Retasking+Video+Games

//**Potential Power of Video Games:**//

The quote below comes from an excellent article with amazing links to start your digging into the research about the power and risks of utilizing video games as tools. Using "James Gee" as a Google Search wouldn't hurt either as he is a major player in this developing field.

//**"**//Some parents might see video games as an impediment to children keeping up with their schoolwork. James Gee, however, thinks video games are some of the best learning environments around. He says that if schools adopted some of the strategies that games use, they could educate children more effectively." []

...from the same article....

"Educators do not need to use actual computer-based games to incorporate these educational principles, Gee says. "This type of learning that games do I call 'situated learning,' because you're situated in an actual problem-solving space. Situated learning can be done with or without a game. Good teachers have always done it." []

//**Retasking of Video Games may Require Modding**//

//**"Modding**// is a slang expression that is derived from the verb "[|modify]". Modding refers to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer. The term modding is often used within the computer game community, particularly in regard to creating new or altered content and sharing that via the web." []

Modding is quickly taking off and a project to watch for all math and science teachers is the Games-to-Teach Project being spear headed by MIT and Microsoft. Checking out their site is worth the visit even if you just want to look at the prototypes

//**Scholarly Look at Modding**//

Psychological and pedagogical theories such as situated/embodied learning and social constructivism are gaining steam in educational circles. More and more people are pushing for active pedagogies that recognize the contextual aspects of knowledge and the learning process. Check out the article "Supporting Dialogic LiteracyThrough Mashing and Modding of Places and Spaces by John G. Hedberg and Ole C. Brudvik to explore these themes in relationship to modding.

Various themes such as constructivism, constructionism, digital existentialism, and the power of modifying commercial games for educational purposes are explored in "The Educational Potential of Modified Video Games" by Andrew Moshirnia (Click Here)

//**Examples of Mods**//

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//**Things to Consider**//

The educational power of any technology depends on a variety of factors embodied by both the technology itself and the user. Below are two webs that briefly outline some of these factors. Our hope is that video game fanatics will critically look at games before they redesign their classrooms. We also hope skeptics will take a critical look at their issues with games and be open to the idea that the problems with video games may partly reside in our abilities to use them.



Can video games be retasked effectively for educational purposes? This huge hot topic isn't definitively discussed here. It is our hope you will consider the idea. A bottom line that I hope all can agree on is the power of video games as educational tools lies not in the games themselves but in the abilities of the people who choose and use them.