Technology is determining the way we think, live, and work. After, thoroughly researching gaming in the classroom, I have drawn many conclusions and opened my mind to explore many possibilities.
Having a greater knowledge about gaming through playing and researching, created better awareness of the opportunities schools have today with new techniques and tools for teaching. Learning can be boring at times and I strongly feel games provide a sense of excitement and interaction that allows children to express themselves differently. Implementing gaming into lessons can be accomplished if the teacher is well trained, creative, and open minded. However, I feel WOW in the classroom is stretching our boundaries and resources into something that could become more detrimental to the students instead of educational. There are educational games out there, and we as teachers, need to reach out and locate their whereabouts, so we can achieve higher goals as an educator.
Furthermore, gaming can become frustrating for the student as well as the teacher. Over the past few weeks, I have devoted much time to playing and researching gaming. There were many times I experienced failure or technical issues while playing the game. Unfortunately, computers do fail and often we develop a negative attitude towards the game we are playing. Therefore, I feel my skills for game play are weak and this alone creates a negative atmosphere. I know if I am feeling this, one day a student that relates to me will feel the same way.
In conclusion, gaming is fun, exciting, and educational. Teachers have to be careful when selecting games to implement into their lessons. Being open minded and positive will create a better learning environment for our students. So, go explore!
