Partner Blog #5

There are several apps on the i-devices that help keep up general knowledge and brain stamina through a variety of ways. I thought it was very interesting that Jim Gee says games work like we know books work. I do not play games, so there is no one that comes to mind that teaches me knowledge. However, I might start after these videos and articles! Some of my friends and both of my siblings play games through applications on their phones that test them and can even challenge them against other people on history facts to everyday life knowledge. My older sister has an app that trains memory and attention. Even in games designed just for fun, there lie better uses that build up knowledge in ways we would never think about. I think games help because they help maintain brain fluidity and speed. People that use their time to play games that trigger thought and memorization of facts as opposed to people that use their free time to watch TV will obviously benefit in the long run.

As Jim Gee says, there is more going on when someone plays a game, such as World of Warcraft. He continues saying there is a collaborative problem-solving idea behind playing games. It has become so popular in the 21^st century because as other technologies increase daily, the game technologies improve, as well as the technologies that advertise these games. As he asserted, it is all about the experience of the game. There is learning involved in every aspect of games—rules, characters, identification, and thought processes to achieve the intended goal. There is a natural inclination to become better and better and then understand the world differently, as stated by Kurt Squire. Other players push your own understandings and strategies. He says that games help people understand the actual current ways of the 21^st century. Teachers can take this into account. In the 21^st century, we continue to see improvements in technology advance. In a classroom setting, I believe teachers can use books, lectures, and possibly games to back up their own lessons and teachings. I believe this improves the learning environment, especially when it comes to issues of keeping the students engaged.

            I can use this idea to help myself so that I can better understand technology integration, follow rules, and build complex methods and ideas that lead to a desired outcome. Games are proven to achieve these things, and I hope that in my future job, I can use games to enforce learning. Especially in the field of Speech Therapy, improvement may be achieved through the use of interactive games, apps, and verbal exercises. Kurt Squire also points out that games lead to a better understanding of civic engagement and its importance—something all people can benefit from. In my future job, I plan to use both verbal means of communication and teaching, as well as games to spark interest in patients or students, keep them engaged, and provide them with ways to use their brain differently.

I have used this image perviously, but it illustrates the use of gaming as a means of learning. She is playing games on this toy computer that trigger learning as well as complex thinking. 

This image of Emma shows her coloring in a picture of a character from a game she plays based off a series called Doc McStuffins. From this game, she has already made associations of how this character is portrayed and illustrates these through remembering how this character is represented and coloring based on this.