In our current century, gaming has become an effective method of entertainment for members of every generation. Educators, seeing the effect that the gaming culture has on members of today’s society, have been trying for a number of years to use interactive gaming as a learning tool. This essay will explore three articles that relate the use of interactive gaming as a teaching method. The first article, “Savannah: mobile gaming and learning?” talks about a study that was conducted on young children with the aim to teach them about animal behaviours through the use of interactive gaming. The second article, “Serious gaming in women’s healthcare”, discusses the negative aspects of using interactive gaming as a teaching method, while the third article “Simulation gaming in nurse education; entertainment or learning?” discusses the positive aspects of this method. This essay will conclude with my own personal opinion regarding the use of interactive gaming to learn based on the articles that I read.
This article “Savannah: mobile gaming and learning?” documents the study conducted by K. Facerw, R. Joiner, D. Stanton, J. Reidz, R. Hullz, and D. Kirk from NESTA Futurelab, Bristol, UK; University of Bath, UK; Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK; and University of Nottingham, Bristol, UK, respectively. The purpose of the study was to explore how mobile gaming (physical movement in junction with interactive gaming) can effectively work as a teaching and learning tool. This study aimed to teach the group of students about the behaviours of lions in the Savannah using an interactive environment and mobile gaming devices.
This study was conducted with children aged eleven to twelve and run twice, once with a set of five girls, and once with a set of five boys. Each trial took two days to complete, with the first day acting as a sort of “tutorial” where the children were able to explore their environment (a playing field 100m x 50m) and learn how to use the equipment, and the second day acting as a opportunity to use those new found skills in scenarios presented by the game servers (hunger, heat exhaustion, bush fires, angry elephants). Each student was given a GPS that would track them as they moved around the playing field, and a person digital assistant (PDA) that acted as their main method of interaction with the game. This PDA allowed them to interact with the virtual world by communicating what their lion saw, smelt, and heard through the use of pictures and voice commands. Additionally, there was a room known as the “Den” that the children would return to when the simulation had concluded. Here, the students were to reflect upon their experiences with the guidance of the teacher. With the use of an interactive flip chart, the student were able to see their movements across the playing field and view the locations of the markers they posted (for smells documented, etc).
At the conclusion of the study, it was seen that the students were able to make the connection between what they were doing in the game and how a lion would need to behave in the wild. The students quickly learned that they had to work together to take down larger prey, which prey to avoid, which situations were safe and which were dangerous, and how to keep their energy levels up. In the debriefing (the “Den” discussions), the students were saying “I actually thought that what was on the screen was actually what was real”, “It felt like Africa”, and “When there were flies I was like [turning head, to check where the flies were]’” (Facer, Joiner, and et al 399-409). This showed that the students were connecting with what it meant to be a lion in the Savannah, effectively learning about animal behaviours. Undetermined to be concluded was the question of whether this method taught the students more effectively than conventional classroom methods. However, it was definitely realized that this method could connect with the students and allow them to absorb the intended information while remaining entertained.
The article, “Serious gaming in women’s healthcare”, written by L. de Wit-Zuurendonk and S. Oei, contains arguments that are against the use of gaming as a learning tool. The first argument is that “the dynamic colourful world of a computer game will distract the student’s attention from the learning process.” (de Wit-Zuurendonk, and Oei 17-21). The authors argue that asking the student to learn while being bombarded by flashing lights and graphics won’t enable them to absorb the intended information. This can be true, especially for people diagnosed with ADHD. It can be very difficult to concentrate on learning when there are multiple point of information coming towards you all at once. The second argument that this article makes is that “the present generation contains a different type of learner” (de Wit-Zuurendonk, and Oei 17-21). This refers to the fact that serious gaming could be an effective learning tool for certain generations, but not for others. By this, I am referring to digital natives (those under the age of 18) versus people over the age of 40. Individuals over the age of 40 have only been exposed to technology for half their lives, and this could influence their ability to interact with these games and effectively learn from them. People in this category are used to attaining their information through different methods, so the serious gaming may not be an effective tool.
The article, “Simulation gaming in nurse education; entertainment or learning?”, written by Monica Peddle, contains arguments that are for the use of gaming as a learning tool. The first argument is that games “can … mimic processes, networks and systems used in the clinical setting to help learners prepare for their role.” (Peddle 647-649). This argument suggests that exposing the students to potential scenarios that they could be facing will give them an idea of what they will be encountering in the workplace. Then, when they are faced with situations later in life, they can recall the methods they used to solve similar problems when they worked through the game. The second argument is that “simulation gaming allows students to experiment in authentic situations, without risk to themselves or the patient in the clinical setting.” (Peddle 647-649). This is particularly applicable to nursing because the work involves live people. In these games or simulations, the nursing students can see what will happen if they make the wrong decisions. Unfavourable outcomes can be explored in a risk-free environment, which allow the students to satisfy their curiosity as well as deal with these situations. Additionally, the students can learn without risking any kind of damage to live humans.
These two articles, together, summarize the pros and cons of using gaming as a learning tool. As mentioned in the article regarding the children learning about the behaviours of lions, interactive gaming can and has been used as a learning tool. The first article’s secondary argument (learning through gaming is effective only for certain generations) applies to the study conducted on the children. Young children have grown up their entire lives using technology and they can easily work with it. This increases their potential ability to absorb the material that is being presented to them. The second argument of the second article (simulations allow the users to experiment with situations without risk to themselves or others) also pertains to the initial article. It would be very dangerous for the younger children to go out into the African Savannah and observe the lions in their natural habitat, and this simulation allows them to experience the behaviours of a lion without any risk. In the simulation, they can die as virtual lions, but remain untouched in the physical world.
In my personal opinion, I believe that interactive gaming is an effective learning tool. The study conducted on the children regarding the behaviours of lions in the wild proved to be an excellent method for communicating the information that was presented. The children were saying that they “actually thought that what was on the screen was actually what was real” and that “It felt like Africa” (Facer, Joiner, and et al 399-409) which showed that they truly connected with the simulation and the experience. I believe that connections like this can heighten our personal learning experiences and enrich our ability to learn. In addition, the students found the simulation to be generally enjoyable. Finding enjoyment in learning can lead to children seeking out knowledge on their own because they associate fun with learning. The article written by Monica Peddle makes an excellent argument for gaming as a learning tool: Simulations and gaming “can … mimic processes, networks and systems used in the clinical setting to help learners prepare for their role” (Peddle 647-649). This argument is especially applicable for students who are training for high risk, high stress jobs. If they are trained using simulations that allow them to work through difficult, fast-paced, high stress scenarios, it can give them an insight to the intensity of potential situations, thus preparing them for these encounters. In response to L. de Wit-Zuurendonk and S. Oei’s argument that “the present generation contains a different type of learner “ (de Wit-Zuurendonk, and Oei 17-21) I believe that interactive gaming shouldn’t be used on which students that haven’t been exposed to technology for most or all of their lives. If a student hasn’t used technology frequently in their lives, it wouldn’t make sense to use a teaching method that incorporated it. To use an analogy, it would be the equivalent of asking a bushman of the Sahara desert to hunt by using guns. It would be incredibly silly to do this because the bushman has never used a gun, and he has developed his own effective way to hunt without using gun. It doesn’t matter that the use of a gun would make his hunting easier and more successful because his own methods have worked for him his entire life and changing it will only make it more difficult.
In conclusion, I believe that interactive gaming is a great way to learn because the majority of students that will be using this method are digital natives. This group of students will get the greatest use from these technologies and will learn most effectively through them. Technology is becoming the standard way of the future, and the changes in technology will bring about new changes and experiences in learning.
Sources:
Serious gaming in women’s healthcare
de Wit-Zuurendonk, L, and S. Oei. “Serious gaming in women’s healthcare.” International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 11.118 (2011): 17-21. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/store/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03176.x/asset/j.1471-0528.2011.03176.x.pdf?v=1&t=h968khzg&s=91341aa330524cf2e7abd3028ce4fbe32334e1c7>.
Savannah: mobile gaming and learning?
Facer, K, R Joiner, et al. “Savannah: mobile gaming and learning?” Journal of Computer Assisted Living. 20.6 399-409. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/store/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2004.00105.x/asset/j.1365-2729.2004.00105.x.pdf?v=1&t=h95yr5w9&s=f282cc021388d7c41469fe93b0c0786593ff8e42>.
Simulation gaming in nurse education; entertainment or learning?
Peddle, Monica. “Simulation gaming in nurse education; entertainment or learning?” Nurse Education Today. 31.7 (2011): 647-649. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://journals1.scholarsportal.info.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/tmp/18367332623042512011.pdf>.