Games, Simulation, and Virtual Environments

  There is no shortage of online games, simulations and virtual environments and some of these games, simulations, and virtual environments can be quite intimidating and scary. Nevertheless, more and more research has surfaced arguing the positive effects they have on education. Bonk (2009) contends that “as gaming experiences grow, today’s learners are seeking richer and more engaging educational experiences” (p.289). Likewise, Steinkuehler and Duncan (2008) advocate that “video games will transform education and is changing the widely shared perceptive that games are mere entertainment” (p.531). As an ABE/GED/ESL adult educator I am incline to agree with both of their analogies, but on the other hand as I have pointed out earlier, some of these games, simulations, and virtual environments can be intimidating because of the level of complexity and skills required to successfully interact or participate. As a result I have found some two newbie friendly games that will enhance the ABE/GED/ESL adult learners learning experience.

The first game is an interactive game located at www.misson-us.org and it is called Mission U.S. A Revolutionary Way to Learn History. Mission U.S. has three historical missions; Mission1: “For Crown or Colony” (1770); Mission 2: “Flight to Freedom” (1848); and Mission 3: “A Cheyenne Odyssey” (1866). Learners are immersed in U.S. history. The website also provides teachers with materials and information needed to be used in the classroom. Furthermore, learners have online access and it is Apple’s iPad and Android Tablet friendly. The use of this game will create a collaborative and cooperative learning environment while presenting history.

My second choice of games to implement in class is located at www.gamesforthebrain.com. This website has many types of games for the brain which I would have no problem using them as warm ups. Some of the brain games are word games, IQ games, memory games, and problem-solving games. Most of my ABE/GED/ESL adult learners have not be in a classroom for years, therefore I give them warm up exercises to get them thinking sometimes it is in the form of a scientific or government base word search or sometimes it may be some interesting brain teaser, or math, however the difference is that the learners are not interacting with those warm up exercises, therefore incorporating these games for the brain requires the learners to interact with them online and fortunately our class is held in a computer lab. Nevertheless, these games will enhance the learners learning experience through improving their speed of reading and building their vocabulary, improve their ability to problem-solve, and increase their retention and memory.

In sum, there is no doubt in my mind that games, simulations and virtual environments are here to stay, still everyone is not quite knowledgeable on how to navigate or participate in most of the popular games, simulations, and virtual environments, however the aforementioned websites will help prepare some of my adult learners that are interested in exploring more challenging games, simulations, and virtual environments, because of the collaborative and cooperative components the aforementioned games offer.

References:

Bonk, C. (2009). Who Are You?: Opener #8 Alternative Reality Learning. In C. Bonk, World Is Open:How Web Technology Is Revelutionizing Education (pp. 275-291). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.

Steinkuehuler, C., & Duncan, S. (2008). Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds. Science Education Technology , 530-543.