I am delighted to take part in this course as I am absolutely convinced of the educational potential of digital games (even though too few reach that goal)
All sorts of games
My relation with gaming started as a child occasionally playing board games with my parents and friends. More importantly, I remember playing informal role play games during my early years and I also practiced several sports, including handball.
Nowadays, my passion for photography has led me to play another form of non-digital game (well almost, since my camera actually is digital). Since becoming interested in nature photography, I realised how fun and educative this pastime can be: insects and amphibians aren't as afraid of human beings as mammals are and macro-photography can certainly be seen as a playful encounter between the photographer and his “subject-participant” (with goals such as getting the animal to trust us and move closer or let us move closer it; getting the animal to behave in certain ways, etc.).
The educative aspects of this pastime become more obvious when we realise that most renowned nature photographers describe themselves as naturalists first and photographer next. Spending an early spring morning doing some macro photography is a more effective way of persuading yourself of that: photography will quickly become the back story for your nature learning.
Playing with dragonflies
Game Boy
As a child, I used to be spoiled by my grandma: she would buy me a game every week. When I was offered my first game console, a Game Boy, we started to group weeks together so I could buy video games (instead of the cheaper traditional ones). During this period of my life, I spent days playing Tetris, Zelda, Donkey Kong as well as some adventure and fighting games for recreational purposes.
My expense of time and energy (and money) on this hobby has since led me to believe in its potential for education.
Computer games
Matthew's introduction on the course made me recall that I used to love stealing my uncle's Amstrad (it's amazing how fast things have changed on a technological level) to play Return Fire or somthing very similar.
During my first few years as a student, I became somewhat addicted to Quake III Arena, a FPS game which might only be considered educational (if at all) to army soldiers and the like...
In recent years, the only digital game I have played on a regular basis is Pro Evolution Soccer and with a new version coming out every year, my girlfriend is now relieved that my aging laptop can't follow my love for this game.
Shortly after graduating, I also took part in the development of an educational digital game called Lapin Malin Initiation à l'Anglais – 4-7 ans v. 2 (which could roughly be translated in “Clever Rabbit – Introduction to the English language for 4 to 7 year-olds).
Although I was hired as a developer and therefore hardly took any design decision, this experience was illuminating and a perfect illustration of some of the theoretical knowledge I was taught during my University E-learning module.
Second Life
My knowledge and understanding of digital games also benefited from the IDEL module last semester as it provided us with theoretical knowledge and practical use of virtual worlds such as Second Life as learning environments. Aside from its well-known appropriateness for simulations and role plays, I feel it is highly beneficial in a distance learning setting where I have found that it can increase the sense of presence more than any other technology and hence, help overcome any possible feeling of aloneness (Palloff and Pratt in McInnerney and Robert 2004, p. 73).
My explorative trajectory
I feel that several divides may exist among digital games, including:
purely recreational vs educational
very realistic and demanding in terms of hardware vs very light
In fact, the more expensive games (because of their technical demands) don't necessarily sell better: often, a simpler but well thought of game, with a better underlying “idea”, works better. Classic examples would be Tetris or Breakout. Most Nintendo games (which I tend to see as the Apple of the digital gaming world) also belong to that category.
In my own experience, digital games can help develop a number of valuable skills such as:
- attention, perception
- practical skills / acquire greater experience (simulators for instance)
- strategic planning
- collaboration (especially for multiplayer games)
In part because I am not working, I haven't any well-defined trajectory in mind at the moment: aside from gathering evidence that playing is learning which I could use to justify my pastime in front of my girlfriend, my goal is to explore and discover as wide as possible a range of digital games that exemplify good learning and teaching principles.
Later, I may need to narrow that field and pursue the exploration of some types of games in greater details depending on what my future job is.
I will start by catching up with some classic games I have missed before letting myself driven by the trajectory of the course, the reading I do, the news I come across and any specific interest I may develop along the way (in a sort of informal flexible research design).
References
McInnerney, J. M. and Robert, T. S. (2004). Online learning: social interaction and the creation of a sense of community. Educational Technology and Society, 7(3), pp. 73-81
dnrkskwuf on Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 23:48 UTC |
), the interview of Claude Onesta, the French coach, highlights some very interesting aspects which are quite relevant to most learning situations.
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After a few weeks on the course, I have a better idea of my desired learning trajectory. It may be divided in 3 stages: