1. Having Fun is a Good Thing!
TIES 2008
Copper Mountain

2. Two hours!?
Are you
kidding me?

3. Sticky idea?

4. Video games are an absolute
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. China has more
gifted kids
than we have kids

8. A seven year-old signed a
six figure endorsement deal
to play professional video games
thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html

9. So what?

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

13. Tic Tac Toe

14. Pong

15. Galaga

16. SimCity

17. Second Life

18. Games
haven’t
gotten simpler
over time

19. They’ve gotten more complex.

20. Why?

21. Because the brain
demands it

22. “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

23. Brains
search for
patterns

24. Brains work best when emotional
chemicals are increased

25. Brains want to
work with
others

26. Games provide structured patterns

27. Games create emotional connections

28. Games encourage collaborative learning

29. “. . . exceptionally tasty
patterns of reality.”

30. Simpler?

31. quot;People do not quit playing
because they grow old; they
grow old because they quit
playing.quot;
Oliver Wendell Holmes

33. www.stopdisastersgame.org

35. www.teamtreks.com

38. More goodies at:
historytech.wordpress.com

39. “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

40. Gaming myths?

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

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

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

44. 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

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

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

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

49. secondlife.reuters.com

50. So what
questions should
a teacher ask?

51. Some other great examples

52. www.discoverbabylon.org

53. www.knowledgematters.com

54. www.dimenxian.com

55. www.peacemakergame.com

56. www.software-kids.com

57. What games do you use?

58. Railroad / Zoo / Roller Coaster Tycoon
Sim ThemePark / Sim City
Civilization III / Rise of Nations /
Age of Empires
The Sims
Global Conflicts: Palestine
Making History

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

60. Tech integration questions?
Social studies issues? I would
love to hear from you!
Glenn Wiebe
glennw@essdack.org
socialstudiescentral.com
historytech.wordpress.com
View presentations at:
slideshare.net/glennw98