Double Entry Journal 10

Quotes:
"Consequently, it does not make much sense to offer global claims about computer games and learning, simply because the meanings that players take from games are rooted in specific contexts of use (Linderoth, 2004)." (Arnseth, 2006)

and

"According to Linderoth, the activity of gaming needs to be contextualised in a way that enables children to make sense of educationally relevant content. As such, children do not necessarily treat a game as a representation of something beyond the immediate activity of playing the game. More specifically, his results demonstrate that children make sense of one another’s actions by shifting between different interpretative frameworks in order to manage what they see on the screen. As such, even though computer games offer opportunities for immersion and interactivity, this does not necessarily mean that they are a more effective means for instruction." (Arnseth, 2006)

Response:
This quote calls to mind the study on Civilization in the classroom that we previously read. The teacher was a critical part of using that game, because he planned lessons around the gameplay, as well as interjecting when a opportunity arose for learning.  When it comes to teaching the common core standards, context is critically important for the students to make the connections between what they are playing and what the goal of the activity is.

I agree with this quote, however, I would add that context needs to be done right, in order to successfully use video games in the classroom. I'm not convinced that just using a game and planning a lesson around that game is enough. I think the contextualizing has to happen in a smart way, especially to maintain student engagement. I believe successful game and learning interactions happen when the student has the freedom to explore within a game. This freedom takes time, and requires a lot of flexibility on the teachers part, but can be very rewarding, and fun, for the student. The learning happens precisely because it is fun, and presenting a game within a lesson plan has to be done in a smart way as to not "take the fun out of it."

Additional Resource: 
 I had the thought while writing my response that video games in the classroom were similar to project-based learning, in the sense that they both take time and require exploration to be useful. This led me on an internet search, and I came across a blog post with a condensed video talk from James Gee that I found really interesting:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/james-gee-video-game-project-based-learning

Sources:
Arnseth, H. (2006, 12). Learning to play or playing to learn - a critical account of the models of communication informing educational research on computer gameplay [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/arnseth