COMPUTING & IT RESOURCES Viewpoint: using video games to teach computing
In the first of his new regular columns for Education Today offering advice and insight on computing matters, MOHAMMED REHMAN, Programme Team Leader in Computing at Arden University, explores the benefits of utilising game-based learning as a new teaching method for computing. Research has found that there are benefits of using gaming within the classroom as it can be found to boost students’ employability and work skills.
I
n the first of his new regular columns for Education Today offering advice and insight on computing matters, Mohammed Rehman, Programme Team Leader in Computing at Arden University, explores the benefits of utilising game-based learning
as a new teaching method for computing. Research has found that there are benefits of using gaming within the classroom as it can be found to boost students’ employability and work skills. Picture the scene. You walk into the class and the pupils are playing on handheld games consoles, encouraged by the
teacher. Anarchy? No, just the latest iteration of learning through play and an attempt to address the UK tech skills gap. Nintendo has joined the Digital Schoolhouse programme, created by UKIE, the trade body for the UK's games and interactive entertainment industry. The company will be providing equipment and games in an attempt to engage children in problem solving, collaboration and strategic thinking. Using video games in classrooms isn’t new. In the early 2000’s, teacher Tim Rylands was using games such as Myst to engage children in descriptive
writing. Other educators used games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon or Sim City. Nintendo and Digital Schoolhouse are hoping that titles such as Super Smash Bros will continue that trend and help to develop the range of skills identified in the Lego ‘Learning through Play’ report, published in March 2019. These include cognitive skills such as decision making and metacognition, creative skills such as creative thinking and inventiveness, emotional skills such as self-efficacy and motivation, physical skills such as fine motor control and social skills such as collaboration and communication. However, is there really a link between playing video games and employability skills? Stephen Barr, an academic at Glasgow University, posits a link
between playing video games and graduate attributes such as communication and adaptability. An engineer in the RAF, Wing Commander Daniel Penter, founded the Royal Air Force Video Gaming & Esports Association for colleagues who are gamers and e-sports players and suggests that modern control systems are designed with console players in mind. In a BBC online article in 2018 a trainee surgeon said playing games helped him with his concentration when performing surgeries. As technology continues to advance and we adapt to different ways of learning in the classroom, it is initiatives like Digital Schoolhouse that may help
to shift the stigma. Some teachers may need to be convinced as to the effectiveness of gaming and game-based learning in the classroom, as well as the need to be aware of the pedagogical challenges of adopting games into the curriculum. Initiatives such as Digital Schoolhouse may help to frame gaming as a ‘useful’ activity that helps to prepare children for the future as opposed to a time-wasting distraction that gets in the way of learning.
uwww.arden.ac.uk
MAXELL to Assume Responsibility for the Hitachi Projector brand in Europe
T
he Optronics Division of Maxell, Ltd. have announced that, as of 1st April 2019,
Maxell, Ltd., through its European subsidiary, Maxell Ltd, have assumed responsibility for all operations related to both Hitachi brand and Maxell-brand projector products and accessories within the European market. This announcement marks the culmination of a six-year progression that began with Maxell, Ltd.’s acquisition of Hitachi Consumer Electronics, Co., Ltd.’s projector design, development and manufacturing assets and resources in 2013. Recognised for their consistent quality and manufacturing expertise
Maxell began introducing innovative, reliable and highly engineered projector products to the professional AV market in Europe in Spring 2019, and have begun to expand their maintenance-free Laser and LED light source projectors.
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www.education-today.co.uk
uFor further information visit:
www.maxelldisplay.com
November 2019
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