Games Can Make the World Better

Games the Holy Grail to Life

My first impression of Games Can Make the World Better was that
 the notion was true. The Bobo Effect proved it possible with children,
and social media challenges prove it true with adults. Only the strong
willed resist the urge to follow the crowd where social norms change daily.
During this course, I have learned much about gaming in the classroom.
 It has caused me to change my instructional plans in how I deliver
academic content to students through digital devices. The Title One school
 that I teach at is all about collecting data, research based practices,
formative, and summative assessment to best serve the student body.
Gaming in the classroom lends itself to total student engagement
and of course student learning. According to McGonigal, the four things gamers
do that make them virtuosos is their urgent optimism, tight social fabric,
blissful productivity, and epic meaning. I believe that all four characteristics
describe the model citizens that we all would like to become; however,
other factors allow, delay, and sometimes prevent us from meeting our goal.
This impacts the motivation of the human spirit. I understand how
McGonigal connects gaming and learning to enhance student experience
as they gain their education. I agree, students are more optimistic in a gaming
 challenge in comparison to course work because they do not have several lives
to redo the task until the get it right. School officials attempt to create real life
with a safety net to prepare students for life after graduation. Traditional schools
 attach the labels of pass and fail because in “real life” people are not given
 unlimited chances. This results in the human spirit giving up on the challenge
they attempted because they have failed and its documented in someway that
they were unsuccessful. Many educators forget that academic learning is within
the experience, so grading an assignment and returning it to the students to do
over does not stunt student growth, but assists in the perseverance needed to be
 successful in life. Tight social fabric is associated with the collaboration that
 occurs within the classroom during academic dialog and group projects that
encourages social networking amongst students. This is a tool necessary for
 success in college and career. Blissful productivity occurs when these
relationships are built and the students find their niche within the group much
like citizens performing careers within the community. Epic meaning occurs at
 the conclusion of the assignment or assessment where the student is given points
based upon academic performance much like a game, but with meaning that can
be applied to everyday life. In conclusion, I have more respect now for video
games and their use in the classroom. My first impression was that video games
were a pass time intended for entertainment, but I have learned it can be used for
 learning as well.