How Skills Learned from Video Games Transfer to the Classroom

    

    Blumberg and Altschuler’s article, “From the Playroom to the Classroom: Children’s Views of Video Game Play and Academic Learning,” seeks to understand how video games impact how and what children learn—more accurately, how gaming skills transfer to academic learning. The authors collected a focus group of boys and girls in urban fourth, fifth, sixth, and grade classrooms who play frequently and infrequently. One of the main goals was to learn how children problem-solved in both video games and the classroom, to compare how similar or dissimilar students’ strategies were. Surprisingly, results were similar in many instances. When in need of help during their games and in an academic setting, children answered that they seek the help of someone (friend, parent, or teacher [in an academic setting]) or that they simply used trial and error—this was actually a large number of students. During video games, especially, children said that they did not read instructions or learn rules, rather, they just try different things until they get the result they’re after.

     As I mentioned, one of the things that this study aims to show is that skills learned while playing video games transfers to the classroom. For example, many studies show that there is an increase or improvement in spatial ability, visual attention, and problem-solving skills (Blumberg & Altschuler, 2011, pp. 200-202).

     While it may harder to incorporate video games into the learning process since teachers would likely have to find video games that fit what they are learning in class, that doesn’t mean that teachers can’t use video games to help with the general skills that were previously listed, such as problem-solving and spatial awareness. While it would be hard for a teacher to create a video game, they could create or find other games that are more closely related to the subjects they are teaching, for example, Kahoot or Jack-in-the-Box games—these aren’t video games, but they are digital games, so the skills may still transfer. This may be especially beneficial, since many of the children in this study reported that they feel their games are higher stakes than classroom, since there are greater penalties for losing in a game, but also greater rewards for winning the game. If teachers are able to incorporate more games into their lessons, students may treat those activities with as much gravity as their video games, because they would feel the stakes are higher, whether they win or lose.

Educational Interest: Videogames continued . . .

For this week’s blog post, I wanted to actually find a “classroom” videogame. Apparently, Minecraft (I’m not familiar with it, but I’ve heard the name, so I know it’s well known) has an educational series called “Minecraft: Education Edition.” I looked into it, and apparently, there is a chemistry themed version that allows student to do things like use elements to create compounds that can be used to help them during the game. There’s also an aquatic version of Minecraft that lets students explore the underwater biome. I thought this was really cool and I was surprised to find out this popular game had educational versions. I am not a video game person at all. I don’t know anything about them. So to me, this was like hearing there was an educational “Grand Theft Auto.” Very cool.

 

References

Blumberg, Fran C., and Elizabeth Altschuler. “From the playroom

to the classroom: Children’s views of video game play and academic learning.” Child Development Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 2, 10 May 2011, pp. 99–103, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00163.x.

 

Immersive Technology in the Classroom

 

     Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research published “Cultivating Positive Classroom Environments: Exploring the Efficacy of Immersive Technologies in Removing Barriers to Learning Among Primary School Students” in March 2024. The article largely focuses on how technology in the classroom helps students with autism, and mentions how “nearly three-quarters of autistic children diagnosed [have] a co-occurring condition,”—conditions that “have a detrimental impact on the overall learning environment”—especially in mainstream classrooms (Molloy and Farrell). The article gives examples that include “hyperactivity and attention issues, deficits in executive functioning, difficulties in social communication, self-injurious behaviors, stereotypical behaviors, and heightened emotional sensitivity, along with co-morbid anxiety disorders” (Molloy and Farrell). In order to reduce these behaviors, or the intensity of them, a study was conducted to determine whether immersive technology, in particular, would aid  in these students’ classroom experience.

     The journal describes immersive technology as new ways of interacting with content and experiences. The examples they give are Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR)—the last one being the only I had previously heard of. The Journal offers many in depth explanations as to why these kinds of technologies are so beneficial to students. To name a few of these benefits, students’ “ability to engage in tasks without the fear of failure, coupled with previous successes, significantly contributed to improving students’ self-efficacy,” “self-directed” learning led to confidence in their competence, more avenues for creativity, more ways for students to work independently—alleviating some pressures they face in normal classrooms, and so on (Molloy and Farrell). The article is really quite extensive on the benefits of immersive technology in the classroom.

     The article did have disclaimers though, noting in particular, that the sample size of students observed was small, and that the findings did not measure the long term behaviors of students while using immersive technology. It was noted that in the future, more students should be observed, and for longer periods of time to make sure the changed behavior isn’t in large part due to the “novelty” of the technology (Molloy and Farrell).

     As an English major, it’s not uncommon for folks in my field to be. . . hesitant with technology. We joke that we need to feel pages in our hands, and the smell of books is part of the experience, and so on. Many of my professors have discouraged or even banned the use of technology in classrooms—even for notetaking. So, it’s definitely something I’m not super accustomed to using in the classroom. I think I may always have a hesitancy to jump all in, and I admit, a big part is really the romanticization of a slower and simpler life. On the other hand, I do have a real concern about the limitlessness of technology. I do read articles about bullying and even virtual sexual assaults in some of these virtual worlds (maybe it’s more in the video game arena?) but I would just want to make sure everything was able to be closely monitored to make sure the technology was being used for educational, artistic, or even for friendly gaming purposes only. But as a future educator, I understand that there are cases especially where students will simply have more specific needs to be able to flourish, whereas other students may be fine in a more “traditional” classroom. I would never want to hinder a students’ success because I was unwilling to incorporate something like immersive technology in my classroom.

 

 

Educational interest to me . . .

Let’s just stick with this week’s article topic—immersive technology. I didn’t really grow up with computers or even internet at times, but my friends were obsessed with an online game called “Sims” (I believe). So, that was the virtual reality knowledge I’ve always had. So, it is interesting to look at this through an educational lens. A platform the article mentioned is called “CoSpaces Edu,” which sounds like it would be a fun experience for students. Apparently, students can present their learning experiences in 3D form with this platform, and even add audio and movement to their creations. It offers lessons on the core curricular areas, but also teaches students skills like coding. All very interesting.

 

Works Cited

Molloy, Ciara, and Rachel Farrell. “Cultivating Positive

Classroom Environments: Exploring the Efficacy of Immersive Technologies in Removing Barriers to Learning Among Primary School Students.” Computers in the Schools: Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research, 18 Mar. 2024, pp. 1–29, https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2024.2325441.

Technology in Physical Education: A Journal Article Critique.

    

    In 2020, Physical Educator published Grant M. Hill’s and Arturo Valdez-Garcia’s article “Perceptions of Physical Education Teachers Regarding the Use of Technology in Their Classrooms.” While I was on the hunt to find which recently peer reviewed article on technology in the classroom I was going to evaluate, I was not sure what I was going to find—but I did not expect to land on an article about physical education. Mostly, because apart from health class, and maybe a pedometer in gym class, I wasn’t sure how big of a factor technology in physical education was, or why it was as important as technology in a core classroom. So, because I was intrigued, I chose this article.

     To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I’m not sure what I was expecting to find . . . I guess I was expecting super revolutionary and important reasons for needing technology in physical education, and while there were reasons I hadn’t considered, I don’t know that I see value in investing in technology in physical education if those resources could be used in a core classroom. Be that as it may, let’s dive into what the article had to say about technology in physical education . . .

     The article claims that a large push for technology in physical education is to help students and teachers track progress and general health, such as calorie counting, heart rate, steps, etc. The blog mentions, to these kinds of trackers in particular, that these kinds of measuring and tracking tools can be downloaded to phones. While this is important, this kind of class participation would require all students to have smartphones with this capability. As our textbook and several of the journals we’ve read this week have already established, most older children do have their own phones, but not all students do. This kind of tracking for class also doesn’t account for students may be grounded from their phones, or have a broken phone, etc. So, I am a little hesitant to put too much reliance on students’ personal devices in the classroom. On the other hand, I am all for investing in technology for schools that students use during class time, such as pedometers, heart rate monitors, etc.

     Some other technologies that the article mentions are “[p]ortable Bluetooth sound system devices and portable projectors that present video or slides are additional technologies physical education teachers can use” (Hill and Valdez-Garcia, 2020, p. 30). I’m not exactly sure what these would be for, and the article doesn’t really go into detail on what these kinds of portable devices would be used to display to students. Music during workouts is often used to keep people motivated or at least distracted, but schools certainly don’t need to invest in sound systems for that. The other thing I’m thinking about is maybe videos showing students proper form—but I’m not sure why the teacher or coach couldn’t do that themselves. Again, I’m a little disappointed that the authors weren’t very thorough in explaining all the benefits and uses of technology from physical education. I’d also like to reiterate that I’m not talking about health classes where students are at their desks in a classroom—I took this article to mean technology with gym activity, since the technology mentioned is used for counting steps, heart rate, weight, etc.

     While I agree with the authors in that adding technology has numerous potential benefits to students, including but not limited to, “greater  potential  interest  in  the  activity,  more collaboration between students, a potentially greater number of trials, quicker feedback, and better connectivity of the learning activity to outside life. Consequently, it appears important that teachers correctly and flexibly use a variety of educational technologies to make their instruction more effective” (Hill and Valdez-Garcia, 2020, p. 30), again, I am confused by how exactly students in physical education would flourish greatly.

     This study tracked two school districts in the Southwestern U.S. and 201 educators agreed to participate in this survey / study, which is clearly a very limited pool.

     Overall, I’m not satisfied with the article’s reporting, and I wasn’t convinced as to why schools should be investing their funds for technology in physical education. I’m not opposed to it—I chose this article because I was curious in which ways technology can benefit these students. I just don’t feel like I was shown anything new or exciting that’s going to revolutionize that particular classroom.

 

Educational interest to me . . .

     I’ll start by saying I’m a little disappointed. I used our textbook to check out the apps and websites offered for English teachers and students, and I couldn’t locate them in the Appstore, or find websites that looked like they weren’t going to give my computer a virus. Since I struck out there, I just went with what my class recently used in our Creative Writing Class: Microsoft Teams. This was actually really beneficial because all of the students were added to the class, and we could all see each other’s poems and short stories. Teams was really great for peer reviewing because there are modes for editing and reviewing, and this was really important so that we could comment or make suggestions / corrections without changing what the author wrote, so that we could take the advice or not, and also so we could keep track of where we started. We could also make side notes to ask questions about things we were unsure of, or leave encouraging comments about the things we loved as readers and wanted more of, and so on. These would be displayed on the projector so that everyone could read along as we stood up and read aloud (because poetry is meant to be heard, as our professor reminded us nearly daily). And by the end of the semester when we had our completed portfolio of work bound together, we also included those original, untouched, rough drafts with our peers’ comments and all. For me, this was an excellent use of technology in the classroom that made our day-to-day lives so much easier and clearer.

 

 

References

Hill, Grant M., and Arturo Valdez-Garcia. “Perceptions of \

physical education teachers regarding the use of technology in their classrooms.” The Physical Educator, vol. 77, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2020, pp. 29–41, https://doi.org/10.18666/tpe-2020-v77-i1-9148.