Fun is a Good Thing!
Video games, iKids and 21st Century Education

Sixty minutes!?
Are you
kidding me?

Sticky ideas?

21st century technology is absolutely
essential for your toolkit

The top 10 jobs
predicted for 2010
didn’t exist in
2004

There are over
150 million people
using Social Networks

more
China has
gifted kids
than we have kids

A seven year-old signed a
six figure endorsement deal
to play professional video games

So what?

“Today’s students
are no longer the people
our educational system
was designed to teach.”
Marc Prensky

Tic Tac Toe 1077

Pong 1977

Galaga 1987

SimCity 1997

Second Life 2007

Games
haven’t
gotten simpler
over time

They’ve gotten more complex.
Why?

Because the brain
demands it

“Everything Bad is Good for You”
Steven Johnson
“Got Game?”
John C. Beck, Mitchell Wade
“Don’t Bother Me, Mom - I’m
Learning!”
Marc Prensky

patterns
Brains search for

Emotional chemicals increase
cognitive activity

Brains want to
work with
others

Games provide structured patterns
Games create emotional connections
Games encourage collaborative learning

Simpler?

“You don’t learn because
you’re engaged. You’re
you’re
engaged because
learning”
Nick deKanter
Muzzy Lane Software

Gaming myths?

“All child drug addicts . . . are
comic-book readers. This kind of thing is
not good mental nourishment for
children!”
Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent, 1954

www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Scientific evidence links violence and video
games
www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Scientific evidence links violence and video
games
It’s mostly kids / mostly boys
www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Scientific evidence links violence and video
games
It’s mostly kids / mostly boys
Gaming creates isolated loners
www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

“Mini” & complex games are the same
www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

“Mini” & complex games are the same
It’s really not that big of a deal
www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

secondlife.reuters.com

great examples
Some

www.making-history.com

www.teamtreks.com

www.discoverbabylon.org

www.knowledgematters.com

www.educationalsimulations.com

www.peacemakergame.com

www.stopdisastersgame.org

What games do you use?

Railroad / Zoo / Roller Coaster Tycoon
Sim ThemePark / Sim City
Civilization III / Rise of Nations /
Age of Empires
The Sims
Global Conflicts: Palestine
You are the Historian

“The cookies on my computer

know more about me than my
teachers do.”
High school student

Lots of resources at:
<www.socialstudiescentral.com>
<del.icio.us/glennw98/games>
Download presentation at:
<slideshare.net/glennw98>