SCISConnections

To play or not to play: social networking, games and simulations as educational tools

The article examines the use of technology tools for learning. The first is social networking technology, which characteristically involve logins, the capacity to add images and other content, automatic updates about contacts’ activities, and structured connections with individual ‘friends’ and with groups of collaborators. The forms of collaborative work which it allows can be used to develop students’ literacy, research skills, technological skills and capacity for critical analysis. Such work allows ‘distributed cognition’ an immense collective thinking capacity. It also develops global awareness and cross-cultural skills. Students are making widespread use of social networking services such as Facebook, MySpace, World of Warcraft and Sim City outside of school. Authors such as Klopfer describe how students’ use of these services involves them in collaborative, immersive and project-based learning, of the kind that stimulates higher-order thinking. These forms of learning are the ones needed to meet current and emerging workforce needs. Schools have approached social networking cautiously. Perceived dangers include cyber-bullying, efforts by strangers to elicit personal information, and online or direct personal contact with minors. However, ‘the dangers appear to be overstated’. A 2007 survey in the USA found that the most common problems experienced by students was inappropriate images or language, problems also found with TV and popular music. Games and simulations constitute a second important form of technology that can be used for learning. Their popularity is evident in the fact that 12-year-old girls in the USA spend more time gaming than watching TV. Research to date suggests that gaming promotes rule-based learning, fast processing of information, and strategic thinking. Schools lag well behind industry, government and the military in using this technology for learning. Educators wishing to use new technologies for student learning should consider a number of issues. One is the school culture, including the mindset of teachers and students toward this type of learning. Other issues include technical infrastructure, teachers’ technological knowledge, availability of technical support, teachers’ and students’ familiarity with the hardware and software required, and teachers’ awareness of external resources, such as relevant literature or personal contacts that could support the work.

The full article was in Briefings, Volume 15 Number 5, June 2011; Pages 1-5. This abstract was written by the Curriculum Leadership team and published in Volume 9, Issue 23, November 2011.

View the full article free online from www.aisq.qld.edu.au/files/files/Communications/briefings/JuneBriefings_11_A4.pdf.

Reprinted here with permission.