Sunday, November 24, 2013

Blog Post #14

What Did I Leave Out?

Watch this video about Ananth Pai and discuss how you can use video games in your classroom. Do you think video games are a beneficial tool for learning?
Ananth Pai Video

PSP Handheld Video Game


Ananth Pai is using video games in his elementary classroom and he is seeing results. His students are improving in every area of learning. He's using games that are explicitly for learning and his children are still engaged. From computer games to Nintendo DS games, he's using a wide variety. As a future 9th grade History teacher I often think about how I could use video games in the classroom as a learning tool. The key question I have is, would 14 and 15 year olds be engaged in a video game? I believe they would, but it would be important to have video games that would be age appropriate. As I've mentioned in my blog earlier this semester, I believe games like Sid Meier's Civilization would be a great game for History teachers to use. There are multiple Civilization games available, and most are available for download on the app store for the iPad. The game would give students the opportunity to establish and lead a civilization from the beginning to the space age. Students would learn more about war, diplomacy, inventions, and individual great leaders from the past.

There are other games that could be beneficial in learning historical concepts as well, such as Assassin's Creed. It would be important to make sure the games are age appropriate, but I think video games can be a great asset in the classroom. I don't plan to go as far as Ananth Pai, but I will definitely try to implement some video games into a few of my lessons.

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