Digital Blog Post #E

As a future educator finding and learning new ways of teaching with technology is extremely important. One concept of teaching with this new technology would be through simulation games. Simulation games are described as “a game that dynamically represents one or more real-world process or systems”. These simulation games could be a great tool for teaching in or outside the classroom. Kids love games so why not use them for activities such as learning about the human body, the environment, or how math is used in real world situations. When I was in middle school I remember there was this “McDonalds Game” that made you the user the CEO of the McDonalds company. As the CEO you had to pick how, when and where to spend your money in order for your company to be successful. If you invested your money well your company went on for years and years eventually winning the game, however, if you invested your money unwisely you would go bankrupt and lose the game. Games like this could be used in classes like High school economics or financial planning.

Another concept that I found interesting was Virtual worlds. Virtual worlds are described as online based environments in which users adopt online identities or avatars and interact with other game players using those identities. As a kid, I remember there were lots of these virtual worlds, one of the very first kid-friendly virtual worlds that I can remember was Club Penguin. In this virtual world, you were a Penguin and you would have to go on scavenger hunts in order to acquire cool clothing items or things for your penguin’s igloo. One would also have to play games within the virtual world these games were memory game, or math games, or just regular games like mancala and when you won you would get money to buy different items or you would get items. These virtual games are entertaining for kids and educational without them even noticing.

The third concept that interested me was Kid Pix. Kid Pix is a multimedia online art studio, in this program, the user can draw, paint, and collage on the computer. Kid Pix can be used in the classroom for creative art activities or can be used for other activities such as math, science, and reading. A child can create a model of a cell and color code the different parts of it on this program or they can use it to create bar graphs or pie graphs for math class. This program can be used for just about any subject and since it is art based will keep most students engaged.

References:

-       Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.