Millions of kids around the world play video games. Why don't educators use them then to teach?
The origins of educational gaming and simulation find their roots in the military. In as early as the 19th century Prussians used various "war games" to train to help in the Franco-Prussian war (Seay, 1997). The real advancement in Educational Gaming and Simulations came in the mid 70's with a man named Richard D. Duke who saw gaming as the new way to educate (Duke, 1975).
Gaming and simulations continued to develop and make their way to the general public through the late 70's. In the early 80's gaming and simulation developed even more with the introduction of at home gaming systems, such as the early Commodor 64 (History of Gaming, 2009). The world of computer gaming has seen rises and falls since its start, yet it has continued to be extremely popular amongst many individuals.
Today gaming and simulations have continued to evolve and change to meet the needs and wants of its clientele. On-line training simulations, Virtual surgeries, interactive environments, and so much more are now in use to engage and educate.
In the past, many childrens' primary influences came from Home and School. In todays fast paced flashy showy world of media, where parents are working all the time, and there is no dinner around the table, students' influences have changed. For these children their major influence has become Televsion or another forms of media (Peters, 2004). Knowing this wouldn't it be benifical to take that primary influence and use it to capture and inform?
Currently there are an immense amount of simulations available to educators, and to list them all would be daunting. However in the list provided you may find some from your own childhood:
Is the technology of gaming and simulation being put to good use?
Here's an interview by Steve Hargadon with author Larry Cuban. Larry Cuban wrote the thought provoking book "Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom."
http://www.stevehargadon.com/2006/09/interview-with-larry-cuban-author-of.html
Duke, R. D. (1975). Gaming: The Future's Language. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Hargadon, Steve (2006). Interview with Larry Cuban, author of "Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom." Retrieved May 22, 2009
from http://www.stevehargadon.com/2006/09/interview-with-larry-cuban-author-of.html
History of video games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2009). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/History_of_video_games
Peters, S. G. (2004). Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me?. Charlottesville: Cecil Williams Publishing.
Seay, J. (1997). Educational Games. Retrieved May 1, 2009 from http://www.cofc.edu/~seay/cb/simgames.html