“…students who tended
to have more success in school had more difficulty playing the game. He found the game appealed particularly well
to students for whom traditional instruction was a problem."
I like this quote because it reinforces what we already know
about differentiated instruction; every child learns differently and we need to
find ways in which to reach every child.
This game would be great for students who are more hands-on
learners. For many kids who enjoy video
games it is something that they can relate to and something they already have
an interest in. This would be good
resource for teachers to look into if they have students who are struggling
with the traditional teaching of social studies.
“Although students
generally cooperated with one another, they were often quite conflicted when
specific decisions about how to proceed had to be made. These points of conflict presented the
teacher with opportunities to engage students on substantive content.”
What I like best about this game is that it provides so many
teachable moments in the classroom. The
game covers such a broad content, that every choice the students make can be
related to something in history. I think
this is a great tool to encourage meaningful discussions between the students
and the teacher. The students are
problem solving with actual real world problems that society has been faced
with in the past; the learning is significant and relatable.
Additional Resource
This blog is written by Dr. Brad M. Maguth, who is a PhD in
Social Studies Education. His posts
offer teachers resources to help them integrate technology and social studies
instruction. I like this blog because
Dr. Maguth gives a list of games that could be used in the social studies
classroom. Along with a small summary of
each game, he gives the teacher ways it can be used and what content it
covers. I think this resource would be
great for a teacher who is just starting to integrate technology into their
social studies curriculum.
Resource
Maguth, Dr. Brad
M. Global and Social Studies Education. n.p.
Web. Retrieved from http://globalandsocialstudieseducation.blogspot.com/2008/12/video-games-for-citizenship-education.html. 20 February 2013.
Thank you for your honesty. Social Studies was always a favorite of mine, but I know it is not for everyone. I like the resources that you chose and is shows the potential for combining current events in technology.
ReplyDeleteA pet peeve of mine in social studies was the tendency of some teachers was too focus on the distant history. My senior year history teacher started the year off by telling us the Christopher Columbus did not discovery America. So began a year of grief, we were informed that Eric the Red was to be given credit. It was an agonizing 7 months. The highlight of the year was the 2 weeks we spent on WWI, WWII, Korea, & Vietnam. It is interesting to note that the Journalism instructor was a student at Kent State during the riots and a literature teacher was a National Guardsman. Would it not have been wonderful if our teacher would have found a way (even without technology) to integrate the availability of those two into our history lessons?
Not familiar with the Kent State Riot? Here is a brief YouTube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSCSRI4oa8M
I really enjoy and agree with the quote: “…students who tended to have more success in school had more difficulty playing the game. He found the game appealed particularly well to students for whom traditional instruction was a problem."
ReplyDeleteIt really proves the importance of exploring gaming in the classroom and differentiating the instruction to include the "gamers."
I really like your views on the article we read about Civilization III. I think it is a very useful tool in a social studies classroom that promotes differentiated instruction and an interactive and engaging way to learn social studies. I wasn't a big fan of history in high school. However, I was a good memorizer. I don't remember most of what I was taught now, but an interactive game like Civilization would allow me to recall instances in the game that would trigger a relatable learning experience. We remember most of what we do rather than what we say or hear. If what we learn is related to an action, it is more likely to remember it long-term.
ReplyDeleteNice resource to see how other teachers are making connections between games and content learning!
ReplyDelete