Virtual Gaming Education

I came across this video from the Florida Virtual School on Scott McLeod's Dangerously Irrelevant blog. Watch the video, for someone like me who loves computer games (I realize calling them computer games dates me) and a digital native, this is exciting.

The concept of video game as education, which meets reading standards and encourages critical thinking skills, is like finding "the answer." The cost probably takes most districts out of the running to take it out of the dream stage, but what about a classroom application? Here is a simplified blueprint of how this could work. A teacher has certain material to teach in a semester or even quarter, lets say in an English classroom there is literature, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Perhaps there is a mystery/story line/plot that could over-arch the semester and use all of the skills the students need to solve the mystery. Maybe there are clues in the literature that students could gather as they read Shakespeare or Gatsby; communication in the form of memos or letters, with the students could use the vocabulary words; grammar or the poor use of it could scramble messages or students might need to recognize the adverb killer, or a character the students interact with might write only in simple sentences with the lack of adjectives. I don't know, but I feel pretty confident to guess this is what the tech folks and curriculum directors at Florida Virtual School did. This "video game" concept that ties together skills really shows the possibilities in education.

This would take a monumental effort to plan, prep, execute and assess, but that is why schools should be promoting collaboration. That means giving teachers time to work. Not 45 minutes at the beginning of a day once a month, but time to think, discuss, disagree, plan, test, reflect and rewrite. Amazing things happen when that time is given. Also, most schools have librarians who love projects like this. Let's get thinking and make education effective, fun and interesting.