As Learner – Game Play

As part of our study this Semester, we have been required to learn something new by utilising networked and global learning practices and techniques.

What I would like to try to learn?

Like David I have decided to learn how to play a game. I have decided that rather than selecting the game I learn myself, I will turn towards my students (my other learning network…they teach me something new every day) and ask what the most popular iOS game is at the moment and seek to learn that.

The reasons I have decided to learn a game are:

• I enjoy IT and eLearning, but never really ‘got into’ the game side of things because I always found them challenging and I get very board with repetition easy. Plus, I have never really had the time.
• Many of our students are very engaged with games. They play them repeatedly and when they are not meant to be – during class. I always thought that part of the appeal of gaming was the ‘doing’ component, but my students were telling me the other day that they now enjoy and spend A LOT of time watching others play games. It is like a TV show, but they are streaming a game. This is one of the streaming websites that they are using – http://www.twitch.tv/ . I found it very interesting the other day talking to students and asking what shows they watched on TV. 80% of the class indicated that they didn’t watch TV shows regularly, but rather play games, watch games and watch YouTube channels.
• A TED talk from Daphne Bavelier on ‘You brain on video games’ indicated that playing of action video games can increase our/learners:
  • multitasking skills
  • Improve eye sight
  • Slows down the aging process
  • Help make faster decisions
  • Relieves stress
  • Improve reading ability
  • Gives entertainment

However, Daphne stresses that just like our diet, games need to be consumed in moderation. “In reasonable doses, playing video games can have positive effects on your brain process.”

TED – Daphne Bavelier – “Your brain on video games”

Prezi with presentation and slides notes – http://prezi.com/zkyhslq_rfen/ted-talk-your-brain-on-video-games/

• After some more searching I also found this YouTube clip that discusses the effects of action video games on multitasking abilities – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZdKbhsC7w
  • It was also interesting to note that the best predictor of endoscopic surgical skill is actually the amount of time the surgeon played video games. Apparently this was a better predictor of skills than the number of surgeries they had completed or the number of years training. Not sure how believable this research is and if we need to take it with a grain of salt, or perhaps it is just like Daphne Bavelier stated – everything in moderation.
• There is much research lately on gamification and badges and to ‘tap into’ this engagement tool with our students seems to make sense or at least further investigation.

How suited do you think it will be to learning via NGL?

Hopefully it is easy to learn the game play. With the popularity of games, YouTube and now streaming of games there should be a large community for assistance. A fall back option will be to source my students as a network. I regularly learning a lot from my students, but I have never asked them to teach me how to play a game.

What will be the benefits and the barriers?

I am concerned that the time dedicated to learning a game is going to be considerable.

Many find games to be relaxing and enjoyable, perhaps I could find a long lost passion here.

What is learning?

J Michael Spector (2002) “indicates that Learning is essentially about change. Learning involves changes in attitudes, beliefs, capabilities, knowledge structures and skills. When these changes have been observed and can be believed to be relatively stable and persist for some time, it is reasonable to conclude that learning has occurred”.