Really? Video games in a classroom?


Yes, really. When I think about how crazy this whole thing sounds, I think back to how I learn how to use computers in elementary school: Type to Learn taught me how to type by somehow linking the practice of typing to rocket ships; Zoombinis, which I have already explained but in case you are unfamiliar:

This was (is?) my favorite thing to do in elementary school technology classes - once you finished your typing practice you were allowed to play Zoombinis.  As I said in a past blog, as a player you take these jelly bean creatures through a magical forest to get to Zoombini-Island, and to do so, you have to complete a set of puzzles.  These puzzles were things like "Find a pattern of lilly pads to get the Zoombinis across the pond," or "Based on what ingredients the Italian monster liked and disliked on his pizza, what is the perfect pizza?" And if you FAIL any of these puzzles, the Zoombinis who didn't make it through the task would be sent back to their slavery island (from which you are to save them) and you had to start the journey all over again.  Sooo, what was I getting from these games?  I mean, it's subtitle is "Logical Journey" and I didn't feel like I was learning, I felt like I was really trying to help these jelly beans on skateboards get safely to their home!  But clearly, with my now awesome puzzle and reasoning skills, I was in fact learning something.


The James Paul Gee article maps out what values that a video game should have, IF it would be used in a classroom setting.  Let's see then if Zoombinis had any learning value.  One of the criteria is that there is a low risk of failure - well, if I failed a puzzle, the Zoombini would get shipped back to slavery!  I would say, high risk.  Good games are customizable to individual playing styles - well, let me think.  I was able to customize what my jelly beans looked like (whether they had one eye or roller-blades) but as far as my playing style, the game did not offer any variation for the different players.  A good game should let the player develop strategies and get used to using these strategies, then change up the game!  Well, there's another fault in this logical journey: I did develop a strategy, which was memorize the patterns, because they only vary slightly (like which ingredients the Italian monster wanted)and then at some point, you memorized how to pass each level. 


Sorry Zoombinis, but I would not use you in my classes.  Not only is there no benefit for a Spanish class, but really, I was just speeding through my actual learning activities to play with the Jelly beans.


What I WOULD do is use any of these things: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-great-online-games-learn-spanish-french-languages/ and maybe encourage my students to go to http://www.languagegames.org/  These games will actually have academic and educational value in a Spanish classroom, and hopefully increase the students ability to use the language - because they will be engaged, challenged, and when they mess up, they're not going to punished like the Zoombinis were, they will be learning from their mistakes.  




La sabiduría nos llega cuando ya no nos sirve de nada. -Gabriel García Márquez