by Andrew K. Miller | Jan 18, 2013 | Blog, Huffington Post
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post, an internet news and commentary website. The Education section features updated on college, teachers, and education reform, where I regularly contribute. View Original >
21st century skills. Buzz word or reality? As I visit schools, I know many of them are teaching these skills. From critical thinking and problem solving, to technology literacy and collaboration, teachers are targeting these skills in the instructional process, and leveraging them in the curriculum. Many teachers are being called to teach these skills, and don’t know how to. I’ve done many workshops with teachers to arm them with these skills. However, there is one issue that seems to be a roadblock for true implementation: assessment.
I do know teachers are using rubrics and products to assess these skills. Some schools like High Tech High in San Diego have them in the grade book, but this is a rarity. This is a pocket of excellence. It shouldn’t be. When I was teaching at a project-based learning STEM school, we too wanted to teach and assess the skills of collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Now communication is naturally built into English language arts curriculum and the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts across all subjects. We had no problem assessing this, and leveraging it in the grade book. But what about a skill like collaboration? The Common Core does have a standard where students “participate in collaborative discussions,” and this is across all grade levels. However, collaboration is more than just discussions; it’s about creating together, coming to consensus and other quality indicators. Similarly with the 21st century skill of critical thinking, we can unpack our standards to find connections, but it feels like we are trying too hard. This is my struggle as an educator, and a struggle for many of the teachers I work with. We want to teach and assess 21st century skills, but we feel somewhat limited in our ability to do just that. We ran up against resistance with the district on truly assessing them in the grade book. We understood that if we truly valued 21st century skills, our assessment systems needed to model that. However, the system did not share that value the same way we did.
This is the biggest issue for teaching and assessing 21st century skills in our schools. We need our assessment systems to value them, and that means having them in the grade book. In my conversations with educators this is the biggest roadblock. For those educators that have the power to assess 21st century skills in the grade book, they create a culture where content is not king. Instead critical thinking is leveraged across the entire curriculum. Students have more buy in to collaborate, and they have quality indicators and targets to aim for in technology literacy. Through this true assessment of 21st century skills, we can re-frame what we value for our students, and really make them college and career-ready.
by Andrew K. Miller | Jan 11, 2013 | Blog, Edutopia
This post originally appeared on Edutopia, a site created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process by using digital media to document, disseminate, and advocate for innovative, replicable strategies that prepare students. View Original >
Worksheets matter! I know we hear a lot of talking points that tell us to get rid of them, but I think it’s much more complicated than that. That call for “no more worksheets” comes from a place where that is all there is. By that I mean classrooms where students do nothing but worksheets. Often these worksheets are de-contextualized from relevant work, and this is where there’s an opportunity to reframe and refine the traditional worksheet. There is a time and place for drill and practice or individual practice — even in a PBL project. The key is to make it appropriate and relevant.
A recent visit to a PBL school jumpstarted my brain on this issue. I had the pleasure of visiting the ACE Leadership Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here students work collaboratively on PBL projects that focus on Architecture, Construction and Engineering. The projects are relevant, and students are partnering with local companies and organizations to make them happen. During the visit, I had the chance to watch students at work.
Worksheets That Model a Career Tool
Students consistently worked on a piece of paper shown below. This paper looked similar to a tool that architects or construction workers use. Now, while this might be used for drafting a building plan (and in fact it was), it was also used for doing practice math problems, for annotating texts and for other instructional practices. When I talked with students, some mentioned they liked working on the same sheet. “It feels more real,” one said. “It helps to remind me why I do the work.”
As we design worksheets, let’s consider making them look like the real-world work that students are doing — or could be doing. Although it might be considered an aesthetic change, it did help bring relevance to work that is often decontextualized. The worksheet itself helps to build the culture of relevance and real-world connection.
Other Tips for Worksheets
Include the Driving Question Where Students Can See It
Like changing the look of the worksheet, this piece may seem too simple to make a real change. However, we know that if the driving question is present during a PBL project, it can be a great engagement tool. Effective PBL teachers have students reflect and unpack the driving question throughout the PBL project. As that question captures the purpose of the work, why not have it present on a worksheet? Presence of purpose can create relevance and engagement.
Rubric and Reflection
Remember that a rubric can actually be just another quality indicator. For worksheets that focus on small, more discreet skills, consider including those corresponding rubrics on the worksheet. This lets students see how to meet and exceed a standard. Even if a rubric is not appropriate to the worksheet, have students reflect and set goals for improving, or simply celebrate their learning. This will help them know exactly what they’ve learned and see the next steps.
Scaffolding the Levels of Questions
Often, the questions we ask students about a piece of content or text are not ordered in a way that can help scaffold their thinking. Start with more identification and comprehension questions, and move through inference, evaluative and predictive questions. Students will be able to handle the “cognitive load” because the questions scaffold the thinking needed to answer the bigger questions. Use Costa’s Levels of Questions to help.
While these are technical and aesthetic changes to the worksheet, it is more critical that teachers continually connect the daily work to the authentic task or project through discussion, metacognition and reflection. These changes to the way we design and use worksheets are just some of the ways that great teachers are using a variety of teaching tools to engage our students.
by Andrew K. Miller | Jan 4, 2013 | ASCD, Blog
This post originally appeared on InService, the ASCD community blog. ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization with 160,000 members in 148 countries, including professional educators from all levels and subject areas––superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members.
View Original >
“A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression.”
Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
Game-based learning is fast becoming a trend in education. Teachers across the globe are experimenting with not only using games, but also game mechanics in the classroom. Games engage us. Our students are playing games whether we approve or not. Whether spending hours at home in the evening playing Call of Duty or more casually playing Angry Birds, students are spending time relentless trying to achieve. We can use games in the classroom to not only leverage engagement but also to align games to instructional principles.
Games as Assessment: As students play games they are being assessed on their progress, provided feedback, and allowed to try again without fear of failure. Our education system does not always align to that principle. Often we punish children with “points” as they practice with the content. Games do not do this. Players are given the freedom to fail and given specific feedback through formative assessment on how to improve. In fact, when players win the level or game (the summative assessment), they are rewarded with a true sense of accomplishment as the assessment is meaningful. Games are excellent models for assessment best practices.
Games as Engagement: Games are carefully and intentionally designed environments that create flow—the balance between challenge and progress. Great games are challenging but not too difficult and thus not boring. On the contrary, they have specific mechanics to create this game flow. It’s not necessary about winning—in games like Tetris you are destined to lose—but rather a game gives us multiple victories on rigorous challenges. The rigor engages us, and a game scaffolds that rigor intentionally and in an exemplary manner.
Authentic Learning Experiences: James Paul Gee, game-based learning advocate and guru refers to this as “situated learning.” We know that students must construct and apply knowledge for deeper learning. In great games, students are both learning content and applying in complex problems to solve. Take Portal for example. In this game, the player must create portals between two flat planes. The player not only experiences principles of physics, but must use this knowledge to solve related puzzles. In addition, the player takes on an authentic role. Although based in a fantasy world, the player becomes one with the playable character of the game and invests in the growth and story of that character. When playing in this authentic story and learning environment,the player sees the relevance in learning the content for the purposes of playing.
Games can be another tool for engaging in rigorous and authentic learning. There are many games available to classrooms, from educational games at iCivics, to educational versions of games, like Minecraft. There are even noneducational games that are being paired with instruction to make the game educational, such as Sid Meier’s Civilization or World of Warcraft. Explore what other teachers have done and start engaging students in meaningful play.
by Andrew K. Miller | Jan 2, 2013 | Blog, Edutopia
This post originally appeared on Edutopia, a site created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process by using digital media to document, disseminate, and advocate for innovative, replicable strategies that prepare students. View Original >
I know that, in my project-based learning classroom, students did presentations all the time for a variety of purposes. One of the key components of a PBL project is the 21st-century skill of presentation or communication. We know that this presentation can take on any number of shapes, from something formal to a podcast or even a poster session. I always struggled with getting quality presentations from my students. I used a variety of teaching techniques and examples, but there is one that I know can really help improve presentation skills: Ignite!
Ignite is a specific genre of presentation. An Ignite presenter only has five minutes to speak about the topic, and 20 slides to do so. Every 15 seconds, slides are moved along automatically. The overall purpose of an Ignite session is to empower and excite the audience around a specific subject matter, idea or topic. Ignite is used at conferences all around the world, at EdCamps, and even within professional organizations and businesses.
Ignite is similar to PechaKucha, where you have 20 slides that change every 20 seconds. Usually, someone is “offstage” to time the event by changing slides, which forces the presenter to stay on task and move forward in the presentation. The slides contain only images, which the presenter prepares. However, the presenter is usually not allowed to prepare a script. This demands improvisation and creativity while still trying to craft a message.
Final Product
An Ignite session can be a great final product for a PBL project or another unit of instruction. Although we might be inclined to push for a larger presentation, there are times when an Ignite presentation would be appropriate. It can help assess certain quality indicators of effective presentation, and can be a presentation that is more fun and engaging for both students and audience members. Imagine an exhibition night of multiple Ignite presentations! Consider an Ignite presentation as either a product or assessment for all students, or as another choice in the products students can choose from.
Practice and Scaffolding
Although you might demand a more lengthy or formal presentation as a final product, an Ignite presentation can serve as a great scaffolding tool. As students prepare for the bigger presentation, have them craft shorter pieces in teams or individually as practice. It can help them pick the right words to speak and find the right pictures to use as they reflect on and revise their final presentation. And it can serve as a great formative assessment for you as the teacher, along with helping students plan their presentation in manageable ways.
Teaching
Instead of droning on with lengthy lectures, as a teacher you can use Ignite presentations to get important content or skills across to students. Yes, there is occasion for a more traditional lecture, but not all the time. What’s great is that any Ignite sessions you build can be stored for future use or exchanged with teachers in a PLC or PLN. We also love it when students teach students. Have them craft Ignite presentations on content to teach each other.
Ignite can be a great presentation tool to support your classroom and students. It helps to avoid “time sucks” while building presentation skills for your students. There’s no question that young people will find this form engaging, and they’ll enjoy crafting these five-minute programs. I know I do! Don’t forget to use an effective rubric to assess the presentation effectively, and to make sure that expectations are clear from the beginning.
Ready?
Ignite!
by Andrew K. Miller | Dec 8, 2012 | Blog
This post originally appeared on CompetencyWorks, a group designed to support the development of a community of people knowledgeable about competency education. View Original >
Typically, teachers launch projects after students have learned concepts and skills, or as a culminating activity in a lengthy unit of instruction. Also traditional projects generally follow a scripted, one size fits all design. What would happen if a project were launched the first day of a unit of instruction? What if unpacking that project resulted in students determining what is important to know and do in meeting the criteria for the product and presentation?
Welcome to project based learning that allows students to meet multiple competencies! As teachers struggle to work with the rigorous performance assessment demands of the Common Core State Standards, a well-designed project can be the vehicle for highly authentic, rigorous, and personalized learning experiences for students.
The Buck Institute for Education, one of the preeminent organizations with expertise in Project Based Learning, describes the eight Essential Elements of a PBL Project. Included in these elements is inquiry. We are all familiar with inquiry-based learning as an effective framework for the classroom, and similarly, the Project creates the inquiry to learn targeted competencies that integrate both content and 21st Century Skills. Instead of giving the project at the end of a curriculum unit, the Project is presented up front to students to create the “need to know,” the inquiry to engage in the project. In addition, this work is the frame around the learning while engaging the learner in the driving questions. This work is presented to a public, authentic audience. Students are given voice and choice in how they present their learning of competencies to allow for personalized and differentiated instruction. Students become the centers of learning, rather than the teacher. In turn, the teachers arm students with the skills and knowledge needed to meet competency through a variety of instructional activities.
The planning and preparation for a project that is designed to meet multiple competencies can provide teachers with the tool kit they need to retune their curriculum, assessment, and instruction paradigm to the new expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
The presentation and product of a project based learning opportunity allows students to demonstrate they have transferred the knowledge and skills of multiple competencies identified as essential in the project design.
The project IS the learning!
by Andrew K. Miller | Dec 7, 2012 | Blog, Edutopia
This post originally appeared on Edutopia, a site created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process by using digital media to document, disseminate, and advocate for innovative, replicable strategies that prepare students. View Original >
This series is about taking your PBL projects “up a notch.” I wrote a blog about how to get started, but after you get started and are familiar with the benefits of keeping it small and focused, what are some of your next steps? One area where I see teachers taking their PBL projects up a notch is through integration. However, integration is actually quite complicated and includes many levels of implementation. Here are some tips to consider for integrating content areas into your next PBL project.
Know Your Level of Integration
When you plan your integrated PBL project, consider the following definitions and levels of integration articulated in Integrated Curriculum, an ASCD book edited by Heidi Hayes Jacob. When you examine these definitions, you’ll realize there are many ways to integrate. Based on structures, you may be able to use only one of these approaches (because, for example, every classroom full of students is different and unique). Once you decide the level of integration, it will affect how many products students will create, and where and when content will be explored.
Crossdisciplinary: Viewing one discipline from the perspective of another; for example, the physics of music and the history of math (Meeth 1978)
Multidisciplinary: The juxtaposition of several disciplines focused on one problem with no direct attempt to integrate (Piaget 1972, Meeth 1978)
Pluridisciplinary: The juxtaposition of disciplines assumed to be more or less related; e.g., math and physics, French and Latin (Piaget 1972)
Transdisciplinary: Beyond the scope of the disciplines; that is, to start with a problem and bring to bear knowledge from the disciplines (Meeth 1978)
Know Content that Isn’t Your Own
Teachers of the Blood Project at High Tech High really articulate this well. As you start to integrate more content, it forces you to look for connections in other content areas, which means that you must be familiar with those areas. This is important not only as you build and create your integrated PBL project, but also in the actual “doing” of the project. When I did a PBL project with my science and math teacher (I was teaching English at the time), students would come to me with questions that involved content in areas beyond my expertise. In order to best serve my students, I had to learn some of the content. When I did, not only could I be a better resource, but also my students trusted me. And this helped them trust that all teachers involved were well-prepared and could help them with any question or need they had.
It’s Gotta Fit
This one is crucial. Oftentimes, we try to “fit a square peg in a round hole.” We try to force integration when the content areas don’t seem to match. I hear teachers say things such as, “Well, there could be math,” or “We could try to find history that makes sense.” This hesitancy is completely justified. It comes from the understanding that the connections are inauthentic or feel forced. When you meet with your team, look for connections that make sense and fit nicely. It may end up that one content area is targeting more standards than others, and that is fine. A good integrated PBL project doesn’t mean devoting an equal amount of time in each content area, but rather devoting time to connect content areas that align well.
Limit Products to Target ALL Content Standards
If you really want students to see the connections of the disciplines, then limit the amount of culminating products and performances that students are producing. While the multidisciplinary approach is a great way to implementation content integration, students may or may not see the nuances and connections across the content areas. This is because students are still creating products in “silos,” or limiting their perspective to their own content areas. Once they create products that synthesize content areas, then they will be forced to examine how those areas connect.
Meet Frequently As a Team
It is so important to meet as a team, not just through the planning phase of a PBL project, but also as the project unfolds in the classroom. When I was implementing integrated PBL projects, our team met after school formally at least once a week. That doesn’t include the frequent times I would literally run to another teacher’s classroom to solve a problem or ask a question. Just as we encourage our students to revise and reflect throughout a PBL project, we as teachers should do the same. There must be a committed space for this to happen. Use this formal meeting time to see if new lessons are needed, address more student collaboration time, or uncover other issues that will come up.
How do you approach integration with your PBL projects? What examples do you have? What does it look like? Let’s help each other build the best-integrated project — and the most manageable project — while we grow as teachers in our PBL expertise.
by Andrew K. Miller | Dec 4, 2012 | Blog
This post originally appeared on MindShift a site dedicated to replacing familiar classroom tools and changing the way we learn. MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions – covering cultural and technology trends, groundbreaking research, education policy and more. View Original >
“Embodied learning” is a new initiative in the field of interactive and game-based learning, in which learning content is combined with physical movement. Among one of the leading organizations in bringing this movement to the classroom is SMALLab, based in Los Angeles. The company has created activities — check out their different learning scenarios – that use large projected environments as experimental playgrounds of movement connected to learning targets.
For example, in one activity, students are put into “acids” and “bases” teams to experiment with molecules in a “virtual flask.” Students can add different molecules to the flask to see how their choices affect the simulated environment by using a “glowball” that contains color LEDs. The experiment, as described in a research brief, should show that, “as particles in the flask collide with each another, they undergo one of four reactions based on the general properties of acid and base in aqueous solution.” Here, the movement is necessary to experiment with the creation of acids and bases.
In another example, students explore concepts in earth science, such as the geological layer cake, and use the glowball and other controllers to experiment with placing fossils in different layers of the earth in different environments, from swamps to mountains.
Schools can use the products in two ways, SMALLab and Flow, for a range of topics and grade levels, including sciences, English language arts, and the performing arts. With Flow, teachers can use an existing Interactive Whiteboard or any project surface along with Microsoft’s Kinect motion-capture camera. For schools that use SMALLab equipment, “there are 12 motion-capture cameras to track students’ movements as they learn in an immersive, interactive space. For example, in the Constant Velocity Scenario, physics students can hear the sounds of their actions getting faster, see graphs that change in real time, and feel how their bodies move through the space.” Its open-source software development kit allows schools to create new scenarios.
Why go through such lengths to teach this material? According to brain-based learning advocates, evidence supports the notion that the work in embodied learning can lead to increased student achievement. John Medina author of Brain Rules, claims that exercise boosts oxygen-rich blood flow to the brain, which helps students concentrate better in school.
In their own research conducted in K-12 schools and museums across the country, SMALLab found that “student learning gains were significantly higher after the SMALLab learning intervention when compared to regular classroom instruction.” In some instances, the company says it found that “there is a marked increase in the number of student-to-student and student-discussions during SMALLab.”
For SMALLab to work well, the company recommends that embodied learning activities are one component of the instruction — not the entire lesson. Order of activities is important as well, as students perform better when traditional instruction occurs before the embodied learning experiences.
But the company is cautious about the results. “At this juncture we cannot yet say which components lead to the increase in student learning,” the company says, and they call for further research to analyze the components of embodied learning experience.
The company’s products are being used in different schools throughout the country. Elizabeth Forward Middle School, outside Pittsburgh, Penn., is using a $20,000 grant to install SMALLab’s equipment and curriculum for its STEM program. The company’s products are also being used in schools in Singapore.
For schools interested in using embodied learning techniques, can the same results be achieved using low-tech tactics? If the goal is to make sense of and connect authentically with content, what tactics have teachers used that simulate the same concepts?
by Andrew K. Miller | Dec 3, 2012 | Blog, Huffington Post
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post, an internet news and commentary website. The Education section features updated on college, teachers, and education reform, where I regularly contribute. View Original >
The term “teaching” holds cultural images and schema that many us quickly tap into. I encourage anyone to google “teaching” or “teacher” and see the majority of images that pop up. You will most like see an individual at the front of the room, pointing to something on a board while talking to students. We know it isn’t like that all the time, and we also know this doesn’t work for our students. Many teachers have been pushed into a role where they are not being utilized for their expertise and skills. Through highly standardized curricula and pacing guides, teachers are told exactly how to teach, rather than being empowered to differentiate instruction and create engaging learning environments to meet the needs of their students. How do we not only clarify what teachers can and should do in the classroom and re-frame this conversation on the role and expertise of a teacher?
We use many terms to describe the work of teachers. From curriculum designer to facilitator of classroom work, there are many roles that teachers take on in the class. I believe there is one term that encapsulates and re-frames the work teachers do in the classroom:
Learning Designer. You might notice the clear parallel to the role of game designer. Just as game designers have a unique skills set and aptitude for designing games, teachers have specific skills and knowledge for designing learning. This term also reframes the role and expertise of teachers.
Teachers must intentionally think about the “big picture.” The objectives of the instructional unit are set and teachers must guide students to those objectives with creative, research-based strategies. Good teachers constantly reflect on their practice and use formative assessment to inform instruction. Through this, they use their creative skills and their instructional tool belt to try and innovate in the classroom, all with the focus of engagement and student achievement. Teachers use their knowledge of best practices and of their students to create instructional environments and assessments that meet their needs. Great teachers are allowing for voice and choice in performance assessments and projects, as well as games and technology. Teachers view the classroom, whether virtual or physical, as a place for possibilities to engage all students.
If you are teacher and you are trying to explain what you do, say, “I am a learning designer!” Teachers need to be empowered with a variety of instructional designers to meet the needs of all students. They need to be honored for their expertise to create creative and engaging learning environments. We can re-frame the concept of “teaching” to truly encapsulate all that teachers can and should do!
by Andrew K. Miller | Nov 19, 2012 | Blog, Edutopia
This post originally appeared on Edutopia, a site created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process by using digital media to document, disseminate, and advocate for innovative, replicable strategies that prepare students. View Original >
As you can see from the photo above, I got to politically “geek-out” on Election Night 2012. National Public Radio had put out an all-call for bloggers and other social media gurus to take part in #NPRMeetup. At this meetup, not only were we able to get up-to-the-minute developments on election results, but we were also behind the scenes at NPR Studios. The #NPRMeetup Team was comprised of a variety of individuals and political perspectives, all with their own objectives. My objective was to learn about the process and use these ideas to share with the education community in hopes that teachers might create classroom experiences that connected.
Front Row Seat
The setup of NPR studios was fascinating. I had the privilege of getting a pep talk from Ken Rudin, resident political junkie, about the evening and what to look for on this pivotal Election Night. NPR CEO Gary Knell extended us a welcome and thanked us for our participation, and of course we got to watch all the impressive reporters as they spoke live on radio, and the staff as they directed and crunched numbers. There were so many “cogs in the machine,” as you can see from the diagram below. There were so many roles and protocols necessary to make the election reporting work efficiently and accurately. In addition to the physical, on-the-ground work, there was an internal system chat that all team members, from the social media team to the data analysis team, used to communicate in real time to each other. Some information was given to us off the record, and we were allowed to report it only after NPR made the official call. Exit polling was pulled from the Associated Press as well as from NPR exit polling teams.
Classroom Ideas
There is so much critical thinking that occurs when analyzing data from an election and then officially making the call. One powerful learning experience could be an Election Night Studio Simulation for the math and social studies classroom that mimics this work. ELA and Media teachers could use the opportunity to teach writing and layout skills. Teachers could provide an ongoing feed, from exit polls to real voting data, and have teams of students work in real-world roles to officially make calls on which candidate won a specific state. Assessments such as journals or Election Night plans (how and when the teams will make calls) could help students learn about data analysis, critical thinking and collaboration.
Another idea that I walked away with was the concept of the Citizen Journalist. To summarize, citizen journalists are public citizens actively participating in the journalism process, although they may not be affiliated with an official news outlet. In the ELA or Journalism classroom, students could become citizen journalists by identifying and reporting on real issues facing their community. They could use social media tools and other new media to make a difference in their community. In addition, they could learn about movements that have capitalized on citizen journalism, such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, to analyze the effectiveness of different approaches and plan their campaign.
To see more photos and reports of what happened at NPR on Election Night, you can read this NPR blog. You call also read the Storify archive of our Twitter chat from the Election Night.
by Andrew K. Miller | Nov 15, 2012 | Blog
This post originally appeared on Education Nation’s blog, The Learning Curve, which has many blogs both opinion-based and informational. Education Nation is NBC News’ year-round initiative to engage the country in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in America. View Original >
Our students are playing video games, whether we like it or not. In the United States, there are 183 million active gamers – people who play games for an average of 13 hours a week, according to Jane McGonigal in her book “Reality Is Broken.” Rather than viewing this as a waste of time, some educators are seeing this as an opportunity and are using games in the classroom.
There is something about games that engages us, but how can teachers use them to teach important concepts? The answer is game based learning.
Why Games? – Games provide a learning environment that is often starkly different than the traditional learning environment. When you play a game, you have the opportunity to try and fail. In the classroom, students are often punished for practice, as it affects their grade. If you lose a game, you have the opportunity to try again.
Games also provide a “situated learning” environment. In the classroom, content is often disconnected from a relevant context. In a game, you learn content to perform tasks. Whether the game demands learning math content or social studies content, you are engaged because you are invested in winning.
Games also focus on critical thinking and solving complex problems. Instead of “drill and practice,” a good game demands that you use factual information to solve a complex problem.
Here are two examples of how teachers are implementing game based learning:
Games as Direct Lessons – iCivics uses educational games to teach a civics curriculum. Teachers are also using it to teach reading and argumentative writing, crucial foci in the Common Core Standards. In the game “Argument Wars,” players must evaluate arguments and evidence from a variety of court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Miranda v. Arizona. Each case is a separate game, and the player takes on the role of a lawyer representing one side of the case. Students must identify the main idea of the argument they represent and choose the best supporting statements to satisfy the judge. They must also fend off the arguments of their opponent to win the case. The game is designed to be educational as well as fun. Teachers assess students through a written component, such as a traditional essay or persuasive letter to the Supreme Court. “Argument Wars” also tracks students’ answers and scores to give teachers more information on their progress.
Games as Secondary Lessons – Another popular game in the classroom is the puzzle game Portal, in which players have to create portals between two flat planes. The game was not designed to be educational, but teachers are creating contexts for students to learn science content while playing. For example, they can use Portal to help teach concepts like mass and velocity. After a traditional lesson on the topic, students are instructed to send cubes colliding in midair within the game environment. They can experiment with different speeds and collect data on the results. Teachers have students collaborate on different scenarios in the game to predict what will happen. The game provides an engaging and safe space to experiment and learn before applying the knowledge in an exam.
These are just two samples of how teachers are implementing game based learning. Some teachers are using more low-tech games, and some teachers are even turning their classrooms into games where students play every day. We have a unique opportunity now to use game based learning in the classroom as a way to encourage students to learn AND play.
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