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Education, Maths and Games
"Can games be educational and still be fun?"
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Right from babyhood people like to play. Young children learn more before the age of 7 than they will in the rest of their lifetimes, and this learning is mainly done through play. Therefore as a teacher - especially of maths which is very often seen as boring - I see the value of using games of all kinds in the classroom. Games should not just be things we bring out at breaktimes and end of terms but an integral part of the daily curriculum, whether they be board games, teacher devised games, bought from educational companies or even made by the students themselves. With the growing number of interactive whiteboards in classrooms, and student access to the Internet, computer games are now a main focus of educators.
However games should not just be played for their own sake - but because they help to teach a part of the curriculum. This is where game designers are increasingly looking at the curriculum and designing games around it. On the other hand the educational value of the game should not remove the fun element. If its not fun students will not repeat the experience of playing the game, will switch off and not learn from the game. Therefore as teachers we need to evaluate games not only for their game content but also for their "fun factor".
Educational Software, Simulation or Video Game?
One important difference between educational software, simulations and video games is the person who selects the material. Educational software is chosen by teachers or parents. The main stress is put on the relationship of the game to the curriculum. The main emphasis is on learning, not on entertainment. On the other hand video games are usually selected by the players. Emphasis is placed on the fun aspect, or the story of the game and the world it is played in. The game is aimed at the user, not at the parent or the educator. Would a teacher, parent and student choose the same game for a specific objective? Probably not. For example there are many great historical computer games but very few are ever seen in a classroom. Is it because they immerse students in the world rather than teaching them facts? The teacher is more interested in the message, while the student is more interested in how the message is conveyed (whether the environment is fun to be in and interact with). Game designers need to balance both sides of this argument, and appeal to both students and their teachers.
It seems that the main obstacle to games use in schools is a mismatch between games content and curriculum content, and the lack of opportunity to gain recognition for skill development. Specialists agree on the requisites for good design. The main one being to think like a player at all times. Empathy with the player is vital in the design of a game.
According to Prensky (2001), the following questions are vital to the creation of an effective multimedia program:
Is the product fun enough that someone who is not in its target audience would want to use it?
Do people using it think of themselves as "players" rather than "students"?
Is the experience addictive? Do users want to play again and again?
Are the users’ skills in the subject matter and learning content of the game — be it knowledge, process, procedure, ability, etc. — significantly improving at a rapid rate and getting better the longer he or she plays?
Does the game encourage reflection about what has been learned?
Another obstacle to using games and simulations in the classroom is time. There are many games designed for the classroom which fit into the 10 minute introductory section or even a 30 minute main section of a lesson, but the main point of using games is that repetition of playing them aids learning and we simply do not have the time to allow students to keep repeating the playing of a game. Many commercial video games are also not designed to be played in a short 30 minute burst. I always see the importance of allowing students access to the games used in lessons at other times by loading them onto school networks. Students are free to play these games during lunchtimes, after-school clubs and at any other time they are permitted (eg when they finish their set work early).
Another good start is to introduce pupils to mini-versions of games, or introductions to them which they can play themselves later in full if they are motivated to do so. Introducing pre-scenarios in simulations is a good start: That is, working with much more simple models or subparts of the program that allow teachers to illustrate and manage the main concepts of the simulation. Teachers should be able to edit these scenarios for their specific learning groups (or have a selection of pre-prepared materials provided). Being able to automatically save a record of students' progress is also a valuable addition to any game used in a classroom - something not always provided by commercial games and simulations not specifically designed for use in schools.
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Here is also a weekly planning sheet I use for Secondary school maths. |
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