At the MACE conference I attended a presentation titled "What Teachers (and Students) Can Learn From Video Games" from Curtis Chandler, Kansas 2011 Teacher of the Year. It was one of the best sessions of the conference and I believe that video games can play an important part in educating our students.
Video game use in the classroom is broken down into three different categories. The categories range from fun/motivational, to simulations to create multiple solutions to a single problem, to the creation and sharing of video games.
Curtis used Burger Tycoon and Incredibots 2 as examples of simulation games. Both of these were great examples of how students can use critical thinking as well as trial and error to learn cause and effect.
I was the most impressed with the power of video game creation. Video game creation is not regulated to programmers and with these free programs, teachers can incorporate video game creation into their curriculum. The incorporation into curriculum is only limited by teachers' imagination. Some of the game creation programs used by Curtis include Scratch, Storytelling Alice, Sandbox, and Wii Game Studio.
If you are interested in incorporating video games into your classroom, you can watch Curtis Chandler's presentation below. I would also be excited to help you utilize these tools in your classroom.
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