At the NCASCD Conference, I had the opportunity to hear a keynote speech by Dr. Bill McBride.  Dr. McBride described how video games can keep a child or teenager occupied for several hours.  He shared how he was flying across the United States and observed a young child who never took his eyes off the video game he was playing.  It made him ask, what features does a video game have that could be included in a K-12 classroom lesson?  Through research and observation, Dr. McBride has learned the following practical tips for engaging students in meaningful classroom assignments.

Six Features that Technology Uses to Engage Students:

1.  Choice
2.  Connection
3.  Competition 
4.  Challenge
5.  Communication 
6.  Collaborative Problem Solving 

Since I am a father of two children, I have observed our son playing XBOX 360 Live.  The games he enjoys offer multiple choices, not a simple solution.  He enjoys competing with friends online and around the world.  The headset that he uses allows him to communicate with his teammates and with the competition.  XBOX 360 Live allows players to use collaborative problem solving to beat the other team or to assist a teammate. 

Our daughter plays Web Kinz and other online games for younger children.  Web Kinz allows our daughter to have choice (i.e., multiple options and multiple pets), connection with her pets and with other friends, competition, challenge, communication and collaborative problem solving.

Dr. McBride asked educators to consider the following:

How can we use these strategies to our advantage in schools? 

Do our lessons provide students with these six opportunities? 
 
What can we do to modify our existing lessons to offer students choice, competition, challenge, communication, etc.? 

Presenter: Dr. Bill McBride
http://www.entertaininganelephant.com/index.html
Presenter's Web site

Reference:
2009 NCASCD Conference
Keynote Presentation
Pinehurst, North Carolina
February 12, 2009

 


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