As a future math teacher I chose Lure of the Labyrinth, http://labyrinth.thinkport.org, to explore the world of gaming overlapping with math skills. After choosing to dive in like a future student, I did not read any rules and attempted to figure it out on my own. No such luck! I am game-illiterate beyond Tetris and Ms. Pac Man. After getting lost in the maze and having to click the back arrow enough times to navigate out, I decided to read the home page from the standpoint of a teacher...
The game is intended for pre-algebra middle school students. It claims to be easy to play without reading the rules, so I tested my children out, since they are much more familiar with computer games than me. The home page claims to include proportions, number sense, geometry and variables. With our collaborative efforts, we did not experience this material. Selecting a pet at the beginning was the highlight. As a reward for giving it a try we looked around for another math game to find... Math Man, http://www.mathplayground.com/mathman.html. This was a much faster, more interactive Pac Man-like game with order of operations involved. Yes, it is much more simple than geometry, but the fact that calculations were being performed accompanied by laughter and celebration seems much more worthwhile than frustrating navigation. I am very curious to read about Lure of the Labyrinth from a gamer's opinion.
To be more open-minded about video games, I read Good Video Games and Good Learning by James Paul Lee with search for positives. I agree with the motivation from challenge in the games. A sense of ownership was referred to and that supports our intent help students feel empowered. The ability to strategize could be enforced through games. Perhaps I need to further explore the educational gaming world before shutting the door.
Isn't it interesting how we can have negative views towards something but once we see how well it can work and how positive it is to our learning environment we can change our minds. I think having fun and laughing while learning is what our world needs. By playing some of theses educational games we are able to give our students a great learning environment.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I am very interested in your experience with Math Man. It seems that you enjoyed playing it with your children, while also finding it to be a good educational tool for learning mathematics. You mention laughter and celebration as part of your gaming experience. What made this game so much more worthwhile for you compared with Lure of the Labyrinth? What skills did the game require of you, and how did playing benefit your learning? Depending on your answers to these questions, I am very interested in how you may or may not be able to incorporate video games or simulations of the skills needed to play such games into your math classroom!
ReplyDeleteMath Man focused on "Order of Operations" in its educational direction. It would not be able to be used as curriculum support, but merely as a free-time activity that includes a tune-up in math.
DeleteRachel, I see we had similar experience with Lure of the Labyrinth. I agree that choosing the avatar seemed to be the highlight of the game. It just seemed so slow and not very intuitive which was frustrating. I'm also glad that you recruited some young gamers to help you play. I just think this was a poorly designed video game!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest you check out Cadeus. I wrote about this on my blog and found it to be much more entertaining. I still think this game suffered from some of the problems mentioned but I had a much better experience.
I think an important lesson here is that just because it's a video game doesn't mean that students will automatically be engaged. It still has to be fun, interesting and of course educational.
Thanks for the Cadeus tip! I will add it to my list of potential games. I am still waiting for the gaming world to have an educational incentive and encourage the game-makers to make a difference...
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