Remedial Gaming

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Leslie Mabry of Houghton Mifflin, who came to our school to teach us Skills Tutor . Skills Tutor is a diagnostic and remediation application for Reading, Language Arts, Math, Writing, Information Skills, Language, and Workforce Readiness Skills. Students take pretests which are used to prescribe activities and assessments to help student weaknesses. Teachers can create various reports of student progress which can be shared with students, parents, and administrators. Leslie did a great job showing us how this worked.

However, while she was showing us the various multimedia activities and other parts of Skills Tutor, I wondered what the product would be like if the problems followed a story line like a game. Students could have a hero whose mission is to save the world, civilization, etc.... During the course of play, students would have to solve various interdisciplinary problems to achieve objectives set for them in the game based on pretest results. Teachers could access reports on how well the student is solving problems during game play.

Purists might think this is heresy but this could be more engaging for the students while making the problems more realistic. I have observed this with my son who just turned 13. Two of his favorite games are Animal Crossing and MySims. Both of these games allow the player to build, tear down, and rebuild towns and communities. Other skills such as economics, money management, trade with other towns are also part of the game. Needless to say, a career interest inventory he took earlier this school year showed he had a aptitude in architecture. Maybe the games he is playing are giving him a head start.

It that a DS in your bookbag? Get it out and open it up!

A teacher telling a student to get out his or her Nintendo DS and start playing an assigned game sounds like a dream to all gamers, including my son. However, Japanese students (and adults) are using their gaming systems for educational pursuits. According to Newsweek International report the Japanese are increasingly viewing the DS as a self-improvement device instead of a time-waster. Top-selling programs include educational games that improve vocabulary, cultural literacy, math skills, and foreign language instruction. Educational games and software have sold over 20 million copies in Japan.

This trend may sweep the United States in the near future. Brain Age for Nintendo DS has been a top seller, drawing adults to purchase the portable gaming devices. The publisher recently released a sequel, Brain Age II which has inspired a bundle package with a special edition Nintendo DS. Other "brain training" games have sold well in the U.S. as well. The Nintendo Wii is also drawing praise for making players physically active, which is drawing traditionally non-gamers into the market. Soon Americans should see some of the educational and self-improvement games currently popular in Japan.

What has this got to do with schools? Last year I attended a break-out session on gaming at the South Carolina EdTech Conference. The presenters in that session pointed out something educators should take note of. In most games, to get to the next level you must master assigned tasks. Players will try different tactics, research the game, and/or work with other players to achieve the goal of advancement. Now imagine a game where a player must have a knowledge of math, science, history, etc..., to play a game and we are not talking about repetitive drills either. The hero must solve a geometry problem to cross an obstacle, then use history to crack a code, a knowledge of science to figure out a way out of a trap. If the game is interesting enough, students will flock to their textbooks or the internet to help them play the game. With the mark-up in educational software, this could prove lucrative to game designers.

Gina Hughes Yahoo Blog
Learning Game, Newsweek International

What did I learn from my experience at the South Carolina Regional NWEA Conference? First, MAP test data does give good data on how well students are doing in school. Second, MAP test data shows teachers and administrators what students need to work on to achieve more in school. While MAP test data is good for individual students, it could have a potential of overwhelming teachers. Individual student growth plans are a good idea but putting those plans into practice could overwhelm the one tool in the classroom which will not be added, a classroom teacher.

So how do decision makers help out teachers? One way many schools have taken is RIT Band Classes. This means grouping students into classes based on RIT score levels. Teachers will be working with children of similar abilities and deficiencies. This would help tailor lesson plans to promote academic growth. Another means would have prepackaged lesson plans and activities prepared for teachers to use with students of different RIT Ranges.

Technology can help teachers work with kids of different RIT Ranges. Services such as Compass Learning provide lessons and activities on computers. The problem with this solution is the lack of technology infrastructure. More computers are needed in individual classrooms so some students can work on individual lessons while teachers can work with smaller groups or individual students. One educational tool with great potential is the use of gaming. Gaming allows students to learn at his or her own pace. Students must learn or master a skill to accomplish a task before moving on to the next task. If you don't believe it, just watch kids play games on Play Station or X-Box. Another benefit to gaming is how students will collaborate to solve problems or share information to help each other achieve the next level. Again this would be a great benefit to teachers who could use help in working with students. Also, this teaches students to become life-long learners, a skill that will be needed in the workplace of today.

Unless computers can get into classrooms, this opportunity to increase student achievement will be lost and the task will become harder.