Computers transforming the way we learn…

Can computer games transform learning? Interesting question isn’t it? I just read an article by Keri Fracer titles “Could computer games help to transform the way we learn?

Now computer games are fun and engaging and children absolutely adore them. I know for a fact my sister comes home from school and the first thing she is on is the computer, and not doing her homework. This only highlights that children much rather be playing a game then doing their homework. So it only makes sense that we should be making classrooms this engaging so children will want to learn.

Most people would rather disagree with this statement and I can see why learning is always put down to writing essays and so forth, so children will turn to books in protest and this is one of Keri Fracer arguments she also points out a very good point this being does the game actually meet the syllabus requirements. And that is a very good point, children just can’t be playing computer games and not learning anything it defeats the purpose of education. Another point that was nicely raised was the issue of violence, now computer games have been at the heart of the “violence” issue debate for as long as I remember with people that believe it is because of these computer games that children are becoming violent, and it’s true a lot of games do have violence in them. However Keri points out that we are teaching them attack strategies. And I guess that largely becomes the teacher’s role as to what games are implemented in the classroom.

I suppose a lot of us focus on the negatives that we are forgetting about the positives games are interactive and children love interactive, but more so games offer this new world to explore fuelling children’s imaginations, they teach literacy, complex variables and problem solving how many times do we play a computer game and have to think about where to go next and what will happen if we do? This proves that games can be used to educate in an exciting way but it is the content of the game we need to worry about…we have to make sure that the content matches what the children should be learning

The article exposes us to some games that highlight the educational aspects these include sim city- suitable for H.S.I.E, DoomEd students learn about radiations and chemistry and racing academy this includes making, designing and racing cars using engineering principles. Maybe if games like these could be introduced in the classroom children may feel motivated to complete their work. The great thing is that games are hands on and interactive catering for children’s interests and also learning styles.

Facer,K. (2005) Could computer games transform the way we learn?Is the future of learning playful? Vision,1, pp1-4