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Week 2 (13-19 October 2014)



BBC Future spoke to Jessica Lindl, general manager of GlassLab, at the Silicon Valley-based gaming company, EA (Electronic Arts) about how games could prepare children for jobs. Watch the talk at http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131107-could-video-games-replace-exams and comment on/discuss it.  Do lecturers use games evaluating your knowledge and skills? Would you include them in the examination scheme?

Comments

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I don't know what skills specifically one can gain from playing this game. You cannot teach/learn Maths or Physics on high level using games of any sort as a educational tool. Of course you can demonstrate basic Physics laws by a simulation but besides it is totally useless. Ability to solve mathematical, programming etc. problems is a result of tens of thousands hours of hard work, often boring and challenging one's strong will.

On the other hand they would come usefull when learning foreign language, history or music on introductory level because games might enhance ability to remember facts.

Refering to questions stated in OP:

1. Lecturers don't use games to evaluate skills at schools, at least in Poland.
2. I wouldn't include them in any examination scheme with one exception. On the PUZ exam(1st term of Master level studies) it would make sense if lecturer included game which is puzzle at the same time. However, the subject itself didn't make much sense.
Unknown said…
I think that including games into the school learning system is the natural next step. Kids already have access to videogames, computers, ipads from a very early age or even since birth so for them it is an obvious tool for fun an education. I think it can make learning much more entertaining for the young generation. But on the other hand I still think that kids should learn how to write properly or read books. I think it might become a problem when from a very young age kids would write only on a keyboard or a touch screen.

But I also agree with Robert. I don't see much educational use for the Sim City game. The video actually looks more like a promotion for the game - "Let's buy it for all the schools!". Actually from what I've heard the game didn't sell very well.

By the way I personally really hated that in the new Sim City game you could only build really small cities.
Unknown said…
I agree with Paulina, this solution is good for children who begin learning in schools.
Unfortunately, educational games can cause laziness in young people. What can later affect their worldview. They believe that in life everything is always cool and pleasant. The games do not have to make up homework and only need eg. do puzzles and solve some boards.

Also i agree with Robert. I think that these games unfortunately will not work for adolescents and adults. I think that they are too old for such a type of game.

On the other hand, these games can have very interesting wizualicację tasks theorems and problems. They can greatly facilitate the understanding of these tasks.
Unknown said…
SimCityEDU seems to be a great and very valuable game in which I would like to play if I were a kid. It teaches us how to take care of our environment, which is an important topic these days. It has also good reviews that you can read here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/simcityedu-pollution-challenge
I like the idea that education and technology collaborates, so learning is easier and more understandable to students. I guess it really might work. But like you all said, on the other hand it develops laziness.
I think some examinations can use games, for example driving license test.

And Robert, I think it is design for kids and teenagers not for students at University ;)
I see that most of you have similar opinion to mine. I also think that these kind of games would be suitable just for children in the kindergarten or primary school.
It's main usage would be probably making lessons more interesting for children. Basically, it is a very good addition to the all kind of subjects but it should not replace the traditional way of teaching.
As for SimCityEDU, right now the game seems to be in very early phase and it does not offer anything special. As final product it probably would be good tool to teach children logical thinking.

Personally, I have never been evaluated by games or anything similar at school and I would not include them in examination scheme. I do not believe it is good way to evaluate students at school. However, I think it would be a great way to practice before exams.
It' an interesting concept. To be honest I have never thought about it. While listetning to Jessica Lindl I got super excited...I strated remembering how it was to be at school and how the lessons had been organised. I regret not having any technology involved...It would definately influenced me in a good way and I am convinced that I could have been more prepared for the future. So I think comupter class should be developed. And the technology must appear during other lessons like science or english for example. Such game can be a great addition to the education but I'am convinced that it souldn't be the core of it. Why you may ask? Firstly, as most of you have already mentioned it can cause laziness. What is more children already spent a lot of time in front of a comupter screen and with smartphones in their hands. If they do the same in the classroom it seems that the spend the half of the day staring into the screens. I wonder if it would be good for childrens' helath.....
MartaSB said…
In my opinion games can teach us and test our knowledge on many different levels and it does not only apply to children.

Games like SimCity can create a model of real-life situations, so every decision we make during the game can be used for analysing our way of thinking and assessing e.g. our problem-solving skills.

Similarly, a game based on air traffic control simulator can be used in the enrolment process for the real job, because it can test our perceptiveness and reaction time. On the other hand, the air traffic controllers can use it as a training platform, to improve the above-mentioned skills.

From my own experience, playing games (e.g. Diablo III) with language set to Spanish can teach you new phrases and vocabulary in no time :)
Unknown said…
I think that educating children through playing games is a great idea. This method is definitely more interesing than normal lectures and can be really helpful, especially in primary schools, where many young students have problem concentrating during normal lessons. Learning by playing games can also help kids to develop creative thinking, being a great addition to exams, which learn us to think in more schematic way.
However, in my opinion, stating that SimCity can prepare children for future jobs is a great exaggeration. It can definitely make some lessons more exciting , but like Robert wrote, the real knowledge comes only through hard work.
To sum up, I agree with opinion, that computer games can be a great addition to learning path, but I would never consider them as a replacement.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Actually I remember playing Sim City as a small kid and it was way too hard for me. I just wanted to build a nice city and all the time I had problems with not having enough money, people protesting because of high taxes and way too much traffic. I played the new Sim City game and except for not being able to build a big city (which is a really huge flaw) it’s pretty entertaining and I guess it can learn children about the responsibilities of running the city and to care more about the environment but I think sometimes it still can be too hard.
Homework in the form of playing games - for me it's great idea! I played a lot in simcity game in my childhood. I remember that it was a good fun. Personally, I think that the whole idea is fantastic. It's combining work with pleasure. Educational games create a safe environment. You can test different scenarios. For example, you can make a natural disaster in the case of simcity games and check the result, assess the damage. In conclusion, I think that it;s a great idea where the kids, even unknowingly , can learn something.
PrzemekM said…
Do lecturers use games evaluating your knowledge and skills?
I think yes. Young children learn new technologies so fast because they like it.
In my opinion learning by gaming can have much more good than bad. We think about education like about something we should. Why we can't think: education playground, or just fun. This is one side of my vision.
The second are the possibilities which children can gain. I agree with previous speakers, that is great way to learn creative thinking. Typical education can offer that type of knowledge, education have always is the same schema. In games it depends on creative authors, and can change in time.
Is it good idea to include them in the examination scheme?
I'm not sure. Evaluating is enough not fair, that adding another level of abstractions where you can do much more than typical schema, would increase the complexity to much.
To sum up I am big fan new technologies in creating new educational opportunities.
Seisyll said…
I think its worth a try. Kids love to play games, and why the hell not use the games to teach stuff? People learn faster if something is interesting to them, or is having a great impact on them. I'd much more prefer to learn while laughing than while being bored (ahh... sweet childhood...). I think me and everyone who played video games as a kid can agree to one thing. We all learnt english more while playing than in classroom.

Is it good idea to include them in the examination scheme?
Seriously speaking I don't know. I think it is worth a try at least, but I can't really tell if it will be a great thing. We learn something to be able to use it in different kinds of situations. Using games to both learn and examine can shrink this idea, to be only appliable in the very specific situations. In the most funny situation it can lead to kids not being able to use what they have learnt without a game
Michal Kulesza said…
I completely agree that simulators can be used as training platforms. Polish military pilots will be trained using them. One of the best F16 simulators is being build at Warsaw Military University of Technology: http://www.polska-zbrojna.pl/home/articleshow/13743?t=Studenci-WAT-buduja-symulator-F-16 (Sorry for polish, couldn't find anything in english).

HOWEVER.... This goat simulator seems to be completely useless (I've seen it in top 10 products of Google Play Store): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9CiufkGVQk
Marcin Lyzwa said…
I think the idea to use a games in educational process is worth considering. Very important aspect is not to lose balance between traditional teaching with reading books, writing to playing games.
It seems to me that better effects would be by learning programming that significantly develop the ability of thinking and abstraction. You do not need to encourage children to play. Nowadays they are practically born with the tablet in his hand.
Spend time playing on tablets and computers for them is just as natural as it was for us to play outdoor. An important issue is the selection of games for kids. Not just SimCity can be educational. There are many games that force you to combine, predictions and drawing conclusions,
but the problem may be the selection of the level of the game to the age of the child.
As mentioned @Micha Kulesza very good form of use games are simulation F16 flight, whether it is for pilots or simulation battle for GROM soldiers.
Is it good idea to include them in the examination scheme?
I agree with @Michał Wągrodzki. It seems to me that you do not need to add exams of computer games, but definitely a good use of games can have a positive impact on students.
Sylwia said…
I don’t recall being evaluated using game and I wouldn’t like it to be included in my exams. If I were a teacher, I wouldn’t do such tests – I prefer something more traditional. However to me it sounds like good way to teach for example economy. Unfortunately it does not look like near future, at least in our country. We have to admit that Polish schools aren’t modern – often lack of basic equipment. To change the situation and our educational system we need a lot of time and money. What’s more, to make game learning efficient we need something more than the games we all play now. Such games should be dedicated for learning some particular skills. It would also require effort and again money to do it. Anyway, to me it’s natural consequence of our development. Traditional methods of learning aren’t up to date and we have to adapt them to our lifestyle and technology.
Unknown said…
I agree with everyone that the games like SimCity don't have much educational use and it's good for children not adults. But I think gaming is a good way to study and learn something new, e.g. strategic games learn us to think logically or simulators are very useful nowadays. Games like Cashflow that aims to teach the players concepts of investing and making money are very useful, I think.
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashflow_101
Also driving simulators help to learn rules etc.

A good motivation can be for example challenges and achievements like in a typical game. Students learn something(vocabulary, statements etc) and get remuneration or something like that.

Julia Osiak said…
I, personally prefer the traditional examination methods. It just somehow doesn't feel right to imagine that kids' abilities would be assessed through games. Of course I do see the value of including games and technology into education as it would give more possibilities and ways of reaching the kids. Robert said that knowledge is gained through hours of hard and sometimes boring work. I agree with that but only to some extent. There are areas, like Physics and advanced Maths, that do require lots of practice and engagement, but that would be at an older age - HS or Uni. Elementary schools could use games to get kids interested in those fields, to show them that math isn't a form of torture. From personal experience, I can say that games are a good educational tool. I remember playing some silly language game when I was in Elementary School. It was based on completing simple 'quests' like going to a store and doing the groceries but instead of clicking on items on shelves I would have to type out the name of a product. With all my ingredients I then had to follow a recipe and cook a meal. Sounds boring and stupid but it did improve my vocabulary and reading skills quite a lot.
Also, keeping in mind the article, SimCityEDU sounds like a great idea to me. If HS kids could have a chance to play with it, the schools could raise awareness about pollution control, human interactions with the environment and these subjects' should be well understood by everyone.
Rafał Banach said…
I think general idea of learning by gaming is quite good and can provide diversity for nowadays learning programs. However this should be balanced. Parents especially in early stages of their children lives should be focused more on developing their social and motor skills. As we can know computers can’t replace normal human contacts or even can’t teach our children what is god and what is bad for their daily lives. They’re simple not able to develop our kids skill muscle in right way because they aren’t giving them right feedback which in my opinion is one of the most important things in whole learning process.
Michal Kulesza said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michal Kulesza said…
There are many games which made it easier to learn boring things to me.
When I had to learn by heart parts of the periodic table for my chemistry classes I’ve found some game that allowed me to create flash cards and play it in the way, that during flying a space ship there were question’s displayed and I had to ‘shoot’ the answer.
I did learn chemistry in no-time.

When it comes to this favor of SimCity… Please remember that i’s made by EA. I’m afraid that to be graded with A (or 5) you will have to pay for DLC (Downloadable content):
http://i.imgur.com/0DnSCxs.png

Getting back on topic: I would love to see exam where you would have to complete some RPG game using knowledge from the lectures. Like your character is meeting dragon, and to kill it you have to use some math equation to properly cast the spell :)

Of course learning by playing game works best in… programming ;)
I’ve played the game CodeCombat: http://codecombat.com/ where you can learn object programming in JavaScript by finishing game. Another example is http://www.jsdares.com/ where you also play games by writing short JavaScript code.
Unknown said…
It seems that I have a similar opinion to most of you. I think that education through computer games is a great idea (I personally learned a lot of things this way) but it shouldn't be a replacement for the current system. For example, as Marta mentioned, playing a game in a foreign language can quickly teach you new vocabulary, but you still need to learn much more to master that language.

I also believe that it can be useful both for children and adults. What needs to be considered is the amount of learning vs entertainment. You know, educational games should really teach us something, not only bring fun.

As for the Sim City, I'm not a big fan of the latest instalment and prefer the earlier, 2003 version, but I believe the game can teach some basic rules of how the city functions.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I think games are a very fun and interactive way of teaching and learning. I believe games can teach many subjects, including maths, physics, music or even some language.

I imagine this game to allow students and teachers to play simultaneously. Obviously, teachers should score the highest points while students would follow their teachers to learn the best practices. The teacher could also possibly reward good students using in-game prizes/etc...
Unknown said…
On one hand, this idea is very interesting. The key to effective learning is variegation of methods. It also develops a lot of different skills. Also, kids learn a lot faster when they enjoy the process and when they're convinced that they're just having fun. This system can also provide a lot of workplaces for game developpers, graphic artists and so on. The only problem is that it looks quite expensive to imply this kind of learning method in school and I seriously doubt that it will be constantly updated. In 2025 children will want to play 2025 games, not 2015.

On the other hand, from my own experience if I am forced to do something, no matter how fun it seems, after some time I will get bored and discouraged - just because I have to do it and have not chosen to do it. If gaming is homework, it will still remain homework, no matter how fun it is. Also, this system is developed to make the exams a more pleasant experience. One of the things that children learn at school is that not everything in a real world is pleasant and sometimes we just have to do things that we do not enjoy. Even now people leave school almost completely unprepared for real life. They have to be prepared for some stressfull times and I don't think this is the right way.
Unknown said…
Mixing education with entertainment seems to be a very interesting idea, however, I doubt it is the universal way to teach everything. According to presented example, it may help to develop "out of the box" thinking. During gameplay, students had to use their creativity to solve given problems. It's obvious that facing real-life issues, unconventional thinking is very important. On the other hand, I think that stuff like maths, physics and other purely scientific subjects may be learned only by systematic repetition. In other words, sometimes (and for some people) learning new things may be fun, but often it also requires discipline and hard work.
rf. said…
As for the video, for me it's just a product placement. One that is trying to hit the niche in the educational sector. Great opportunity for business if you ask me.

As for the games and their educational use, I'd first like to remind, that video games are a part of greater family, gaming as a whole. So, what do we do with games? We play them. What better way of learning, than by having fun? I've played several games on PJIIT hosted by lecturers and the whole class enjoyed them. Moreover, I'm confident they had much deeper impact on the students than 90' of technical insight of the problem.

Video games are pure entertainment, and there's nothing wrong with that. As such, they are medium for information, as tv, radio or the internet. All of this media can be used for educational purposes.

Actually, the theoretical part of Polish driving licence exam is a game. You mark correct answers in a computer program and you get the score at the very end.

I'm quite astonished, as some of my predecessors in this topic responded in a rather traditional manner: 'games are fun, knowledge comes from books and hard work'.
Really?
Unknown said…
Learning through gaming seems like a very good idea because playing games requires some level of interaction, so it involves people much stronger than for example educational video. But success of educational games would depend on quality of this games. I'm sure it's possible to make games that are entertaining and educational at the same time but it's definitely hard, as it is to make game that's just entertaining. So it would only work if big money is involved, because only that would get good developers to try making this kind of games, otherwise we will get games that are as boring and unappealing as other ways of learning.
Btw. if someone want to try game that test your mind, I recommend playing Antichamber :)
Unknown said…
third line, "those" instead "this". There is no edit option :(
Unknown said…
Learning through play is a very cool idea. Children spend a lot of time in front of computer playing games with pleasure. I think hat children could learn a lot more knowledge if science was concatenated with fun, with things they like. In my opinion proper way for youth education should be associated with differentiated game levels.
I mean a combination of practice, in this case, "action" in the virtual world of the game, with the theory, which would complement the tasks in the game.

If games were developed with more functionalities like theory , verficitaion or various task methods, teachers would be able then to use it to verify students skills. The game should include specific vocabulary to tame children with difficult words which could be used as something necesseary in their future jobs.
Unknown said…
I made a super long post here but it doesn't diplay for me, so I really hope it will and the sending option didn't just make an error on me ;-/
Unknown said…
Generally, I don’t like games, but now technology is everywhere so in school too.. If it will be use in well proportioned, ok. Why not but in my opinion it never to replace with analogy material else. I don’t want it.
Game may be more inetersting form than traditional so students may can learn more and more. It is good.
Lecturers still rather don’t use games to evaluate our knowledge and skils. It may be matter of time.
Including game in the examination scheme is a good idea. It is more interesing than old methods.
I believe that games can have very high educational, however I don't think they can actually replace „regular” teaching, but rather aid it. Obviously not everything can be thought by the means of a video game, but for example a friend of mine learned english mainly thanks to online games since apart from that he did not have many occasions to have english conversations.

A very interesting game, which I would reccomend everybody to check out, is Democracy 3, For me this was a much better lesson than all the years of so called „Wiedza o społeczeństwie” that I had in my schools. It really shows how hard it is to run a community and make as many people as possible happy and content.

To sum up, I do believe that the future of teaching is connected with games, however I don't think it would be possible, or at the very least wise to completely replace traditional teaching.
Unknown said…
Ok, I can see that my previous post didn't save here. What I wanted to say in short is that games not only teach, but the most important point in my case is that they also help kids with figuring out what they like and what they want to do in life.

I always liked strategy games - building my own bases/countries and managing them. That's how my interest for management and business started.
Video games sparked my interest in learning English - I associate games with most of my early English skills. Now I work in English, as a project manager in IT/telecom.
There was that really awesome game called Shenmue that started my interest in martial arts and the Japanese culture. If it wasn't for it I wouldn't have done my bachelors degree at pjwstk.
I really discovered what I like through video games and I am happy being able to say that I find things I enjoyed in video games in reality through my job and studies. I have games to thank for that.

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