Excerpts from the article that was written w.r.t. Social Studies, however ideas can be applied to the use of digital games for all subjects. The article includes a list of games suitable for the teaching of social studies. Although these games are tied to the American Social Studies curriculum, you may find some of the games suitable for our local context. We have included some of the games within Games Central and co-designed some lessons with our DGBLC members. Refer to our lesson plans found here: tinyurl.com/opal-dgblc.
Of interest, please see below for guidelines for choosing appropriate games and its implementation (emphasis in excerpts, mine).
Excerpts from the article, for the busy teacher:
Games represent a means for students to move away from passive learning to make choices, explore options, take on roles, and participate in realistic representations of real-world dilemmas and challenges.
Schools help to foster civic education when they are able to help students “express their views in media forms that are attractive and familiar to them” and “link knowledge gained in an abstract form to more concrete everyday situations in which it might be used” (Torney-Purta & Vermeer, 2004, p. 7).
Egenfeldt-Nielsen (2005) in his research notes that students often did not make the connection between gameplay and learning. He concludes that games in classrooms need to be directed by specific educational goals and guidance to maximize learning.
Guidelines for Choosing an Appropriate Game
Identify learning objectives. It is important to know what learning is desired from the game. In the Making History study, having a game that depicted the outbreak of the war was extremely important to the teacher, as it matched his learning objectives for his larger curriculum. If the game only depicted the war itself, it would be much less useful in meeting his desired learning objectives. Furthermore, he had found that his students seemed to have a better grasp of world geography after playing the game, a learning outcome he had not expected. It is important to know what learning is desired from a game and then to determine whether a particular game can help meet those learning objectives or not.
Consider cost, time, and technical requirements. It is very important to consider how much a game will cost, how much time is required to play it, and whether or not available computers can support the game. Issues, such as how often a game allows players to save or how much minimum time the game requires to be meaningfully played, are important to understand to determine whether a game is appropriate for the specific learning environment. Furthermore, technical challenges will likely arise, and it is important to assess what available support exists to overcome such challenges.
Consider how the game will be used. **Some limitations, such as time, can be creatively overcome by having students play games outside the classroom at home or in school labs. However, also consider whether students will play on teams or if it is also important for the game to provide single-player experiences. Plan how the game will be implemented, and create lesson plans
beforehand to guide its use. Remember that not all aspects of a game have to be used for it to be effective.
Consider what standards the game can be tied to. It can be important to identify appropriate standards to link with the game. It is possible that some could see the use of video games for education as frivolous, and it is important in the current climate to tie the game to standards to identify its learning goals and how it fits into a district’s existing curriculum.
Guidelines for Implementing a Game Effectively
Plan ahead. It is important to create a plan for how the game will be used. Research suggests the need to support gameplay with sound instructional strategies for learning to be effective (Leemkuil, de Jong, de Hoog, & Christopher, 2003; O’Neil, Wainess, & Baker, 2005; Wolfe, 1997), so it is important to have a plan for debriefing and connecting the gameplay experience to broader lessons. Also, technology is challenging, and it is important to be prepared to address these challenges as they arise.
Promote active learning. Games are being promoted for learning because of how they engage and require action on the part of the learners. However, it is important that the game is not the only place where learners are required to think and act. Try to create an environment in the curricular activities surrounding the game that also requires action and engagement on the part of the learners.
Look at what games do well to engage: choice, interactivity, self-expression, problem solving, feedback, and trial and error. Structure an environment for assignments tied to the game or surrounding debriefing and learning from the game that includes similar features. Do not tell students what they learned but require them to demonstrate what they have learned by problem solving and being creative.
Plan for student interaction and reflection. Video games can be frenetic in their pacing; thus, it is important that students have the opportunity to reflect on their choices and game outcomes. Consider having students work in pairs or groups when playing a game. Plan for how the debriefing of the gameplay experience will be facilitated and supported.
(Refer to our written article on reflection ICT tools here: tinyurl.com/opal-dgblc.)
Assess the game and its implementation. Much can be learned by evaluating the implementation of a game. Assess what the students learned from the game and how the implementation of the game worked or could be improved. Commit to improving the students’ experience with the game by evaluating its implementation after each use.
Read full article here:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~brwatson/publications/Watson_2010_SocialStudies_GAMING.pdf
WEB 2.0 TOOLS FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM
An interesting article on web 2.0 tools that can complement your use of digital games for the classroom (not just for the social studies classroom). Includes some digital games for both Geography and History.
Some tools/digital games that may be of interest to you:
Conflict History (6-12)
http://www.conflicthistory.com
This site allows users to view Conflicts globally through out time - using and interactive world map and interactive time lines great interactive resource.
Docs Teach
http://docsteach.org
Docs Teach is an amazing Web Tool that helps to make History come to Life. Each of the several activity-creation tool helps students develop historical thinking skills and gets them thinking like historians. Teachers simply find and insert primary sources into a customizable and very slick template in order to customize the activity to fit their unique students. This is one of those awesome sites that make teaching easier and more fun while exciting the students and engaging them to learn at the same time.
GeoSense (4-12)
http://www.geosense.net
An online world geography interactive game that can be played with more than one player.
Playing History
http://www.playinghistory.org/
This site aggregates info on free historical games, interactives and simulations on the web, in a simple, searchable database making it easy to find, rate, and review historical games. There are currently 130 shared games.
ScribbleMaps
http://scribblemaps.com
This site allows the use of Google Maps to draw, annotate and to customize maps. ScibbleMaps is the quick and easy way to rapidly create and share maps within your classroom. With Scribble Maps you can draw shapes and Scribble- use Pace Markers and text - Create a Custom Widget- Save as KML/GPX- Send maps to friends. This is very interactive and does work similarly to Google Earth. -
Read the full article here: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/tools_technologies/web_20_tools_social_studies_classrooms#sthash.sSdb9oJc.dpuf