Online Gaming and Global Connections
Initially, my team didn't think about online gaming as a global connection. Pew did a study that looked in to teens, technology and friendship however, and a small portion was devoted to online gaming. As someone who games online, I was attracted to this topic, despite the fact that Pew mostly only implied that online gaming affects boys. As a girl in the online gaming world, I am an outlier but I see so many benefits to playing online games with other people around the world.
First, I'd like to start off with this great 20 minute TED talk with game designer, Jane McGonigal. Jane explains the amazingly productive, collaborative, and supportive environment fostered through online video games and argues that the real world could really use life skills learned through video games.
First, I'd like to start off with this great 20 minute TED talk with game designer, Jane McGonigal. Jane explains the amazingly productive, collaborative, and supportive environment fostered through online video games and argues that the real world could really use life skills learned through video games.
So online games are great, right? But which ones should you play?
As adults, I think that any online game teaches you important lessons, whether those are lessons about people or life skills. I play Call of Duty and first-person shooters online with friends and strangers alike. I love the constantly changing variable of playing with new people every round. Even games like Words with Friends, where you can play with a friend or with strangers anywhere in the world, show you how other people think and operate. Online games make you a world citizen while also creating connections with individual people around the world.
For students, there are games that have been highly touted by teachers, like Minecraft, which would be considered educational and appropriate for all ages.
Minecraft is a building game that uses lego-like pieces and has practically limitless possibilities for creation. You can then explore new worlds with friends or on your own and the best part, the game is accessible through just about any digital handheld device. To learn more about Minecraft, visit their official site, or check out some teacher reviews. This game could be incorporated into a lot of different lesson plans since it's all about creation and it would be excellent for kids because they would feel like they were playing a game while they are also learning. It would be especially good for those oriented towards creativity or engineering.
Teachers also seem particularly impressed with the game LittleBigPlanet, which is a game creator software. This gets kids involved in game-making and the world of digital designing.
I think many students, mostly boys as Pew mentioned, go home and play a lot of different things however, and I think that this a good thing. There is so much to learn from games, whether online or not, but online games add an element of global connectivity that can only create a more communicative world community.
If you're interested in teacher reviews of online games, I would highly recommend visiting Graphite and searching their review section.
If you're interested in teacher reviews of online games, I would highly recommend visiting Graphite and searching their review section.