Friday, January 28, 2011

Learning games aren’t just kids’ play

Learning games aren’t just kids’ play

Learning games aren’t just kids’ play

Posted: 28 Jan 2011 12:10 AM PST

Teaching students at their level, using things that keep their interest is what educators have been doing for years. Now, there are games that are making a resurgence in the learning world, whether physical activities with a twist, board games or ones using the SMART Boards many schools have.

"Some of our teachers play Jeopardy with the kids, and they have beepers where they can beep in when asked a question about what they're studying," said Julie Feasel, Central Heights' elementary counselor. "There will be different categories, and whoever has the answer first, beeps in just like on Jeopardy."

Bingo and other games are also used to help teach students skills they can apply to everyday life.

"Board games require interaction with others and the development of advanced social skills, like collaboration and teamwork," according to information from Nacogdoches ISD Public Relations and Community Outreach Coordinator Marty Prince. "Board games also challenge students to think, learn and adapt quickly to the changing attitudes and unexpected choices of other players."

Games teach problem-solving skills and those skills can be applied in everyday settings, said Heather Bergman, Woden ISD director of curriculum and instruction.

"From a technology standpoint, we have the advantage of having SMART Boards and the accompanying software that goes with it," Bergman said. "There are a whole host of game templates that are available to our teachers from Candyland for the little ones so we can teach them numbers and colors to Monopoly and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-type templates for our older kids."

Using games to teach Spanish, math or many other subjects brings the curriculum down to the students' best-engaging activity, she said.

The level of engagement students have when they're learning has a tremendous impact on how they process information and retain it, Bergman said.

"They are engaged through technology and through games that engage their mind and excite them, and I think we would be foolish not to tap into that resource," she said. "We know if we can get them highly engaged, they'll retain it and apply it in different sections."

When it comes to technology, Etoile ISD is thinking out of the box, or rather, in a small box.

"The Wii is pretty interesting," Etoile Superintendent Andy Trekell said. "We're looking in that direction because it's got a lot of applications which could be useful to help teach our kids."

Also at Etoile ISD are clickers, which are like remotes students can use to project their answer to a question onto a screen.

"It's just a handheld thing where every student can get on and the teacher can project a practice TAKS test or something on the board and the students click on their response," Trekell said. "Immediately the teacher can look at the screen and know exactly what every student answered."

While not necessarily a game, the clickers are another way students can become actively involved in their education through a multi-media approach, he said.

"If we can find applications where students are seeing it, hearing it and doing it, or up moving around while they're doing it, I think there are major benefits," Trekell said.

At Central Heights ISD, staying physically and mentally fit at the same time means students can learn in another environment, too, Feasel said.

"When they're doing exercises, instead of counting one to 10, they may count in Spanish, they may do days in Spanish and our instructors are just using that time very wisely, because the kids are much more willing to do it in PE than they are in class," she said.

Whether on a board, computer, screen, remote or on the bottom of your foot, the best way to teach children, the educators say, is in a fun, nurturing setting the children will remember.

Erin McKeon can be reached at emckeon@dailysentinel.com.

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