Learning can and should be Fun!

“Games are the most elevated form of investigation.”

Albert Einstein

"Play will be to the 21st Century what work was to the last 300 years of Industrial Society, our dominant way of knowing,  doing, and creating value." 

Pat Kane Author of the Play Ethic

“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression. To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed as of one is assured of one’s prospects.”

Brian Sutton-Smith, professor of education, University of Pennsylvania

When Educators create a fun environment for learning to take place, it becomes learning from play. Just think about when you last wanted to do well at something you didn’t enjoy? My point is we should give our children the gift of “Wanting or Desiring” to learn because it’s enjoyable and experiencing this will inspire them to be lifelong learners. That would be the most important lesson objective we could hope to achieve.

So, Let them Play!!
Video games, Virtual Reality and online gaming sites have taken a lot of flak for causing all kinds of terrible behavior, but let’s not forget that’s its learning going on, we just want it to be the right learning for our kids. We start out as infants playing with the world around us and learning from everything. As children start using computers they are drawn to the games with dynamic graphics and challenging levels that include rewards for achieving goals. Certainly learning is going on and why not use video games that include learning objectives in our schools today? Having the students design their own game that includes content in the class objectives is a great teaching tool, as pointed out in Chapter 9 of "Teaching with Tools Kids Really Use" by Susan Brooks-Young. In this chapter the different types of games are discussed. The more involved games require long periods with different levels that can be conquered. The students could work in groups, each designing a level which covers a chosen topic, and together these can be accumulated for future students to play. This would work if your classroom has computers where students can access the game when they have free time. As students complete a level there should be a prize like an Art supply for them to take home. The size of the prize can range from a sticker or a pencil, to a set of markers or a sketchbook. I can see this as a wonderful way to compile your own game for them to use in class and it wouldn't be online if that is against the school's technology policy.  With online games and learning we always have to work within the parameters of the schools policy but with some creativity we can still include learning from playing games in our classes. Looking back, when I’ve heard people describe their favorite teacher they almost always say that the teacher had made learning fun. So why not let them play, just direct the learning going on and they’ll be learning while their having fun.
Creating a self image by making an Avatar is another way for students to express themselves and it also helps them find their own identity which is an important part of growing up. (Brooks-Young)  Creating a character for themselves to walk through virtual reality sites or games is a way of playing around with self expression without the fear of ridicule in real life. Students can explore different ways to look at the world and themselves. Of course, as with anything, too much is not a good thing, and most of the concerns about behavior are centered around spending too much time in the game and not in other activities. So we always need to model keeping balance in our lives and enjoying what we do is a good thing – an important idea not always taught to our kids!
The idea of using a video game for learning in your classroom may not be easily accepted, especially if you want to include a virtual reality site that is online like Sim City. You can suggest students explore these sites at home if it’s alright with their parents and they have access to the internet, but the parents may not appreciate any suggestions that might mean their child getting hooked on a new game or involved a game that has charges involved. Students could create an avatar of themselves for using in the game they helped create for your class and not have the internet involved if that would be more applicable without violating the school and parents policy. In Photo sharing sites like “Flickr” a group could compile photos that they want to use in a slide show of a group project, a school event or field trip. (The Digital Diet) This along with other sharing sites like a class blog would be great for students to share digitally while at home to corroborate on group projects however many school policies won’t allow pictures to be shared online so these policies need to be followed but perhaps eventually more of this type of technology usage will be allowed. After all teaching responsibility and respect for others in using technology is important and as with most behaviors we would want them to learn the correct way to behave and where else better to teach them then at school.

Resources:

Brooks-Young, S. (2010). “Teaching with the tools kids really use: Learning with web and mobile technologies.” Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Churches, A., Crocket, L., & Jukes, I. (2010). “The Digital Diet: Today’s digital tools in small bytes.” Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.