Game Based Learning vs. Traditional learning

Game Based Learning

School is so different today, than when I attended it years ago. Students are able to move around in the classroom, Smart boards are utilized, computers are readily available, and school officials are embracing Game Based Learning within the classroom. At Nativity Prep of Wilmington where I teach, the administration has taken the rigid Catholic school style of learning and transformed it. They have embraced a nontraditional style of instruction which has taken the curriculum to new heights. Students are engaged, enthusiastic, and love to attend school because of the differences in our curriculum verse what other schools may have provided them.

This past Thursday three of my math classes had to prepare for an upcoming exam. Instead of our traditional paper and pencil practice review, which works for some, we used a different method of preparation by playing the game, “Jeopardy.” By incorporating Game Based Learning into their curriculum, my students were extremely engaged in the lesson. I was able to see them collaborate among themselves to figure out the answer. If they incorrectly answered a question, they were given another chance to find the answer which kept them motivated to try harder to find the answer. In doing so, they would revisit the question to develop a different answer. Game based learning is something that is gaining traction in schools because students are able to learn the material a different way. It is an alternative approach to the traditional method of reading a question and writing the answer on paper. This integration of gaming makes learning math more fun which motivates student to learn and immerses them into the material, so they learn more effectively.

Traditional Learning verses Unconventional Game Based Learning

We have all been in the Traditional learning environment where the teacher lectures while the student takes notes. At the elementary level, most students are unprepared to understand how to take notes, so they try to write everything down that the teacher says and eventually become lost. When this happens students start to become disinterested and possibly disruptive to the class. Traditional learning works for some students but most like myself are uninterested in learning from this style of instruction. As a student, I became bored by school. I remember a moment from my past, when I was in the second grade where my boredom became so overwhelming, I decided to take my education into my own hands. When I started the second grade, the whole class was given a reading test which placed each student in one of the three different reading groups. We were grouped based on our reading levels and I was placed in the highest group. This meant I was going to read more and play less. The top reading group traditionally did not deviate from the stories in our textbook, but the lower groups did. They were allowed to color, play games, and do projects. I started to think it would be really nice to be in another reading group because I was so bored with mine. I took it upon myself and decided to fail the next couple of reading test, so I would be placed in the lower group. My plan worked because they moved me. Here’s the problem, if my teachers would have incorporated activities that were fun I would have wanted to stay in my group. I had become jealous of the other groups because they were playing games and my group wasn’t. This decision lead to years of me continuously struggling to get back into the top group because once I was moved into the other group, my new reading group was no longer playing games. My decision was one of the worst one I made at my young age, but it could have been avoided if my teacher would have used game based learning in all the reading groups. Long story short, I learned fast that children will learn if you keep them engaged. Reading did not engage me instead it made me run away from it. I would love the stories if they were read to me but I did not like to sit still to read them. This didn’t make me a bad student but it did make me fall through the cracks of the educational system. My style of learning was so different from what was available at the time, so I like others suffered at the hands of traditional style instruction.

This is why incorporating Game Based learning into our curriculum is so important. I have found when I integrate games like Jeopardy, puzzles, or math bingo in my curriculum, 9 out of 10 of my students want to participate. On the other hand, if I have them to complete a paper and pencil assignment instead of playing a game, only half are interested in doing it by themselves. Introducing games into the class lessons helped the students receive the information differently. They had the opportunity to collaborate, do mental math, elect leaders of their groups, and participate more energetically without fear of being disciplined because the games require different forms of involvement.  

Elementary age students love to play games outside at recess, online with their Xbox and Playstation’s, so why not incorporate game based learning into their class time? Why not embrace their love for games and make learning just as fun? I gave you an example from my own life story of how I hated reading and the way it was taught which made me rebel. Game based learning is the answer. It helps to engage our students giving them another way to soak in the information before an exam.

If I have learned anything over the years through my studies of child psychology and practical experience as an educator, I have realized each student has their own learning style. This is why teacher need to get away from only using traditional instruction. It would be extremely helpful if teachers could tap into some of these different learning styles by incorporating Games Based Learning into their classroom.  Maybe they could capture the attention of more of their students when they are doing so.

References

Clark, C. (n.d.). Traditional learning & learning styles. Retrieved February 7, 2016, from eHow.com

     website: http://www.ehow.com/info_8245199_traditional-learners-learning-styles.html

Editorial team (Ed.). (2013, April 23). What is GBL (Game-Based Learning)? Retrieved February 7,2016, from EdTech Review website: http://edtechreview.in/dictionary/298-what-is-game-based-learning

Instant Jeopary Review Game. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2016, from Super Teachers Tools website: http://www.superteachertools.us/jeopardyx/