Image taken from https://goo.gl/images/gDiBb7
One of my favorite areas to look at in education is the use of technology in the classroom. If you look in that direction it is hard to miss that Gamification is the future. We may one day be seeing students playing online games in and outside of the classroom. Just like many new innovations in the world, we may be initially be resistant to it, but we may adopt it due to the following reasons:
i) Learning through experience
ii) Learning while having fun
iii) Learning in a collaborative manner
Image taken from https://goo.gl/images/kJmdfK
As such, this was my proposal for a class project where a computer game takes center stage in an English writing class. This is set in a classroom where the students are at least 14 years and above as children of a younger age may be overly stimulated through the lesson.
Introduction:
In a computer lab, the students will load up Sid Meir's Civilizaton 3. This game is a turn-based strategy game and was intentionally chosen because it is slow paced, requires collaboration and has some historical figures that can become important teaching points. This game is also currently free on Steam (Not Steemit, the other Steam).
The teacher first lays down the gound rules for the lesson, which are:
- Respect each other, no swearing, shouting or any inappropriate language.
- No chats, talk to discuss your strategy out loud.
- No quitting midway through the game.
In-game screenshot of Civilization 3 image taken from https://goo.gl/images/6nAczE
Activity 1
A time limit is set for the students to complete an objective set by the teacher. The class will be divided into groups of four and can form their alliance as they wish. In terms of winning the game, I would give the win to the group with the most territory after half an hour.
Do take note that this game can go on for hours, so setting a time limit with an objective will help in managing the class.
As the students are playing, the teacher will go round to record and assess how the students collaborated and planned their strategy. This record can be later reviewed and serve as a catalyst for the students to discuss and write in the next activity.
Activity 2
The teacher ends the session, awarding the win to the group that has the most territory. The teacher will then give the next task. For this task, the students are required to write a short essay on "How I conquered the known world today."
The teacher will review a few instances on how the students collaborated and provide some opinions on how this can be used in writing their essay.
The teacher can also require the students to do short presentations on what they have written down, depending on how long the class hours are supposed to be.
Conclusion
The teacher can recap a few important points with the class before ending the session.
This is a concept lesson that I have been developing and have yet to iron out any problems that may occur. I do appreciate any comments on it. My goal one day is to incorporate well known games such as mind-craft, counter-strike, Halo and Dota into education.
Now, if you don't mind I'm signing off now to do some "game-evaluation". =)
Image taken from https://goo.gl/images/Ngt4Vf