their learning has more to do with the mentorship and collaboration involved than the actual creation inside the game and it is this social scaffolding that promotes deep learning (2009).
What educators need to see and what Salen drives home in her video is that the game itself is not the holder of all the content (2009). Any game or online activity is only part of a larger piece of the curriculum that students are experiencing. Teachers need to ask the question, “What is it about the game that a student can get practise at, a skill or an idea, that can be connected to a reading in a book, a lecture, group work or direct instruction? Salen states, learning is not specific to an artefact (i.e., a game), but is a mix of an ecology of experiences (2009). Salen believes we should stop the dichotomy between digital and non-digital learning and realize that it is learning across all platforms (2009). These ideas of student empowerment, creativity and collaboration hold true for me in my teaching. Through research, student tutorials and numerous blog posts from professionals, I not only acknowledge the potential games offer for educators, I also can now envision possible gaming opportunities in my own classroom. The time had come for me to have my first endeavor with Minecraft.
My first hands-on experience with Minecraft took place in the company of my two sons (both in their twenties). Unfortunately, I was unable to get MinecraftEdu to work on my laptop, so my solution was to play on my sons’ Xbox game and video-tape the experience. I am a confessed non-gamer and admit to needing a great deal of help starting out in Minecraft. I was amazed at how quick my sons were at creating structures, finding items and using different tools. We decided to play in creative mode to make things easier for me (in a game play you would have to earn tools, make materials, worry about health and fend off creatures) and to focus on a lesson I could use for my art class. Once I was able to feel comfortable with the controls (this took longer than expected and tested my sons’ patience level), I began to understand the creative power Minecraft holds for its players. As my grade-eight student exclaimed to me, “The best thing about Minecraft is the possibilities are endless!!” I did see endless possibilities in the game and watched in awe as my son began building an art museum for my future lesson in Minecraft. I was dreading the actual play in Minecraft but as it turned out, I had an engaging afternoon with my sons, sharing an interest they both have and creating a mini-world together. I do believe it is important to play the games you intend to use in your classroom even if you are a non-gamer. Just as in the case of Keri Beasley, you just need to dive in and know you will be guided along by your students or other players.
This course has given me a background in mobile learning, a system for selecting and rating apps, experience creating BYOD lessons, a rubric for rating games for educational use and an appreciation for the potential of game-based learning in education.
*See below for images from my first Minecraft experience.
References:
Beasley, K. (2012, February). Massively Misunderstood Minecraft. Retrieved from http://kerileebeasley.com/2012/02/16/massively-misunderstood-minecraft/
Gee, J.P. (2013). Principles on Gaming. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk
JISC (2014) Mobile Learning. Available at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/mobile-learning/
Quinn, Clark. Re-Thinking eLearning. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/452/rethinking-e-learning
Squire, Kurt. (2011, August 4) YouTube video: How Video Games Can Encourage Civic Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcGdh9AbIS8
Squire, Kurt. (2013). Design for Learning [Video Games & Learning] Week 1. Video 2/8 (Squire). YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzfY1N4FxsQ