All three
studies were done using commercial off the shelf (COTS) games. This means that these games were not made
with the intention of being used for educational purposes in the primary
school, but for the sole purpose to make a profit. However, through these investigations we have
discovered that each COTS game can support and enhance children’s learning and
development if used appropriately. The
cost of the COTS games is a huge disadvantage but there are ways around such
problems if effective organisation and management is in place. For example: each school could buy one set of
30 Nintendo DS’s and Brain Training games, then have a rota where each class
gets them at a different time each day.
Today I am
going to reflect on David Miller and Derek Robertson’s classic experiment with
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game for the Nintendo DS. The purpose of their investigation was to
find out if Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game enhanced children’s learning,
but more specifically to see if it helped children improve their number bonds
and their processing speed. Miller and Robertson’s investigation is summarised nicely by Rachel.
Brooks-Young
says “games are an engaging way to…reinforce a variety of skills” Brooks-Young,
S (2010, p.89) and I believe Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game allows just
that. This is identified in the video
below:
Scottish
Government (undated).
Games based
learning (GBL) has the opportunity to develop many principles in the Curriculum
for Excellence (CfE) which I have discussed in my previous blog post, Digital Literacy and ICT. Alongside these, Dr Kawashima’s Brain
Training game has clear links to a number of the CfE principles for specific
reasons. I believe the game has clear
links with relevance, firstly due to today’s children being born into a digital
world but also because it is a COTS game, so it is likely the children have seen
it (or something similar) before therefore it will have more meaning to them.
I believe
the game also fulfils the CfE principle challenge and enjoyment, as due to
children growing up in a world of technology, learning through games will
likely achieve a high level of motivation and enjoyment. Challenge can be found through the games
requirement for speed but from this challenge, increased social interaction can
take place in the classroom as children not only want to do their best but want
to help their friends do their best to “enable each individual to achieve his or her potential”
Scottish Government (2008).
Through the
range of different activities available in Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game,
the CfE principle, personalisation and choice is drawn on. Personalisation is available through this
game as it allows each child to work at their own individual ability. Choice is evident in this game through
allowing children to choose what they focus on each time they play the game,
for example: arithmetic skills, reading etc.
The final
CfE principle I see strong links with Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game is
progression. By allowing children to
play this game for twenty minutes each morning it is allowing them to “build
upon earlier knowledge and achievements” Scottish Government (2008) thus
continuing their progression in learning.
Through Miller and Robertson’s investigation, they have proved that
progression does take place as when comparing the children’s first arithmetic
test to their second one (after ten weeks of using the Brain Training game)
there was a significant improvement.
Miller said
that they did not yet know whether Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game made
cognitive transfer possible, however I would disagree. Through the 10 week investigation, teachers
noticed a huge improvement in the neatness of children’s handwriting. I believe this was because if you do not form
numbers or letters correctly on the Nintendo DS your answer is marked
incorrectly, therefore I believe children made a conscious effort to improve
their handwriting in order to get the best score. I believe this improved handwriting was then
transferred into other aspects of the children's school work.
In my
opinion, GBL needs to be used more often in children’s educational development
than is currently being done. The only
glimmer of games technology I have ever seen in a primary school was a play
station 2 which was used only for golden time.
Teachers have a duty to “prepare students
for this new world…based on the assumption that they have some idea of what to
prepare them for” Brooks-Young, S (2010, p.5). I am not certain all teachers know how to
prepare children for the 21st century and I think one of the main
reasons is a lack of confidence in technology themselves. The world is changing therefore changes in
education need to be made. I look
forward to going on my next placement and using GBL as a tool to enhance
learning.
References
Miller D.,
Robertson D. (2010). Educational beneļ¬ts
of using game consoles in a primary
classroom: A randomised controlled
trial. Oxford
Available:https://my.dundee.ac.uk/@@/D99F5ACD8523C387DF10E1D16A484267/courses/1/ED22018_CAS_D65_201112/content/_2971228_1/MILLER%26ROBERSON2010b.pdf [Last
accessed: 20.2.12]
Brooks-Young,
S (2010). Teaching with the tools kids really use – learning with web and mobile
technologies. London
Scottish Government (undated). Video Bank. Edinburgh
Scottish
Government (2008). Curriculum for
Excellence: Principles for curriculum design. Edinburgh
Available:http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/understandingthecurriculum/howisthecurriculumstructured/principles/index.asp [Last accessed: 21.2.12]
No comments:
Post a Comment