Amadu Kargbo

Pre-English

7/28/17

Inquiry paper

Technology has been a part of most of my school career. I would use it to do my

homework and find information for my paper. Most of the time I would use technology at home

but over the last couple of years, technology has become a bigger presence in the classroom. A

lot of teachers started using more Presentation and smart boards instead of the traditional

blackboard. This became the new way of teaching in the classroom.

This change was something that took me time to adjust to. This was because I was not

used to technology. As a kid, I never really use computers to study. The way I learned was from

reading books and listening to educational tapes which taught me basic grammar and vocabulary.

I learned math through practicing it with my parents. Using technology was something new to

me so I was a little slow when it came to learn this way, but I could learn over time.

Recently teachers have started adding games as a way of teaching kids. Games like

Kahoot became much more common in the classroom and is now seen as a great platform for

enhances your study skills. I enjoyed and questioned this decision. Dont get me wrong I love

games. It is one of my passions. I just wanted to know the reasons for this. I wanted to know how

playing games in class would influence the learning ability of the students.

Amanda Bell and Melissa Gresalfi authors of the book Technology, Knowledge, and

Learning wrote about the effects technology has had on the students. They say that Digital

games demonstrate great potential for supporting students learning ethics (para 21). They did a

study using the game Boones Meadow which is described as an interactive problem-solving
experience that involves using mathematical ideas of ratio and proportion (para 6). The kids

were given different routes in the game and they had to decide the routes their teacher had to take

and the length and time of each specific journey. They used this game as their platform and

analyzed the changes in students testing ethics over two years.

Bell and Gresalfi found that there was a huge change in the pre-and post-tests. The

teacher felt that this process went a lot during the second year. She says that students were

much more engaged in the game and the mathematics. (para 20) Her interactions with the kids

also became better during the second year. They believe that these methods are good for both the

teachers and students and help with the teaching and learning process.

The National Science Foundation says games that are made for educational purposes are

not only engaging but also help learners acquire deep science-inquiry skills and conceptual

knowledge. They view games as a positive way for students for learning. Not everyone has this

view towards games in the classroom though. Scientists at the University of California argue that

there is little evidence that playing brain games improves underlying broad cognitive abilities or

enables one to better navigate a complex realm (national science para 15). This view was

completely different from a lot of other researchers who were enraged by this comment and

strongly disagreed with this belief

Sara Corbett the writer of the article Learning by Playing: Video Game in the

classroom takes a different approach from everyone else. She does not side with games in the

classroom nor does criticize the thought of this technique working. She instead focuses on the

effect these games have on the kids, the reasons game designers capture the kids attention, and

how we can get the kids to act like this towards school.
 Corbett gives the story of a 54-year-old middle school teacher named Al Doyle. He had a

lesson where he played a game. The kids would help navigate him to pick up some reward points

while avoiding robots to get to the goal. The kids were yelling things like go right and run to

the goal. This simple lesson showed how all the kids got involved in the lesson and were

excited to help guide him. This way of learning isnt something that people of past generations

are used to. Corbett says the use of technology and games in the classroom may have become

the source and organizing principle of our childrens learning (para 11). It has slowly become

something that is being applied in schools.

This all goes back to game designers. They can catch and keep the attention of kids.

How are they able to do this though? James Paul Gee, a professor of literacy studies at Arizona

State University talks about the concept of games. He states that A game is nothing but a set of

problems to solve (Para 41). Gee describes games involving different aspects like exploration,

risk taking, role play, and strategy. He believes that these concepts teach kids a lot of things that

the classroom fails to do and feels that we need to widen our aspect of literacy in our education

system (Para 41).

The endless debate of the effect of games on kids is something that may not be answered.

Some say it rots the brain, its a waste of time, and it makes kids less focused. However, there

are supporters for games in the class and have even started applying it to schools. This topic is

something that won t be settled especially with the way technology is advancing. The question

of if games in the classroom help student learn better is hard to answer. There may not be a

definitive answer that everyone will agree with. I dont know if games help of hurt the kids learn.

It is something I am looking forward to finding out in the future.

 Work Cited

Lacasa, P., Mndez, L., & Martnez, R. (1970, January 01). Using Videogames as Educational

Tools: Building Bridges Between Commercial and Serious Games. Retrieved July 30,

2017, from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9496-5_8

An, Y., & Cao, L. (2016, October 18). The Effects of Game Design Experience on Teachers'

Attitudes and Perceptions regarding the Use of Digital Games in the Classroom.

Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-016-

0122-8

Becker, K., & Katrin Becker (4). (n.d.). Choosing and Using Digital Games in the Classroom.

Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-12223-6

Bell, A., & Gresalfi, M. (2017, February 09). Teaching with Videogames: How Experience

Impacts

Classroom Integration. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-017-9306-3

Elizabeth, S. S. (n.d.). Evolution in the Classroom: What teachers need to know about the video

game generation. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02763685

Corbett, S. (2010, September 18). Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom.

Retrieved

July 30, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html

Gonchar, M. (2015, May 19). Does Technology in the Classroom Ever Get in the Way of

Learning?
Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/does-technology-

in-the-classroom-ever-get-in-the-way-of-student-learning/