I need games suggestions for class!!!
GnomeQueen
The Lulz QueenMountain Dew Mouth Icrontian
Hey guys,
I'm working on a project for one of my classes on teaching writing. I'm doing this project on how games can be practically used in the classroom to enhance and cause learning. This is because it's obvious that video games are far more interesting to students than reading the Great Gatsby, for example. (Or the Awakening
)
I have some great examples from articles on ways to use games in the classroom- One of them was having students play SimCity to give them an idea of how local government works, and then they had to compare and contrast the way SimCity works, and the way a real city would work.
Another good example is from a college class that played the game World of Warcraft. The teacher had them play this game, and then they had to do a great deal of writing about it-writing strategy guides, writing proposals to blizzard for changes to the game, and so on. The main reason this was good was because it allowed students to get almost immediate feedback from the WoW community, and it situated learning in an environment where the students could see their suggestions in action. The students ended up doing a great deal of writing during the course, and they got to have fun doing it, too. (Which I think should be the core goal of any classroom).
I have these good examples, but I'd like to make a unit plan that I could personally use in a classroom- meaning I need to find a game that I could adapt to a class that I would be teaching next year. That's why I need your help. Here are my specifications.
It needs to be:
-Free, or relatively cheap (Or from a super generous company looking for good PR
)
-It needs to be about something literary- perhaps it has a lot of writing in it, or it's about a story in history or a book- OR- It's something like the game WoW, where the students can do writing and get a lot of immediate feedback
-It needs to be something that can be completed or mostly completed in about a month, from one period a day of 45 minutes, five days a week. (Some of this time will also have to be devoted to actually writing, and other logistical things- assemblies, testing days, etc. Unfortunately, teachers get a lot less time with students than it seems like)
-It needs to be school appropriate (Meaning it can't be Grand Theft Auto 4 )
-It needs to be something that can be run on an average computer
-It needs to either be a not online game, or it needs to be a safe online community. My ideas will fail if a student ends up getting sexually harassed or something, though the entire project would probably need a disclaimer.
I know that all of those stipulations seem rather steep, and I could probably be flexible if I needed to. Right now, actually, the best idea actually seems like it might be WoW, since you can get the base game for fairly cheap (We don't need the expansions), though then you have to also pay for a month, right? I'm used to Everquest 2, which whenever you buy the game or an expansion you get a free month.) Beyond that, it's something some of the students will probably already play, and it has a large community to get feedback from. My main concern with WoW is the fact that it, and the communities around it, are on the web, where my students could get harassed.
I would really appreciate any help you guys can give (if you've managed to read through all the crap I just wrote).
(Give me suggestions I give you dickerdoodles? ehhh?)
I'm working on a project for one of my classes on teaching writing. I'm doing this project on how games can be practically used in the classroom to enhance and cause learning. This is because it's obvious that video games are far more interesting to students than reading the Great Gatsby, for example. (Or the Awakening
)I have some great examples from articles on ways to use games in the classroom- One of them was having students play SimCity to give them an idea of how local government works, and then they had to compare and contrast the way SimCity works, and the way a real city would work.
Another good example is from a college class that played the game World of Warcraft. The teacher had them play this game, and then they had to do a great deal of writing about it-writing strategy guides, writing proposals to blizzard for changes to the game, and so on. The main reason this was good was because it allowed students to get almost immediate feedback from the WoW community, and it situated learning in an environment where the students could see their suggestions in action. The students ended up doing a great deal of writing during the course, and they got to have fun doing it, too. (Which I think should be the core goal of any classroom).
I have these good examples, but I'd like to make a unit plan that I could personally use in a classroom- meaning I need to find a game that I could adapt to a class that I would be teaching next year. That's why I need your help. Here are my specifications.
It needs to be:
-Free, or relatively cheap (Or from a super generous company looking for good PR
)-It needs to be about something literary- perhaps it has a lot of writing in it, or it's about a story in history or a book- OR- It's something like the game WoW, where the students can do writing and get a lot of immediate feedback
-It needs to be something that can be completed or mostly completed in about a month, from one period a day of 45 minutes, five days a week. (Some of this time will also have to be devoted to actually writing, and other logistical things- assemblies, testing days, etc. Unfortunately, teachers get a lot less time with students than it seems like)
-It needs to be school appropriate (Meaning it can't be Grand Theft Auto 4
)-It needs to be something that can be run on an average computer
-It needs to either be a not online game, or it needs to be a safe online community. My ideas will fail if a student ends up getting sexually harassed or something, though the entire project would probably need a disclaimer.
I know that all of those stipulations seem rather steep, and I could probably be flexible if I needed to. Right now, actually, the best idea actually seems like it might be WoW, since you can get the base game for fairly cheap (We don't need the expansions), though then you have to also pay for a month, right? I'm used to Everquest 2, which whenever you buy the game or an expansion you get a free month.) Beyond that, it's something some of the students will probably already play, and it has a large community to get feedback from. My main concern with WoW is the fact that it, and the communities around it, are on the web, where my students could get harassed.
I would really appreciate any help you guys can give (if you've managed to read through all the crap I just wrote).
(Give me suggestions I give you dickerdoodles? ehhh?)
0
Comments
Second year english?
First year business?
http://www.runescape.com/ (<-- a friend's personal fav)
http://www.habbo.com/ (<-- lol I know but you never know)
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I was merely alerting you to one of the possible problems of using Second Life. You don't remember the fiasco?
(I really WAS kind of trying to be helpful
Also, Greg Malone's 'Moebius' and 'Windwalker' games were extraordinary, but I'm not gonna say anything else...I'm just going to play a few more rounds of Brøderbund's 'Airheart'...
Alrighty then, I retract my previous statement.
But the game does involve a LOT of history (thought not necessarily historically accurate) and quite a bit of reading and strategics. It's without question the first game I'd think of when it comes to learning-appropriate.
Portal is another good one, but teaches a very different thing.
Again, Civ III is good for teaching colonization, diplomacy, foreign affairs and the like.
Half-Life 2 Havoc is a great free mod that two students made for a class project to teach physics and interactivity in a game environment
http://halflife2.filefront.com/file/HalfLife_2_Havoc_Physics_Mod;89171
Thought not as 'fun' most might say, WWII flight sims do a GREAT job of teaching 40's era history. Especially ones that have a campaign that detail the progression of the war and the technology being used. IL2 Sturmovik and B17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th.
defcon!
That is a really fun game.
Haha! So true. But srsly, where the hell was she? >_> <_<
I was thinking the same thing