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

2. Sixty minutes!?
Are you
kidding me?

3. Sticky ideas?

4. 21st century technology is absolutely
essential for your toolkit

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

6. There are over
150 million people
using Social Networks

7. more
China has
gifted kids
than we have kids

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

9. So what?

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

12. Tic Tac Toe 1077

13. Pong 1977

14. Galaga 1987

15. SimCity 1997

16. Second Life 2007

17. Games
haven’t
gotten simpler
over time

18. They’ve gotten more complex.
Why?

19. Because the brain
demands it

20. “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

21. patterns
Brains search for

22. Emotional chemicals increase
cognitive activity

23. Brains want to
work with
others

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

25. Simpler?

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

27. Gaming myths?

28. “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

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

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

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

32. 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

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

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

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

37. secondlife.reuters.com

38. great examples
Some

40. www.making-history.com

42. www.teamtreks.com

44. www.discoverbabylon.org

46. www.knowledgematters.com

48. www.educationalsimulations.com

50. www.peacemakergame.com

52. www.stopdisastersgame.org

53. What games do you use?

54. 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

55. “The cookies on my computer

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

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