This is another pedagogical model that can be applied. Living in an era of game culture, it is the main environment surrounding primary students daily. Most students are already engaged in it at home and outside of class. Squire suggests “As digital media becomes more pervasive in children’s lives, this opportunity is becoming a necessity; while schools remained shackled to literacies of print, media like video games offer pedagogies of interactivity” (p. 3).
They are either playing games like Flappy Bird on their phones or playing games on their computer. Students can improve social, cognitive and soft skills by engaging in a context outside of their own personal world involved in a narrative or journey. Therefore, teachers need to see how games can be used to improve learning academically. Moreover, Squire argues, “It is critical that educators see beyond simply the representations in games (or on box covers) and examine how game worlds themselves are experienced” (p. 11). So game-based learning is about bringing gaming content as pedagogy to enhance, instruct and provide a space for students to learn in an engaging manner.
Game that connects well with curriculum:
Turtlediary.com focuses on the educational needs of kids ranging from kindergarten to grade 5. They have created games to teach various subjects to kids. My purpose is to use this platform for numeration activities. Students can go online at anytime for free and have access to their subject areas and grade levels. Furthermore, Turtle Diary is appropriate for the pedagogical problems surrounding instructions, as it provides video instructions, games, and practice activities to enhance student learning of whole numbers.
[1] Squire, K., & Jenkins, H. (2011). Video games and learning. New York: Teachers College Press
[2]Turtle Diary (homepage). Information retrieved from: http://www.turtlediary.com/math-games.html
They are either playing games like Flappy Bird on their phones or playing games on their computer. Students can improve social, cognitive and soft skills by engaging in a context outside of their own personal world involved in a narrative or journey. Therefore, teachers need to see how games can be used to improve learning academically. Moreover, Squire argues, “It is critical that educators see beyond simply the representations in games (or on box covers) and examine how game worlds themselves are experienced” (p. 11). So game-based learning is about bringing gaming content as pedagogy to enhance, instruct and provide a space for students to learn in an engaging manner.
Game that connects well with curriculum:
Turtlediary.com focuses on the educational needs of kids ranging from kindergarten to grade 5. They have created games to teach various subjects to kids. My purpose is to use this platform for numeration activities. Students can go online at anytime for free and have access to their subject areas and grade levels. Furthermore, Turtle Diary is appropriate for the pedagogical problems surrounding instructions, as it provides video instructions, games, and practice activities to enhance student learning of whole numbers.
[1] Squire, K., & Jenkins, H. (2011). Video games and learning. New York: Teachers College Press
[2]Turtle Diary (homepage). Information retrieved from: http://www.turtlediary.com/math-games.html