I feel compelled to blog today to defend myself against recent comments suggesting that I’m advocating school librarians concentrate their budget and efforts on gaming consoles and video games rather than on books or other educational/instructional content. I hope this isn’t what I’ve been conveying to my audience.
For the record, I’m not advocating the willy-nilly placement of a Nintendo Wii into a school library. It’s actually quite the opposite. I’m suggesting using the principles behind good games to collaboratively teach 21st century information literacy skills and engage learners.
From Marc Prensky:
We have seen that games engage kids because they incorporate so many important principles of learning. The first of these principles involves a subtle shift in mindset. Instead of giving precedence to simply getting through the material, your top priority must be to engage your students. We teachers all try to engage the students, and we all have to teach the material. But I think we can, and to be effective we have to, reverse our priorities. So as you put your lesson plans together, start by asking yourself. “How can I keep every one of my students at the edge of their seat for 30 (or 45 or 60) minutes- and still teach the content?”
What I am pushing for is school librarians and teachers to develop collaborative units of study that address local content area standards and benchmarks and AASL’s Standards for the 21st century learner while using the Nintendo Wii as an instructional tool. This involves some heavy and thoughtful planning on the part of the teacher and librarian. When well thought-out, digital game based learning can be an effective way to motivate students and teach virtually any concept in a creative and relevant manner. YouTube Tim Rylands instruction on creative writing using the video game Myst. It’s unbelievable how he has students captured and writing at such high levels. I’m looking to create a similar model using the Wii as a platform in school libraries.
Prensky again:
“ Complex games, already educating our kids after school, also have the potential to be a huge boon to formal education. That is one reason it is so important that teachers, parents, and educators learn more about them. As more educators and designers shift their focus to complex games and as parents, teachers, and educators really come to understand what complex games are capable of and why the kids love them so much, a great number of today’s resistant adults- including, hopefully you- will come around and embrace complex games, in their many forms, as a key educational tool for today’s students and for kids in the future.”
To the point that purchasing a Wii will siphon money away from valuable book money, I’m not suggesting turning your library into Blockbuster. I’ve never suggested purchasing a video game console or any video games off of my budget or your library budget for that matter. This is something my local consortium (OCM BOCES School Library Systems) is purchasing for the entire Central New York region (123 school libraries in all.) Their goal for the Nintendo Wii, as is mine, is to try to use it as an instructional tool and develop best practice using it in a school library setting. If this pilot program is successful and it proves to increase student engagement and student achievement, I will ask my Parent Teachers Association to completely fund the gaming console and games to use for instructional units of study and for after-school aesthetic purposes.
In a lot of ways I’m trailblazing here, so the ideas and some of the content I post seems flimsy. It takes a leap of faith and some pre-research and buy-in by the reader. If you’re interested in the topic I highly suggest reading Marc Prensky and Eli Neiburger. They have the data and teeth behind the argument for digital game based learning. I’m the one on the front lines in the field, armed with their research, developing best practice with a live audience.
Passages excerpted from Marc Prensky’s “Don’t Bother Me Mom….I’m Learning!” Paragon House. 2006.
